Jets will start Mark Sanchez against Jacksonville
By Mike Dyce
Dec. 2, 2012; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Jets quarterback Tim Tebow (15) and quarterback Mark Sanchez (6) on the sidelines against the Arizona Cardinals during the second half at MetLife Stadium. Jets won 7-6. Mandatory Credit: Debby Wong-USA TODAY Sports
Rex Ryan is hitching his wagon to Mark Sanchez and starting him against Jacksonville despite benching him in last Sunday’s game. This is coming on the heels of news that New York Jets owner Woody Johnson prefers Greg McElroy over Mark Sanchez. This could essentially be a career defining decision for Rex Ryan, one that might lead to him being fired.
”I’ll just keep working, go study this film and keep trying to improve,” Sanchez said after last Sunday’s game. ”I need to understand where the mistakes came from, keep studying, keep preparing, be ready to play next week and see what happens.”
Needless to say Mark Sanchez must have studied a lot of film and improved a lot in two days to be named the starter today. In his last 4 games he has thrown 2 touchdown passes and 5 interceptions.
One upside for Sanchez, he is facing the Jacksonville Jaguars, one of the worst teams in the league defensively and offensively for that matter. Coming into this game they are 28th in the league against the past allowing an average of 260.9 yards per game. And to add some balance to the offense, they’re 31st against the run allowing 144 yards per game.
With that said, in his career Mark Sanchez is 1-1 against the Jaguars. In his rookie season the Jets lost 22-24 and Sanchez completed only 53.3% of his passes for 212 yards with 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions. In his third season he beat the Jaguars with what appears to be a dominating 32-3 win. In that contest he completed 70.8% of his passes and even had two touchdowns. The catch, he only had 182 yards and he again threw 2 interceptions.
But it’s safe to say one could assume that Greg McElroy will be ready to go again if Sanchez starts to slip. No word on whether Tim Tebow would be available to go against his hometown team.