Sanchez set to bounce back from Bengals game
Mark Sanchez looks downfield as the Jets take on the Bengals. (Nov. 25, 2010) Credit: Joe Rogate
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. - Mark Sanchez didn't exactly morph back into Debbie Downer, reverting to the self-deprecating version of himself that's subject to those body-language fines imposed by veteran backup quarterback Mark Brunell.
But he was pretty ticked off after the Jets' 26-10 win over the Bengals on Thanksgiving night, beating himself up for what he thought was an extremely subpar performance, and one that came on the heels of a brilliant three-game run featuring late-game heroics.
The second-year quarterback talked that night about the Jets winning despite not playing their best, lamenting that he was the reason they looked so stagnant on offense and saying he wanted to watch the game footage immediately rather than eat Thanksgiving leftovers.
Sanchez was that displeased with the way he played.
"I just passed up easy completions," he said Thursday. "I didn't make very good decisions when I got on the perimeter. Those kind of things, especially against teams like New England, like Pittsburgh, Chicago, Miami, they'll get you beat bad. We can't afford that.''
Sanchez wasn't sharp, completing 16 of 28 attempts for 166 yards, his lowest output since throwing for 161 in the Jets' win in Buffalo on Oct. 3. His 71.4 passer rating was his worst since an ugly 43.3 in a Halloween loss to the Packers.
He made a few terrible choices, such as when he tried to squeeze a pass in to Shonn Greene along the right side with the Jets leading 10-7 in the third quarter, only to get intercepted by Rey Maualuga.
"I think it was just an off night," he said. "The coaches talked about it, other people talked about it being a short week. But it doesn't matter. The good ones, the great ones, they don't let it affect them. I'm still learning. I still have a long way to go, but I'm glad that I identified a lot of that, the problems with my play, and now it's time to get better."
Without a doubt, he's going to have to play the way he did in his two-touchdown second half of the Jets' 28-14 victory over the Patriots in Week 2 - not the way he did in their 31-14 loss in New England a year ago, when he was picked off four times, fumbled once and completed 8 of 21 attempts for 136 yards.
That turnover-marred outing was what led to the implementation of the color-coded system, something the Jets figured would curtail his bad decisions.
Jets coach Rex Ryan isn't expecting a repeat showing from Sanchez in New England on Monday night, not with so much on the line.
"When you look at Mark, even when he was in college, he played in the biggest games," Ryan said. "This is as big as it gets in the regular season. We can say it's not and it's just another game. Oh, really? We'll take the win, you take the loss and we'll see how you feel about that. This is a huge game in the regular season and he's always performed well in those types of games.
"I expect him to have a great effort this week."
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