Maddux Sports Blog

I keep reading all over the internet about how Mark Sanchez was masterful, brilliant, and so on today. He was good, but I’m just not buying all the accolades. What he was was a young quarterback who was masterfully protected by his offensive coordinator. Just look at the stats – he threw only 15 passes. He completed 12 of those 15 passes, but it’s not that hard for a QB to have the time to be that accurate when a team establishes the run as effectively as the Jets did, and runs so relentlessly. The Bengals couldn’t consistently pressure Sanchez without being punished by Shonn Greene. The star here was Brian Scottenheimer, not Mark Sanchez. It’s typical of the Jets that the coordinator had one of his best days in the job in what is quite likely his second last game with the team.

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I’m going to do a much more comprehensive review of what we learned from the NFL today when I have more time tomorrow. For now, though, I just want to touch on five different stats. Each of them is almost impossible to believe, but they all happened. Not surprisingly, three of them came from the same game:

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I’m not going to gloat or say I-told-you-so because I’ll make more than a few bad predictions and observations here, but I feel good about suggesting that Ole Miss had no business being ranked at number four. It’s not just that they lost to South Carolina – these things will happen. It’s that they looked so bad doing it. Jevan Snead was thoroughly ineffective, and Steve Spurrier totally and thoroughly won the coaching battle. That Spurrier point is the most telling one – it has been a long while since Spurrier has outcoached anyone, and Ole Miss should be ashamed that it happened to them. If the Rebels had trouble with the Gamecocks then it could be a really long SEC season for them.

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The 2009 NFL Draft is one-month away. I’ve been thinking a bit about what guys are the best of the best in their positions. Let’s take a look at the three top-rated quarterbacks who have a shot at having an impact in the pros.

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A few things occupying my thoughts:

Monday Night Football is just a couple of hours away. I am torn in the game. The big thing that stops me from backing New Orleans enthusiastically is the loss of Sedrick Ellis. I have no idea what the impact of his absence will be, but I am very curious to find out. He’s really coming into his own, and he would have made it much harder for Minnesota to run. Since they can’t really pass, that would have been important. This isn’t going to be a classic game, but it is certainly an interesting one to consider. Talented but terribly flawed teams.

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