Looking back at Eli Manning's 3rd season as starting QB for the Giants is instructive (again) in showing the struggles that young QB's go through with the weight of expectations on their shoulders as their teams falter down the stretch. Manning was firmly installed as the Giant's franchise QB by the midway point of 2006. He had started half the season in his rookie year in 2004 and the whole thing in 2005. Now the Giants expected him to carry the team in 2006. Early on in the season Manning looked like he'd made the leap to becoming the all-pro QB that Giants fans were expecting out of their #1 overall pick who had cost the franchise so much in the trade to get him. After 4 games he had 9 TD's and 5 Int's and had at least 20 completions in each game as the Giants went 2-2. He'd thrown for 247+ yards in each game and had posted two 100+ rating games already, both wins by the Giants. The stats were really good, but the Giants were 2-2 and they dialed back the passing game some over the next 4 games, with Manning throwing no more than 31 times in those games but the Giants going 4-0 as their defense stepped up and closed down games for them. Then the bottom fell out for Manning as he had 3 straight bad games and the Giants lost all 3. He threw 6 Int's in the 3 game stretch and completed barely 50% of his passes going 51 for 101 over that span. The Giants fell from 6-2 to 6-5 and Manning was a big part of the problem as their season hung by a thread. He had a bounce back game against the Cowboys with a strong performance but the Giants lost anyway to drop to 6-6 with their season on life support now. The next game he passed for only 172 yards and completed just 17 of 33 passes but he threw for 3 TD's and the Giants beat the Panthers to keep their slim hopes alive. Against the Eagles in week 15 the Giants tried to light it up but Manning threw 2 interceptions among his 40 passes on the day. His 70% completion percentage was a bright spot but the Giants fell to 7-7 and again looked on the edge of elimination. The following week Manning had one of his worst games ever. Going 9 for 25 for 74 yards and an interception. The Giants lost to the Saints 30-7 and fell to 7-8. Week 17 the Giants beat the Redskins and improbably made the playoffs at 8-8. Manning was 12 for 26 for 101 yards but he threw no picks. Eli Manning had been poor to terrible in 6 of his 16 starts in 2006. The Giants had lost 5 of those 6 starts. He'd only played really well in 4 of the 16 games and the Giants went 3-1 in those games. The only thing consistent about Eli Manning in 2006 was his inconsistency. Some weeks he was driving the Giants to a win at the end. Other weeks he was giving the game away early, middle and late. A lot of weeks he played just well enough to win or just poorly enough to lose, although the Giant's defense was also up and down all year - which is what happens on 8-8 teams. The Giants fans were frustrated with Eli. Why? Because they were comparing him to Peyton and he was coming up short. A year later he became the second Manning brother to win a Super Bowl. Sanchez? Pretty much where Eli was in 2006 in this his 3rd season as a starter. He doesn't have Tiki Barber behind him, like Eli did. Eli also had a pretty solid offensive line that season. Luke Petitgout went down with an injury at LT but Bob Whitfield stepped in and performed admirably down the stretch. Every other guy on that line has been to a pro bowl since, except for Kareem McKenzie. Looking at the two seasons they're pretty much indistinguishable from each other. They're also similar if a bit better than Ben Roethlisberger's third season. It just takes time to shoulder the load properly.
Great post. I'm assuming you believe in Sanchez playing until his contract ends? (barring injury/0-16 disaster season)
Yeah...BS...Im throwing in the towel on my overreaction to this kid. You have to admit when you are wrong..and I think deep down, this kid still has the goods. You cant sit there and say the OC sucks and the qb sucks. This system is the only system the kid has ever played in. He is being blamed for not being able to go deep..and in the same breath the OC is being blamed for calling nothing long. Which is it? Is it the offensive line not giving him the time to EVER go long? I remember some great long passes he had to Edwards last year showing great accuracy long. At times he threads balls in places and you just shake your head on how great a pass it was. Other times he is hitting guys in the head with passes. I see receivers completely giving up on routes. Keller even played like his head was up his ass the last few games. Something broke down. Something went terribly wrong in this kids head..and for some odd reason, I no longer believe he is at fault other than not being able to be strong enough to deal with it...YET. Im speaking for myself when I say you (me) cant blame the OC when you see 4 guys on third and 4 running 3 yard routes and turning around and then say the qb looks so fucked up. On at least 5 times that I can remember, I saw Plax running routes on instant replay where he just flat out quit on the play. Holmes several times too. How can you practice such easy routes like the ones DK runs and then get hit in the head several times not expecting the pass? Panic from a qb under pressure I guess? Bottom line is that watching this kids press conference I cant help but feel deep down, this kid is mentally fucked at this point...but hes handling better than 95% of the qbs would have. If you are going to blame the OC and call for his head than you have to say this kid still has a future. You cant ignore the performances in past playoffs. IF BS is still the OC next year...well...Im so positive Rex knows what the problem is there is a zero chance he will be back. For that reason alone, Im excited to see what this kid will do in a real NFL offense.
Welcome to a product of the New York media, creating over-reaction. Sanchez is still, but management did little to help him out this year. The didn't evaluate the O-line talent which has been sub-par. Working in new WR's AGAIN this year with the exception to Holmes. The lack of a deep threat, which I might add would be lame if the kid has no time to throw. Everything factors in and OP makes his point well. Also Manning's 43 collegiate games to Sanchez' 1 full year with 2 years of garbage time duty.
Nice post, Br4d. And what's more, you could make a fair argument that he's had more success and gained more experience than Manning did in the same period of time. It'd be true; the only question is how much you'd value that. I like to think that two trips through (and not just to) the playoffs were lessons than no amount of film study or coaching could give.
This is the most frustrating thing as fans. We see potential and flashes of excellent throws and decision, but other times you see terrible throws. Unfortunately, we cannot get the game film to really see if people were open and Sanchez missed them, or if nobody was open. Some plays on the move he directs traffic perfectly and throws a strike, and other times he has time in the pocket into triple coverage. Nobody knows if it's because he is so young for a 3rd year qb or if it is bad routes. This year you have to give Mark the benefit of the doubt with all our other problems.
Great post. Can always rely on your posts to show the truth about Sanchez's ability... Sick and tired of all these ignorant posters who gave up on Sanchez the minute we drafted him, and currently want Peyton or Luck.
Once he gets a OC that calls plays and designs a system around his talents, I really believe he can be someone special. We see flashes of greatness. But we also see flashes of an inexperienced and young QB. When he can put it all together, Jets fans will be very pleased
Looking back I think Eli got it a lot worse back then than Sanchez does now. The running joke was that Eli was the adopted brother of Peyton.
I know NY Sports writers read this board for material and fan reaction. To those of you that are reading this thread - pay my friend Br4dw4y5ux some money and put his post in the paper. It was freakin' brilliant! great job!!
Why do you compare him to only Eli. Just cause 1 flower blooms late doesn't mean the rest will. Why not compare #'s off Cam Newton, Dalton, Aaron Rodgers who in their 1st year were already better then Sanchez or 3rd year #'s of Stafford and Sanchez who were drafted in the same draft class. The odds off someone being a bust when they suck is greater then the odds of them suddenly clicking and being great. Do you really want to wait another 5 years to find out what we have in Sanchez?
Those are systems which were actually built for those QB's, and last time I checked the Panthers are 6-9 with like 6 blown 4th quarter leads and the Bengals have 1 more win then us? I like how you bring up Rodgers when his ass sat on the Bench watching FAVRE for 3 seasons getting groomed to be the starter with a brilliant offensive minded Coach.
Add a consistent group of great WR's to that. Its surprising Sanchez has had even some success with the revolving door on offense that we've seen.
I don't think Sanchez has the arm strength of Eli. I know he doesn't have the counsel of another NFL HoF QB and a father who played QB in the NFL. None of them ate hot dogs on the sidelines. They never said they wanted to punch their HC either. I'm not sure Sanchez has the mental makeup for the NFL, especially in NY. I'm not saying he doesn't, I'm saying I have my doubts. In a year where the defense wasn't what it had been, we missed the playoffs. I see Sanchez as a run oriented game manager on offense. That means having a solid top five defense in order to be successful. Sort of like a Phil Simms "light". Simms was a game manager too, but I think that is Sanchez's ceiling at best. Simms won a Super Bowl.... with the right situation, so might Sanchez, but he'll never carry a team or an offense. I think Ryan and Schotty both know that, and it does have a big impact on game plans and play calling. Call it the cart before the horse if you want, but it's one way or the other IMO. You think Sanchez is all that? To find out, the Jets would likely have to fire not just Schotty, but Ryan as well. Maybe Sanchez can be more than what I think he can be. I think that after 3 years we have a pretty good idea. He can make some plays, but isn't an explosive playmaker. He surely doesn't have a cannon for an arm, and his accuracy is often flay out horrible. He hasn't been helped by dropps either, especially by Keller in key situations. I have low expectations, but hope I'm dead wrong.
People forget how bad Drew Brees was from 2001-2003.....he was terrible in San Diego early on. So bad the Bolts drafted Phil Rivers in 04 with a top 5 pick and nearly got Eli Manning with the 1st pick had Eli wanted to be a Charger. It didn't take until year 4 for Brees to click and be at least alright and it didn't take until a move OUT of a Schottenheimer offense and into a real offense for him to achieve star status. Notice how that works huh?
Drew Brees was never drafted 5th overall but 2nd round 32nd so the expectations weren't there, boy wonders come along every 5 years and if Drew Brees, Brees also figured out something he was lacking which was work ethic.
