Rex Ryan's 'Fatal Attraction' to Mark Sanchez How do you explain your fatal attraction to Mark Sanchez? The question, by Dan Leberfeld of Jets Confidential, was posed to Coach Rex Ryan after the Jets lost at Seattle on Nov. 11. It wasn't the most polite question; it was meant to poke and prod. Ryan replied that Sanchez gave his team the best chance to win, but the question lingered, even as the Jets' season circled the tub drain Monday night at Tennessee, with Sanchez, in true horror film fashion, emerging with two turnovers in the final two minutes (five in all in a 14-10 loss). Let's go to the caveats: This Jets team wasn't going to win a Super Bowl anyway -- it didn't have the talent. Sanchez had poor support all around. For the definitive take on how Sanchez was failed by his superiors, see Chase Stuart's article at FootballPerspective.com. But Sanchez simply didn't play well. And Ryan's loyalty to him was baffling at times. It's impossible to imagine Greg McElroy or Tim Tebow doing worse, although Tebow endured a mostly miserable series against Tennessee (he needed better play-calling). In the one instance when Sanchez was benched, McElroy rallied the team to a victory, against Arizona. Even after the loss Monday night, Ryan said he hadn't made a decision on a starter for Sunday against San Diego. But you could read his lips after the game -- if you could withstand the profanity. If merit were all that counted, this should be the end of Sanchez's career as a Jets starter. Money is an issue, $8.25 million for next season, but they have a term for this sort of thing: a sunk cost. Brian Bassett, editor of The Jets Blog, put it this way after the game: "Don't worry about the contract. Don't worry about the money that is owed to Mark Sanchez next year. It doesn't matter. He's so bad it's comical. He's blindspotting safeties all over the place, he's overthrowing his running back just eight yards down the field on check downs. The money is already thrown down the hole DON'T JUMP IN AFTER IT. Greg Cosell of NFL Films had outlined Sanchez's deficienies before the season, frowning at "his limited arm strength and inconsistent progression reading and decision-making." Sanchez's play this season was no surprise. Now at least there's a chance for a new start, Steve Politi of The Star-Ledger wrote: Maybe that'll be the one silver lining to another lost season for this franchise. If the Jets' brain trust can't see that now, they're more hopeless that the guy throwing the passes. Extra point So what do you suppose is the answer to the question, Jets fans? Why has Ryan stuck with Sanchez this season? Specifically, the politics of managerial self-preservation. The GM, Mike Tannebuam, had made too many bad picks and too many bad signings over too long a period to concede that Mark Sanchez was another. He saw it as the straw that might break the camel's back. So rather than admit as much, the Jets fashioned an Orwellian environment in which they consistently denied a reality that was obvious to everyone. And it hasn't been limited to Sanchez. What about insisting that Ducasse play in lieu of Slauson when the position coach admitted that Ducasse is terrible? What about their transparently disingenuous insistence on claiming that they wanted Brian Schottenheimer back following last season? Or the post-season press conference at which Mike Tannenbaum responded to allegations of a talent deficiency by claiming that the Jets had "a locker room full of" guys like Victor Cruz? Tannenbaum is obviously of the mind that if he refuses to admit the existence of a problem, no one else will figure it out. The organization's motto has effectively become "Just deny it, baby." But now, after another bad season, the emperor's clothes are becoming so sheer that even Tannenbaum will have a hard time insisting that they're silk.