Mark Sanchez: Is He Finally Becoming What We Thought He Would Be

On Sunday Mark Sanchez took a big step forward. Against the Patriots, Sanchez didn’t look like the second year player who was unprepared or second guessing himself. Sanchez was looking like a seasoned veteran with an upside that would leave the avid football coaches, players, and fan drooling while watching him play. Sanchez was making all the throws on Sunday showcasing the rifle connected to the right side of his body. Even in distress he found the proper outlets and for once, the New York Jets allowed him to showcase his ability to throw the ball deep.

Sanchez completed 21 of 30 passes and also had 3 touchdowns for the Jets against a pretty good New England Patriots Defense. What I liked most about how Sanchez approached the game, he didn’t really lock on to one guy. Sanchez was hitting everyone. He was throwing while reading and utilizing play action better than I have ever seen from him since turning pro.

It seems like the Jets were going to the blueprint that was successful in the playoffs last season. On offense they have figured out that teams are going to stack the line of scrimmage on first and second down so that is the best time to pass. Everyone knows that defensive coaches like to run the ball because they like to minimize the number of plays that their defense will be on the field.

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Talking Tom Brady: He's Talking And People Are Listening

I remember when everyone would praise Tom Brady and Peyton Manning because they never really said anything about anyone; they would always let their play do the talking. Well now that they have both gotten older, they have a voice. I mean a real voice.

Peyton Manning started talking two years ago and all of a sudden he is doing commercials and is now the face of the NFL. Not to be outdone Tom Brady is letting his voice be heard this year. Tom Brady has already been ably covered in these blog pages this young football season, but I couldn’t resist commenting on the latest Brady headline. (Granted, it doesn’t take much for Tom Brady to garner headlines — he doesn’t even have to do anything important, like win a game, or get in a car accident, or not cut his hair.)

The latest: “Brady Not Happy With Fans’ Early Departure”  in which Tom laments the fact that Patriots fans have the audacity to head out early when the team has a huge lead in the fourth quarter, unlike, say, the Jets fans at Giants Stadium.

When I heard Brady voicing this I had to turn the TV up. I was like, “Is this really Tom Brady?” Let’s just say that Tom is speaking his mind a lot lately. Even earlier this month Tom Brady was talking about his hatred of the N. Y. Jets. Tom Brady toned down the hate speech Wednesday as he prepared to face the Jets. Not that the Patriots' superstar is going to like them any more when he visits the Meadowlands on Sunday.

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Jets Fans: There Is No Need To Panic...Yet!

All you bandwagon riders, don’t be so quick to jump ship, the New York Jets aren’t as bad as they appeared to be on Monday night. The Jets just happened to be playing a team that well looked like them. Keep in mind that the Ravens were once Rex Ryan’s defensive baby that grew up and matured like a fine wine. 

Watching the Jets and the Ravens play was like playing Madden and both players choosing the same team. Flacco and Sanchez are both young and inexperienced so both teams lean on the ability to run. The Ravens have Ray Rice, a young running back who has just found himself and is beginning to come into his own. They also have an experienced veteran in Willis McGahee to pick up the slack when Rice gets tired. The Jets have a young runner themselves in Shonn Greene who is starting his first NFL games. The Jets also have an insurance policy in LaDainian Tomlinson who will pick up the team when Greene is unable to deliver.

The passing game of both teams limits the explosive receivers that both of them have. Weapons like Braylon Edwards, T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Santonio Holmes, and Anquon Boldin will all have numbers that will be somewhat frustrating to elite receivers due to inexperienced quarterback play.

Even on defense these teams are so similar it’s eerie. The only difference between the two teams is the secondary. The Jets have an elite secondary headed by Darell Revis and the Ravens have an experienced secondary that is missing its leader Ed Reed. One thing is for sure, is that both of these teams will hit you. The front seven of both of these teams is as big and fast as any that the NFL has ever witnessed. Both are deep and both deliver.

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My 20 Guarantees for the 2010 – 2011 NFL Season

Every year the NFL off season and pre season bring many teams hope. Usually that hope is usually smashed for all but one team at the end of the season. Too many people make guarantees and players eventually buy into those guarantees and start making guarantees themselves. I hear player after player and organization after organization make promises to their teams and fans that they should know have no possibilities of delivering on.

Well today I am going to go ahead and crush the dreams of most of the teams and players in the league. I am about 90% confident in what I am about to say. If you disagree please let it be known. I have big shoulders, I can take it.

The List:

1. The New York Jets will not win the Super Bowl, in fact they will be a wild card team lucky to advance to the second round of the playoffs.
2. The Dallas Cowboys will not be the first team to host a Super Bowl and play in it too. They aren’t as good as they are being advertised.
3. Chris Johnson will not get 2500 yards from scrimmage. In fact he will probably spend at least 3 games out due to injuries suffered from trying to achieve such a feat.
4. Brett Favre will not lead the Minnesota Vikings to the Super Bowl this year. He is over-hyped and last season was a fluke.
5. Lovie Smith will be fired as Chicago Bears head coach before January 10, 2011. Call me crazy but the writing is on the wall.

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AFC EAST: Will The Jets Bust or Boom

For the next few entries, I have decided to spotlight each division in the NFL. We will analyze who will be the champion before the season starts. We will look at coaching, players, front office, and fanfare to determine which team will come out of their division and contend for their conference championship. Today we will start with one of the toughest divisions in football. The AFC East is made up of the Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots, and the newly rejuvenated New York Jets.

The Buffalo Bills show up with a very limited roster. They have many holes on offense and defense. They are clearly the weakest team in the division. They don’t have a solid contributor at the quarterback position and they will be depending on a slew of unproven wide receivers to make a below average quarterback look good.

Key Players for the Bills: Fred Jackson (RB), Marshawn Lynch (RB), Donte Whitner (S), and Lee Evans (WR).

Predicted finish in division LAST

The Miami Dolphins are a helter skelter type of team. From week to week you really don’t know what you are getting. They are obviously coached well and they have talent at a lot of positions. They made many additions that make them intriguing to me this season. I think they can make a serious run at the division title and if they get hot they can make a run at the conference title as well. To do this they will need a lot of luck and almost no injuries.

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