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Jets vs. Titans 2012: 'Sanchez gave the Jets zero chance to win this game'

The New York Jets were eliminated from postseason contention Monday night in an ugly 14-10 loss to the Tennessee Titans, thanks to four interceptions and a game-sealing bobbled snap by Mark Sanchez.

By Rodger Sherman
Andy Lyons

When the New York Jets finally imploded, they went all in. They lost 14-10 as a result of complete offensive ineptitude on Monday Night Football to a Tennessee Titans team that was 4-9 coming in, eliminating themselves from the playoffs, a fitting end for a team whose problems reached national prominence.

The defense was there, holding the Titans to just 14 points and giving the offense multiple opportunities to score a game-winning touchdown in the fourth quarter. But Mark Sanchez played horribly, forcing several bad throws into heavy coverage, ending with four interceptions on 13-for-28 passing. After a 19-yard Brett Kern punt set the team up with short field position with under a minute left to get the go-ahead score, Sanchez booted the snap for the coup de grace, giving the Titans the ball back and ended the game.

Jets blogger John B runs down the good and the bad of every Jets game. After Monday night's debacle, he jumped straight into the bad to make his feelings known on Sanchez' performance:

I feel like a broken record. The same things keep happening. This was a game where the stats truly do tell the story. Sanchez hit 46 percent of his passes. He averaged 4.6 yards per pass. That's less than the Jets gained running the ball. He had one touchdown and four interceptions. All four picks were on him. He threw late on the first, third, and fourth. The third was thrown into double coverage. The fourth was thrown off his back foot into triple coverage. The second he overthrew an open receiver. His other throws were mostly off target. He made bad adjustments at the line.

And that's just about half of the criticism of Sanchez. Next up were offensive coordinator Tony Sparano, linebacker Bart Scott -- "Give fans an early Christmas gift, and cut him already. I CAN'T WAIT until he's off this team." -- and a cast of thousands.

The Jets needed to win out and get serious help from the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cincinnati Bengals in order to make the playoffs, but at 6-8, they're officially out of contention.