Cowboys vs. Jets: Mark Sanchez Shows He's Ready for Big Step in Big Apple

Mark Sanchez did it. He finally did it. He looked like an elite NFL quarterback in a big game for the New York Jets against a formidable opponent, this time the Dallas Cowboys, in a victorious effort.

With the eyes of America firmly fixed upon the Sunday Night Football game of the week at MetLife Stadium, Sanchez registered the third 300-yard passing game of his young pro career.

The third-year signal-caller out of USC completed 26 of his 44 attempts for 335 yards—one yard off his career high—along with two touchdowns and an interception.

Most importantly, and most Sanchez-like, he built up those numbers while leading Gang Green back from a two-touchdown deficit in the fourth quarter to pull out a 27-24 win in its season opener.

Sanchez is a winner and always has been, but his quarterbacking skills seem to finally be catching up to his considerable moxie and leadership ability.

Strange, seeing as how it usually works the other way: A young player comes into the league with tremendous ability but must wade his way through challenges both on and off the field before he's mature enough, smart enough and savvy enough to be a winner and to allow his mental abilities catch up to his physical ones.

Not so with Sanchez, who's led the Jets to four road playoff victories in the two years since they selected him with the fifth overall pick in the 2009 NFL draft.

Those four road wins, by the way, place Sanchez in a tie for the most such victories by a quarterback in NFL history.

If Sanchez continues to play as well as he did against the Cowboys, spreading the ball around as he did to seven different receivers, he won't climb any higher on that list, simply because his Jets will be playing their postseason games at home.

All that being said, Sanchez is no Joe Namath and still has a ways to go before he can aspire to put "Broadway" before his own name. Impressive as Sanchez's numbers were, they came against a Dallas secondary so fraught with injuries that they had to play their fourth- and fifth-string corners at times.

Sanchez also encountered some difficulty handling the blitz, as he has in the past, succumbing to four sacks and a few errant throws here and there.

On the whole, though, Sanchez showed that he is indeed still ascending the ranks of quarterbacks in the NFL, working his way ever closer to the top tier. He may not be as accurate as Peyton Manning, as sharp as Tom Brady or as physically gifted as Michael Vick, but he's getting there.

And he already knows how to win, as he showed on Sunday night, which is the most important quality of all for an NFL quarterback to have.

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