There's no other way to slice it: That's an indictment on the Jets' confidence in quarterback Mark Sanchez, who has played two miserable games at Gillette Stadium and hasn't taken much of a step forward in his second season.
That makes the Patriots' primary objective an easy one for Sunday's playoff clash with the Jets. They've got to force Sanchez into passing situations and rip away any balance the Jets' offense hopes to achieve in New England. Whether that means stopping the run, forcing long-yardage situations or just jumping out to a quick lead, the Patriots' defense knows it's at its best when teams are constantly dropping back to pass.
"To be honest, I think we learned the most from [the loss to the Browns] throughout the whole season," Patriots linebacker Jerod Mayo said. "Cleveland came out and ran the ball effectively, so now we know what to expect from other teams that try and do the same things. So, hopefully we can get on top of them early and make them throw the ball."
Taking the Jets' balance away is one thing, but forcing a mistake-prone Sanchez to throw the ball is another. In two career games at Gillette, Sanchez has completed 25 of 54 passes (46.3 percent) for 300 yards, one touchdown and seven interceptions. While below average would be an improvement Sunday for Sanchez, he'll likely need to be very good — or, at least, very efficient — for the Jets to come out with a win.
And, "efficiency" is not exactly Sanchez's middle name (it's Travis John, for the record). Sanchez's 75.3 passer rating was 27th in the NFL this season, behind the likes of Jason Campbell, Alex Smith and Chad Henne, who had all been benched multiple times in 2010. That rating is also the second-worst among the starting quarterbacks who remain alive in the playoffs.
Sanchez's regular-season completion percentage (54.8) ranked 29th out of the 31 quarterbacks who qualified for the year-end stat. The only two quarterbacks with lower ratings — rookie Jimmy Clausen and Derek Anderson — finished the season with three combined wins.
Eventually, if Sanchez keeps throwing the ball, something bad will happen. After all, in two seasons, he has compiled 33 interceptions and 13 fumbles.
The Jets' bread and butter on offense has been their running game, which ranked fourth in the NFL this season, so that will clearly be a point of interest for the Patriots' defense. But more than anything, if they force New York into passing situations, the odds will clearly tilt in the Patriots' favor.
"Everything is going to start with their running game," Patriots safety Jarrad Page said. "They’ve got some good runners over there, and so, if you don’t stop that, it’ll be a long day for you. That’s got to be your first concern — to shut down the run game."
