Sanchez was one of the players scapegoated after New York’s loss to Indianapolis in last season’s AFC championship game. As a 23-year-old rookie, Sanchez didn’t have the seasoning or savvy needed to lift the Jets to victory inside Lucas Oil Stadium.

That is no longer the case.

Nick Folk made the game-winning 32-yard field goal as time expired in Saturday night’s first-round game, but it was Sanchez and wide receiver Braylon Edwards who made life much easier for New York’s inconsistent specialist. Sanchez connected with Edwards on an 18-yard pass down the Colts sideline to set up the kick that foiled the Colts’ own last-minute heroics.

“They made that huge throw right there,” Jets head coach Rex Ryan said. “That’s how much (Sanchez) grew up.”

Ryan’s statement, though, paints only a partial picture of the drive that is now the most memorable of Sanchez’s brief NFL career.

Peyton Manning appeared ready to add another comeback win to his own substantial collection. The Colts quarterback had led his offense on a 48-yard drive, setting up a 50-yard Adam Vinatieri field goal with 53 seconds remaining.

Once the most clutch playoff kicker in NFL history splits the uprights, the game is almost always over. But Jets cornerback Antonio Cromartie insured this wasn’t the case. Filling in for the injured Brad Smith (quadriceps), Cromartie took a Vinatieri kickoff out of the end zone and returned it to the New York 47-yard line.

“It was a huge boost,” Sanchez said.

But it would have meant nothing if Sanchez’s unimpressive performance had continued. He was awful in the first half. Maybe it was the sore throwing shoulder that forced him to stay loose on the sidelines throughout the game. Maybe he was confused by the Colts’ cover-two defense and the steady pressure Indianapolis was applying.

Whatever the case, Sanchez completed just nine of 19 passes for 84 yards. He frequently overthrew his targets, including one zinger at the Colts goal line that killed a New York scoring threat and let Indianapolis enter halftime with a 7-0 lead.

The Jets wisely changed their second-half offensive scheme to feature running backs LaDainian Tomlinson and Shonn Greene. Tomlinson scored two second-half touchdowns to cap ball-control drives of 10 and 17 plays. Greene punished the Colts (10-7) in that same stretch with 45 yards on 13 carries.

But at that point of the fourth quarter, legs weren’t going to carry the Jets (12-5) to victory. It would have to be Sanchez’s arm.