Sanchez, Jets hope to keep it going vs. Broncos

DENVER - Brian Schottenheimer searched for the right word that properly depicts his protégé, something to appropriately describe the reason for Mark Sanchez's vastly improved play from a season ago.

The Jets' offensive coordinator didn't need to bust out a thesaurus, going with the term "mature." But then he thought better of using that adjective, recalling some of the things that go down in the positional meetings when Sanchez gets together with Schottenheimer and quarterbacks coach Matt Cavanaugh.

"He has some moments where Cav and I look at each other and say, 'It's like dealing with my kids,' " Schottenheimer said. "He is maturing, and again [we threw] it 44 times last week in bad conditions . . . He's understanding the importance of ball security. He takes a lot of pride in knowing that we're the No. 1 team in the league right now in turnover margin. That's hard to learn. He's picked it up awfully fast. Awfully proud of him."

Sanchez knew his play was going to be key this season on a team filled with Super Bowl hopes, and he's looked pretty good during the Jets' four-game winning streak. Mixed in with a little luck - he's had almost one close call per game in which a pass could've been intercepted - he's been the driving force behind an offense that's averaged 31.5 points in the past month.

The second-year signal-caller has eight touchdown passes and zero interceptions heading into today's matchup with the Broncos at Invesco Field at Mile High, earning him the distinction as the youngest passer in NFL history to throw eight touchdown passes without a pick. He's only the second player since the merger to start the initial five games without an interception after throwing at least 20 the previous season, joining former Jet Vinny Testaverde.

"It's been a point of emphasis all offseason and I'm really glad that things have gone well so far," said Sanchez, who's posted a 91.7 quarterback rating and has connected on 81 of 147 attempts for 902 yards. "It's one of those things that you can't let up, and I feel like when I was late on a couple last week, I lucked out. We joke about it in the quarterback room: 'You must be living right to luck out like that because [Antoine] Winfield dropped one and then Braylon [Edwards] came and got a pass interference on one that could have been an interception as well.

"A lot of it is the decision-making, a lot of it is the accuracy, and I lost a little accuracy last week. It's something that I'm constantly working at, and hopefully this week is not the week to start."

Sanchez's offseason video study appears to be paying big dividends. Part of his early-season success can be attributed to just being well-schooled in the offense's inner workings. Sanchez is zipping through his reads and progressions much faster than he did as a rookie, so he's not holding on to the ball as long. He's been sacked seven times. Only five other quarterbacks have been sacked less.

"Mark is still young, and last year he was trying to find himself and force some things," Edwards said. "A lot of times, we'd force things to the wrong situation. That's where you get those interceptions, that's where you get those fumbles, because you're not going necessarily where you are supposed to go. Whereas this year, he's dialed in. He knows where the ball is supposed to go; he's making the right reads, the right throws.

"And even when he's getting some tipped balls, the reason they are not getting intercepted is because they are going where they are supposed to go."

So now the trick for Sanchez is to keep this thing going against a struggling Denver team. The last thing Sanchez & Co. want is to head into their bye next week simmering about having their momentum and winning streak grind to a halt in the Mile High City.

"It's really important to play well on the road," Sanchez said, "and there are a lot of outside factors that can kind of affect our performance: the altitude, the weather, the crowd noise, traveling two days early, little things like that. That's where the good teams get tested, and we've got to pass this test. We want to hit this bye week.

"Last year was tough. We lose to Miami right before you go home and you've got to see your family and your friends. It's like, 'Dang, man. I wish we would have won it.' If we lose all the games all year, at least win the one on your bye week because you're going back home to see all your old buddies and you don't want to talk about a loss. We're fighting to win this one."