Mark Sanchez learned a valuable lesson on Sunday: In the NFL, things can always go from bad to worse.

Three weeks ago, Sanchez threw thee interceptions and fumbled once in a 24-10 loss to the Saints. One of those interceptions was returned 99 yards for a touchdown by Darren Sharper and the fumble produced a TD for New Orleans as well. It was the first time that the Jets’ quarterback looked like the rookie he is.

Yesterday, Sanchez completed just 10 of 29 passes for 119 yards and finished with a career-high five interceptions in a 16-13 overtime loss to the Bills. He missed open receivers, he often threw into double coverage and at times, looked absolutely hopeless.

But guess what? That’s going to happen with a rookie quarterback. When Sanchez led the Jets to a 3-0 start and beat the Patriots in Foxboro, everyone was ready to anoint him the next Joe Namath before he even had four games under his belt. But now that he’s playing like the love child of J.P. Losman and Joey Harrington, nobody should be ready to throw in the towel – especially the Jets.

At least for the time being, Rex Ryan has to stick with Sanchez and ride him through the good and the bad this season. Sanchez was bound to struggle and now that he is, the first thing Ryan needs to do is make it known that the rookie is still his quarterback. Sanchez’s confidence is shaken right now and the last thing he needs is Kellen Clemens breathing down his neck.

The Jets are going to find out what kind of quarterback they have over the next couple weeks. They play the Raiders next Sunday and host the Dolphins before their bye in Week 8. If Sanchez can lead the Jets to two victories, then he can build some confidence going into the off week and into the second half of the season. If he fails, then Ryan can reassess the situation in the bye and go from there.

It’ll be interesting to see how Sanchez responds to Sunday’s performance. Ryan Leaf tanked after two strong performances his rookie year, while Peyton Manning threw 28 interceptions but rebounded to be one of the best quarterbacks in NFL history.

Which way will Sanchez go?

The New Orleans Saints are the best team in the NFL. Not just the NFC, but in the entire league. And if you disagree, then make sure you watch the highlights of the Saints’ beat down of the Giants on Sunday.

In what was supposed to be a battle of the two best teams in the NFC, the Saints absolutely guerrilla-smacked the Giants 48-27 at the Superdome. Soon-to-be MVP winner Drew Brees was brilliant, completing 23 of his 30 passing attempts for 369 yards and four touchdowns. He finished with a QB rating of 156.8.

The Giants turned the ball over twice and had nine penalties that totaled 110 yards, but this wasn’t a matter of New York shooting itself in the foot. New Orleans was just flat out better in all facets of the game. The stepped on the Giants’ throats and kept it there for four quarters.

For years, the one thing that had been missing for this Saints team was a stellar defense to go along with their explosive offense. Now now they have one under new defensive coordinator Gregg Williams and we’re finally seeing what this team is capable of. New Orleans limited the Giants to only 84 rushing yards, 241 passing and as previously noted, they also caused two turnovers and sacked Eli Manning twice.

Speaking of sacks, the Giants’ explosive pass-rush was limited to just one today. ONE. The Saints have one of the more underrated offensive lines in the league, which is something that is often overlooked when pundits gush about Brees and Sean Payton’s offense. One of the keys for the Giants today was being able to generate pressure on Brees and they couldn’t. New Orleans’ offensive line was that good and it doesn’t even have Pro Bowl left tackle Jammal Brown, who was placed on injured reserve in late September after he had to have sports hernia surgery.

As for the Giants, they saw today just how behind they are to the best team in the league. They certainly don’t have to go back to the drawing board, but they tried to match wits with another elite team and got their asses handed to them. They better get healthy defensively and figure out how to wake up Brandon Jacobs or else they won’t last in the postseason. Today was certainly a wake up call for the G-Men.

I don’t think any NFC team can beat the Saints in the Superdome. If they earn the top seed in the NFC, they will be on the fast track to the Super Bowl.

Forget the fickleness, the wavering and the constant stroking of his ego – Brett Favre was worth it for the Minnesota Vikings.

The Vikings remained undefeated in 2009 following their thrilling 33-31 victory over the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday. For all intents and purposes, the Vikings should have won by double-digit points but they blew leads as large as 14-0 in the first quarter and 27-10 in the fourth.

It was Favre that once again stepped up when Minnesota needed it most. After Baltimore shocked the Metrodome crowd by taking its first lead of the game at 31-30 with just over three minutes remaining, Favre found Sidney Rice on a 58-yard reception that got Minnesota down to Baltimore’s 18-yard line. Head coach Brad Childress then decided to play for the field goal by calling three consecutive running plays and setting up a Ryan Longwell 31-yard field goal to give the Vikings the lead back at 33-31. Favre and Minneosta then had to hold their collective breaths as Ravens kicker Steven Hauschka missed a potential game-winning 44-yard field goal as time expired.

Putting aside Minnesota’s near-collapse for a second, Favre and Adrian Peterson were incredible. Favre completed 21 of 29 passes for 278 yards and three touchdowns, while Peterson rushed for 143 yards on 22 carries. I don’t know if Peterson is opening things up for Favre, Favre is opening things up for Peterson or if it’s just a perfect mix of both, but it’s working for the Vikings.

But while I hate to pop the Favre-magic balloon, this was the second time this year that the Vikings got lucky inside the Metrodome. The first time was against the 49ers when Favre found Greg Lewis in the back of the end zone on an improbable touchdown pass. Had San Fran been in a normal defense, Minnesota would have suffered its first loss of the season. And had Hauschka made the field goal today, the Vikings would have lost again. It certainly wasn’t a chip-shot, but that’s a field goal Hauschka has to make while kicking inside a dome.

That said, sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good. While the Vikings aren’t a perfect football team (the Ravens did whatever they wanted in the second half offensively, exposing some of the Vikings’ defensive issues), they have a perfect record and that’s the only thing that matters at this point.

Oh, and having No. 4 under center certain helps too.