Really Mark Sanchez, Really!

I know I took the easy way out with that headline, but it is fitting because Eric Smith should not have been in that position if it wasn't for Mr. Sanchez.  Mark Sanchez showed that he is not ready to be an elite quarterback.  I understand that you didn't have all of your plays available as Tomlinson did not play and Shon Greene got hurt early, but from a running perspective, Joe McKnight seemed to okay.  It is not like this team has been running well this year and you can only blame so much on the running back's pass protection.  You are playing against a pretty bad offense with a 7 point lead, is there really a need to throw in a tight window on a third and 8.  The only way you  could have lost last night is by throwing a pick six, which Sanchez did or special teams.
My other problem with last night's performance is that the Jets could not muster 15-20 yards to get into field goal range when they got the ball inside Denver's 50.  This would have given them a possible 6 point lead and made it a much different game.  People might say that they scored a touchdown, so it wouldn't have mattered, but it does and it does a lot.  Down 6, Tebow and the Denver offense would have needed a touchdown from the get go, which would have led to calling plays differently.  Knowing that you are down 3 and Matt Praeter kicking at home, is much better than needing to score a touchdown against the Jets defense.  The touchdown was icing on the cake as they knew they had a good shot at a tie already, which is why they called it conservatively once they were in field goal range.  No need to take risks and you might be able to get a good result by running it, but at the minimum you are not putting Tebow in a bad spot.  That was well played by John Fox, but was handed to him by Mark Sanchez's inability to lead an offense.  One other thing, I noticed is that Plaxico is beginning to look a lot like Randy Moss in his last year.  The main difference is that Plax goes across the middle more often than Moss did.  He is not beating anybody and his main move will be to get a jump ball.  There is no more explosion to him, so if there is no improvement by next year, he will probably be following Moss into retirement.

Plaxico Should be a Welcome Addition to Most Teams

Plaxico Burress, looking
for a job?

It would seem that a 33 year old wide receiver who has not been on an NFL field since 2008 would be a waste of time to sign, but I will give you a few reasons why this should not be the case.
First and foremost, most guys who come out of the clink are happy to be out despite the fact that it is difficult to find employment and in effect are starting their lives over to some degree.  Plaxico, is one of the lucky few that will be able to get right back into his former profession and make good money at the same time.  He has been dreaming of the moment that he gets to set foot on the field and help out the team smart enough to put their faith in Mr. Burress.  In this view, Plaxico will be indebted to this team at least for the first year and then if he does well, this conversation is out the window and will probably be about the cash money.  He is going to have to work hard for this money though, knowing he needs to have a good season before he makes the big money.
Another reason I think that he will be a welcome addition is that he will be physically back into the swing of things fairly quickly.  As a wide receiver, especially a tall leaper who sticks mostly to outside the hash marks, there will not be a big learning curve adjustment.  Coaches are not going to ask Plaxico to run option routes and think about where he should be vs certain defenses, they are going to say here is a jump ball go and get it for a bit until his feet are wet and then he will start learning the more complicated things.  Unlike running backs, wide receivers stick around the league a bit longer and can excel at advanced ages.  Look at TO, Derrick Mason and Steve Smith, and they don't have the benefit of having 2 years of rest on their body.
Most important to most teams and general managers is that he should be fairly cheap for a guy who scored 10 or more touchdown in his last 2 full seasons and was right around a 1,000 yards or more for the last 3.  That kind of production at value dollars, should be a go ahead for just about any team in this league.
So as long as somebody doesn't give this guy the moon, which would defeat the purpose of this article as he could then become lazy as he does not really have to work that hard to make big money.  I hope a team signs him for a year with an option for the next couple.  That would be smart in my opinion, but as we have seen there are plenty of dumb teams in this league as Plaxico's agent is very aware of.  I am sure his first calls were to Al Davis and Mike Brown.