Jets vs. Ravens: Is It Time to Find a Replacement for Mark Sanchez?

Ask anyone who knows me and they'll tell you that I don't like Mark Sanchez.

Sure, a lot of it has to do with the fact that I am a Giants fan and he's a member of the New York Jets, but there is a lot more to it.

For instance, he's a quarterback that has never shown me he's a safe bet to win football games. You can get away with him not losing in a number of games, but he's not going to win by himself. 

He's still an immature, young kid who, at times, looks like he's not equipped to handle life as an NFL quarterback. He makes bad decisions, can even look scared and doesn't do much to help his cause off the field either.

But I'm not going to sit here and say that it is time to replace Mark Sanchez. Not by a long shot.

The Jets' signal caller is still only 24 years old and a very talented football player.

Coming into last night's showdown with the Baltimore Ravens, his season really wasn't going that bad.

The Jets, at 2-1, had Sanchez throw the football 112 times in his first three games and he had a quarterback rating over 85 in those games. Six touchdowns and four interceptions isn't anything to be mad at, and his 65 percent completion percentage is a solid number.

For the second straight year Sanchez led the Jets to a 2-1 start and he played good enough to not lose games.

The kicker in all of this is Jets rushing attack though.

In 2009, Sanchez's rookie year, the Jets ran the ball 104 times for 436 yards in their first three games.

It took the rookie quarterback six games to throw for over 1,000 yards and the Jets were 3-3 at that point in the season.

In 2010, the Jets ran the ball 82 times for 398 yards through their first three games. It took Sanchez seven games to crack the 1,000-yard mark and the Jets were 6-1 at that point in the season.

This season the Jets have run the ball 73 times for 246 yards through their first three games. The lowest rushing output by the Jets in Sanchez's career is only good enough for a 3.3 yard per carry average.

So Jets went into last night's game against the Ravens and ran the football 19 times for 38 yards. Sanchez reached the 1,000-yard mark last night in only his fourth game of the season and he completed only 30 percent of his passes.

Have we put together the connection yet?

The Ravens hit Sanchez 10 times and sacked him twice. They didn't respect the Jets' run game because the Jets have no run game.

The 71 yards per game they currently average is the fourth-worst total in the league. Meanwhile, Sanchez's 1,005 passing yards are in the top half of the league.

There is no coincidence here. The blame is not all on Mark Sanchez and it certainly isn't time to get rid of him.

The Jets have been to two straight AFC Championship games with a ground and pound philosophy that better serves Sanchez, their receivers and their entire team.

If you go back and watch Lardarius Webb's pick-six of Sanchez last night I can assure you that the coaches are just as mad with Santonio Holmes this morning as they are with Sanchez on that play.

The Jets don't need a new quarterback, they just need to find an identity.

If they can't find a way to run the ball, then they need to tailor the offense to suit Sanchez's strengths. Otherwise, he's not going to survive, they're not going to win, and we're going to go round-and-round in circles with an endless debate.

Sanchez throwing the rock 35-45 times a game isn't going to get it done for a team that prides itself on running the football.

Either find a way to make it work, or give Sanchez a better chance to succeed.

Right now the Jets aren't doing either.