REX RYAN AND MARK SANCHEZ MIGHT HAVE SEALED THEIR FATE IN NEW YORK BY THROWING 4 INTERCEPTIONS AND MISSING OUT ON THE PLAYOFFS

REX RYAN AND MARK SANCHEZ IN HAPPIER TIMES

NASHVILLE – Rex Ryan’s loyalty to a flawed quarterback ultimately did in the Jets during a wacky season filled with plenty of subplots and distractions. When it was over and the Jets were mathematically eliminated from the playoffs after a mistake-filled 14-10 loss to the Titans on Monday night, the truth was abundantly clear: Mark Sanchez’s turnovers proved costly yet again.

Sanchez committed three of his career-high tying five turnovers in the fourth quarter to seal the Jets’ fate on an excruciating night that kept Ryan’s team out of the playoffs for the second consecutive season. The final blow came when, given a gift opportunity in the last minute, Sanchez was unable to handle a low snap. He was charged with a fumble on the play that ended the  Jets’ hopes.

“It’s a devastating loss,” Ryan said. “It hurts beyond belief. The thing that hurts the most is that we got no one to blame but ourselves.”

 Sanchez threw two of his season-high four interceptions in the fourth quarter, including a seemingly back-breaking pick into triple coverage in the waning minutes.

“I just got to play better,” Sanchez said. “That’s all I’m worried about.”

“I’m not ready to say who’ll be our starting quarterback next game,” Ryan said. “I’m not ready to do that.”

The Jets host San Diego Sunday.

Ryan’s team had kept their flickering playoff hopes alive with three wins in the previous four weeks, but Sanchez’s miscues on the national stage proved to be too much to overcome this time. The Jets committed five turnovers for the second consecutive time in prime time.

“We had our chance,” outside linebacker Calvin Pace said. “We fell flat on our face.”

The Jets played a familiar brand of ugly and ineffective football that officially put their playoff hopes to bed. Ryan and Mike Pettine’s defense played well enough to win, but the offense struggled against the Titans’ 31st ranked scoring defense. Sanchez went 13- for 28 for 131 yards, one touchdown, four interceptions and a 32.6 quarterback rating.

“We got to look at it,” Ryan said about Sanchez’s penchant for turning it over.  “It’s not just ever on one man. Our team committed five turnovers.

“I know this certainly wasn’t a good day, for sure,” the head coach added. “At times, he looked fantastic… Other times it was disappointing.”

The Titans (5-9) gave the Jets, who dropped to 6-8, one final opportunity after Brett Kern’s 19-yard shanked punt gave the Jets the ball at the Titans’ 24-yard line with 47 seconds to go.

“I’m thinking we’re winning the game,” safety Yeremiah Bell said. “That opportunity doesn’t come often .… That situation is almost like a gift.”

Sanchez & Co. had an opportunity to overcome all the ugliness and stay alive in the playoff hunt, but Sanchez couldn’t handle Nick Mangold’s low snap in the shotgun. Bilal Powell kicked the loose ball before the Titans recovered it to effectively end the game.

“I didn’t realize it until I saw the replay,” Mangold said of the poor snap. “It sucks to be right there with the opportunity to win hanging on something so simple as the quarterback-center exchange.”

Said Pace: “It was a miracle that we even had a chance at the end,” Pace said. “We still blew that.”

Ryan didn’t commit to a starting
quarterback for next week’s game against the Chargers, but it doesn’t matter much now.

The Jets trailed 7-3 at halftime and didn’t score a touchdown in the first half for the fourth consecutive game. Chris Johnson’s 94-yard touchdown in the second quarter put Gang Green in a halftime hole, but the Jets took a 10-7 lead when Sanchez found Jeff Cumberland on third down for a 17-yard touchdown with 3:19 left in the third quarter. But the Titans answered with a scoring drive of their own to retake the lead three minutes later.

Jake Locker (13 for 22, 149 yards, 79.5 quarterback rating) engineered a 7-play, 64-yard drive capped by his designed 13-yard touchdown run to put the Jets in a 14-10 hole with 20 seconds left in the third quarter.

The Jets made a frenetic push late in the game before Sanchez threw off his back foot trying to hit Cumberland in triple coverage in the end zone. Michael Griffin picked it off with 1:51 to play, but the Jets defense held and forced the 19-yard punt by Brett Kern that gave the Jets one final shot with 47 seconds left.

Then, the bad snap sealed the Jets’ playoff fate for good.

“I want to be in the big games,” Ryan said. “I want to coach in the big games. Obviously this isn’t where I thought this football team would be. There’s no doubt about that. I thought we’d be in the playoffs.”