Sanchez looks to rebound

The New York Jets thought they were drafting a franchise quarterback when they selected Mark Sanchez with the fifth overall pick in 2009. He showed some promise, leading them to the playoffs as a rookie and again in 2010.

But things spiraled downhill after that and Sanchez wound up finishing his five-year stay with the Jets by throwing more interceptions than touchdowns.

He joined the Philadelphia Eagles in the off-season as a backup and was thrust into the starting role when Nick Foles went down with an injury. And, for the most part, Sanchez has played some of the best football of his career since taking over in early November.

Sanchez has career-highs in completion percentage and passer rating so far, including a Thanksgiving Day performance where he looked like a Pro Bowler against the Dallas Cowboys.

But, almost predictably, Sanchez was due to have a blowup game and it came last week. He had his worst game of the season, going 10-of-20 passing for 96 yards with two touchdowns and one interception in a home loss to Seattle.

That performance even drew some snide remarks from the Seattle locker room.

“Tell the Philadelphia police to put an APB out,” Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett told USA Today Sports after the game. “Sanchez is trying to impersonate a good quarterback.”

For his part, Sanchez acknowledged the poor performance.

“They brought a great game plan and played really well in their zones and really well in their man [coverage],” Sanchez said. “They took away a lot of opportunities and then when opportunities presented themselves, I missed a couple of balls downfield and they made us pay.”

The question now is whether the Cowboys can keep Sanchez in this slump, or if their suspect secondary will help him regain his confidence.

“The most important thing is just to get past this one,” Sanchez said. “All of these games down the stretch are so important. Big picture is too far out in front of us. We really just need to focus on what is right in front of our nose, and that’s getting this bad taste out of our mouth and going out and playing Dallas and giving our best effort next week.”

Briefly

▪ It appears highly unlikely that Foles will be an option to replace Sanchez and start this week against the Cowboys. Foles, who suffered a cracked collarbone on Nov. 2 against the Houston Texans, is progressing but has not been cleared to practice.

▪ Eagles wide receiver Riley Cooper is having a down year, averaging only 10.2 yards per catch with only one score. Said Eagles coach Chip Kelly: “That’s not Coop’s fault. The ball has to be thrown at him in certain situations. We’re facing a lot more zone coverages this year than we did last year.”

Quotable

“We don’t talk about [the playoff race], but we’re aware of it. Everybody knows the more games you win, the better chance you have of playing in the postseason, and that’s what this deal is all about — trying to qualify for the playoffs. But I don’t think talking about it does anything for us. We’re going to meet for a certain amount of time and for me to go over playoff scenarios means absolutely nothing if we don’t beat Dallas. The bottom line is just playing well in our next game.” — Chip Kelly on the playoff race

Telling number

44Total sacks by the Eagles, the best in the NFC

This story was originally published December 9, 2014 at 8:26 PM with the headline "Sanchez looks to rebound."