http://espn.go.com/blog/afceast/post/_/id/25283/mark-sanchez-coming-through-in-the-clutch By Tim Graham Bolded the highlights.
Thanks, great article. I like that Montana reference too- I lived in SF when the Niners sucked- and when Montana came along, nobody took him seriously. Until a couple of big games.
Nice read. I'm just waiting for the rest of the NFL to realize how big a star sanchez can be. To us(most of us) he's a good quarterback that's on his way up. To most other teams and their fans, he's just lucky.
I'm glad we got Brunell. It seems he's been a great influence on Sanchez. I wonder if we would keep him on as some sort of coach if he's not on the roster next year.
Sanchez will be a star when he starts playing like a star instead of being carried by the team. If he is posting those stats in year 4 and 5 but we still win enough to get into the wild card I say we dump his ***. If Sanchez was a star we would have won the division, be playing at home and a huge favorite. The fact he is the 25th rated QB and one of the least accurate in the league makes us underdogs on the road. I want to see him lead this team the whole game not the last minutes when any other team would be long out of it with his slow starts.
How many all time great NFL HoF QB's have ever done what you are demanding here? You want pretty wins? Go watch some Tom Brady highlights for 2010. He's freakin 24 years old, and steadilly improving. He's won games this year on late drives WITH the team on his back, something he couldn't do last year. He's getting better. You are talking about getting rid of him already? Holy crap, that is one huge steaming worm infested stinkin pile of shit in the living room post right there son.
He's a budding star but the thing he needs to work on of course is his mechanics, his long stride sometimes causes him to overthrow his target, he just needs to tweak his delivery in the off-season and we'll see him mature
People who sh*t on Sanchez, are truly clueless as to how rare it is for a 23 year old to step into the NFL and start year one, with as few as 16 starts in college, and have the kind of success he's had. When Ben Roethlisberger was 24, he had 80 starts under his belt between college and the NFL, and was coming off a season of 18 TD's and 24 INT's (more than Mark threw year one or two)....and had a similar QB rating. Marks got 52 starts between college and the NFL......he's farther from a finished product than most guys in year two....let him continue to mature, and by year 3-4, he'll be as elite as the best in the league.
It's also why a team like Miami is much more down on a guy like Chad Henne, despite posting similar stats (in fact better in some instances) than Sanchez..........it's because he's already gotten 80 starts (college + pros) under his belt (plus a year of NFL coaching as a back up) and is thus far closer to a finished product. (as demonstrated by the similarities to his year one and year two stats).
I remember Bens run as a newbie and how the term manage the game was used on him too. The most amazing stat IF..IF we make it to the Superbowl will be most playoff wins ever on the road, in his second year in the NFL. Thats truly amazing. Lets face it...we did not last year...nor this year, have an all time great defense. We did not have the best running back in the NFL or close to it the last two years. The kid has not just managed games. The media loves to throw around that if the kid just manages the game and commits limited if any turnovers...we have a chance to win. Well big deal...thats any QB regardless of his stature. IF..IF..we get there..its a stat that will be used about him and one that will never be topped for a second year qb. He has done it with a very good defense and a solid running game. The rest is him...and thats a ton.
In the now, Sanchez does hurt us a little bit. He's not that great of a quarterback right now. He's got a great team around him, which is the biggest reason why we're here. But Sanchez has made plays when he's had to, and most importantly, in the biggest games of his career, he hasn't made any real mistakes. That's very impressive. I'd like to see him start making plays more consistently, from the start of the game to the end of the game. If he can do that, we'll win the Super Bowl. If not, it'll be tough. It's all part of the maturation process. Sanchez is more inexperienced than most 2nd year NFL quarterbacks. He's getting trial by fire, and in the long run, it should be beneficial for him. While I'd like the numbers to be better, he's been making improvements, and I'm fine with watching the kid grow while he takes us to AFC Championships.
I don't think we're going to lose this game. But let me say, that if we do, don't fret..we're just taking off. As long as he stays healthy, at the moment he only gets better. He hasn't peaked yet..his peak is his superbowl run, however many there will be. He's a one every 25 years kind of QB, which is even better since we just spent the past 10 hating Brady.
The nice thing is, throughout the year I never really had an impression that his stats would be so bad. Most of the time he did exactly what the team needed him to, and wasn't throwing interceptions all over the field. If we go 11-5 every year his completion % can be 20 for all i care.
Look at the compl % in the playoffs vs. reg season. That's not all Mark, that's also playcalling. His Compl % was over 60 against Pitt and Chi when they stopped going downfield and outside the numbers. It's the way Parcells turned Vinny into a big time QB, after all those mediocore years.
Some people can't wrap there heads around the fact that he's only in his second year. He's 24 years old. It seems obvious to me that he's going to be a very good -> great QB. Look no further than how he plays when the game is on the line. He's shown maturity and poise beyond his years and his work ethic will take him to the next level.
