Mark Sanchez Folk Hero

Ladies and gentleman, we have ourselves a quarterback. Any doubts about Mark Sanchez's ability to take the reins and establish himself as a franchise quarterback were quelled by his gutsy performance against the Cleveland Browns sunday. Sanchez has been gradually maturing each week dating back to his outstanding performance in last year's AFC Championship game against the Colts. The second year quarterback's every move has been scrutinized since he was selected with the fifth overall pick in the 2009 draft, from his pre-draft GQ photo shoot to eating a hotdog on the sideline during a game against the Raiders in 2009. In his rookie year, Sanchez proved to be more of a hindrance than a help to the team during the regular season, turning the ball over an eye popping 23 times including 20 interceptions. This year the "Sanchize" is finally living up to his nickname, vastly maturing as a quarterback, deliberately going through his reads, not forcing the ball down-field, and checking down when he needs to. The true barometer of Sanchez's growth as a quarterback is his dramatic decrease in turnovers. Sanchez has cut his interceptions in half with only throwing six through 9 games as compared to 12 at the same point in 2009. Jets fans have seen flashes of greatness from the second-year quarterback but have yet to see a game where Sanchez has asserted his role as an upper-echalant NFL quarterback. That is until Sunday, where Sanchez had a coming of age, an NFL "Bar-Mitzvah" so to speak. Against the Browns, Sanchez displayed excellent poise in the pocket and a command of the offense that we had not seen before, methodically leading the offense up and down the field against a tough Rob Ryan defense. Midway through the third quarter the Browns pass-rush got to Sanchez injuring his right calf but he was able to effectively play through the pain despite a noticeable limp.

When it came down to crunch time, Sanchez was clutch leading the Jets in to field goal range in overtime only to be undone by another missed field goal by Nick Folk. The rest of overtime was a battle of wills that looked like it might end in the league's first tie in two years. With time waning in overtime the Jets took a shot at the end zone, the pass intended for Braylon Edwards was intercepted by rookie cornerback, Joe Haden at the three yard line and should put Sanchez in consideration for Special Teams Player of the Week. The Browns took over on offense from their own one yard line with a little over two minutes remaining in overtime, going three and out and punting from their own endzone with 35 seconds left on the clock. After an 11 yard punt return by Jim Leonhard, the Jets had the ball at the Cleveland 37 yard line with 16 seconds left and what happened next was the stuff of legends. With 16 seconds remaining and a tie looming, a one legged Mark Sanchez hits Santonio Holmes on a 10 yard slant route, which he breaks off for the game-winning touchdown. Let's be honest this wasn't exactly Byron Leftwich being carried to the line by his teammates but it was a gritty, gutsy performance that you want to see from your franchise quarterback. Despite his short-comings, Sanchez has been clutch when he needed to be, leading the Jets offense on three game-winning drives in four weeks. Although the Jets still have issues to iron out it is comforting to know that for the first time in while their quarterback is not one of them.