The Fifth Down: Defending Mark Sanchez's Performance

3,663 yards, 24 TDs, 13 INTs, 56.1 completion percentage (296 comp., 528 attempts)

Is playing quarterback in the New York market the most difficult job in professional sports? Possibly. For starters, until a quarterback wins a championship, he is never good enough. Any quarterback who has ever played in New York already knows that.

And if a quarterback has won? Criticism is still never more than one bad game away. Just ask Eli Manning, Phil Simms or Joe Namath.

But let’s get back to Sanchez. If someone had told Jets fans at the beginning of this season that he would finish 2011 with the numbers listed above, would they have signed up for it? My guess is yes. Despite the fact that Sanchez absorbed a heavy beating during the first few games — his 14 sacks are tied for the 9th most in the N.F.L. — the mostly impressive numbers listed above represent the pace Sanchez is setting.

Through the Jets’ first six games, Sanchez has already thrown for 1,372 yards, with 9 touchdowns and 5 interceptions.

And don’t forget the 3-3 Jets have already played games at New England, where the Patriots have won 20 consecutive regular-season home games, and at Baltimore, which is 22-5 since John Harbaugh became coach in 2008.

Let’s take a closer look.

Want to talk about Sanchez’s 9 touchdown passes so far? If so, you should know that it ranks tied for eight in the N.F.L., with Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger, Philadelphia’s Michael Vick and Tennessee’s Matt Hasselbeck. Eighth out of 32 teams? If you do the math, that ranks in the top quarter of the league.

And want to talk of Sanchez’s 5 interceptions in 198 attempts? According to Pro-Football-Reference.com, Sanchez’s interception percentage of 2.5 ranks 12th in the N.F.L. And of the 12 quarterbacks who have more pass attempts, only four — Detroit’s Matthew Stafford, Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers, Chicago’s Jay Cutler and Cleveland’s Colt McCoy — have thrown fewer than Sanchez’s five interceptions.

In another key statistic, Sanchez is tied for 11th (with Roethlisberger) with 20 completions of 20 or more yards.

Sanchez’s biggest and most notable problems have come early in games. The Jets haven’t had a first down in the first quarter since their game at Oakland in Week 3, which was also when they scored their last first-quarter touchdown.

That needs to change for the Jets to continue to win games.

But Sanchez’s performance has been better than he is being given credit for.

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The 49ers and defending Calvin Johnson

Chris Culliver's interception for the San Francisco 49ers against Tampa Bay announced his arrival as more than just a rookie fill-in for injured veteran Shawntae Spencer.

Culliver, a third-round pick from South Carolina, could serve as the third corner against the Detroit Lions in Week 6 strictly on the merits.

In fact, as coach Jim Harbaugh told reporters Friday, the team went with Culliver against the Buccaneers even though Spencer, who has been slowed by a toe injury, could have played.

Which one will play in the nickel defense against Calvin Johnson and the Lions?

"Tune in on Sunday and find out," Harbaugh said.

As Grant Cohn notes, Greg Cosell of NFL Films told KNBR-AM radio in San Francisco that he expected Culliver to play a leading role in defending Johnson, who leads the NFL in touchdown receptions with nine.

"The one player who really stood out to me and I think will be critical this week when they play Detroit, and that’s Chris Culliver," Cosell told KNBR. "He’s now their nickel corner. He plays on the outside. He’s over 6 feet. He’s 200 pounds. He runs well. They play a lot of man coverage concepts with a safety helping so that their corners can really play physically with their receivers coming off the line of scrimmage. So, I think you’ll see Culliver matched up against Megatron this weekend."

The 49ers liked Culliver coming out of college for several reasons: Raw physical talent: Culliver is 6 feet tall and has run the 40-yard dash in the 4.4s.Versatility: Culliver converted from safety to corner for his senior season, giving him a broader perspective than a cornerback might normally possess.Potential: Being relatively new to corner meant, at least in theory, that Culliver still had considerable room to grow at the position.
Culliver made his interception against the Bucs playing left cornerback against three-receiver personnel on a third-and-9 play, with starting corner Carlos Rogers moving inside to defend the slot on the other side of the formation.

The 49ers figure to face quite a few similar personnel groupings Sunday.

Only three teams -- Buffalo, Seattle and Philadelphia -- have run more plays than the Lions with three-plus wide receivers on the field, according to ESPN Stats & Information. Detroit has also used two tight ends quite a bit, but with more than two receivers on the field so frequently, the 49ers' nickel defense will be key.


So far this season, the 49ers have done a much better job limiting long pass plays.

The chart at right shows how the 49ers' opponents have fared this season versus last on passes traveling longer than 20 yards past the line of scrimmage. They are one of two teams yet to allow a touchdown pass on these throws. They've allowed only three completions on such passes after allowing 24 all last season.

Thanks to Hank Gargiulo and Doug Clawson of ESPN Stats & Information for providing the chart info.

CornerbacksSEADAL@CIN@PHITBTotal

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Defending Vick is about matching speed with speed

Michael Vick and the Eagles present a unique challenge for defenses around the NFL. Needless to say, Vick is playing at an elite level and defending him is difficult. But it’s not impossible. The issue isn’t only his individual speed, but the speed that surrounds him.

Still, I have some ideas.

One of the issues that Vick presents is that his feet constantly get him out of trouble. Plus, the Eagles have two receivers in DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin who deserve double coverage, which takes bodies away from defending Vick. Those are two differentiating factors.

I don’t believe you can play a conventional style of defense against the Eagles. If I had to design a defense to contain Vick, it would start by abandoning the base defense. However you want to do it, you have to put more athletes, and more speed, on the field.

The ideal situation is to have a four-man rush with great speed, dropping seven players into coverage. A three-man rush creates too many lanes for Vick to take off. But the Eagles have forced teams to change what they do, and that’s where it starts. It doesn’t make sense to use conventional 330-pound linemen against them. I think back to three seasons ago when the Giants used four defensive ends against the Patriots. That makes a lot of sense in terms of getting speed on the field.

Playing a very disciplined style is also key. You can’t let Philadelphia’s receivers off the line without bumping or re-routing them. With coverage over the top, corners need to have confidence to go after and muscle Jackson and Maclin, slowing their initial progress into routes. One option might even be an inverted look in a Cover 2 scheme, which the Patriots used to do to the Colts, where the more physical safeties are close to the line of scrimmage and the corners are over the top. Ultimately, when the ball is thrown 50 yards down field, you want your best coverage players with the most speed playing the ball in coverage.

I would also think about putting your fastest and best athletes on the second level to eyeball Vick, attacking him and forcing him to make quick decisions. The way Vick can throw the ball, or reset and take on pressure on the run, you need defenders who can attack him while he’s trying to buy time. I know the Packers have a “psycho” package that features one down lineman and five linebackers.

The team that used to give Vick the most problems when he was still in Atlanta was Tampa Bay, which had great team speed. They hit Vick every time he threw the ball and made him pay the price.

The Giants will be an interesting matchup, because they do have speed and a good secondary. How they played the Colts earlier this season with their dime look (six defensive backs and one linebacker) might be an option. I’m looking forward to seeing what Perry Fewell does. The Colts, at home, have the speed to test the Eagles. A physical team like the Saints, who can change up their looks often with different players, could present a challenge.

Andy Reid is creating plays and concepts every week, things that no one has ever really seen. He knows he has the element of speed. It’s the old Sid Gillman philosophy, forcing teams to defend every blade of grass. Vick allows him to do that.

But the Eagles aren’t invincible and can be had, and it starts by matching speed with speed.

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