Sanchez Days in New York are Over

Monday night in Tennessee was the last straw for Mark Sanchez.  Don't expect the fourth-year quarterback to ever see a snap in a Jets uniform again.  The Jets announced today that they will be looking to trade him this offseason.  The Sanchez era is New York is finished. 

It has just been a nightmare season for Sanchez.  Monday night was the icing on the cake.  Sanchez cost the Jets not only the game, but a chance at the playoffs. Rex Ryan gave him all the opportunities in the world week after week and he continued to let down his coach, his team, and the fans.  Monday night's loss all falls on the shoulders of Sanchez.  It was a performance worse than any of his prior disasters.  Sanchez threw for an embarrassing four interceptions and if that wasn't enough, he couldn't handle a snap in the final minute costing the Jets the game.  Five turnovers, all on pitiful decisions made by a quarterback who has lost all confidence that he once had.

The quarterback who led the Jets to two straight AFC Championship games is long gone.  His performance last season was bad.  This season, it has been disgraceful.  While he has had nowhere near the talent on offense that he did the past three seasons, his play has been brutal.  He has made throwing decisions that you would see from a rookie, not a guy who has been in the league for four seasons.  His 17 interceptions and seven fumbles lost this season say it all.  24 turnovers from your quarterback won't get you to .500, let alone a spot in the playoffs.  Sanchez has led the NFL in turnovers the last two seasons with an astounding 50.

Rex Ryan has finally made the decision to go with Greg McElroy at starting quarterback Sunday when the Jets return home to play the Chargers.  The Jets will see what McElroy has and determine if he could be the answer at quarterback for the future.  Clearly, the Jets aren't very fond of Tim Tebow taking over as the starter as he still has not been given the chance.  Tebow is now requesting to be released or traded as he deserves a shot somewhere else.  This team brought in Tebow and didn't use him.  A guy who helped lead the Broncos to the playoffs last season deserves a shot to play and for some reason, the Jets felt Sanchez deserved it more.

Sanchez is due to make just over $8 million next season.  The Jets will be looking to trade him this offseason.  The question remains who will take over.  Reports have said that the Jets are interested in Michael Vick and Vick would be willing to play for Gang Green if Sanchez is gone.  There's a very good chance that Vick will be the New York Jets starting quarterback next season.

So where will Sanchez go? Where will Tebow go? Will Vick be the Jets starter in 2013?  Get ready for another dramatic Jets offseason folks.

Ground and Pound Keeps Jets Playoff Hopes Alive

The Jets realized Sunday that if they want to win...the ball needs to stay out of Mark Sanchez's hands.

Gang Green finally established the ground and pound Sunday afternoon in Jacksonville.  Their rushing attack helped lead them to a 17-10 victory over the Jaguars.  The Jets needed to establish the run game with their quarterback struggling mightily.  Shonn Greene and Bilal Powell both had a big day.  Powell ran for 78 yards and a touchdown and Grenne ran for 77 yards and a touchdown.  A combined 39 carries and 155 yards carried the Jets in a game where Sanchez only threw for only 111 yards.  Sanchez only had 19 passing attempts as Tony Sparano kept the ball on the ground for most of the day.  

The defense was huge for the Jets against a terrible Jaguars offense.  The Jets got to face another brutal offense for the second week in a row.  Jags quarterback Chad Henne was just 21 for 43 for 185 yards to go along with two interceptions.  In a game that saw 15 combined punts and a lot of bad football on offense, the Jets squeezed out the win in the end.  

So the Jets took the pressure off their struggling quarterback Sunday.  His replacement last week, Greg McElroy was inactive as Tim Tebow was the backup.  Many questioned Rex Ryan's thinking in not keeping McElroy active after leading the Jets to their only touchdown last week.  Tebow didn't see the field once on Sunday.  Coach Ryan is clearly adamant about Sanchez has he has said over and over.  While Sanchez did fumble a ball in the second quarter, he avoided throwing any picks, which has been his demise this season.  If the Jets want to have continued success in the last three games of the season, they need to keep running the ball effectively.  

With the win, the Jets improve to 6-7.  Suddenly, they are still alive in the playoffs.  It sure doesn't roll off the tongue easily, but the New York Jets are still in a playoff race.  After all this team ahs been through this season, they still have hope for the 6th seed in AFC.  The Steelers and Bengals both lost Sunday making it a very interesting race for that last AFC Wild Card spot.  The Jets would need to win their final three games, have the Steelers lose two of their three games, and the Bengals lose one of their three games.  The Steelers finish the season at Dallas, home against the Bengals, and home against the Browns.  The Bengals remaining games are at Philadelphia, at Pittsburgh, and home against the Ravens.  

The Jets have to play at Tennessee, home against the 5-8 Chargers, and in Buffalo against the 5-8 Bills.  They need to take it one game a time now.  While it is definitely a favorable schedule, the Jets haven't proved to anyone that these games will be easy.  They'll head to Tennessee next for a big Monday night game against the 4-9 Titans.  The key for the Jets once again will be running the ball with success and avoid letting Sanchez make mistakes.  Good defense and mistake-free offense could keep the Jets alive.  Any hope for the playoffs begin with a must-win next Monday in Tennessee. 

Jets Surge Into First With Dominant Win over Bills

Sunday might have been the best all around performance we have seen by the Jets all season.  They finally played the lights out defense that everyone expected to see all season.  The Jets beat the Bills at Ralph Wilson Stadium 27-11 Sunday afternoon.  The Jets played an all around impressive performance not only defensively, but offensively as well.

The key early in this game was turnovers.  Both teams were turning it over early and had trouble putting up points.  The first half's only points was a 49 yard field goal by Nick Folk.  It was all about defense early.  In the second half, the Jets offense would kick it into gear.  They would get a 50 yard field goal from Nick Folk early in the third quarter.  The Bills would then fumble on the first play of their drive giving the Jets great field position in Bills territory.  They would get a nice catch and run by Plaxico Burress followed by a 1 yard touchdown run by Ladanian Tomlinson to take a 13-0 lead.  The Bills would finally score on a field goal making it 13-3.

From there on, it was all Jets.

They would have a 1:20 drive ending in a gorgeous play action touchdown pass to Santonio Holmes making it 20-3.  They would put the dagger in the Bills in the fourth driving and ending it with a 1 yard touchdown run by "the terminator" John Connor.  That would make it 27-3 and put the Bills away.   They would add on a touchdown late to make it 27-11 after converting the 2 point conversion. That would be all. The Jets closed it out with the final being 27-11.

The key to the game was the Jets dominant defensive performance.  They forced three Bills turnovers with one leading to a Jets touchdown.  The Jets finally put pressure on the quarterback allowing Ryan Fitzpatrick to be completely shut down.  Fitzpatrick was 15 for 31 for 191 yards with a touchdown and 2 interceptions.  They only allowed 96 combined rushing yards as well with 82 of them coming from starter Fred Jackson.  The Jets defense was aggressive and played their best game defensively.

The offense was solid as well. Mark Sanchez played one of his better games besides the early interception he looked like a veteran in the pocket.  Sanchez threw for 230 yards and a touchdown.  The Jets ran for 126 yards combined by Shonn Greene, Joe McKnight and Tomlinson.  The offense had a chemistry that we have not seen all season.  They looked very comfortable playing a Bills team who has been a pleasant surprise this year.

Next comes the game everyone has been waiting for.  The Jets and Patriots will face off in New Jersey on Sunday night.  The Pats beat the Jets at home and now with both teams being tied for first place in the AFC East, the Jets look to break the tie and continue their winning ways on Sunday.