again with the polar opposite POV's here, on this thread, as elsewhere. Geez. The truth is somewhere in the middle. Is Sanchez a bust? No. Is he performing at the level one should expect for the fifth pick of the draft in his third season? I sure hope you answer no to that one. Otherwise I have to say you don't know shit about football. So, he's not quite where he should be, but not a bust, either. That covers it for up until now, but what about how this year plays out? What's the reason to think, five games into the season, with games against the Chargers, Bills and Patriots, all winning teams, that he will in that stretch show us all some real improvement? Actually I think there is SOME reason to think so from his short history. The OL seems to be coming together, so there's that. There's also his history of somehow doing better both in stretches and in high pressure games. The strectches part we all know about - it is frustrating, and it has taken us by surprise, like last season when his no turnover stretch came to an end. And he does seem to on average do well in high pressure games. Well the OL is coming back, the pressure is on, and MS quietly seems to be in a no turnover stretch after a horrendous start in his first three games. So just maybe he's finally going to take it up a notch before the season is half over. Alternatively, if he sucks against winning competition in his third seasaon over this next three games, how much more slack will the Sanchez Homers be willing to extend him? We'll have some of the questions being answered before 11/13, but I think by then there's likely to either be a rise in the number of those here speaking Sanchez's virtues, or alternatively it will be a rough time for Sanchez Homers.
Ya I did? You just didn't read it. I also didn't mention that he fumbled a TD away in the first half. Or that our "O" got shut down on the goal line. How did this all become about the Pitt game? Ya if Sanchez always played like the second half of the Pitt game then we'd actually have a good QB. But he doesn't.
Would you not think that stretches of good and bad indicates he has the ability but isn't polished enough to be consistent yet? Usually if a guy is a bust he shows no signs at all but they stick with him because of the investment until they just can't anymore. Sanchez has shown ability in big games vs top teams, it's a matter of leveling off the bad.
Whatever dude. OK the defense wasn't the best that day. But without that defense we wouldn't have even made the playoffs. We probably would have made the playoffs with any journyman QB last year.
Eh Id trade Mark for 9 first rounders but that's really it. Or maybe Gronkowski and a 3rd for Sanchez.
Yeah but who cares? We lost the AFC championship game two years running because Rex Ryan's defense fell apart. Yeah they were facing tough competition both years but they were also over-rated as hell and they crapped the bed when it counted. Unlike Mark Sanchez.
"Any journeyman QB" wouldn't have the playoff success Mark has had in his first two seasons in the NFL. We'd all like to see more consistency in the regular season but you have decided that you don't like him so you try to explain away the fact that he's money in crunch time.
A very fair point, to be sure. I have wondered myself a great deal what is the basis for this inconsistency. Ftr the record I don't think it is simply a matter of lack of experience. But let's break down the points in your post. By "ability" you mean the ability to do well in the games, the stretches, where he has. Yes, he has that ability. Beyond question he does. My concern is it is questionable whether he has the "ability" to carry what lessons he learned or should have learned from the good stretches forward, and keep building onward and upward, without regressing to any significant extent. "Levelling off the bad" is another way of saying he would have that ability, the ability to keep playing with what he learned from and during the good stretches. But... that is imo very much a concern when it comes to the career of Mark Sanchez.
Part of getting that far is you're going to have to face the toughest competition there is, that's the point. We've knocked off four division champions, all in their own buildings, the past two years in the playoffs. Yes, we didn't finish the job but Sanchez, the running game, coaches and the defense all deserve some credit. When in our history have we done anything close to this? We haven't. But yeah, let's trade the QB at 24 years old.
You know young QB's are erratic unless they are named Peyton Manning, Tom Brady or Dan Marino. You really think we're ever going to have a QB like that in NY? Only 3 teams in the history of the NFL stretching back 60 years have ever had one.
All true, I just don't know of too many, if any, QBs in history who just stepped into the NFL and were not only good but consistent from the beginning. There's a million case studies, most of your Peyton Manning and John Elway types struggled because they were on bad teams and became more consistent not only with game experience but as their teams improved. Sanchez was on a good team, but the flip side is he had to learn on the biggest stage against the best teams in the playoffs, not for a 3-13 team playing with house money. That adds not just playing ability but being able to handle pressure, media, etc, which he has done very well. The only other guy I can think of to step in right away as a rookie for a good team was Dan Marino in 1983 and he's a Hall of Fame QB. Most other guys have either had the luxury of learning from the sideline first or playing for a team with no expectations or pressure.
I'm waiting for Ouchy to say Sanchez doesn't show enough [thread=39747] leadership[/thread] for this team