NFL

Jets’ Sanchez seeks perfect game against Patriots

TIME TO STEP UP: Mark Sanchez—who has seven interceptions—said he knows he can’t afford to turn the ball over against the Patriots in their AFC East showdown on Sunday. (Getty Images)

Mark Sanchez knows this one is on him. He knows for the Jets to beat the Patriots on Sunday night, he has to be flawless.

Sanchez watched Ben Roethlisberger control the game in the Steelers’ 25-17 win over the Patriots two weeks ago. He watched Eli Manning march the Giants down the field in the final minute at Gillette Stadium last Sunday.

Now, it’s his turn. Like always, the Jets’ goal is to keep the Patriots offense off the field for as long as possible, limiting Tom Brady’s chances. That rests on how well Sanchez can keep drives alive.

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“It’s always going to take a good game by the quarterback to beat that team and that defense because Coach [Bill] Belichick is going to have them in the right position,” Sanchez said. “It doesn’t mean you have to go out and make a spectacular play, but just understand the situation.

“You watch Eli’s drive last week and it was awesome — one of the best drives you’ve seen by a quarterback this season, but he did the little things right. He took the underneath routes when he could. He got a penalty that got him down there and took advantage of it. … Whether it comes down to the last drive or just being accurate all game, that’s what it takes to beat them. You just can’t give them anything. You can’t throw one to them.”

That has been a problem for Sanchez this season. The third-year quarterback has shown improvement in several areas this year, but he continues to turn the ball over. Sanchez has 12 turnovers (seven interceptions, five fumbles) this season.

Sanchez threw an interception in the red zone last week after the Jets put together a drive of 10:09, the second-longest in the NFL this year. The drive ended with no points because of Sanchez’s throw to Bills safety George Wilson in the end zone.

“You look at the seven interceptions, I think it is, and there are some dumb ones,” Sanchez said. “We get rid of those and we’re really playing well.”

The Steelers and Giants both threw the ball against the Patriots more than the Jets like to. Roethlisberger had 50 attempts, completing 36 of them for 365 yards and two touchdowns. That helped Pittsburgh control the ball for 39:22 in its win. Manning attempted 39 passes last week, completing 20 for 250 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.

The Jets were letting Sanchez throw the ball around early in the season but have now moved away from that. He attempted 44 passes in two of the first three games but has been in the 25-33 range over the last four games.

Sanchez has played better since Rex Ryan recommitted to running the ball before their first meeting with the Patriots. His passer rating since that game is 94.7, second only to Roethlisberger in the AFC.

It will be interesting to watch how the Jets balance their return to running the ball with facing the Patriots, who rank last in the league against the pass.

“We have to maintain drives,” Ryan said. “When you look at it, Pittsburgh, what they did defensively, you look at their numbers and they played extremely well on defense, not taking anything away from them, but their offense really controlled the game. They punted once in the game, and that was with 30 seconds left. So I think that would obviously be what you want against a high-powered offense like [the Patriots’]. As good as our defense is, it’s not near as good as when we’re on the sideline.”

Sanchez turned the ball over twice last week , but it did not hurt the Jets. Do it again this week, and they might not be as lucky.

“I need to do whatever it takes for our team to win, and that’s get completions, convert on third down, put us in the right run checks, just be very accurate,” Sanchez said. “Don’t give them any cheap ones. That almost hurt us last week and our defense bailed us out, so just don’t give them anything and we should be OK.”