Has Mark Sanchez Disappointed?

Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow ain't pretty in technique. He may never be confused with young, accurate canon-arm Cam Newton. He may never be as good as Peyton Manning or Tom Brady. Then again, who will be? The bottom line is that at the end of this week, Tebow can say he is 4-1 as the Broncos starting quarterback, since taking over from Kyle Orton.

Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez has what is on the surface, a simple job. Here's a Super Bowl-caliber defense. Now you and the offense must score points and just try not to make us any costly mistakes. Rarely do the Jets ask Sanchez to go above and beyond in winning games in term of risk factor, but he showed on Thursday night that doesn't matter. Sanchez threw 24/40 for 252 passing yards. He had no touchdowns, but in a close game he threw a costly interception that helped get the Broncos to a 17-13 win.

We can say the Jets' trash talk bit them in the butt, but let's face it. The defense played as well as they could and held the Broncos 3-10 points throughout most of the game. And while we cannot say Tebow is the next great NFL quarterback, we can say that he wins and that he did not cost his team the game. And realistically, the expectations for Sanchez since he was drafted three seasons ago far exceed those for Tebow.

At 5-5 with another slip-up in the Rex Ryan era, can Sanchez lead the Jets to their third straight playoff appearance? The San Diego Chargers under Norv Turner were notoriously slow or inconsistent starters for years and always ended up making the playoffs. Well, until last year anyway. The Broncos were a team the Jets were supposed to beat. Now the Jets are behind Tennessee, Buffalo, Denver, and Cincinnati in the AFC Wild Card race. That's not good. To the Jets defense and its fans....That's unacceptable.