New York Jets Preseason Game 3: Positives

First of all, let's start with the least important stat: Jets beat Giants 27-25

It would be easy to start here with Mark Sanchez, but I'm going with another first-round selection: Vernon Gholston.

By no means was he impressive tonight—he got pushed around, the Giants ran to his side of the field, and he got little push—but unlike previous games, he did something.

Coming through completely unblocked, Gholston put a monstor hit on David Carr, which must of had Carr reminiscing about his time in Houston. It was called back for a helmet-to-helmet hit, something that was touch-and-go for me. He was excited—it's his first sack, and hopefully that builds his confidence.

He will have to show more of the same in the final preseason series the Bollinger Bowl, as he sat on the sideline and watched highly talked-about defender Jamaal Westerman come through a tight end and make the "clean" sack on Carr.

Although Gholston has already been confirmed as the starter, if he doesn't produce and the whole defense suffers as a result, then there will be little choice but to rotate him more than coach Rex Ryan would like.

However, for anyone who has watched the Jets over the past year, this is a step in the right direction.

Now, let's move on to Sanchez, who had a very good game against a very tough defense.

It did not start all that well, as he was locking onto receivers and failing to look off defensive backs. Fortunately, it didn't come back to bite him, and he may have found it very difficult to get into any rhythm with the amount of penalties the Jets were giving away.

Sanchez was 13-of-20 for 149 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions, and he was sacked once. Sanchez also made other completions that were brought back for offensive penalties, the most notable being a seven-yard strike to jerricho Cotchery that was called back for a offensive holding call on Brandon Moore.

Sanchez started to get into a real rhythm in the second, helped by the ever-impressive Leon Washington. His touchdown pass was a nice roll out to the right. With heavy pressure in his face, he kept the play alive with his feet, kept his eyes down-field, and delivered the strike to Stuckey, who did the rest.

Possibly the most impressive aspect on the night was Sanchez's ability to control the huddle. There were no delay of game penalties, no fumbled handoffs, and no miscommunications from what I saw. The Jets managed to move the ball both through the air and on the ground.

The ball was spread around the field, with Cotchery, Chansi Stuckey, and Dustin Keller all being targeted for Sanchez. He also had a nice pass batted away in the end zone when he tried to find Cotchery in double coverage

Another positive that Ryan will certainly take from the game came from the punting position. A position of aggravation for Ryan this preseason, Reggie Hodges averaged 41 yards on his punts and had a 51-yarder. One of his punts was downed by Brad Smith on the one-yard line.

Jay Feeley was perfect on his return from injury. He was 2-of-2 on field goals and made all three of his extra points.

Darrelle Revis looked impressive on his return. He was perhaps a step behind at some points, but just his presence made the Giants have to target the opposite side the field.

Erik Ainge continues to make improvements. Although his pass was slightly underthrown, he did connect on a 70-yard touchdown to Aundre Allison. Allison started coasting, but he soon realized that he was being hunted down and turned on the after-burners.