I didn’t get to watch Stafford but I did watch Sanchez. The Jets rookie actually got a pep talk from Joe Namath before the game. So maybe that provided a boost. Sanchez posted a relatively mediocre 272 yards with 1 TD and 1 INT. But his performance was actually better than the line would indicate. His one pick was truly a “rookie mistake” — the kind that I think he’ll avoid in the future. The former USC QB did an excellent job of managing the game and picking his spots. Whether or not he’s the next Joe Namath, he’s seemingly the perfect signal caller for a Jets team with a nasty defense and diverse running attack.
Stafford’s game was not televised for me, so I just kept an eye on the box score. He started relatively well and had a rushing touchdown in the 3rd quarter. After one game, Stafford has zero touchdown passes and three picks. I’d blame Stafford for poor decision-making, but Drew Brees forced the Lions to throw all day by burying them early. The fact that he was picked by Darren Sharper, a safety, twice probably indicates that he made poor decisions — rather than a corner making a great play on the ball. While the former Georgia quarterback put up a frighteningly Joey Harrington-like line, I do believe that he will improve. I’m sticking to my assessment that he’s a slightly more stupid version Jay Cutler. And I’m still not sure if that’s good or bad.
Via Shutdown Corner:
Stafford (16 of 37, 205 yards, 0 TD, 3 INT): He tried throwing into tight windows too often – every quarterback who comes to the NFL in love with his arm strength has to learn that the windows at the next level are very thin, and this is true even against the Saints’ pass defense. Calvin Johnson(notes) was targeted 13 times, and he caught three passes. Stafford has more than enough weaponry around him, and he’ll learn to use it.
But his two picks to Darren Sharper(notes) were indicative of the growth process – one was a howler into triple coverage, and the other was right to Sharper; Stafford could not have thrown it more accurately to Sharper if he was trying to. By all indications, Stafford has taken to the playbook in a way that has impressed his coaches, and he really does have the kind of arm that can make just about any throw. The Lions just need to be patient. In the next five weeks, Stafford will go up against the defenses of the Vikings, Redskins, Bears, Steelers, and Packers. He’s going to have some really bad games, and the front office just needs to keep thinking in the long term.
Sanchez (18 of 31, 272 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT): The thing I like most about Sanchez, and I noticed it as much against the Texans as I did when he played for USC, is that he knows what kind of quarterback he is. He doesn’t tend to extend beyond his abilities, or beyond what the play will give him. That’s not to say that he’s a Captain Checkdown or anything – he has a good deep ball and he used it on the touchdown to Chansi Stuckey(notes), on a busted Cover-Zero look he analyzed correctly.
Sanchez reminds me of a pitcher who doesn’t have a 98-mile-per-hour fastball at an early age and has to learn to survive just as much on guts and intelligence. He has excellent pocket presence (when I saw him inside Lucas Oil Stadium at the Scouting Combine, I was amazed at his footwork). He was consistently good on rollouts and little shotgun screens, moving the ball and converting third downs. When it comes to quarterbacks, the word “efficient” can be a backhanded insult, because it implies that the player in question is just chipping away at a huge boulder when he should be breaking out the dynamite, But Sanchez’s efficiency shows up on the drive charts, and I think that will only get better with time. He will make mistakes, but I really like his ability to overcome them.
Tags: detroit lions, football, mark sanchez, Matthew Stafford, new york jets, NFL
