I have to give credit to ESPN’s Insider columnist Vince Verhei for putting together a stunning stat comparison involving Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez. The highly lauded USC graduate has numbers nearly identical to another young NFL quarterback. No, not Joe Flacco or Matt Schaub. The player he is statistically most similar to is JaMarcus Russell, the much-maligned QB of the Raiders.

In 2008, Russell was 198-of-368 for 2,423 yards, 13 touchdowns and 18 interceptions. Sanchez this season was 196-of-364 for 2,444 yards, 12 touchdowns and 20 interceptions. They both amazingly finished with a QB rating of 53.8 percent.

These stats don’t mean the Jets won’t win on Sunday. They have proven that their No. 1 ranked defense and strong running game can carry them. However, when your quarterback has almost identical numbers to somebody often referred to as the worst quarterback of the generation, this is a problem. These stats don’t mean the Colts have Sunday locked up. They do predict that Sanchez won’t be the one to beat them.

For the full story, click on this link: http://insider.espn.go.com/nfl/playoffs

--- TOMMY ALTER.