Mark Sanchez Dazzles in Brief Jets Debut

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Mark Sanchez was in the game for only eight plays, but he was good enough in that brief time to leave Jets fans wanting more. The former USC quarterback, picked fifth overall in this year's draft, easily outshined rival Kellen Clemens and made the New York Jets' supposed quarterback competition look like no competition at all.

The shame of it, for Clemens, is that he was in his two series exactly what the Jets need their 2009 quarterback to be -- solid, reliable, unspectacularly competent. But Sanchez ... well, he was awesome. And if Sanchez, as all signs indicate, can only lose the job if he falls completely on his face, then it's real bad news for Clemens if the kid is awesome.

Clemens started the game and played the first two series, going 4-for-4 for 24 yards. His first series ended when he was sacked by Leonard Little and fumbled the ball over to the Rams. His second began with five consecutive running plays before he hit Dustin Keller with a 12-yard pass for a first down -- the longest of his four completions. His best play may have been the next one, on which he avoided what looked like a sure sack by Gary Gibson and ended up rushing for two yards.

The Jets' third possession of the game began with Sanchez running out onto the field to cheers from the sparse Meadowlands crowd. He gave them reason to cheer much louder on his first professional preseason play, when he smartly read the St. Louis blitz, checked down and launched a 48-yard strike to David Clowney sprinting up the right sideline. The read and the throw were both perfect, as Clowney caught the ball reaching toward the sideline and well away from the defender.

Sanchez would complete two more passes (a 14-yarder and a 26 yarder, both to Keller) on the drive, which culminated in a short touchdown run by Thomas Jones. He was 3-for-4 for 88 yards, and that was apparently enough. When the Jets' offense returned to the field, Erik Ainge was under center.

In the days leading up to the game, Jets coach Rex Ryan said Sanchez and Clemens would each play some with the first-team offense but that neither would play much. Part of the reason is that the Jets were missing three injured starting offensive linemen for this game, and Ryan correctly felt that it would be unfair to use this game as a major evaluating tool if the two combatants were playing behind a second-string line.

But facts are facts, and everything Ryan sees this preseason will impact his decision. Watching Sanchez and Clemens tonight, it didn't look as if the decision should be very difficult at all.