The Jets Need To Call Roger Staubach

The New York Jets need to have a talk with hall of fame quarterback Roger Staubach. He will tell them that playing quarterbacks Mark Sanchez and Tim Tebow at the same time will never work. Staubach knows this from past experience.

Just as New York is trying to play two quarterbacks, the Dallas Cowboys tried to do the same in 1971 with Staubach and Craig Morton. Just as the Jets are struggling, Dallas did too. New York is 3-6 after nine games. After seven games in 1971 the Cowboys were 4-3.

Going into 1971, Dallas head coach Tom Landry could not decide who he wanted to be his quarterback. In a week seven contest against the Chicago Bears, he decided to alternate Staubach and Morton on every play. This is more extreme than what the Jets are doing with Sanchez and Tebow. Sanchez starts and plays most of the game while Tebow comes in for a few plays a game.

Landry’s alternating quarterbacks system did not work in 1971 and the Cowboys lost to Chicago 23-19. The Sanchez-Tebow system is not working in New York today and the Jets season is going down the tubes. The problem with both systems is simple. Neither allows a quarterback to become the team’s undisputed leader.

What Staubach would probably tell New York head coach Rex Ryan is that he needs to let one man play quarterback and make the other a backup. By having two men play the position it upsets the team, because no one will accept either as their leader. As the saying goes if you have two quarterbacks then you have none.

Landry did not see things this way until Dallas team captain Leroy Jordan came to him and said that the team wanted one quarterback. It did not matter who Landry picked they would play for him. Landry picked Staubach. The Cowboys did not lose another game and won their first world’s championship.

The 2012 Jets are not as good as the 1971 Cowboys, but have the same problem. By playing Sanchez and Tebow it leaves both men frustrated. This is especially the case with Sanchez who feels as though it is his team and he should play all of the time. Their teammates are frustrated also, because the offense has not been productive and they do not know who their leader is.

It does not matter whether Ryan or someone else does it, but someone needs to give Staubach a call. He will tell them flat out that by playing two quarterbacks everyone loses.