Another Poor Showing by Sanchez

A capsule look at the Jets’ 17-13 loss to Denver.

KEY PLAY BY JETS

It will be forgotten after Tim Tebow’s final drive …. but the Jets’ first touchdown came in an unorthodox manner — a fumble recovery by guard Matt Slauson. The play that ushered them to the doorstep was helped by a textbook block by Brandon Moore, who cleared space for Joe McKnight on his 12-yard screen pass to the 1. Slauson became the first Jets offensive lineman to score on a fumble recovery since Randy Rasmussen on Oct. 8, 1972.

NOTABLE NUMBER: 5
That is how many Denver possessions began in Jets territory, resulting in 3 points. As the Jets hoped, their defense largely stuffed the run, forcing Tebow into passing situations. He overthrew some passes and underthrew others, but his receivers also struggled to gain separation against the cornerbacks. After going 3 for 3 on the opening drive, Tebow went 6 for 17, but scored the winning touchdown.

TALKING POINT
What do the Jets do now after another ineffective performance by Mark Sanchez?

Video Sports of The Times: Will Mark Sanchez Ever Grow Up?

The Jets’ latest loss to the New England Patriots raises the question of whether quarterback Mark Sanchez will ever be able to lead the team to elite status.

Is Sanchez a Leader? And Other N.F.L. Questions

I have a two-part question about the continuing development of Mark Sanchez as both a team leader and a quarterback. Seen game by game and season by season, how do his performances compare to the development of established quarterbacks like Eli Manning, Philip Rivers, Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers, Ben Roethlisberger, Joe Flacco, etc., and is it relevant to compare his development to theirs? Is it relevant to compare him to other younger quarterbacks like Matthew Stafford?

Also, how does one gauge whether Sanchez is the team leader that many in the news media want him to be, let alone what the Jets’ management wants him to be? Is he that leader? Is he becoming that leader?Rocky Bleier, Brooklyn

These are all imperfect comparisons, but you can eliminate a few of these guys because Sanchez started immediately as a rookie on a team built to run and play defense.

Manning, Rivers, Brees and Rodgers did not start immediately as rookies. Eli Manning started later in his rookie season. Stafford has been hurt often so we haven’t had enough complete seasons to look. Flacco and Roethlisberger started right away on teams that were built to look the way the Jets want to look: great defense, powerful running games. Roethlisberger has become one of the best quarterbacks in the league on a team that now relies heavily on the pass (see its victory over New England). Flacco is still uneven, although he is surrounded by better receivers than he was for a few years.

Would I stack Sanchez up against Roethlisberger? Absolutely not. Is he more comparable to Flacco? Yes, and Sanchez gets extra credit because he has performed well in playoff games. But Boomer Esiason said something interesting to my colleague Ben Shpigel for an article he did about Sanchez’s third year: it’s time for Sanchez to be the reason the Jets win games, rather than the reason they don’t lose. That’s a substantial difference — is there any doubt Rodgers or Brees is the reason his team wins so much? But Sanchez seems to be trapped in the role of game manager. And the fact that the Jets, after their recent losses, have shifted back to the ground-and-pound offensive style suggests they still don’t think he can hoist the team on his back and lead the way.

As for whether he’s a team leader, that’s a process that usually takes place out of sight of reporters and fans. Can he take control of the locker room if need be? I’m not sure about that. In the recent losing streak there was plenty of sniping from Santonio Holmes aimed at Sanchez. In the end, leadership comes from winning, though. That’s the conundrum the Broncos face with Tim Tebow — people talk about his great leadership ability, but in the N.F.L. you cannot be a great leader if you don’t deliver on the field. Sanchez has to deliver — really win games when it’s all in his hands — to be considered a great leader.

Say the Colts end up with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2012 draft. Will they take Andrew Luck, or trade for multiple picks, draft another quarterback (to sit behind Peyton Manning for a couple of seasons) and a couple of other players to shore up the team for next year?
Justin, Quad Cities

You are asking what is going to be the question of the off-season, assuming the Colts continue in their nosedive (which I think they will). If they have the first pick, I think they will draft Luck. I don’t see how they can pass on him, or trade the pick. Most scouts and personnel executives believe he is the best prospect at least since Manning, and perhaps since John Elway. If you happen to be one of those people, you cannot pass on him. On top of that, Manning’s health remains in question — and it’s unclear at what point his health will be clarified. The Colts have to pay a huge bonus to him in March, so they will have to know with some certainty then what his future will be. But even the best situation for him is that he’s a 35-year-old quarterback coming off three neck surgeries in less than two years. That’s not good. So to me, the first question is do they pay Manning that bonus in March? If they do, the month leading up to the draft will be fascinating. Will Manning be willing to tutor Luck? Will teams offer the farm to get that first pick from the Colts? Would there be a temptation by the Colts to make a trade to load up to try to win a few more Super Bowls while Manning is still playing?

And don’t forget the unasked question: who is making these decisions? The first thing that has to happen in Indianapolis is that the owner Jim Irsay has to decide whether to retain Coach Jim Caldwell and Bill and Chris Polian. Nothing is guaranteed after a season like this.

Halfway through Mark Sanchez’s third season it’s time to ask: Do the Jets have a legitimate franchise quarterback in him? Also, how do you like the Jets’ chances against the Patriots this weekend?
Jacob, North Shore, Mass.

I probably mostly answered your Sanchez question above. The phrase “franchise quarterback” suggests to me someone who can consistently carry the team, and I don’t think Sanchez is there yet. He is being paid and certainly is being marketed as the franchise quarterback, and his draft position means he has to be that. Here’s an indicator: the obvious thing to do against the Patriots’ poor pass defense would be to put the game in Sanchez’s hands — the way the Steelers did with Roethlisberger. Will they do it? And will they be successful? If they insist on running, they are not attacking the weakest part of the Patriots. Now is as good a time as any for the Jets to get their franchise quarterback a signature victory.

I do like the Jets’ chances. The Patriots have not lost three in a row since 2002, but their defense is a major problem — if, as noted above, the Jets can exploit the pass defense — and that forces Tom Brady to be practically perfect to win. He has not been perfect several times this year, and in the first half last week he looked as inaccurate as he has in a long time.

Peter King of Sports Illustrated wrote that the Packers should be worried about their defense. They’ve made it this far, he acknowledges, but whether they can repeat as Super Bowl champions at the rate their defense is playing is problematic. The Packers insist they have only a few corrections to make. Is King right? How worried should the Packers and their fans be?
A.B.G., Chicago

I agree with Peter — it’s time to get a tiny bit concerned, despite the Packers’ record. They have made it this far undefeated because Aaron Rodgers is playing out of his mind, certainly the best quarterback play in the league now and arguably the best we’ve seen in quite a few years. But when they say all the defensive problems are correctible — O.K., it’s time to make the corrections and stop letting teams score so many points. If Rodgers stays healthy, there isn’t much question they should be able to score in crazy bunches. But in the playoffs they will probably face a team like the Niners, who have a good defense, and the Saints, who can also score almost at will. For example, we’ve seen how vulnerable the Chargers have been against other teams, but they went toe to toe with the Packers on offense. Suppose Rodgers has a bad day — it’s conceivable, even Tom Brady has had them this year. Inevitably in the playoffs, games get tighter and despite the tilt of the league to passing, teams that have good defenses go further. So yeah, if you’re a Packers fan, you might start to be worried about the defense. Of course, last year at this time, it was hard to imagine the Packers would even get to the playoffs and the offense really started to take off in the playoffs, so there is still plenty of time. If they improve in the next few weeks, though, buy your tickets to Indianapolis.

I’ve followed Joe Flacco and the Ravens closely over the past three years. Do you share my impression that Flacco has grown into a prime (let’s forget about “elite”) quarterback now that he has high-quality receivers?Wilgar, Washington, D.C.

I think Flacco was always a prime quarterback (if we assume that there is a handful of “elite” quarterbacks like Rodgers, Brady, Brees, Roethlisberger, etc., and then a group behind that group, I’d put Flacco in the second group) and yes, he is obviously being helped by the fleet of receivers he has now. That has been a shortcoming of the Ravens for a few years — they have not been able to stretch the field because of it. Flacco has a strong arm and having a guy like Torrey Smith able to run past everyone takes advantage of that and also forces defenses to back off Ray Rice. What you want now is to see Flacco be more consistent week in and week out. No more of those weird flops against Jacksonville. And you certainly want to see a better completion percentage than the 54.7 percent he is at now (that would be a career low, more than 5 points below his rookie year). He’s on a pace for the first 4,000-yard season of his career, though.

Is there something about Michael Vick’s playing style or preparation that is responsible for his inconsistency from one game to the next? Or is it largely because of his teammates, the offensive scheme, and/or opposing defenses? Does his long absence from the game play a role, or has he always played this way?Matt, Palo Alto, Calif.

Vick has always played this way. Since he has been in Philadelphia, he has actually been more disciplined than he was in Atlanta. He stays in the pocket more, rather than taking off and running. He is a dynamic player and you don’t want to harness that too much or you take away what scares defenses: his ability to take off. The inconsistency of the Eagles this year has plenty of roots but here’s a big one: the offensive line has been a work in progress and no quarterback, not Aaron Rodgers and not Michael Vick, can look good if the offensive line looks bad. Worth noting though: Vick is completing 62 percent of his passes this season. Last year he was at 62.6. Those are the only two seasons of his career above 56.4 percent, which was his high water mark in Atlanta. The alarming thing about this season is that his interceptions are soaring. He has nine already, after just six last year, and he has never had more than 13.

How does the N.F.L. decide how to fine a player for what it determines to be an illegal hit? Does the N.F.L. explain each situation in detail so fans can understand the logic? Ryan Clark obviously disagrees with the $40,000 fine he just received. Clark and Coach Mike Tomlin have described the details of how Clark tackled the receiver and they are openly stating the hit was legal. Again, does the N.F.L. have an obligation to describe its rationale?Eric Conrad, Canton, Mich.

Several members of the league office, including Ray Anderson, who is in charge of all football operations, and Merton Hanks, who works for Anderson, look at the film of each play and each game. They are aware that some plays need special scrutiny. They have every camera angle imaginable available to them. Then they determine the fine. The severity of the fine is often based on past transgressions (think of James Harrison’s escalating fines last year). I don’t think the N.F.L. has a particular obligation to explain its thinking to fans. It does have an obligation to explain what it sees that is problematic to players because the whole point is to eliminate dangerous hits. If there is a genuine disagreement among Clark, Tomlin and the league office about what constitutes an acceptable hit, I suspect there will be communication among them at some point to explain what they want Clark to do differently.

If a pro football player signs a five-year contract but the team can cut him without pay two days, or weeks, later, why would he sign the contract?Evinkeefe, Larchmont. N.Y.

What other choice does he have? The contract usually comes with a signing bonus, which is the only guaranteed money available to players. But this is how the N.F.L. has always worked — no guaranteed contracts because of the high injury rate and relatively short careers. It certainly gives the team more power, but that is why you see players and their agents fighting so hard for the bonus money.

The uniforms increasingly drive me crazy, with pants looking more like bicycle shorts as they creep up the thigh. I thought the N.F.L. was notorious for protecting the uniform? I thought I read somewhere that knee pads would be mandatory. Was I dreaming?A. Greenberg, New York

The N.F.L. wants to make more pads mandatory (thigh pads, knee pads), but players have resisted. They think, correctly or not, that it slows them down. Additional padding was not mandated in the new collective bargaining agreement, so don’t hold your breath for players to don more armor voluntarily — even linemen prefer to wear smaller pads because they are lighter.

Your N.F.L. Questions Answered

Judy Battista, the N.F.L. reporter for The New York Times, answers questions from readers.

Two things: One, how long will Tim Tebow last as the starting QB of Denver. And what kind of impact do you think he will have? I.E., will he win the spot for the season and win, or will he go the Cam Newton route and show flashes of brilliance yet still lose out in close games?
– Posted by Justin, Quad Cities

The Denver Broncos should only hope that Tebow looks like Newton does, because Newton has been spectacular — far beyond what anybody expected. Tebow is not Newton, though. Newton does not have throwing mechanics issues, for one, and he is a superior athletic talent to Tebow. Having said that, the spark Tebow provides the offense when he is in the game is undeniable.

I imagine that at least for the first few games, he will look a lot like he did when he went in at halftime last week: some badly misfired throws, some short completions, some thrilling running. One of the biggest concerns with his style of play is that no team wants their starting quarterback to get crushed by linebackers on a regular basis — can Tebow hold up to that week after week?

That’s why everybody wants him to become more of a pocket passer. I think he will give the Broncos a jolt and, as opponents will discover at least early on, he will be a challenge to prepare for because of the threat that he’ll run. But the Broncos’ losses have not all been Kyle Orton’s fault, so if the defense doesn’t start playing better, Tebow alone won’t be able to change the results.

Unless he is absolutely terrible or gets hurt, I expect he’ll be the starter the rest of the season. This is a move made as much for the future as for now. The Broncos have to find out if he can be a starting quarterback in the N.F.L. The coaches and John Elway clearly didn’t think he could do it at the start of the season and if they are right, they’ll have to draft a quarterback next spring.

What happened to the Jets linebackers? I don’t see them making the big plays they made the last two years, especially Bart Scott. Does this account for the run production against the Jets?–Posted by Stoli, Washington, D.C.

If you remember, Bart Scott didn’t look great at the end of the playoffs last year either. Lots of things have happened — the departure of Kris Jenkins certainly does not help the linebackers or the defense as a whole, and at least from my perspective, the defense has looked a little slower this season so far. The fact that the Jets could not stop BenJarvus Green-Ellis — a nice running back, but not exactly Adrian Peterson — last week, when they knew the Patriots wanted to run, is telling and troubling because if the Jets’ offense continues to fall behind, the Jets are going to see more running until they prove they can stop it. They are currently ranked 26th in rushing yards yielded. Last year they finished ninth

Why are the Eagles sticking with their obviously flawed wide 9 defensive scheme AND sticking Asomugha in zone coverage most of the time? It’s beyond me why anyone would bother working so hard (and spending so much money) to get a player like Nnamdi and then play him in a zone 90 percent of the time.–Posted by Rich, Atlanta

Great questions and right now unanswerable. The Eagles’ defense is a mess across the board — the linebackers are not good (and that’s being especially exposed by the Wide 9), nobody is tackling well, only Cullen Jenkins and Jason Babin are living up to their free agency hype — but it’s hard to scrap an entire defensive system midstream and start over. The Eagles are clearly hoping that some of their issues are due to lack of familiarity and that once everybody settles in and knows where they are supposed to be, the gaping holes will disappear. That may be wishful thinking, and Andy Reid could  be answering for a long time why he thought it was a good idea to make his longtime offensive line coach his defensive coordinator in the same year when there would be massive influx of new personnel and limited time to work together.

Do you think the new rule placing kickoffs at the 35 will survive after this season?–Posted by Dave, Connecticut

Yes, I do, because it is having exactly the effect the N.F.L. wanted when it voted for it: reducing the number of collisions on kickoffs. By drastically reducing the number of kickoff returns, it has definitely accomplished that. This was a move made for safety reasons — some of the biggest and most damaging collisions happen on kickoff returns — not for aesthetics. The N.F.L. knew it would greatly decrease the number of kickoff returns, and even though big returns are some of the most exciting plays in football, the league was willing to take that tradeoff if it meant cutting down on big hits.

The Chargers, who usually stumble out of the gate, are 4-1 and in first place– does that mean they won’t make the playoffs?–Posted by zb, New York

Ha! No, I think they’ll make the playoffs, and it probably helps that there hasn’t been much attention paid to them this year. Also helps that, while the Raiders are surprising, the Chiefs and Broncos have struggled early.

A lot of heat gets put on the Jets offensive coordinator, Schotty. But don’t you think he and Rex Ryan are simply calling the plays that they think the QB can make without turning the ball over?–Posted by Steve, Connecticut

Yes. I think the coaches know their offensive line is in transition (read: not very good right now) and therefore they can’t make Mark Sanchez spend too much time back there waiting for plays to develop. Sanchez is still not overly accurate, and at this point I’m not sure that is ever going to get better. You have to wonder if he will ever be the kind of quarterback who can consistently take over a game and win it on his own. It probably told us a lot that the Jets did not take too many shots outside the numbers and down the field last week, just to test a Patriots defense that had really been struggling in that area.

I continue to hear from everyone it seems (Rex Ryan, Mark Sanchez, other current Jets, former Jets, pundits, analysts and prognosticators) that this Jets offense “isn’t built to put up huge numbers of yards or 30+ points/game.” Judy, what group in the offense ( O-Line, receivers, running backs, etc) would agree with that statement?–Posted by Steve, Connecticut

Not sure I entirely understand the question, Steve, but let me give it a shot. If the offense is built to run the ball, it’s clearly not built to be a scoring machine. Furthermore, as we’ve already discussed, the Jets seem reluctant to let Sanchez go downfield with his passes. This is not going to be a Packers/Patriots kind of offense, clearly, even though the receivers probably think they are capable of it. I don’t think saying it’s not built to put up 30 points a game is derogatory, it’s just the truth. This team is supposed to win by playing great defense and running the ball. Right now, it’s not doing either of those, and it doesn’t have a passing game capable of overcoming it, the way we saw Brady do in the first few weeks of the season.

To what extent are the Steelers’ difficulties this season due to their offensive line or the age of their defense? And what explains the dramatic increase in the number of yards rushing the defense is allowing this year? Is it regression to the mean, or something more insidious?–Posted by Carey, Pittsburgh

Well, the offensive line is a MASH unit, and the impact of that can’t be overlooked. They are getting Roethlisberger hit constantly. I haven’t seen enough of their games to know what is happening to their defense, except that their run defense is clearly giving up more yards than usual. But the defense is still ranked second in the league in yards given up. It will be interesting to see if the wallopping of the Titans marks the turning point for the Steelers.

Are the 49ers and Alex Smith for real? What is Smith’s QB rating score?–Posted by Ole Holsti, Salt Lake City

Alex Smith might be the best argument going for the value of good coaching. He was left for dead and his career looked to be over, and — presto — bring in Harbaugh. Now he’s third in quarterback rating (104.1 with seven touchdowns and one interception), behind only Brady, who is second, and Rodgers, whose rating is an absurd 122.9. Short answer: yes, the Niners are for real. They are playing well, and the rest of their division is a mess. If they don’t win it, I’d be shocked. This weekend’s game against the Lions will probably tell us a lot about them.

It’s safe to say the 49ers will win their division. They’re playing better football than anyone else in the NFC West. Can they prove that a team doesn’t need an elite QB to win big?–Posted by Greg, Silicon Valley

You’re assuming that Alex Smith — a former first pick — is not elite. I’m not sure we should do that. He has had a carousel of coaches and offensive systems and has never had a coach with the offensive mind or devotion to quarterback development that Harbaugh brings. I’m not saying Alex Smith is Aaron Rodgers, but with consistent coaching and an offense that suits him, he might be in the second tier of quarterbacks.

We see so many games plod along (see Jet offense most of last year), until crunch time then suddenly come alive in a flurry of offense, risk taking and big plays — what drives this transformation? Are the coaches inherently conservative until they have to open up? Is it really the grand chess match until inches become yards (yes, that “Any Given Sunday” reference) or the ball bounces one way or another?–Posted by BankerBoy, New York

I think it’s a combination of things. Yes, if a team is trailing and the clock is winding down, they have to take more chances going downfield. And, on the flip side, the team that holds the lead is often in some kind of a prevent defense, which allows the bigger opponent to get bigger chunks of yards, as long as the plays stay in front of the defense. In other words, force the opponent to drive down the field, but don’t give up the touchdown. You can’t say coaches are inherently conservative — how would you explain the offensive attacks of the Packers, Patriots, Saints, Colts (with Manning)? But you can say that coaches play to the strengths of their teams as long as they possibly can and deviate from that only when forced to.

Given the success of Victor Cruz and the fact that Steve Smith has not been a factor in the Eagles offense (according to Sheil Kapadia of Philly.com, he played in three snaps last week and has not been targeted in the past two weeks), doesn’t Jerry Reese and the Giants front office deserve some credit for not overpaying for Smith, especially considering the backlash the front office received from the media and fans after Smith signed with the Eagles?–Posted by Matt Barbarasch, New York

I don’t think anybody thought the Giants should overpay Steve Smith. But the criticism came when the number of players that the Giants theoretically wanted to keep piled up — including Kevin Boss (who was definitely overpaid by the Raiders) and Smith. There is no question that the Eagles thought Smith would be healthier sooner than the Giants did. The Giants trusted their doctors who, after all, did the surgery on Smith. So far, it looks like the Giants made the correct bet. As for Victor Cruz, he is delightful when he makes those circus catches, but he has also made some bad mistakes. If the Giants had been able to retain Smith — and not rush him back on the field — there’s not much question who the better receiver would be, if the health of both is equal.

Can Jets Handle Pressure of Being a Targeted Team?

“You’re either getting better or you’re getting worse”– Joe Paterno

One of the realities the 2-2 Jets are adapting to this season, their third with Rex Ryan as coach, is that they are no longer the hunters.

For two seasons, the Jets roamed the N.F.L. landscape with success, searching for and accumulating pelts to put on their wall. Three victories over New England, two over Indianapolis and single victories over San Diego and the Steelers while  going to back-to-back A.F.C. championship games had helped give the Jets the attention and respect they sought.

What has it all added up to?

Now it is the Jets who are the hunted.

Let’s start with two weeks ago, when Raiders Coach Hue Jackson made a point of saying he wanted his team to punch the Jets in the mouth and beat them at their own game. Jackson succeeded, and the Raider star is now shining a little brighter in the national spotlight.

On Sunday night, Baltimore put another hurting on the Jets and their already wounded pride. The Ravens shut down Rex Ryan’s ground-and-pound running game while scoring three defensive touchdowns.

Do you think New England might have something in store on Sunday in Foxborough, the site of the Jets’ division-round playoff victory over the Patriots last season, the game that Tom Brady described as one “he will never get over”? Anyone want to guess whether Brady has had this game circled on the schedule on his refrigerator door?

The bottom line is that the days of  sneaking up on teams is over. Do the Jets have what it takes to withstand the rigors of being a targeted team on a weekly basis?

It won’t matter whether the Jets can handle the pressure if they can’t pick up the quality of their play.

Let’s take a quick look at their problems, with some possible solutions:

1) The Jets can’t run the ball. Does this problem all fall on Shonn Greene? On the offensive line? On the play calling? The answer is probably a mix of all three.

As powerful a runner as Greene is, it’s possible he isn’t suited for the feature back role. It may not be fair to make that prognosis so early, especially since center Nick Mangold has been out for the better part of three of the Jets’ first four games. But the argument could be made that the Jets need a more elusive runner early in games to help create some momentum for the running game. If LaDainian Tomlinson is not the answer this season, as he was early last season, does that mean Joe McKnight deserves a chance to see what he can do? Maybe so.

2) The Jets can’t protect Mark Sanchez. This problem has been evident in every game this season. Against the Ravens,  Sanchez seldom seemed to have more than “one Mississippi” to get rid of the ball. If the Jets have room to maneuver under the salary cap, it is clear they need to look to improve their talent and production on the offensive line. Does anyone have Flozell Adams’s phone number?

3) The defense has underperformed. Yes, they finished strong against the Ravens, and Joe Flacco’s final numbers were terrible (10 for 31; 163 yards; INT). But the defense couldn’t stop a nosebleed for the better part of two quarters before it figured out how to disrupt Flacco. The Jets are going to face a very hungry, fast and feisty Patriots offense next week. Will they be able to turn back the clock and figure out how to get inside Tom Brady’s head again?

Extra point I’ll leave it to Fifth Down readers to break down any  other issues. What do the Jets need to do to get back to playing winning football?

Offensive Line Leaves Jets Vulnerable

A quick recap of the Jets’ 34-17 loss at Baltimore:

KEY PERFORMANCE

Committing turnovers week after week is bound to have repercussions. Mark Sanchez committed four more Sunday night, running his total to nine. The Ravens scored 24 points off turnovers. Sanchez has big hands, and the Jets have worked with him on ball security. But he struggled to handle two snaps, which did not appear to be the fault of the backup center, Colin Baxter, who again started in place of Nick Mangold.

NOTABLE NUMBER

It took one play for the Ravens to establish their superiority over the Jets’ offensive line. When Ed Reed broke free and forced Sanchez to fumble, it set the tone for a night of dominance. Try as they might, the Jets could not find the suitable combinations to protect Sanchez and keep Baltimore’s imposing front seven from breaching the line.

TALKING POINT

What can the Jets do to recover from another beating as they head into a crucial game at New England?

Jets Bring Injuries Back From Oakland

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. – The Jets announced Monday that quarterback Mark Sanchez sustained a minor break in his nose in the Jets’ 34-24 loss to the Raiders on Sunday and will have to wear a visor for a few weeks.

The team said he would not be limited by limited by the visor and could decide after a few weeks if he wanted to continue to wear it. Despite the injury, Sanchez threw for a career-high 369 yards and 2 touchdowns.

The news was not as pleasant for tight end Jeff Cumberland and cornerback Antonio Cromartie.

A magnetic resonance imaging test revealed that Cumberland, the team’s backup tight end, tore his Achilles’ tendon and is out for the season. Cromartie, who fumbled a kickoff return and in the secondary, bruised a lung and his ribs. His status for Sunday’s game against the Baltimore Ravens is not certain.

In N.F.L., the Cost of Doing Business Through the Air

For excitement, the first two weeks of the N.F.L. season have exceeded expectations. Scoring and passing yardage are at near-record levels, and Sunday’s Dallas-San Francisco game was just one example of the many games that have been decided by big passing plays at the finish.

But for teams with futures heavily dependent on their starting quarterbacks, and that is just about every team, there is an inherent risk.

Already, a seemingly large number of high-profile quarterbacks have absorbed debilitating hits. Philadelphia’s Michael Vick walked off the field spitting up blood after sustaining a concussion against the Falcons. The Vikings’ ferocious pass rush also drew blood against Tampa Bay’s Josh Freeman as he led the Buccaneers to a come-from-behind 24-20 victory.

There is more. Dallas’s Tony Romo delivered his deciding 77-yard pass to Jesse Holley in overtime against the 49ers as he was fighting the effects of a cracked rib and punctured lung that had knocked him out of the game in the second quarter. And Chicago’s Jay Cutler has given new meaning to the term “picking yourself up off the mat”; he has been battered by an N.F.L.-leading 11 sacks in the first two games.

Other quarterbacks among the walking wounded include Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger, who nearly had a serious knee injury against Seattle; Atlanta’s Matt Ryan, who has been sacked nine times; and the Jets’ Mark Sanchez, who on his first play of the 2011 season was body-slammed to the turf by Dallas’s DeMarcus Ware. Sanchez also absorbed some heavy hits against the Jaguars on Sunday.

Be careful  what you wish for, football fans, your big-play quarterback could be next.

USC football: Matt Barkley is Pac-12 offensive player of the week

After passing for a record-tying five touchdowns and leading USC to victory over Syracuse, Trojans quarterback Matt Barkley on Monday was selected as the Pacific 12 Conference offensive player of the week.

Barkley threw touchdown passes to tight end Rhett Ellison, receivers Robert Woods and Marqise Lee and tight ends Randall Telfer and Xavier Grimble in the Trojans' 38-17 victory.

It was the third time that Barkley passed for five touchdowns. He did it last season at Hawaii and against California.

USC Coach Lane Kiffin was low-key on Saturday night, saying Barkley played well.

But upon reviewing the game tape, Kiffin said Barkley was "awesome" against the Orange.

"I think we have become accustomed around here to seeing those kinds of performances," Kiffin said Sunday night. "Those types of days don't happen very often across the country."

Rodney Peete, Carson Palmer, Matt Leinart and Mark Sanchez also passed for five touchdowns at USC.

Barkley completed 26 of 39 passes for 324 yards, without an interception. He has passed for nine touchdowns, with only one interception, this season.

More later at latimes.com/sports.

--Gary Klein

Photo: USC quarterback Matt Barkley sets the Trojans at the line of scrimmage during Saturday's 38-17 victory over Syracuse. Credit: Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times

Was Last Night the Official Unveiling of the Throw-First Jets?

Even if you took Rex Ryan at his word when he said the ground-and-pound Jets were going to throw the ball more this season, there were plenty of reasons to believe it wasn’t going to start with last night’s preseason opener against Houston.

The first one was that two-fifths of the Jets’ starting offensive line —  center Nick Mangold and guard Brandon Moore — were not available to play.

Another was that Houston’s revamped defense under the new coordinator Wade Phillips looks capable of generating a lot of pressure on quarterbacks this season.

The Texans — who already had the star defensive end Mario Williams anchoring their front — drafted the pass rushing demon J.J. Watt with the 11th over all pick in April. Houston also signed cornerback Johnathan Joseph and safety Danieal Manning to bolster its secondary.

The Jets felt the brunt of the Texans’ new-look defense last night by giving up seven sacks, two of them against Mark Sanchez in the first quarter.

But did those pregame factors add up to enough reason to delay a test run of Air Ryan?

Apparently not.

The most notable outcome from the Jets’ 20-16 loss to the Texans was the quick pace set by Sanchez (6 of 7, 43 yards), who came out firing in his one-quarter cameo. And those numbers are actually misleading: Sanchez’s one incompletion was a perfect pass to tight end Matthew Mulligan, who let the football hit him between the 8 and the 2 before it fell to the ground and negated what would have been a 15-yard gain.

And the Jets’ play selection? Sanchez threw or attempted to throw on eight of the Jets’ first 10 plays from scrimmage. On their first drive, resulting in Nick Folk’s 33-yard field goal, the Jets threw or attempted to throw on five of their seven offensive plays.

On their second drive, the Jets threw on their first three plays before they shocked — yes, shocked! — the Texans with a running play that resulted in a 19-yard gain by Shonn Greene (5 rushes, 32 yards, 1 reception, 5 yards), who also impressed. Were the Jets really using the pass to set up the run? Hard to believe.

The Jets called it a night for Sanchez and the throw-first offense when center Robert Turner was injured on the play immediately after Greene’s 19-yard run, which resulted in a sack of Sanchez by the Texans’ Earl Mitchell. After calling pass plays on nine of their first 12 offensive plays, the Jets ran the ball on Sanchez’s last two plays before a punt ended the second possession.

A good start over all. Derrick Mason made an impressive debut. So did No. 11 Jeremy Kerley. On defense, No. 53 Josh Mauga showed he wants to be part of the party this season. In terms of intensity, Ryan was in top form when he recorded his second headset slam in two games. That occurred when Ryan was forced to burn a timeout in the second quarter because of a faulty substitution by the goal-line defense.

One of the keys for the Jets this season will be how much the offense can improve on the slow starts it was notorious for last season. One of the most negative statistics from 2010 was that the Jets scored 36 first-quarter points in 19 games, and 7 of those came on Brad Smith’s game-opening kickoff return for a touchdown against the Steelers in Week 15 in December. A quick-striking Sanchez figures to be very important in making fast starts more commonplace.

Extra point The Jets were a little rough around the edges Monday night, but there was a lot to like. What were some other highlights or lowlights from the game that merit mentioning?