Perhaps, but I would say the defense's flat play in the first half was the bigger culprit. And on offense, I would put the first half woes more on the ineptitude of the running game then on Sanchez.
Roelisberger had 37 yards passing in the second half..........finished the game with 0 TD's, 2 INT's and a QB rating of 35.5. He's heading to his 3rd Superbowl........and is one of the quintessential "franchise QB's" of this generation. To try and write Sanchez off as a franchise QB (at 24) because of a poor half of football.......speaks to your level of knowledge of NFL football.
Well there is always next year............ hopefully this franchise stuff pans out a little better and we stop blaming everybody but the QB for any tough games.
Sanchez was so $ tonight. He was $ in frigid weather (so go fuck yourselves you stupid media robots who spew the Sanchez-is-from-Cali-&-can't-handle-cold-weather bullshit). He was $ after getting hit during a throw that could've been a serious injury. And he was $ in leading a huge comeback against an elite D in the AFCC. Seriously, if anyone doubts this dude, then he/she is clueless.
I've been so happy with his progress this year. Couldn't have asked for much better of a year from him. He's really developing all he needs to win with this team. Can't wait to see him improve next year.
Evan Roberts adamantly supporting Sanchez right now. He's saying (and I also fully felt this last night) that if the D got that last stop last night, Sanchez would've led the game-winning drive. Kid is clutch and probably would've done it with one more chance.
Mark Sanchez Playoff Statistics: 9TD/3INT, 60.5% Completion, 1155 Passing Yards/ 4-2 Record (All on Road)
We finally can brag about having a great QB this kid is getting better daily and he seems to thrive in playoff and big game scenarios. Thanks Mark, Rex and the rest of our Gang Green for an awesome run again this year
i finally had the guts to rewatch the highlights of the Steelers game. Mark Sanchez is a franchise QB. That second half was the stuff of legends. Spreading the ball around, getting everyone involved, playing like he wanted it bad. Just impressive stuff. I have no doubt one day soon this kid is going to take us places. That being contingent on whether Schotty finally learns to play to the kids strength.
True about Schotty, I couldn't figure out why we didn't take the shots in the first half after being down by so much and our defense looking so bad. He did the same thing the year before against the Colts, when Shonn Greene went down and Manning lighting you up, we couldn't burn much clock and should have played with more desperation. Santonio showed his frustration regarding Schotty as well in a post-game interview. This is will be the year we get away from the "run first" scheme I'm sure.
I hate watching those highlights solely because that means I have to watch that dreadful goal line disaster. Fuck. Overall, though, it ended up not being a bad loss. We played like garbage in the first half, and then the Steelers played like garbage in the second half. Our run defense really killed us.