DON’T LOOK BEHIND YOU: It’s not an endorsement for Tim Tebow, but if Mark Sanchez stinks it up against the Rams, Rex Ryan will have no choice but to pull the plug on Sanchez, Post columnist Steve Serby says. (AP)
DON’T LOOK BEHIND YOU: It’s not an endorsement for Tim Tebow, but if Mark Sanchez stinks it up against the Rams, Rex Ryan will have no choice but to pull the plug on Sanchez, Post columnist Steve Serby says. (
)
The clock is ticking now on Mark Sanchez, and it is an alarm clock, with only 60 more minutes on it.
Sanchez and the Jets are in free fall, and if they crash and burn Sunday in St. Louis with their old offensive coordinator, Brian Schottenheimer, in the house plotting revenge, Rex Ryan cannot possibly continue to stand by his man, the way he did yesterday, cannot continue to sell Sanchez as the Sanchize to his team and to a disgruntled fan base that is mad as hell and can’t take it anymore.
It will be, for better or for worse, Tebow Time.
Which should not be confused with Tebow Savings Time, because I remain firmly in the be-careful-what-you-wish-for department.
You’re entitled to my opinion that Tebow is not a starting quarterback in this league.
But you can easily make the case that any quarterback who completes only 52 percent of his passes should not be a starting quarterback in this league.
Especially at a point in his career when he should be at 60 percent.
Sanchez needs the game of his life, and he needs it now. One more disaster, one more game where he throws a catastrophic interception, or makes a head-scratching decision that fourth-year quarterbacks are not supposed to be making, one more lost fumble, one more game where he is a contributing cause of another defeat, and Ryan will not be able to look his team in the eye and pretend nothing is wrong. Sometimes, you have to look like you’re trying.
One more game where the quarterback is drowning in the Dead Sea without a lifeboat in sight, and Jets Nation — maybe even more than Woody Johnson — will be moved that much closer to embrace Tebow Time by asking themselves this depressing question: What do we have to lose anyway at 3-7?
One of the many arguments against the Tebow candidacy is the small matter of redesigning your offense to tailor it to his skill set. Understood. John Fox did a terrific job with it last year in Denver.
And oh by the way, does anyone think Sanchez is flourishing under Tony Sparano?
I have been in Sanchez’s corner all the way, because I have seen him rise to the big playoff occasions, and because of my reservations about Tebow, who should be a running back. I have only now wavered in my belief that he gives the Jets the best chance to win. Can Tebow do much worse than 9-for-22 for 124 yards with one horrific interception and one fumble? Probably. Can Tebow do better than three wins in his last 12 games? Possibly.
Sanchez is 11-14 over his last 25 games. His regression is regressing. He cannot possibly lead or inspire playing like this. He was resilient in the overtime in Miami, and nearly heroic bringing the Jets back in the fourth quarter in Foxborough. But those moments have been few and far between.
In his defense, the organization has failed miserably at nurturing him. A year ago they dropped Plaxico Burress and Derrick Mason in his lap and all but asked him to be the young Brett Favre, before Ryan reversed field and returned to his philosophical roots.
Then the organization kicked the tires on Peyton Manning. Then pretended it didn’t when Peyton made it clear Florham Park was not Peyton’s Place. Then rushed to sign Tebow. And so what we have witnessed, As the Circus Turns and the cast changes and deteriorates around him, is a developing quarterback whose growth has been stunted. Who has been left stranded in too many ways on Sanchez Island.
There’s a notion that if you bench Sanchez, you can never go back to him? If that’s the case, then he shouldn’t be an NFL quarterback, and he sure shouldn’t be one in this market. And just because you bench him doesn’t mean he can’t return. If Tebow proves to be an unmitigated disaster, taking a seat just might help Sanchez catch his breath and regain his bearings.
Ryan and Sparano presumably worked on the emergency Tebow option during the recent bye week. If Sanchez cannot make a stand against the Rams, if he cannot elevate his play and lift others around him, then imagine the ambush that would be waiting for him Thanksgiving Night against the Patriots. It would be cruel and unusual punishment to subject him to the “We Want Tebow” chorus that could puncture his eardrums, if not his heart and soul.
“He’s just got a big fan base,” Sanchez said. “It’s really nothing that I think about.”
Make no mistake, there are plenty of problem areas other than quarterback. But quarterback is a problem area. “Turning the ball over in the red zone, that’s a rookie move,” Sanchez said.
Eli Manning makes them, too. He also wins Super Bowls. Ryan walks the dangerous tightrope now between loyalty and stubbornness. But this is the bed you make when you begin Tebowing before your backup quarterback. And your owner never stops Tebowing. And if Sanchez continues to be Can’tchez, and Ryan makes like a green-and-white ostrich, then the conspiracy theorists who maintain that bringing Tebow here was the owner’s call will have a field day.
“I know Rex has faith in me, just like I have faith in Rex,” Sanchez said.
It’s his dream job, and he is certain he is the best man for the job.
“I’m just not a self-doubter,” Sanchez said.
He’s been dealt a bad hand, and been the good soldier every step of the way, and he hasn’t lost his fight. That may win friends and influence people, but not nearly as much as throwing touchdown passes and winning games does.
Sixty minutes.
Tick … Tick … Tick.
And if Sanchez doesn’t answer the alarm, it is time for the clock to strike 6, time for Jets Nation to wake up to Tebow Time. Better late than never if 3-6 turns to 3-7 on Sanchez’s watch.