The End of the Sanchez Era

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Will Leitch sees the harbingers of doom:


The Jets have all sorts of issues they need to resolve, and missing the playoffs this year assures that the appropriate changes will be made. (We'd be shocked to see offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer still employed by the team in a week, or even a couple of days.) But the biggest change is likely to come at quarterback. Maybe the Jets will try to trade for Peyton Manning, now that the Colts are assured of the No. 1 pick and the option of taking Andrew Luck. (This is hard to take too seriously, though.) 

Maybe they'll draft Robert Griffin III or Landry Jones. Maybe they'll grab another team's castoff just to provide some competition. But Sanchez's free ride is over. The Jets had problems other than Mark Sanchez this year, but he was their biggest one, particularly late in the season. They can no longer deny it, no matter how great everyone wants Sanchez to be. You won't be seeing him on any GQ covers next September. You won't be seeing him in Nextel commercials. And you're unlikely to see him atop the Jets depth chart. You might even be unlikely to see him in a Jets uniform.

It's not like I've got any reason to crow. The Cowboys season ended just as it should--with just enough interest to shoot ratings through the roof, and just enough ineptitude to keep them home this year. Again, what's scary is Jerry Jones can basically do this forever and be flush.

Sorry for getting sidetracked. Pick it up in comments. I'll be rooting for the Ravens.
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Ta-Nehisi Coates is a senior editor at The Atlantic, where he writes about culture, politics, and social issues. He is the author of the memoir The Beautiful Struggle. More

Born in 1975, the product of two beautiful parents. Raised in West Baltimore -- not quite The Wire, but sometimes ill all the same. Studied at the Mecca for some years in the mid-'90s. Emerged with a purpose, if not a degree. Slowly migrated up the East Coast with a baby and my beloved, until I reached the shores of Harlem. Wrote some stuff along the way.

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