Boomer: Can Jets Get Any Worse? Might As Well Put In Tebow
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Ugly. Horrendous. Brutal.
You get the idea.
The crowd at MetLife Stadium let the Jets' offense have it during Sunday's awful 34-0 loss to the San Francisco 49ers. There were plenty of boos and, predictably, calls for backup quarterback Tim Tebow.
Now Tebow's biggest critic says maybe it's time for more of No. 15. But it wasn't exactly a ringing endorsement.
"I say, well, if you're going to go out there with this collection of players, you might as well throw Tim Tebow out there," WFAN co-host Boomer Esiason said Monday morning. "Just because it can't get any worse."
LISTEN: Is time running out on Sanchez?
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Starter Mark Sanchez was just 13-of-29 for 103 yards against one of the league's most ferocious defenses. He had a fumble, an interception, completed less than 50 percent of his passes for the third straight game and saw his quarterback rating dive to a season-low 39.9.
To be fair, Sanchez was again working without tight end Dustin Keller and rookie wide receiver Stephen Hill, the team's second-round pick in 2012. To make matters worse, Santonio Holmes left early in the fourth quarter with a non-contact foot injury.
"If you're going to throw this collection of skill players out there with Mark Sanchez against the No. 1 defense in football and expect him to become Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, or Drew Brees or Aaron Rodgers, you're sorely mistaken," said Esiason. "That's not who this kid is. And that's not who you are as a franchise.
"And then you expect him to raise the level of average-to-middling players -- that's not who he is. That's not what he's going to do for you. So forget that."
LISTEN: Boomer & Carton on Jets debacle
Co-host Craig Carton said Sanchez is "done" and "cannot be the New York Jets' quarterback." And much of the blame, he said, falls on the franchise.
"You threw a first-down pass for 11 yards and Mark Sanchez, your starting quarterback, is off the field on the second play of the game," said Carton, who has been critical of the team's treatment of Sanchez. "You've killed the kid. He's done. Not in the NFL, but he can't play quarterback here. That's it."
According to Esiason, the Jets have "ruined" their starting quarterback.
"I know the onslaught's going to come, I know the Tebow chants are going to come," said Esiason. "To me, they've ruined their quarterback. They've ruined him to this point. If they're going to go anywhere with this team, (Sanchez) has to be their quarterback. But I don't know where he's going to be 14 days from now.
"He's gonna be beat up and battered, (that's) what he's gonna be."
Head coach Rex Ryan insisted Sanchez would remain his starting quarterback after Sunday's loss. Tebow stood by him, too. But what'll happen if the calls for New York's ultra-popular backup get louder and more frequent?
Sure, the Tebow package hasn't exactly lived up to the hype either. But even Boomer and Carton, who called for the Jets to cut Tebow in August, can't blame the team's woe's on the wildcat specialist.
"The Jets' problems have nothing at all to do with Tim Tebow," said Carton. "They have everything to do with the collection of talent that the general manager has brought here, and the way we're using that lack of talent with both (offensive coordinator) Tony Sparano and Rex Ryan."
Is it Tebow time? Have the Jets ruined Sanchez? Sound off in the comments below!
