In the team's second meeting against the Bills on December 3, 2009, Sanchez suffered a sprained posterior cruciate ligament in the third quarter, prompting the veteran Clemens to take his place. Though there were no setbacks to the injury, head coach Ryan benched Sanchez the following game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for precautionary reasons, much to Sanchez's dismay. At 7–7, the Jets had a chance to secure a playoff berth if they won the remainder of their games. One such game was against the Indianapolis Colts who had 23 consecutive regular season wins. Sanchez and the Jets engineered a comeback win following Colts head coach Jim Caldwell's decision to controversially rest the team starters in the third quarter with a five-point lead. The following week, on January 3, 2010, Sanchez led the team into the playoffs, despite a subpar effort, completing 8-of-16 passes for 63 yards, en route to a 37–0 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals, who rested their starters as the team had already clinched the AFC North division title and a playoff berth. The manner of the two wins, which gave the Jets their first playoff berth since 2006, caused many to claim the team had "backed into the playoffs". Sanchez completed his rookie season with 2,444 yards, 12 touchdowns, and 20 interceptions.