In 2007, Giants fans were running Eli Manning out of town. He cratered in a horrible game 11 against the Vikings in which he posted a 33.8 QB rating. Yet despite all the cries by Giants fans to bench Eli, the Giants were able to rally despite a season in which Eli had QB ratings of 44.9, 33.8, 51.1, and 32.2. Now I watched the Giants on a pretty regular basis and I can tell you that no matter how bad Sanchez has looked, he did not look as bad as Eli did that year. There were times where Eli was completely lost out there and I am not talking about flukey plays either. Now, I will be the first to admit that Sanchez has been maddeningly frustrated to watch BUT I think the Jets need to give him these last 9 games to put it together. He lost his most dynamic offensive player and #1 WR Holmes for the year, and has been without his starting #2 WR, TE and FB for most of the first 7 games. It is clear that with most of his weapons back, Sanchez has been at the worst servicable and at his best pretty good. With a revolving cast on offense, poor route running and dropped passes galore, it could be a lot worse but it isn't. On defense, the Jets' lost their best player and a top ten NFL talent for the year and with the exception of parts of several games, their starting interior defensive lineman Pouha and Ellis haven't been on the field together. They are also making a very noticable transition at LB, finally starting to move Thomas and Scott to the bench as they are clearly done. It looks like the Jets have finally committed to a youth movement with Coples and Davis on the field with a patchwork of offensive replacements in Reuland, Hilliard, Hill, Kerley, etc. I also think that the Holmes, much like Tiki Barber in 2007, has been an addition by subtraction for this team. The Jets have played much better these past 3 weeks despite going only 1-2. Do they have to play better? Yes. Does Sanchez need to pick it up? Yes. But the problems that plagued the team early in the year are now starting to settle and barring any further injuries, the Jets should be getting Ellis and Powell back in a few weeks. In the event the Jets are 4-4 at the bye, they have 8 games to make a statement. They need to get these rookies and young players coached up with some reps so they can start taking off in the 2nd half of the season. The AFC is wide-open this year, and with the exception of the SF game, the Jets have been in every game. The defeatist attitude is that the season is over but looking at the schedule, the Jets could reasonably pick-up another 5-7 wins. It is very possible that an 8-8 team will make the playoffs in the AFC. Getting back to my initial point, facing similar adversity and basically sliding into the playoffs, Eli was able to turn it on beginning a run that started the last game of the season against the Patriots. People forgot also that Coughlin was under the gun as well as there was alot of talk that he wasn't going to return. Now I am not saying the Jets or Sanchez are going to the Super Bowl but throwing in the towel isn't the answer either. Ultimately the Jets need to make a decision on Sanchez and he now has 9 games to make a statement if he wants to be this team's leader. As an FYI, for those of you wanting Tebow, just another reminder of Eli and Mark's stats through their first 4 years. They are pretty similar... Eli... SEASON TEAM GP CMP ATT CMP% YDS AVG TD LNG INT FUM QBR RAT 2004 NYG 9 95 197 48.2 1,043 5.29 6 52 9 2 -- 55.4 2005 NYG 16 294 557 52.8 3,762 6.75 24 78 17 7 -- 75.9 2006 NYG 16 301 522 57.7 3,244 6.22 24 55 18 7 -- 77.0 2007 NYG 16 297 529 56.1 3,336 6.31 23 60 20 9 -- 73.9 Sanchez... SEASON TEAM GP CMP ATT CMP% YDS AVG TD LNG INT FUM QBR RAT 2009 NYJ 15 196 364 53.8 2,444 6.71 12 65 20 8 31.6 63.0 2010 NYJ 16 278 507 54.8 3,291 6.49 17 74 13 5 48.0 75.3 2011 NYJ 16 308 543 56.7 3,474 6.40 26 74 18 4 33.6 78.2 2012 NYJ 7 116 218 53.2 1,453 6.67 9 66 7 4 35.5 74.6
Being a QB in this league is not easy. Hell yesterday Manning was awful until the Skins blew a coverage so bad they forgot Victor Cruz existed. Manning is hailed as an elite QB. He made 1 throw yesterday...too much credit falls on Eli. Sanchez had his TD, 1 INT, a better rating, 68%, gets all the blame. QB in NY is a nasty place to play. Giant fans wanted Eli gone in 07. Said he was emotionless, a bad leader, not a winner, not good enough, a waste of a trade, should have kept rivers, etc..
I like Sanchez. But, does anyone agree with me that putting in Tebow on a 1st and 10 for a 2 yard game is rediculously stupid? Wish I had the power to trade him I'd take a 5th for him straight up.
They are using him completely wrong. If Tebow is on the field in Jets territory you better be doing more than having him run straight ahead. In the rd zone they forget he is there. 3rd and less than 1 from the 2 and they throw the ball. Sporano needs his fucking sun glasses checked.
This. And why isn't Tebow in on more Offensive snaps. They pulled a flea flicker against Buffalo with Tebow and it completely fooled them. Why haven't they done it again?? Why isn't TT out there as a 2nd or 3rd TE package? Why isn't is in as HB/RB/WR? Why the fuck ate we running for 1~2 yards on 1st & 2nd? Sanchez was on fire during the last half of that game - they should have let him throw it to get into the RZ.
I think this Jets team is more 2006 Jets than 2007 Giants. In 06 on paper we weren't expected to even make the playoffs. But they overachieved, I can see the Jets doing something like that again.
forget about tebow this team only has so much time to practice, and it is already installing a completely new system to these players. i dont think we are going to see much more than we already have with him. its not working too well, and with the amount of overtime already being put in by our staff trying to adjust to injuries and everything else, i doubt the tebow package has evolved much at all past what we have already seen. i honestly cant believe how people can look at this team right now and not feel something special. the pieces seem to be in place right now for a second half effort that we can ride into the playoffs. i know it was the pats secondary, but kerley has been looking good all year. hill needs to stop dropping the ball, but he looks like hes getting better with that so hell get it together soon enough. dustin keller is back, and all of a sudden learned to block well. shonne greene either got contacts a la ricky vaughn in major league or just realized that he doesnt have a job yet next season. powell has been promising and will be back shortly, and mcknight earned himself a lot more playing time on offense. this offense for 3 weeks now has been playing solid games. thats not an anomaly, things are starting to come together. on defense, we are back getting much better at the run, coples devito and wilkerson are playing their asses off right now. devito must have realized he was playing like dogshit and is angry, i like it, hes had a solid few weeks, and is even getting pressure on the qb. coples has either 2 or 2.5 sacks and looks like hes only getting better at stuffing the run. and wilkerson is just a beast. demario davis took barts job over last night. he was great. antonio allen is showing some promise, and the rest of the secondary is stepping up big time minus a few big plays by guys that get a few big plays on everyone in the league. i really dont get all the pessimism. i get that we lost big in the san fran game but it was only a 10 point game for most of the game till tone went down and everything fell apart. but since then it has been 3 solid weeks, where we lost to two teams that will end the year as the top 2 in the division with a chance to win each. its not the end of the world, this is football, we are 3-4 but the schedule also gets a lot easier to end. i can still see this team at 10-6.
I remember the 07 season and EVERYONE had written off the Giants, Manning and Coughlin during the 1st half of the season. Having said that, Sanchez looks pretty good, except when he doesn't. He needs to eliminate the bonehead plays that lead to turnovers and he'll be fine. Let's see if he can do that.
Strong sample size Just because a QB looked like shit and then turned elite in one example doesn't mean from now on teams should ride a QB making dumb mistakes until its far too late I know your point wasn't necessarily that he would become Eli, but of all the possibilities that this thing with Sanchez could end, why pick that one?
yeh and for every mark, theres only 38 other qbs to ever play the game with the same amount or more of playoff wins.
and how many QBs get to play with a top 5 defense and top 5 running game yet never manage to win 4 playoff games? I'm so sick of hearing about Sanchez's four playoff wins. He has sucked balls these past two years. The first two years he was competent and most of his flaws were masked by the running game and amazing defense. If the Jets had a better QB those two years, they would have probably won the Super Bowl. All of the Sanchez supporters seem to forget how much the Jets sucked after Greene went down against Indy in 2009 or how the Jets came out completely flat against Pittsburgh in 2010.
At some point, you have to come to the realization that history doesn't necessarily have to repeat itself. Just because the struggling young Eli numbers are mirrored by Sanchez's thus far doesn't mean he's going to turn it all around and win two Super Bowls. I suppose it's possible that he can follow Eli's curve but I don't think it's at all likely.
I could have picked JaMarcus Russell if that would have made you feel better? What I didn't through out is that Sanchez's rookie year was essentially his senior year in college as he came out as freshman. There has been a revolving door at WR with the exception of Keller, the team was designed to be ground and pound and NOT throw the ball 40+ times a game, and the defense was supposed to be elite. Despite all that the guy has persevered despite taking a pounding last year. Sanchez could easily tank the rest of the year and will be done. But giving him 9 more games won't matter much to determine if he can turn it around.
The reason this example is relevant is because Eli and the Giants also had to deal with the NY media under similar circumstances. 95% of the "public voice" had condemned Eli to mediocrity and the Giants stuck with him, went against popular opinion, and despite all the horrible games and the hysteria regarding Eli it ended up working out very very well. The media exists to generate a profit. Hating and pessimism are profitable industries. Many people buy into it. Many people have the whipped dog mentality with the Jets, especially as it pertains to the Patriots. The smart football decision is to continue working through Sanchez's problems until he gets it. The average uninformed sofa fan believes that "ok this is it either Sanchez does it NOW or hes done"... and then repeats the same thing again next week when he isn't benched by a coaching staff that actually knows what it is doing. The media doesn't care about a work in progress. That doesn't sell. QB controversy and Tebow do sell. By keeping Sanchez as the starting QB the Jets are doing what is in the best interest of the Jets and not the NY media. Which is exactly the decision the Giants made with Eli (even though Tebow wasn't behind Eli) and it worked out for the best.
Stop comparing him to Eli, he is not Eli. The only thing he has in common with Eli is that they both played like shit their first 4 years in the league.
So you're telling me that in any other market in the country Sanchez would be being bashed less after still making rookie mistakes in his 4th year? I don't think so. Fans want to win, that's universal
Yes and no. Of course every fan will always want to win, but you're under the worlds most powerful microscope in NY. The media corronates you in success but completely thrashes you in defeat.
