Link: On Emotion, Learning and Sanchez
Michael Salfino writes on SNY.tv that the Jets and Mark Sanchez is going to be the subject of some intense scrutiny over the next few weeks, and we tossed some emails back and forth on the subject, of which Salfino used parts.
As a quarterback-obsessed person my entire football-watching life, I’ve studied the position from all angles. But this career progression by Sanchez so far is something I never would have predicted.
I accepted that the bad games were inevitable for Sanchez, but Sunday’s prototypical rookie disaster against an injury-depleted Bills defense was a shock. The Saints game was different — against a good team in a tough road environment and the game gets away from you even though you show your good qualities at various stages throughout. Sanchez looked terrible Sunday pretty much from start to finish.
Salfino goes on to write about emotion, learning by doing or just watching, and what the Jets should do with Sanchez moving forward.
The Bills offense is without a doubt horrendous, but people are not giving their defense enough credit, especially against the pass. Because Sanchez went up against the Jets man to man, aggressive 3-4 all summer, it’s not shocking he would have the most trouble against 4-3 zone teams.
I am giving zero credit to a Bills defense that allowed over 300 yards rushing to a team that’s rookie QB couldnt complete a pass.
This loss was on stupid pealties and the poor games by B-Schott and Sanchez
Brian:
Great in depth article about the mental apect of our QB and I agree fo the most part.
When Salfino stated that : I don’t think the problem with Sanchez is playing mechanics. It’s learning to deal with the psychological adversity of failure”, I felt needed to go a litter deeper. His stament implies that by learning to deal with failure his psyche will be restored to the same state it was when Sanchez produced the first three wins.
He suggest that Sanchez’s problem may be similar to that of a Boxer (with great promise) gets knocked out in his second fight, must “dust off” the lucky punch and come back and win the fight.
The problem with that premise is that it was not “a punch from the oponent ” that knocked him down. It was a punch that he inflicted upon hinself that did it and continues to do the damage !!!!
I pointed out ( here I go again, complimenting myself )
Confidence is huge, when you play any type of sport. The Saints game put doubts in Sanchez’s mind and he has been playing without any confidence, ever since. He is forcing his passes, uncomfortable in the pocket, and moping on the sidelines. It is the Offensive Coordinators’ job to realize this and to do whatever is necessary to get him back into his groove. Whether it be pep talks, calling the type of plays that are comfortable for Mark, or benching him — Sanchez has been handled poorly. I would understand, if they let Sanchez start, against the Raiders, but if he looks like he can’t shake the depression from our last three games — they have to try Clemens or Ainge. Letting him waste our season would be the equivalent of what we did, last year, with Favre. We are one game out of first and we play our division again. We have a nice defense, even without Big Jenks. If we get solid QB performances — we are hard to beat. I just hope the coaches handle this properly.
After the first three weeeks I hate to say it but, time to give Kellen a shot. No harm done by Sanchez watching his offense from the sidelines. Such a move will put him under the spotlight of critics, make him realize he is always one turnover away from being yanked.
I can give you 5 more good reasons!
Why the shock? Rookie QB trying to force to ball to the only WR threat, who was facing more then one defender. Poor decisions by the rookie. Not a big surprise. The big surprise should be how a backup QB for Buffalo could come in and not get sack or make many mistakes against a Rex Ryan defense. Or how Chad Henne could do the same against this defense. Especially after this same defense held in check Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Matt Schaub and Kerry Collins.
Brian:
Continued, sorry.
I pointed this problem out during the pre-season game with the Ravens. I also pointed out other problems such locking onto receivers, Footwork, pocket presence. I also was shouted out and ridiculed but thi ( I really don’t mind , there is not such thing as bad publicity) that is another story. .
This present situation is not one instance, or couple instances as Salfino pointed out. It is a prevalent problem that keeps surfacing from the very beggining and continues to get worse. It is not as simple as just “dusting off” and getting back into the fight.
The real problem may from the perception of how he ultimately Franchez views himself
Hank,
Salfino made no such comparison to boxing. He was basically saying that maybe Sanchez’s learning curve may be longer than we all initially thought because he has to learn how to control and channel his emotions better. I do not think that 1 awful game, in bad weather conditions and without his starting WRs from training camp is truly indicative of anything. Has Sanchez exhibited certain patterns that he has to change? Sure, he has to look off receivers better, he has to show better ball security, he has to have a better sense of when he should try to make a play or just throw the ball away and he has to not seem that he is sad after a poor throw. If, instead, he had ranted and showed anger, then he would seem “intense.” If he reacted to a haymaker punch like a Latin boxer by smiling, I can just imagine what kind of criticism would be heaped upon him! I don’t like your boxing comparison because boxers often times cannot overcome being knocked out. Their feeling of invincibility is shattered and really only the truly great ones can rebound and regain their championship form. All QBs have awful games, especially rookies. I don’t know if Sanchez will be great, good, average or a bust. But, like Tanier’s article said, he has too much talent to draw all that many conclusions from just 1 game. The NFL is a humbling experience for even the greatest QBs their rookie seasons. How he rebounds after a poor game is the important thing and I think Bassett’s “knife edge” comment was way off base. Sanchez has not strung 2 terrible games together, yet, and I would argue that unless he does a lot of this psych talk is way too premature.
Hand the play-calling over to Callahan!!!!! I’d rather have Paul Hackett than Schottenheimer!!!!!!!
No way. Paul Hackett is responsible for my hair loss. Even this idiot isnt as bad.
BTW Cotchery, B Smith and Lito Sheppard are all out for Sunday. Problems.
Lito Sheppard seemed like a great trade but he is a dainty little flower that cant play a whole season.
I don’ think the loss of Sheppard will hurt us against a weak passing offense like Oakland, especially if Strickland returns to the lineup. The real lossi s Cotchery for many reasons. Edwards should struggle against Nnamdi Asomuga, the 2nd best corner in the NFL : ), and we don’t want Sanchez forcing balls his way. Aside from Edwards we dont have any proven receivers, Cotchery has been Sanchez’s go-to guy, and he will be missed on Sunday.
vinnywasthebest, Paul Hackett would have beat the Bills last Sunday simply because he called run plays 99% of the time!!! There’s no way Hackett is losing that game for the Jets like Schotty did!!!!
Schotty didn’t lose the game for the Jets. He doesn’t set foot on the field. The players lost it.
Have we yet played a game when all the key players are healthy or not suspended? Must be somenone we can blame for that.
SD:
You are right, wrong choice of words on my part. Did not mean to suggest Salfino compared the problem to a boxer.
That was my analogy to To Salfinos suggestion that Franchez ’s solution is tempering he must learn to temper his emotions.
I go an to explain that this might be part of the problem but it is definitiely more complex and that Salfino needed to go deeper than that.
I pointed out that this problem was evident from the beggining (see my comments August 25 Ravens Game) and continue till this day while progressively getting worse.
I really don’t want to spend time on all the wrong conclusions you extrapolated from my comments above, but I will say again that :
The real problem may from the perception of how he ultimately Franchez views himself
To the above I will add that this Sunday is MORE important to Franchez than to the team. He will be in his enviroment, infront of his family and friends and if he gives another “Buffalo” to Oakland the damage to his confidence will take a very, very long time to heal and may never heal completely.
Hank,
I think you make way too much about Sanchez’s locking on to WRs. He’s a rookie and he does not consistently look off his receivers, but he does look them off as the Tanier analysis of Sanchez’s INTs from Sunday notes. Also, your “happy feet” comment has no support. Sanchez’s footwork issues, which were not elaborated on by Schotty, could be his footwork on runs or play action or for a particular type of play. I see no instances of “happy feet” and, in fact, many on this blog think that Sanchez should think about running more. How about that Sanchez throws a great deep ball or that he has a great quick release? It’s not like he is getting sacked a lot. IMO, Sanchez has to get rid of the ball sooner and remember that throwing the ball away or taking a sack is better than forcing a pass into double coverage. I’m concerned that he won’t have Jericho. So, this game is turning out to be a good gut check game. Let’s see how the kid reacts. I hope he plays well and the Jets win. What do you want?
I wouldn’t say Sanchez has happy feet, and I also find it odd that so many are pointing out all of these criticisms that in essence, are supposed to be evident with a rookie QB. I think we all raised our expectations too high after the first 3 games and now it’s time to be realistic. I remember listening to Greg Buttle on the MIchael Kay show on ESPN 1050 make a comment about Sanchez, saying “he’s going to have one of those game when he throws 4 interceptions, throws 5 interceptions, thats what rookies do, what matter is how he rebounds from it.” When I first heard this I thought it was crazy to imagine Sanchez throwing 5 picks, but I was proved wrong. The most important part is what Buttle said about how Sanchez rebounds from his mistakes. I thought in the Miami game Sanchez played very well, rebounding from an awful game in New Orleans. His stats may not have been all that great, but he kept putting us back in the game with big plays after our defense gave up TD’s. I expect Sanchez to have another nice rebound game this Sunday in Oakland. Let’s not be too hard on Sanchez and stop with the lofty expectations. Let’s root for this kid and I don’t think he will disapoint us.
Those who claim, as some have above, that ’schottenheimer didn’t lose the game — he doesn’t play oin the field’, are only stating a half-truth. Yes, Sanchez threw 5 INTs and had a bad rookie-type game, but the bottom line is the OC never adapted to the rookie’s poor game, never adapted his gameplan to the effect the wind were having on the QB’s throws, and simply fostered failure from a 22-yr old rookie who was playing in unfamiliar climate for the first time. I don’t care what anyone says, it is absurd that the OC allowed Sanchez to throw the ball more than 20 times, and shoud NOT have called even ONE long pass.. If a pass should have been thrown, it should have been a quick dump/screen/slant to Leon or clowney and THAT’S IT. We would have won handily. Schott is a poor game-caller and cost us the game for not adapting, as any decent OC would have.
Jesus Revis,
In the Miami game, Edwards made Sanchez look good. His accuracy has been horrible lately. I attribute this to lack of confidence. I agree with you, in that, he could snap out of it and have a nice comeback game against Oakland. I am obviously rooting for him but, if he shows that same lack of confidence and problems with accuracy — I would rather see the coach try Ainge or Clemens than let the rookie throw our season away. If we get good QB play — we don’t lose many games. This is not a team that should waste a season.
Which throws did Edwards make Sanchez look good? He had a nice grab over the middle where he elevated and made a great play, but the one along the sideline on 3rd and 20+ was a great play by both guys. Also, the deep pass to Clowney was a great throw.
SD
Listen Sack, I don’t have the will, drive or brain energy to expound on all of my points that that you or brushed off as incorrect or inconsequential.
I can tell you however , that everything I commented on Aug 25th is beign discussed today at length in the media
JR,
The play across the middle was nowhere near Edwards and, you would have to admit to me, you never thought that Edwards would get the long ball down by the goal line. Both catches were spectacular. Don’t get me wrong, I think Sanchez is the real deal but, I refuse to give up on the season. If Sanchez has to sit for awhile, to get his head toghether — so be it. I would have done the same thing with Favre, at the end of last season.