New York Jets vs. Chicago Bears: Why It Won’t Matter if Mark Sanchez Can’t Go
Published by Bob Warja on December 23, 2010
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears
According to New York Jets coach Rex Ryan, QB Mark Sanchez will be a “game-time type decision” on Sunday. ESPNNewYork.com reported that Ryan may have underestimated the severity of Sanchez’s condition.
So, it begs the question of what impact the decision will have on the game. Well, if Sanchez can’t go, veteran Mark Brunell will make the start. Brunell knows the offense well and still has a strong arm despite being 40 years old.
While it admittedly would be a tough assignment for Brunell to start such an important game with little notice, it likely would not have a great impact on the overall game plan.
Brunell is a veteran who has been a starter for most of the previous 17 seasons and knows what to do. He understands how to read coverages and is an excellent athlete despite his advanced age.
Meanwhile, Sanchez has been struggling of late. He has not thrown a TD pass over the past three weeks and has tossed four interceptions in that span.
Plus, even if Sanchez does start, how effective will he be given that bulky shoulder?
The man has a cartilage tear in his throwing arm and was said to be holding his arm awkwardly in practice. He was not able to throw with much velocity. In short, perhaps he is not the best guy to trot out there on Sunday anyway.
This is nothing like Monday night, when Brett Favre‘s backup was an untested Joe Webb.
Sure, Brunell is likely to show some rust, but that just means more rushing attempts and that may be the best game plan for the Jets no matter who starts at QB.
According to ESPN, fullback Tony Richardson said that, “In the cold weather, ground and pound is the strategy anyway, so Brunell wouldn’t affect the strategy that dramatically.”
“He’s a gamer and he can play and obviously still has a lot of zip on the ball,” Richardson said. “He’s a very smart guy and knows the offense like the back of his hand, so if he had to go in, I think we’d be fine.”
And that run game is pretty good for the Jets.
LaDainian Tomlinson, like Sanchez, has not been as consistently good as he was before the bye week. But he has averaged at least 4.5 yards per carry in two of the past three weeks.
The Bears‘ run defense is strong, third best in the league, with just 89.8 yards per game allowed. Still, bad tackling has been an issue at times, one of the reasons why opponents have had the sixth most runs of 20-plus yards with 12 touchdowns on the season.
The final call will not be entirely up to Sanchez, according to team rules. But bad shoulder or not, if the decision is up to Sanchez, the QB says he will go.
“I’ll be ready to go for Sunday,” Sanchez said. “I felt good in practice. Felt like I could have done more and they’re just holding me back to be smart. [We’ll] take it from there, but if we were playing today, I’d play.”
It probably won’t make much of a difference anyway.
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