Jets vs. Lions, NFL preseason 2013: Sanchez struggles, Ryan doesn't notice in Detroit win

The Detroit Lions beat the New York Jets 26-17 at Ford Field on Friday night in the preseason opener for both teams.

For the Jets, the worst possible start took place when Mark Sanchez dropped back early in the first quarter, didn't see a screen pass developing, and threw the ball anyway. Sanchez completed it, unfortunately to the Lions' Ziggy Ansah, who scored an easy touchdown.

However, Sanchez fought back and led a scoring drive capped with a touchdown toss to Jeff Cumberland for 26 yards. On Gang Green Nation, John B was not pleased with his fifth-year quarterback, who despite going 10-for-13 never looked overly sharp.

In three drives, he threw one interception returned for a touchdown on a screen and then would have had a second one had his receiver not bailed him out with a big hit on a defender about to pick off another screen pass. It's easy to say things like, "It's only preseason," or, "They were only a couple of bad passes." You can't do that, though.

After the game, coach Rex Ryan was asked about the interception Sanchez threw. Amazingly, Ryan basically said: I'm busy with my defense, I wasn't watching. Yikes.

Again, John B not particularly thrilled with those sentiments:

The starting quarterback battle is the most important decision the Jets face in 2013, and he doesn't have time for it?

Detroit played like a team looking to rebound off a brutal and unexpectedly bad 4-12 season, with first round pick Ansah leading the charge. Not a bad way to get the career going, rook.

Sean Yuille over at Pride of Detroit was happy with a number of players, including Ansah and the one and only, Calvin Johnson.

Ansah was responsible for the most memorable play of the night when he intercepted Mark Sanchez and scored a touchdown. He also had 2 tackles, one of which was for a loss, and in general he looked like he belonged. It was an excellent NFL debut for Ansah.
Megatron barely played, but he still managed to lead the Lions in receiving with 3 catches for 58 yards. Needless to say, he was his usual dominant self.

However, Yuille wasn't overly pleased with Matthew Stafford, something which has quietly started to become a disturbing trend over the last half-season or so in Detroit.

It might be a bit of a stretch to put Stafford in the losers category, but he only went 3-for-8 on Friday. Granted, those 3 passes went for 58 yards, but all of them were caught by Megatron. When Stafford was throwing to other targets, his accuracy wasn't great, and his desire to unnecessarily throw off his back foot continued to be frustrating.

For more Lions coverage, check out Pride of Detroit while all your Jets needs can be taken care of at Gang Green Nation.