NFL

Jets have to trust Sanchez in order to soar

(Reuters)

You don’t open up the playbook now and ask Mark Sanchez to carry the Jets on his back, because that isn’t who he is, and it isn’t who Rex Ryan wants his Jets to be. You don’t become seduced by one gunslinger performance against a secondary that would have struggled covering Vlad Ducasse on a double move.

But the notion that the Jets can Ground and Pound their way to the playoffs is folly and needs to be scrapped immediately. This is a quarterback-driven league and it is time to let Sanchez drive, while playoff opportunity still knocks.

Ryan bristled yesterday defending himself from coaching scared, because nobody calls a Ryan boy scared without getting his head bitten off.

Tom Brady scares virtually every coach in the league. But when you are scared of your own quarterback, you have no chance.

No one is suggesting that Ryan and Tony Sparano make reservations on Sanchez Airlines. Ryan tried that a year ago and Brian Schottenheimer didn’t live to tell about it. Air Sanchez crashed and burned.

But this is his fourth season now, and with the AFC an absolute crapshoot of mediocrity everywhere you look, the sooner Ryan and Sparano deboard Sanchez Scarelines, the better.

It doesn’t mean throwing 41 times on any given Sunday. It also doesn’t mean Sanchez throwing for 82 yards beats anyone except the Colts.

And it sure as hell doesn’t mean ball-and-chaining Sanchez at a time when they should have let him go for the jugular when Devin McCourty coughed up that kickoff at the New England 18.

You either trust your quarterback or you don’t. Bringing Tim Tebow into the game for a first-down run, calling on Joe McKnight for a second-down run against an opponent you never beat kicking field goals sends the message to your team that you do not trust the quarterback.

We have heard Ryan tell us time and time again that Sanchez can make all the throws. One of his many naysayers would point out that he couldn’t even make all the handoffs Sunday.

But something is wrong when Dolphins coach Joe Philbin trusts his rookie quarterback, Ryan Tannehill, more than Ryan trusts Sanchez. After six games, Tannehill has attempted 198 passes. After seven games, Sanchez has attempted 218 passes. Different circumstances, different philosophies, different everything. But facts matter.

Consider how Tom Coughlin and Kevin Gilbride handled Eli Manning in 2007, long before he was elite. After seven games, Manning had thrown 13 TDs with 11 INTs. And prior to the regular-season finale against the Perfect Patriots, Manning had thrown 19 TDs and 19 INTs. But nobody bought a ticket on Manning Scarelines. And from that moment on, Manning threw 10 TDs with two INTs on his way to Super Bowl XLII MVP.

Sanchez is not Manning, most likely will never be Manning. But Ryan doesn’t have the dominant defense he advertised, and if he persists in handcuffing Sanchez in the role of game manager, he won’t have any Ground and Pound to brag about either.

Will there be turbulence on Air Sanchez? You bet. Some of his throws and some of his decisions have made Ryan reach for the barf bag. He lost eight fumbles last year and the one that ended the Jets’ chances in overtime Sunday was his second. And it has to be considered a victory of sorts that he has gotten his completion percentage north of 50.

The return of Dustin Keller may help as much as the loss of Santonio Holmes hurts. But the emergence of Jeremy Kerley has a chance to somewhat mitigate the absence of Holmes. Now catch the ball, Stephen Hill. And lo and behold, did you notice what a difference throwing the easy pass to the running back makes? Trying to figure out how and when to make use of Tebow must have pushed that option to the background. But Sanchez targeted his running backs 11 times and found eight completions worth 45 yards. Rocket science it’s not.

“We’re definitely starting to understand each other as receivers and quarterbacks,” Hill said.

Sanchez has handled the circus that has swirled around him like a champ. He has fought to keep his dream job even after the organization kicked the tires on Peyton Manning and dropped Tebow in his lap. He has been the good soldier at a time when he has had to wonder whether the organization believes he could be its general.

We know all about his warts. But Sanchez was more beautiful swan than ugly duckling against the Bills, and was resilient enough to complete that overtime pass to Holmes that won the first Miami game.

As a pilot, he sure isn’t the football Sullenberger. But of all the Jets in Foxborough, he was the one who looked the least scared.