New York Jets’ Mark Sanchez says headset issues contributed to loss – NFL news
New York Jets’ quarterback Mark Sanchez said that he had problems communicating with the coaching staff because of a malfunctioning headset during their AFC Championship Game loss against the Pittsburgh Steelers on 3 January, 2011.
The main headset that was used to communicate with Sanchez went dead after the Jets’ first possession. The backup headset stopped working in the fourth quarter of the game as the team was trying to get a touchdown on first and goal from the Steelers’ two-yard
line with about eight minutes left in the game.
“It never really happened for that long of a time,” Sanchez said. “We had to use a walkie-talkie at one point and [offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer] was just yelling calls in at one point. It was just another challenge, and we almost overcame it.”
Sanchez was forced to run over to the sideline to talk to the offensive coordinator because of the bad headset. He also had to yell out the calls to the other players on the offensive line as the Terrible Towel waving Steelers’ fans at Heinz Field made his
calls negligible in the din.
Dustin Keller, tight end for the Jets, said that the team also had to rush a couple of times because it took a while to get the calls communicated to the entire offensive line. If the team took their time, they would have been penalised for causing delays
in the game.
“The problem was the headset kept going out multiple times during the game,” Sanchez said, “So I had to run over and get a couple calls, piece together some calls on the headset that came in broken up. It was one of those things we were fighting through.
I was proud of our guys for trying to piece it together.”
The problem became apparent when they were at the two-yard line, trying to get a touchdown, but failed to make it in four tries, resulting in a turnover on downs. Steelers’ quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was sacked for a safety on the following play.
Sanchez had started in all 16 games of the 2010 season, completing just under 55 per cent of his passes for 3,291 yards and 17 touchdowns, while being intercepted 13 times and sacked 27 times.
The Steelers then went on to face the Green Bay Packers in the Super Bowl, but lost 25-31. Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers was named the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player, completing 34 of 39 passes for 204 passing yards and 3 touchdowns.
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