New stat rates Mark Sanchez's game worst

October, 4, 2011
10/04/11
11:31
AM ET
Mark Sanchez’s numbers on Sunday were so bad that they set the new standard for awfulness for ESPN’s new Total Quarterback Rating.

You may have heard about this new metric, devised by ESPN Stats & Information to rate quarterback performance on a scale from 0 to 100. It’s more useful than the NFL’s passer rating because, among other things, it looks at not just the results for a quarterback (passing, running, sacks, fumbles, and penalties), but the situations in which those results occurred (touchdowns to put a team ahead late have greater value than yards gained with a team winning by 30).

Over 46 plays, Sanchez rated an 0.6, the worst of any quarterback involved in 40 or more plays in a game over the last four seasons. There were more than 900 such games over this stretch.

Coincidentally, of the five worst quarterback performances by this metric, two of them came against the Jets. Josh Freeman scored a 0.9 against them in Week 14 of the 2009 season (Sanchez broke the mark set by Freeman and Raiders quarterback Andrew Walter in 2008). Two weeks earlier, Panthers quarterback Jake Delhomme tallied a 1.6 against Rex Ryan’s defense.

Plug Sanchez’s game from Sunday into the NFL’s passer rating, and it’s not quite the standard-setter. His 30.5 ranks tied for 13th-worst among Jets quarterbacks in the history of the franchise, via a search of data on Pro-Football-Reference.com (setting the minimum to 30 pass attempts).

Joe Namath, who has had a lot to say about Sanchez’s performance these first four weeks, actually had two games -- one at the beginning and one at the end of his Jets career -- with a lower passer rating.

In a 24-0 loss to the Oilers on Oct. 16, 1966, Namath was 16-for-37 with no touchdowns and four interceptions, for a passer rating of 14.6 (second-worst in Jets history, just behind a Richard Todd game from 1977).

In a 38-24 loss to the Patriots, Namath was 16-for-36 with five interceptions, for a passer rating of 29.2.

Namath also had something Sanchez has yet to have -- a no-touchdown, six-interception game in a 43-0 loss to the Dolphins on Oct. 19, 1975.

ESPN Conversations


You must be signed in to post a comment

Already have an account?

  • janesports Jane McManus
    Northwestern will face Syracuse in the NCAA women's lacrosse final on Sunday after beating Maryland 9-7 tonight in a semi.
    about an hour ago     
  • janesports Jane McManus
    For Florida women's lacrosse, winning goal was waived off due to illegal stick depth with :09 left in OT. Then Syra scored in sudden death.
    about 4 hours ago     
  • janesports Jane McManus
    No. 4 Syracuse women's lacrosse rebounded from 12-5 halftime deficit to beat No. 1 Florida 14-13 in sudden death OT. Just wow. NCAA semis.
    about 4 hours ago     
  • RichCimini Rich Cimini
    Q & A with Mark Sanchez: We interrupt Tebow-mania to bring you the Jets' starting quarterback, Mark Sanchez... http://t.co/wW1J76q1 #nyj
    about 5 hours ago     
  • janesports Jane McManus
    Here in Stony Brook, Florida frosh Shannon Gilroy of Northport is putting together heck of a homecoming. 4G already, up 10-4 over Syracuse.
    about 5 hours ago     
  • janesports Jane McManus
    Can we do it again tonight? RT @JeanGreasy Felt like a big family at that venue tonight. That's pretty good. pretty...pretty...pretty good.
    about 5 hours ago     
  • janesports Jane McManus
    Former Jet Trevor Pryce with solid NYT piece on tennis. If writing doesn't work out for me, perhaps I'll be an NFL DE. http://t.co/6wR7yf2C
    about 6 hours ago     
  • janesports Jane McManus
    Women's NCAA lacrosse semis about to startin Stony Brook. Can you believe Fla is top seed when 3 years ago it started program from scratch?
    about 7 hours ago     
  • RichCimini Rich Cimini
    Since Jets don't want 'Hard Knocks' ...: ... the folks at NFL Live would love to take their place. http://t.co/yncXxuDk #nyj
    about 7 hours ago     
  • janesports Jane McManus
    Just heard Nas song about his daughter growing up. So nice to hear a different slice of femininity discussed on commercial radio.
    about 10 hours ago     
  • janesports Jane McManus
    Gimme a C-O-R-P-O-R-A-T-E and a L-A-W! RT @adbrandt Enduring winner in NFL-NFLPA relationship: billable hours.
    about 13 hours ago     
  • janesports Jane McManus
    #Jets ST coordinator Mike Westhoff recovering from surgery to repair broken rod in leg. Should be back by camp. http://t.co/MAGLuibJ #NFL
    about 15 hours ago     
  • janesports Jane McManus
    Last night at Drom, @JeanGreasy played some new and some old stuff, including this one: http://t.co/twYsgVqm Thx for the intro, Twitter!
    about 16 hours ago     
  • janesports Jane McManus
    Just saw @JeanGreasy kill it at Drom in NYC. Even better live than on Twitter. She is real after all.
    about 22 hours ago     
  • RichCimini Rich Cimini
    Quick take on QBs, Hill's vertical speed, etc.: Observations on OTA No. 3 (the first session open to the me... http://t.co/f6D5vhda #nyj
    1 day ago     
  • RichCimini Rich Cimini
    'Te-bow! Te-bow! Te-bow!': When Tim Tebow walked into the locker room Thursday, with a crowd of reporters a... http://t.co/wejdJAcm #nyj
    1 day ago     
  • RichCimini Rich Cimini
    Tebow backs 'Tebowing' HS student: Tim Tebow said he was vaguely familiar with the story of Chuck Shriner, ... http://t.co/cYpjmtk8 #nyj
    1 day ago     
  • RichCimini Rich Cimini
    Missing: Holmes, Cromartie and Landry: WR Santonio Holmes, CB Antonio Cromartie and S LaRon Landry didn't p... http://t.co/OBOhoNeI #nyj
    1 day ago     
  • RichCimini Rich Cimini
    #Jets STC Mike Westhoff, one tough dude, said he needed surgery because his metal femur broke in half. http://t.co/A8aXppJT
    1 day ago     
  • janesports Jane McManus
    Lawrence Taylor's reaction when he learned Charlie Sheen may have had the winning bid on his Super Bowl ring? http://t.co/QRGwtpv1 #NFL
    1 day ago     

TEAM LEADERS

PASSING
Mark Sanchez
ATT COMP YDS TD
543 308 3474 26
RUSHINGCARYDSAVGTD
S. Greene 253 1054 4.2 6
L. Tomlinson 75 280 3.7 1
RECEIVINGRECYDSAVGTD
D. Keller 65 815 12.5 5
S. Holmes 51 654 12.8 8

NEW YORK CALENDAR

  •    There are no games scheduled for today.
  •    There are no games scheduled for today.
  •    There are no games scheduled for today.
  •    There are no games scheduled for today.
  •    There are no games scheduled for today.