Sanchez jerseys had a lot to learn in his first professional season, but one thing he had from the start was a preternatural ability to sell play-action. This had its roots in Sanchez's collegiate days on a pro-style offense at USC and blossomed with the Jets' strong rushing attack. With defenses understandably tilted to stop the run, fakes to the backs were going to be very effective. Many young quarterbacks can turn those seemingly simple mechanics into a debacle. Not Sanchez, who was always fluid and convincing with the fakes. The Jets went with play-action on 25 percent of their pass plays, fourth-highest in the NFL, and they averaged 6.4 yards per pass play or scramble when they used it, as opposed to 5.5 when they didn't.
Sanchez had 13 regular-season pass plays of 20 yards or more in play-action, and two of them went to receiver Jerricho Cotchery(notes) in a Week 2 victory against the New England Patriots. After going 3-of-5 for 15 yards in the first half (minus-2 if you include a 17-yard loss on a sack), Sanchez opened up and hit Cotchery for passes of 45 and 22 yards in the third quarter. The 45-yarder came on the first play of the second half, and set things in motion for the offense. The fake did what it was supposed to do, forcing Patriots middle linebacker Gary Guyton(notes) to hesitate for a split second, and though Guyton was dropping into coverage, that split second was all that Sanchez needed.
On the play, the Jets football jerseys had first-and-10 at their own 44-yard line. Cotchery (89) was lined up wide right, and the Jets had an offset-I formation with a six-man line. This was another aspect to New York's successful use of play fakes – they'd frequently use run-action, firing their linemen out in run-blocking looks to add to the deception, and they did so on this play. The fake to halfback Thomas Jones(notes) behind the line of scrimmage gave Guyton pause, and Cotchery the free release at the second level to haul the ball in at the New England 38. That's about where safety Brandon Meriwether (31) and cornerback Jonathan Wilhite(notes) (24) crashed into each other as they converged on Cotchery, letting the receiver slip through and continue the play until Guyton finally brought him down at the 11. After a 2-yard Thomas Jones run, Sanchez used play-action again to find tight end Dustin Keller(notes) for a 9-yard touchdown.
The Jets' aerial attacks won't ever be mistaken for the Colts or Saints football jerseys. That's not what they're good at, and it's not what they want to do. The 2010 Jets want to marry their smashmouth approach to a passing game a bit better than "just good enough," and putting Mark Sanchez in different play-action scenarios is key to making that happen.
没有评论:
发表评论