EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Mark Sanchez looked a lot better under heavy pressure Saturday night than he had five days earlier.

With three Giants chasing him out of the pocket, Sanchez unleashed a pass that found a wide-open Chansi Stuckey, who was able to maneuver his way through several Giants to get to the end zone and complete a 31-yard scoring play.
It easily was the most spectacular play of Sanchez’s preseason and showed the rookie from Southern California has the ability to keep plays alive with his feet. He almost had another touchdown pass as he was on target later to Jerricho Cotchery from 24 yards, but Corey Webster broke up the pass in the end zone.
Sanchez finished 13-for-20 for 149 yards with one touchdown in nine possessions in the Jets’ 27-25 win over the Giants at Giants Stadium.
“I think more than anything I just had to get settled down there late in the first quarter. I felt like I was pressing a little bit, going through things a little too fast. I think we could have had more points out there early, but as soon as I got settled down and just relaxed, the guys in the huddle calmed me down a little bit, and I was ready to play and started seeing things very clearly.”
About Sanchez, coach Rex Ryan said “He was great. ... He is who we thought he was.”
It almost was a special night for the Jets’ first pick of the 2008 draft, too. Linebacker Vernon Gholston came in untouched on a blitz and sacked second-string quarterback David Carr, but it didn’t count because Gholston was penalized for helmet-to-helmet contact with Carr. Gholston still doesn’t have a sack in preseason or regular-season play.
The Jets went three-and-out on their first possession, but Sanchez drove them 27 yards to a touchdown after an interception gave them a very short field for their next drive. He was 2-for-2 for 19 yards on the drive, including a nifty 14-yard screen pass to Jerricho Cotchery on third-and-2 from the Giants’ 19. The Jets needed four plays to punch the ball in from the 2, with Thomas Jones finally vaulting over for the score on fourth-and-goal from the 1.
The Jets punted after three plays on each of their next two possessions, but bounced back after Lawrence Tynes’ 26-yard field goal had given the Giants a 13-7 lead with 8:45 left in the first half.
On second-and-8 from the Jets’ 40, Sanchez hit Stuckey with a pretty 29-yard pass. Jones gained nothing on a first-down run, and the Giants sent a heavy pass rush on the next play, as Sanchez was flushed out of the pocket to his left. He threw the ball on the run before being hit by Osi Umenyiora and found Stuckey, who caught the ball at the 12 and avoided at least two would-be tacklers en route to the end zone and a 14-13 lead with 6:50 left in the half.
Sanchez, who directed the Jets to 20 points, credited Stuckey with making the play.
“When the quarterback flushes out, he’s got to stay friendly,” Sanchez said, “trying to open a throwing lane (for me), which he did perfectly.
The first-team defense recorded its first takeaways of the preseason, but had some problems otherwise, at least in the early going.
On the Giants’ first drive, they went 60 yards in 10 plays. Eli Manning, with plenty of time to throw against a three-man rush, connected with Brandon Jacobs for an 8-yard scoring pass. Jacobs was wide open in the extreme right part of the end zone.
David Harris intercepted Manning’s pass off a tip on the next drive, two plays after a wide-open Steve Smith dropped a perfectly-thrown 50-yard pass from Manning. That led to the touchdown by Jones.
The Giants’ next drive went 48 yards in seven plays, leading to a 38-yard field goal by Tynes.
Linebacker Bart Scott, while losing his helmet, forced a fumble by Jacobs and recovered it at the Jets’ 27 to stop a scoring threat.