Amid the quiet hum in side the visitors’ locker room Sunday night in Oakland as Jets players showered and dressed following their blowout win over the Raiders, cornerback Darrelle Revis uttered some telling words about where this Jets season is headed.
Revis was talking about the Jets’ franchise quarterback, Mark “Sanchise” Sanchez, who rebounded following a dreadful performance the previous week against Buffalo.
“We’re going to live or die with Mark,” Revis said. “It’s as simple as that. We know he’s a big-time player. That’s why he’s in this position. We believe in Mark. Whatever [the coaches] need to do to make him more comfortable, that’s what they’re going to do.”
That’s exactly what coach Rex Ryan and his offensive coaches did after Sanchez’s five-INT meltdown against the Bills — they simplified Sanchez’s world, not demanding a lot of him against the Raiders, leaving it up to defense and the running game to win the game.
That, however, isn’t always going to work, because the Jets don’t get to play the bumbling Raiders every week.
This is not, in any way, to take away the part Sanchez had in the Jets’ 38-0 rout of the Raiders.
But the reality is this: Sunday’s waltz in Oakland against the hopeless Raiders was more of a pop quiz for Sanchez and the Jets, compared to the major exams that lie ahead.
There are a number of more formidable tests to come, beginning with Sunday’s home rematch against the Dolphins, who beat the Jets three weeks ago.
The win over the Raiders was a nice mini bounce-back from the three-game losing streak.
Much the way Ryan and his coaching staff orchestrated things after Sanchez imploded in the loss to the Bills, their rookie QB wasn’t asked to do a lot against Oakland. He was asked to protect the ball, hand it off, manage the game and stay out of the way of a dominant defensive effort.
Mission accomplished.
From here on, the mission becomes more challenging. There are going to be times Sanchez is going to have to carry the Jets with his right arm. There are going to be times he’s going to have to throw for 300 yards, something he’s yet to do. There are going to be times he has to lead them in a fourth-quarter comeback, another thing he hasn’t yet done.
Sanchez, whose NFL career is a mere seven games old, understands that.
“That was the gameplan [for the Raiders],” Sanchez said of the conservative approach. “But each week it could change. If we need to throw it, I’d love to think we could. Whatever we need to do, that’s my job.”
Linebacker Bart Scott, the former Raven, referred to the way the Ravens did things last year in Baltimore with rookie Joe Flacco.
“This has been our formula,” Scott said. “We had a young quarterback last year and he didn’t start to open it up in the passing game until late November or December and he hit his stride in the playoffs.
“Mark had so much success early, you kind of forgot he was a rookie.”