A Little Support for the Incumbent QB Mark Sanchez

Jan 1, 2012; Miami Gardens, FL, USA; New York Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez (6) throws a pass against the Miami Dolphins in the first quarter at Sun Life Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Mayer-US PRESSWIRE

There is a lot of “Tebowmania” taking hold of New York. Everything, including the New York print media, is very pro-Tebow, and very anti-Sanchez. Look at the headlines, points are geared in Tebow’s favor.

We need to not forget about the guy pictured to the right, Mark Sanchez. He has done a lot here in New York, and his numbers, when you stack them up, are not as bad as people like to think. Maybe the media and the coaching staff has selective memory.

HOW SANCHEZ RELATES TO PAST NEW YORK QBS

First we are going to take a look at Mark Sanchez’s numbers, for use as comparison. Mark Sanchez has been in the league three years as we know. Here are his numbers in the major areas: 9,209 yards passing, 55 TD, 51 INTs.

Take those, and compare that to another famous NY quarterback, Phil Simms, in his first three years:

6,095 yards passing, 39 TDs, 45 INTs

Hmm, interesting, as he went on to win a Super Bowl.

How about Eli (in his first three years as full time starter):

10,342 yards passing, 71 TDs, 55 INTs

Yes, Eli leads here, but when you take into account how much more often the Giants throw the football than the Jets, especially in Mark’s first two years, the numbers really aren’t STARKLY better, are they?

Ken O’Brien is the second leading passer in Jets history. Let’s take a look at his first three years:

8,980 yards passing, 56 TDs, 35 INTs

Other than the INT numbers, very comparable statistics.

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

Now, let’s stack up Mark against some other big time QBs, starting with John Elway:

8,152 yards passing, 47 TDs, 52 INTs

Not bad up against a legend, no?

Troy Aikman is up next:

7,082 yards passing, 31 TDs, 46 INTs

Yes I realize that this was a different game when Aikman played as far as the passing game is concerned, but still, Sanchez stacks up well against this Hall of Famer.

Here’s one I found interesting. Take a look at the great Joe Montana’s stats, and here, because he didn’t play right away, I used the first three seasons that Montana threw at least 250 pass attempts. Montana was interesting because they ran a lot in the West Coast offense. Here is what I found:

7,973 yards passing, 51 TDs, 32 INTs

Other than the obvious discrepancy in INTs, this was eye opening as I analyzed the stats, as I am of the opinion that Joe Montana is the best QB to ever live.

PLAYOFF WINS

Let’s not forget what Mark Sanchez has done to date for this team. Four playoff wins, all on the road. One 8-8 season does not take that way folks. Nobody was calling for the replacement of Mark Sanchez when he was leading the Colts at halftime of the 2009 AFC Championship game.

Nobody was calling for him to be replaced when he was beating the Patriots in the 2010 AFC Divisional Playoff game.

He did make bad decisions last year, but Mark Sanchez is not to blame for Wayne Hunter. Sanchez didn’t watch pass rushers run past him to the QB all day, every week. Any QB would have made bad decisions behind the Jets offensive line.

It wasn’t Mark Sanchez’s fault that the Jets had no depth at offensive line to replace Nick Mangold when he was injured, nor is it his fault that Santonio Holmes was a big moody grump all of last year.

Give Mark Sanchez the appropriate talent, he will be fine. With all due respect to Tim Tebow, he is a great guy, but one TD in the playoffs to win a wild card game does not make him the next John Elway.

Mark Sanchez is the guy for this team. Leave him alone.