Jets vs. Ravens: Mark Sanchez Keeps Proving He's Not an Elite QB

A couple of weeks before the 2011 regular season kicked off, New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan made waves when he openly opined (via ESPNNewYork.com) that Mark Sanchez is an "elite" NFL quarterback.

You know, right up there with Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers. At least, such are the names one thinks of when the word "elite" is coupled with the word "quarterback."

Admittedly, there are times when Sanchez does look elite. And then there are the times when he doesn't, which seem to occur pretty often.

For example, Sanchez didn't look so elite on Sunday night against the Baltimore Ravens. He completed just 11 of his 35 passes for 119 yards, and he didn't account for a single touchdown. The Jets lost the game, 34-17.

By the way, Sanchez also lost three fumbles and threw an interception. Two of the fumbles and the pick resulted in defensive touchdowns.

In other words, Sunday night's game does not qualify as one of Sanchez's better efforts. In fact, it almost felt like a microcosm of his career in an odd way.

Credit where credit's due, it must be acknowledged that the Ravens played some pretty great defense on Sunday night. Sanchez was bad, but the Ravens made him look much, much worse.

At this point, Sanchez's more steadfast defenders will insist that he should therefore be given a break. The Ravens did a great job of exploiting Sanchez's and the Jets' weaknesses, and for that we should be commending them and not bashing Sanchez.

Maybe so. But that would require giving Sanchez the benefit of the doubt. And because he's supposed to be elite, I, for one, don't think we should be that quick to give it to him.

The reason I say this is because we just shouldn't be so quick to forgive four turnovers and three defensive touchdowns. The best quarterbacks, and indeed even the good quarterbacks in the NFL just don't let these things happen.

The bad ones do. When you look at a stat line like Sanchez's from Sunday night, you don't equate him with Brady, Rodgers or even Eli Manning. You equate him more with quarterbacks like Kyle Orton and Tarvaris Jackson, guys who wouldn't be starting on most NFL teams.

True enough, Sanchez isn't this bad most weeks. In fact, he was having a solid year before Sunday night, which was an encouraging sign given the fact the Jets were trusting him with a bigger workload.

After watching what happened on Sunday night, the Jets might want to reconsider. Trusting Sanchez has meant toning down the whole "ground and pound" thing, and it just hasn't worked out very well.

The Jets were hoping that it would, of course. But right now, they should realize that Sanchez just isn't good enough.