Not for Haters; Fun WSJ Article on Jets QB's

[Gangrene]

Let's Play 'Name That Jets QB'

Sanchez or Tebow? Tebow or Sanchez?

The Answers to a Few of These May Surprise You

By Mike Sielski, Wall Street Journal

The Jets begin training camp Friday, and once they do, America will resume one of its favorite pastimes of 2012: the second-by-second tracking and analysis of the play of quarterbacks Mark Sanchez and Tim Tebow. And by "play," we mean the way that each of them takes a snap, throws a pass, talks to his teammates, drinks Gatorade, walks on and off the practice field, spits, talks, tweets or Tebows. (Would Sanchez dare to Tebow in the presence of Tebow? Imagine the delicious fallout.)

Part of what makes the Sanchez-Tebow competition such a flashpoint for discussion and speculation is that there's already a familiar, ready-made narrative in place for each player. The storylines go like this: Sanchez is the flashy quarterback from southern California who lost the trust of his teammates and coaches last season, who failed to lift his team into the playoffs, who now has to defend his reputation and his job against this incursion by the NFL's most popular and polarizing player. Tebow doesn't have the prettiest throwing motion and may not be able to read defenses with the acuity of, say, Drew Brees, but he's a leader in the locker room and a man of God who wins football games through the sheer power of his ability to do whatever must be done to win football games.

Those are two pretty distinct pictures, and they depict a pair of athletes who have little in common other than their position. So in the interest of showing that Sanchez's and Tebow's careers haven't necessarily always followed those arcs—that their paths to this point have been more similar than one might think—we've come up with the following quiz.

It's simple: We provide a detail about either Sanchez or Tebow. You guess the QB to whom it applies. You might be surprised at some of the answers, which are upside down below the quiz. (No cheating!)

1. He was the first rookie quarterback in NFL history to start and win the first three games of his team's season.

2. He was the first rookie quarterback in NFL history to run for a touchdown in each of his first three starts, though his team lost two of those games.

3. A writer for Esquire Magazine called him "anything but cool."

4. He has signed endorsement deals with Nike and Toyota.

5. He has signed endorsement deals with Nike and Jockey.

6. In his first postseason start, he threw for 316 yards, including a long game-winning touchdown pass in overtime.

7. A writer for GQ called him "the most eligible bachelor to hit New York in a generation."

8. In his first postseason start, he completed 12 of his 15 passes, including a long second-quarter touchdown pass that gave his team a lead that it never relinquished.

9. His career record as an NFL starter, including playoff games, is 31-22, a .585 winning percentage.

10. His career record as an NFL starter, including playoff games, is 9-7, a .563 winning percentage.

11. With a playoff berth at stake, he lost his final three regular-season games last year, completing 56% of his passes and throwing five touchdowns and seven interceptions.

12. With a playoff berth at stake, he lost his final three regular-season games last year. In those games, he completed just 41% of his passes while throwing only one touchdown and four interceptions.

13. Among the 31 quarterbacks who took at least 25% of their teams' snaps last season, none threw "the deep ball" (a pass attempt of 20 yards or more) more frequently than he did, according to Pro Football Focus.

14. Among the 31 quarterbacks who took at least 25% of their teams' snaps last season, just seven threw "the deep ball" less frequently than he did.

15. In his final college game, he threw for 382 yards and three touchdowns in the Sugar Bowl.

16. In his last college game,he threw for 413 yards and four touchdowns in the Rose Bowl.

17. He made a cameo on "Saturday Night Live."

18. He has not appeared on "Saturday Night Live."

19. He has led nine game-winning drives in the fourth quarter, including four last season.

20. He has led six game-winning drives in the fourth quarter, including five last season.

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Answers: 1. Sanchez; 2. Tebow; 3. Tebow; 4. Sanchez; 5. Tebow ; 6. Tebow; 7. Sanchez; 8. Sanchez; 9. Sanchez; 10. Tebow; 11. Sanchez; 12. Tebow; 13. Tebow; 14; Sanchez; 15. Tebow; 16. Sanchez; 17. Sanchez; 18. Tebow; 19. Sanchez; 20 Tebow

A version of this article appeared July 23, 2012, on page A22 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: Let's Play 'Name That Jets QB'.

I got one wrong ... No.7, maybe the easiest question of the lot, I thought it was a trick question "most eligible Bathelor of a generation to come to New York"

[Bleedin Green]

Yeah, this is actually really easy for anyone paying attention. Only one I had no clue about was which one was on SNL, considering I can't even tell you how many years it's been since I've watched that show (although it does make sense it was Sanchez). Any of the ones that were actually about, you know, football were easy enough to guess even if you didn't know.

[JiFtheOracle]

We are soooo lucky to have these 2 guys.

[Jet-T's]

I have a correction for you on Question #15. You were 100 passing yards light on it.

15. 2009/10 Sugar Bowl against Undefeated #3 Ranked Big East Champ Cincinnati:

Passing - 31 of 35, 87% for 482 yds, 3 TD's, 0 Ints, Long 80 yds. <---<<< Look familiar?

(that 80 yd TD throw against Pittsburg was not the first of it's kind for Tim)

Rushing - 14 for 51 yds, 1 TD, Long 17 yds.

Sugar Bowl Total Offense against the #3 Ranked and Undefeated 12-0 Cincy Bearcats:

531 yards with 4 TD's to ZERO Turnovers.

Voted MVP while setting or tying several Sugar Bowl All Time records.

==============

Bonus Question: He scored 20 TD's in his 71 trips, for the best 4th quarter redzone scoring % in the 2011 NFL?

[FloridaJetsFan]

I answered Cam Newton on like 5 of them ...

[Jet-T's]

I answered Cam Newton on like 5 of them ...

When ole sCam was on the same team with Tebow, sCam was 3rd string behind both Leak and Tebow.

Then in his 2nd season, sCam then 2nd string behind Tebow.

Then he was invited to leave UF after his 3rd FUBAR and had to go to JUCO for a season.

After that, Auburn paid him to be their QB and he finally did okay for them and earned his $$.

(when sCam came out of JUCO his father said; "he won't be signing for free this time)

INCREDIBLE sCam is 6-10 in his first 16 NFL starts.

While chitty Tebow is only 9-7 in his first 16 NFL starts.

So as anyone can see, ole sCam is a Mo-Betta QB than Tebow will ever be.....

[Bleedin Green]

When ole sCam was on the same team with Tebow, sCam was 3rd string behind both Leak and Tebow.

Then in his 2nd season, sCam then 2nd string behind Tebow.

Then he was invited to leave UF after his 3rd FUBAR and had to go to JUCO for a season.

After that, Auburn paid him to be their QB and he finally did okay for them and earned his $$.

(when sCam came out of JUCO his father said; "he won't be signing for free this time)

INCREDIBLE sCam is 6-10 in his first 16 NFL starts.

While chitty Tebow is only 9-7 in his first 16 NFL starts.

So as anyone can see, ole sCam is a Mo-Betta QB than Tebow will ever be.....

Yeah, it's certainly inconsequential that a rookie player beat a second year player in just the following few categories:

completion percentage

passing yards (total, per game, and per attempt)

passing touchdowns (total, per game)

QB rating

rushing yards (total, per attempt)

rushing touchdowns (total, per game)

I mean, other than those few things, Tebow is obviously better at other um... stuff.

[FloridaJetsFan]

Yeah, it's certainly inconsequential that a rookie player beat a second year player in just the following few categories:

completion percentage

passing yards (total, per game, and per attempt)

passing touchdowns (total, per game)

QB rating

rushing yards (total, per attempt)

rushing touchdowns (total, per game)

I mean, other than those few things, Tebow is obviously better at other um... stuff.

Hey! Didn't you "unfriend" JN on Twitter???

[Bleedin Green]

Hey! Didn't you "unfriend" JN on Twitter???

To this day I've still managed to avoid ever signing up for Twitter, so I can say with all confidence you must have me confused with someone else.