Rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez completed 12 of 15 passing attempts for 182 yards and one touchdown. Shonn Greene rushed for 135 yards and one touchdown as the Jets (9-7) advanced in the playoffs.

Sanchez [...]]]> The New York Jets beat the Cincinnati Bengals 24-14 in a National Football League playoff game at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez completed 12 of 15 passing attempts for 182 yards and one touchdown. Shonn Greene rushed for 135 yards and one touchdown as the Jets (9-7) advanced in the playoffs.

Sanchez “has been getting better and getting better,” said Jets coach Rex Ryan. “You can see that swagger and confidence he has.”

The Bengals (10-6), who clinched the American Football Conference North Division, had 371 total yards, including 171 yards on the ground. They hadn’t won a playoff game since 1991.

“This wasn’t exactly what we had in mind, giving up 171 yards rushing, but our guys are a resilient bunch,” Ryan said. “It was a great team effort.”

Carson Palmer gave the Bengals a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter with an 11-yard scoring pass to Laveranues Coles. The quarterback missed connecting on 50 percent of his passes, ending up with 146 yards and one touchdown.

The Jets, the final NFL team to earn a spot in the playoffs, dominated the second and third quarters, outscoring the Bengals 21-0 on runs by Greene and Thomas Jones and Sanchez’s 45-yard touchdown pass to Dustin Keller.

Cedric Benson scored on a 47-yard run in the fourth quarter to narrow the gap to 21-14 before Jay Feely clinched the victory on a 20-yard field goal with just under six minutes left in the game.

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But if the angry buzz generated by the mere appearance of in-stadium video highlights of Favre and the Vikings during the first few Packers home games is any indication, the once-beloved [...]]]> Soon Brett Favre will run out of the Lambeau Field tunnel wearing purple, and nobody really knows how Green Bay Packers fans will react.

But if the angry buzz generated by the mere appearance of in-stadium video highlights of Favre and the Vikings during the first few Packers home games is any indication, the once-beloved face of the franchise will be booed. Loudly.

The tempest of emotion leading to Sunday’s game could make for one of the most awkward homecomings in sports history. Favre, perhaps the league’s most emotion-driven player, will try to tune it all out.

“The people that have jumped ship or whatever completely, what can I do?” Favre said. “I’m not going to concern myself with it.”

The Mariners face an interesting decision with Wilson, [...]]]> While he didn’t play much of a role after being acquired by the Seattle Mariners last July, shortstop Jack Wilson was one of three Mariners to earn 2009 Fielding Bible Awards as the top defenders at their position in the major leagues in the Bill James Handbook 2010.

The Mariners face an interesting decision with Wilson, who was plagued by injuries after being acquired from the Pittsburgh Pirates. The team has the option of bringing him back for $8 million or letting him walk.

General manager Jack Zduriencik seems to be leaning toward keeping Wilson, a decision that would raise the eyebrows of many fans, but would be supported by the views of the team of 10 experts who called him the best fielding shortstop in the game.

John Dewan, author of the new Fielding Bible–Volume II, wrote: “Jack Wilson was the best shortstop in baseball last year. Period. He led all shortstops in runs saved by a wide margin (27 runs saved to Brendan Ryan’s 19) and has taken over the MLB lead for most runs saved over the last three years (51).”

Dewan said that Wilson likely won’t win a Gold Glove because of switching leagues in midseason, but that “our 10 judges voted him the best-fielding shortstop in Major League Baseball.”

Defense was a point of emphasis for the Mariners last year and it showed in the Fielding Bible list, which focused on runs saved by fielders.The Mariners were the only team that had three players win the award, and they finished the 2009 season as the best defensive team in baseball with 109 runs saved as a team.

The winners were chosen by a panel of 10 experts, including James, Dewan and ESPN analyst Peter Gammons.

Dewan wrote a summary on each selection.

On Gutierrez: “Seattle put a huge emphasis on defense in 2009, and Franklin came through for them with another Fielding Bible Award, this time in center field. His 31 Runs Saved tied him with Chone Figgins for the most in baseball last year.”

On Ichiro: “Ichiro was no small part of Seattle’s defensive success as well. He saved 11 runs defensively, and our voters rewarded him with his second Fielding Bible Award. Hunter Pence gave him a run for his money, however, as Ichiro finished with 93 points to Hunter’s 84.”

First-baseman Albert Pujols of the Cardinals became the only player to have won a Fielding Bible Award four years in a row. Carl Crawford received an almost-perfect score in left field and Aaron Hill beat Dustin Pedroia and Chase Utley at second base only after a tie-breaker was invoked.

The complete voting results and further information are available in The Bill James Handbook 2010, published by ACTA Sports at www.ACTAsports.com.

The 2009 Fielding Bible Award winners are:

1B–Albert Pujols, St. Louis (fourth-time winner)
2B–Aaron Hill, Toronto (second-time winner)
3B–Ryan Zimmerman, Washington (first-time winner)
SS–Jack Wilson, Pittsburgh/Seattle (first-time winner)
LF–Carl Crawford, Tampa Bay (third-time winner)
CF–Franklin Gutierrez, Seattle (second-time winner)
RF–Ichiro Suzuki, Seattle (second-time winner)
C-Yadier Molina, St. Louis (third-time winner)
P–Mark Buehrle, Chicago (first-time winner)

The wily 38-year-old, who spent most of the spring gardening with his mother in the Dominican Republic without a contract, has made himself [...]]]> The best thing about the New York Yankees tying the World Series on Thursday night is that Pedro Martinez of the Philadelphia Phillies has a good chance of being asked to pitch again.

The wily 38-year-old, who spent most of the spring gardening with his mother in the Dominican Republic without a contract, has made himself the talk of the postseason. He has reminded baseball fans, and the choleric people who cover the game, of a time when the players with the most talent saw it as their birthright, if not their sacred responsibility, to indulge in the occasional bout of outrageous, eccentric and altogether inexplicable behavior.

Already this postseason, Mr. Martinez has declared himself the most influential baseball player ever to set foot in Yankee Stadium, lectured a heckler on fatherhood and admitted to hiding a case of the flu from his manager. All of this harkens back to other famous moments in his career, from the time he tossed Yankees bench coach Don Zimmer to the ground at Fenway Park to the 2004 press conference when, after his Boston Red Sox had lost 6-4 to the Yankees, he famously said: “What can I say? I tip my hat and call the Yankees my daddy.”