On A Holy Jewish Weekend, Rex Ryan Says: "Let My People Throw"

I have a confession to make.

For the last 15 years, I have heard the phrase “he settles into himself” to describe quarterbacks. Until Sunday evening, I had no idea what that meant.

Now I do. And I owe it all to Mark Sanchez.

Sanchez opened yesterday’s Jets game with a play-action pass to a wide-open Dustin Keller.

The only problem was that he wildly overthrew him, and the pass was nearly intercepted. That three-and-out series marked the only three plays the Jets offense spent on the field for the entire first quarter.

That sequence gives a young quarterback a lot to think about, starting with, “Wow, I just left my already injury-hampered defense on the field for 14 minutes. I really can’t mess this up again.”

That mentality (in addition to some of the stupidest penalties ever committed) lost the Jets a game they should have won against the Baltimore Ravens.

The difference between last week and Sunday’s domination of the New England Patriots is exclusively a change of mentality.

Brian Schottenheimer and Rex Ryan admitted they over-managed Sanchez in the Jets’ prime-time debut.

The end result was one of the worst performances of Sanchez’s young career.

When Sanchez nearly committed a turnover on the Jets’ first offensive touch, the coaches could have easily repeated their mistake. Instead, they kept dialing up pass plays, and Sanchez settled into himself.

Sanchez thoroughly outperformed Tom Brady for the remainder of the game.

Sanchez managed the clock and threw perfect passes (particularly on all three of his passing touchdowns). Most importantly, he did not turn the ball over.

When the Jets desperately needed lengthy drives in the second half, Sanchez orchestrated two third-quarter drives worth a combined 150 yards, 10 points, and eight minutes of clock.

This all happened because Sanchez settled into himself.

For better or worse, Sanchez is the most true to form version of Steamin’ Willie Beamen from Any Given Sunday that we will ever see.

He always seemed to psyche himself out in the first possession. The rest of his day was determined by the attitude of the coach.

When coach D’Amato told Beamen to keep doing his thing, they were nearly unstoppable. When he tried to get too conservative, the Sharks broke down.

Same goes for the Jets.

When Sanchez settles into himself, he transforms into a calm and collected leader who can read defenses (LaDainian Tomlinson’s two biggest runs of the day both came off Sanchez audibles) and break down zones (Dustin Keller being targeted in the middle of the field for 60 minutes).

Those decisions keep the Jets’ defense on the sidelines, which was a huge factor in both the Ravens game and yesterday’s game, in which they forced three turnovers in the second half.

Here’s the bottom line: I have yet to watch a Jets game where Sanchez did not make a profoundly bad decision in his first series. But with the exception of one game against the Buffalo Bills, he has proved that he does way more than atone when you give him the chance.

Obviously, he can’t be like this forever, but you have to remember that Sanchez is only 23 years old. This is his growing phase.

If you allow him the freedom in this phase, imagine what he can be like when he settles into himself not just for a game, but for a career.