The list of quarterbacks for the remaining Super Bowl contenders reads like a Who’s Who of NFL passing leaders — Peyton Manning, Brett Favre, Drew Brees and ... Mark Sanchez?
Sanchez, a first-year player with 12 touchdown passes and 20 interceptions, would become the first rookie quarterback to start in the Super Bowl should the longshot New York Jets beat Manning and the Indianapolis Colts in Sunday’s AFC title game.
The 23-year-old Sanchez, a student last year at University of Southern California (USC), has navigated the ups and downs of a rookie season and now operates a ball-control running attack that complements the Jets’ rugged, top-ranked defense.
Cutting down interceptions, using sound judgment about when to throw the ball away and when to take a sack rather than risk a turnover, have become as important to his job description as passing for touchdowns.
“You just learn from each experience, and understand how important these games are,” Sanchez told reporters on Friday. “They are just so important.”
“Just the value of maintaining the football and drawing out your time of possession. If we keep doing that, we’ll be all right,” Sanchez said.
Sanchez has accepted a more conservative approach on offense as coach Rex Ryan, himself a rookie, stressed a “ground-and-pound” attack that counted on a ferocious defense to keep games close and winnable.
Earlier in the season, the young quarterback threw five interceptions against Buffalo, four picks against New England and three more in a loss last month to Atlanta that coach Ryan thought had scuttled the Jets’ hopes of reaching the playoffs.
Since then, Sanchez has stuck to Ryan’s script.
Relying on a powerful offensive line and the hard running of Thomas Jones and rookie Shonn Greene, Sanchez has thrown two touchdown passes and just one interception in a four-game winning streak that has put the Jets on the brink of the Super Bowl.
“I know he’s got a good grasp of what we need out of that position,” Ryan said. “He is doing a great job.”
“I think he’s in tune with what the team needs and I think that’s what gives us such great confidence,” Ryan said.
The Jets reached the postseason with a 9-7 record following victories over the Colts and Cincinnati Bengals, who rested players since they had already clinched playoff berths.
Rated 50-1 in the postseason, the visiting New Yorkers beat the Bengals again and last week knocked out San Diego, ending the Chargers’ 11-game winning streak and setting up a rematch with the Colts.
Underdog status is a familiar role for the Jets, whose only Super Bowl win came when quarterback Joe Namath made good a guarantee of victory over the heavily favored Baltimore Colts to end the 1968 season.
Since that victory, which is credited with cementing the AFL’s merger into the NFL, fans of the green and white have come to greet near misses and disappointing seasons with a mutter of “Same old Jets.”
The charisma and confidence of coach Ryan and the promise of young quarterback Sanchez have changed that sentiment this season, and the rookie signal caller cannot wait for tomorrow.
“It’s the coolest thing in the world just knowing that everybody in that stadium, everybody on your team, on their team, is watching and waiting for you to say go, waiting for you to hike the ball,” Sanchez said on Friday. “It’s going to be great.”
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