What Is So Special About Brian Schottenheimer Anyways?
1/18/2010 | Posted by
Devin
The recent decision by Jets Offensive Coordinator Brian Schottenheimer to reject a job interview with the Buffalo Bills has a large majority of the Buffalo fan base up in arms. As in, who does this guy think he is? What's wrong with the Bills coaching position? What does this say about our organization? But I'm here to assure the loyal Buffalo fans, this is actually a good thing. You wouldn't be happy with this guy as a coach. Seriously, he did us a favor. Don't believe me? Fine, let me explain.
Schottenheimer served as the Quarterbacks Coach in Washington and San Diego from 2001-2005 working underneath his Dad Marty, who was the Head Coach of those teams at the time. While my main intention was to research these seasons to see how well Schottenheimer did, it would be far too hard to judge the effects that the QB Coach had on those teams. For the sake of argument, during that time, those teams made a grand total of one playoff appearance (2004 Chargers). That same season featured a Pro Bowl season from Drew Brees, while under the tutelage of Schottenheimer. While this might not seem especially impressive, it was good enough to land him his current position, Offensive Coordinator of the Jets.
This season marked Schottenheimer's fourth with the Jets. His first season in New York started out well enough, as the Jets finished 10-6 and qualified for the playoffs. However, it didn't last long as they were ousted by the Patriots in the first round. The Jets offense finished 25th in the NFL that season, averaging 19.8 points per game. Chad Pennington was the QB that year and finished with mediocre numbers, 17 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. The Jets leading rusher was Leon Washington, who had a pedestrian 650 yards on the ground. On the surface, nothing to write home about.
The following season was a disaster for the Jets, as they finished 4-12 and were even swept by the Bills. Ouch. As you can probably guess by now, the Jets offense was about as good as their record. In fact, they finished 26th in the league as Pennington and Kellen Clemens split the QB position. Combined, the two players threw for 15 touchdowns and 19 interceptions. The scoring for the Jets decreased as well, only averaging 16.8 points per game. The lone highlight for the Jets that season was running back Thomas Jones, who finished with 1119 yards, but only one touchdown.
The 2008 season was a marked improvement for both the Jets and their offense, as they finished 9-7 but well short of the playoffs again. At one point in late November that season, the Jets were 8-3 and in clear control of their playoff destiny. Of course, I'm not going to hang that on Schottenheimer. He was merely a victim of Brett Favre being Brett Favre. Oh that's right, didn't I mention that? Favre was on the Jets that season. Replacing Pennington and Clemens with a first ballot Hall of Famer had to improve the offense, and it clearly did, as they finished 16th in the NFL. The Jets had their best season in terms of scoring, averaging a solid 25.3 points per game. Of course it helps the average when the NFC West allows a combined 103 points in two games.
Heading into the 2009 season, the Jets had just fired Eric Mangini and were searching for their next Head Coach. Having served as Offensive Coordinator for the previous three seasons, Schottenheimer got his chance to interview. However, in the long run the Jets decided to go with Rex Ryan and retain Schottenheimer as his usual position. Why is this relevant? Because Schottenheimer was interviewed by the team that currently employs him and the Jets felt at that point that he wasn't good enough. That fills me with confidence.
The Jets finished this season with the same 9-7 record that they had in 2008; however this time it was because they finished the season with two consecutive wins, rather than two consecutive losses. The offense as a whole dipped a little bit this year compared to last, but that is bound to happen when replacing someone like Brett Favre with an untested rookie like Mark Sanchez. The Jets offense finished the regular season 20th overall in the NFL. To be fair, they did have the number one rushing offense, but the passing offense ranked 31st, which was enough to drag down the overall rankings and put them on par with the previous three seasons. If there is one thing that stands out in Schottenheimer's tenure in New York, it's consistency.
Maybe that is why fans in Buffalo were so enamored with Schottenheimer. You say consistency and the Buffalo Bills come right to mind. Three straight 7-9 seasons followed by 6-10 will do that for you.
Since the only memory people have is the most recent memory, I feel inclined to bring up a very key point. Yes, the Jets offense was effective last week in defeating Cincinnati. Before that, not so much. I'm going to completely discount Week 16 and 17 since both the Colts and Bengals rolled over and played dead with the Jets and examine the first 15 weeks of the season.
One game that sticks out in my mind is Week Six, when the Jets hosted Buffalo in New Jersey. The Bills eventually won that game 16-13 in overtime, but that wasn't the real story. The real story was how the Jets racked up 318 rushing yards and still lost the game. How is that even possible? Well, you can thank Mark Sanchez and his five interceptions for the rare Buffalo victory. While I'm sure people will argue that Schottenheimer wasn't on the field and can't control Sanchez's erratic arm, he can control the play calling. In fact, last time I checked, that is the job of the offensive coordinator. Simply put, there is no excuse for losing a game in which your team runs for 300+ yards. Sanchez attempted 29 passes that game, connecting on just 10 of them to Jets players. Don't you think at some point Schottenheimer would've realized this and just pounded the ball on the ground to seal the victory? To me, this is awful coaching. Just plain awful.
Of course, if I'm willing to just ignore the one good playoff game and focus on the one bad game, I should be fair and look at the entire body of work. So without further ado, here are the other games in which the Jets offense accumulated 99 or more yards rushing and still lost the game by allowing Sanchez to throw the ball 20 or more times. Week Four at New Orleans. Week Five at Miami. Week Six vs. Buffalo. Week Eight vs. Miami. Week 10 vs. Jacksonville. Week 11 at New England. Week 15 vs. Atlanta.
In case you're wondering, that is all seven losses this season. The Jets had the number one overall defense and the number one overall rushing offense in the entire NFL, and still lost seven games because in all seven, they allowed their rookie QB to throw the ball 20 or more times instead of just pounding the run and controlling the clock. Amazing!
And before everyone chirps up about how the Jets might have been down a lot of points and were forced into throwing the ball, they weren't. The Jets were down 3-0 to New Orleans in the second quarter with the ball at the Saints 15 yard line. Sanchez promptly threw an interception that was returned 99 yards for the touchdown and a 10-0 Saints lead. Still, only down 10, Sanchez then dropped back to pass later that quarter and was sacked, which was resulted in a fumble and another Saints defensive touchdown. If you're scoring at home, the Jets were actually down 17-10 to the Saints late in the fourth quarter and had held the highest scoring offense in the NFL to three total points at that point in the game. Had they just run the ball when they were down 3-0 in the first quarter, this game probably goes a little differently.
Besides New Orleans, the only other loss all season that was by double digits was a 31-14 defeat at the hands of the Patriots. In this game, I suppose you could argue that the Jets were down so much early that they were forced to abandon their game plan and throw the ball often. Of course, if Sanchez didn't hand New England an early 7-0 lead via an interception return, the whole flow of the game could've gone differently. Still, once down 24-0 in the first half, the running game goes right out the window. I understand that one.
So that brings us to the playoffs. The Jets offense was very efficient and the Jets disposed of the Bengals to advance to the second round. New York ran for 171 yards and only allowed Sanchez to throw the ball 15 times total. Funny how that worked out. In fact, upon some further digging around, in five of their nine regular season wins, the Jets attempted 19 or less passes total.
In the second round against San Diego, it was more of the same. The Jets ran the ball for a team total of 169 yards and relied on their strong defense to keep them in the game late. Sanchez only threw the ball 23 times total on Sunday.
Do you see a trend here? When the Jets offense runs the ball, controls the clock, and wears down the opposing defense, they usually win the game. When they get pass happy and starting chucking the ball down the field, they usually wind up losing the game. Reminds me of myself when I'm playing Xbox. Yet somehow it took almost the entire season for Schottenheimer to come to this realization and adjust their play calling accordingly. Hell, I don't even know if he fully realized it yet. I guess we'll see this weekend in Indianapolis.
So before everybody mourns the fact that Schottenheimer passed up the opportunity to interview with the Bills, maybe we should take a step back and be thankful. Not only will he not bring his erratic play calling to Orchard Park, but he is staying in the AFC East, where his offense is bound to give the Bills another one of their few wins.
Schottenheimer served as the Quarterbacks Coach in Washington and San Diego from 2001-2005 working underneath his Dad Marty, who was the Head Coach of those teams at the time. While my main intention was to research these seasons to see how well Schottenheimer did, it would be far too hard to judge the effects that the QB Coach had on those teams. For the sake of argument, during that time, those teams made a grand total of one playoff appearance (2004 Chargers). That same season featured a Pro Bowl season from Drew Brees, while under the tutelage of Schottenheimer. While this might not seem especially impressive, it was good enough to land him his current position, Offensive Coordinator of the Jets.
This season marked Schottenheimer's fourth with the Jets. His first season in New York started out well enough, as the Jets finished 10-6 and qualified for the playoffs. However, it didn't last long as they were ousted by the Patriots in the first round. The Jets offense finished 25th in the NFL that season, averaging 19.8 points per game. Chad Pennington was the QB that year and finished with mediocre numbers, 17 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. The Jets leading rusher was Leon Washington, who had a pedestrian 650 yards on the ground. On the surface, nothing to write home about.
The following season was a disaster for the Jets, as they finished 4-12 and were even swept by the Bills. Ouch. As you can probably guess by now, the Jets offense was about as good as their record. In fact, they finished 26th in the league as Pennington and Kellen Clemens split the QB position. Combined, the two players threw for 15 touchdowns and 19 interceptions. The scoring for the Jets decreased as well, only averaging 16.8 points per game. The lone highlight for the Jets that season was running back Thomas Jones, who finished with 1119 yards, but only one touchdown.
The 2008 season was a marked improvement for both the Jets and their offense, as they finished 9-7 but well short of the playoffs again. At one point in late November that season, the Jets were 8-3 and in clear control of their playoff destiny. Of course, I'm not going to hang that on Schottenheimer. He was merely a victim of Brett Favre being Brett Favre. Oh that's right, didn't I mention that? Favre was on the Jets that season. Replacing Pennington and Clemens with a first ballot Hall of Famer had to improve the offense, and it clearly did, as they finished 16th in the NFL. The Jets had their best season in terms of scoring, averaging a solid 25.3 points per game. Of course it helps the average when the NFC West allows a combined 103 points in two games.
Heading into the 2009 season, the Jets had just fired Eric Mangini and were searching for their next Head Coach. Having served as Offensive Coordinator for the previous three seasons, Schottenheimer got his chance to interview. However, in the long run the Jets decided to go with Rex Ryan and retain Schottenheimer as his usual position. Why is this relevant? Because Schottenheimer was interviewed by the team that currently employs him and the Jets felt at that point that he wasn't good enough. That fills me with confidence.
The Jets finished this season with the same 9-7 record that they had in 2008; however this time it was because they finished the season with two consecutive wins, rather than two consecutive losses. The offense as a whole dipped a little bit this year compared to last, but that is bound to happen when replacing someone like Brett Favre with an untested rookie like Mark Sanchez. The Jets offense finished the regular season 20th overall in the NFL. To be fair, they did have the number one rushing offense, but the passing offense ranked 31st, which was enough to drag down the overall rankings and put them on par with the previous three seasons. If there is one thing that stands out in Schottenheimer's tenure in New York, it's consistency. Maybe that is why fans in Buffalo were so enamored with Schottenheimer. You say consistency and the Buffalo Bills come right to mind. Three straight 7-9 seasons followed by 6-10 will do that for you.
Since the only memory people have is the most recent memory, I feel inclined to bring up a very key point. Yes, the Jets offense was effective last week in defeating Cincinnati. Before that, not so much. I'm going to completely discount Week 16 and 17 since both the Colts and Bengals rolled over and played dead with the Jets and examine the first 15 weeks of the season.
One game that sticks out in my mind is Week Six, when the Jets hosted Buffalo in New Jersey. The Bills eventually won that game 16-13 in overtime, but that wasn't the real story. The real story was how the Jets racked up 318 rushing yards and still lost the game. How is that even possible? Well, you can thank Mark Sanchez and his five interceptions for the rare Buffalo victory. While I'm sure people will argue that Schottenheimer wasn't on the field and can't control Sanchez's erratic arm, he can control the play calling. In fact, last time I checked, that is the job of the offensive coordinator. Simply put, there is no excuse for losing a game in which your team runs for 300+ yards. Sanchez attempted 29 passes that game, connecting on just 10 of them to Jets players. Don't you think at some point Schottenheimer would've realized this and just pounded the ball on the ground to seal the victory? To me, this is awful coaching. Just plain awful.
Of course, if I'm willing to just ignore the one good playoff game and focus on the one bad game, I should be fair and look at the entire body of work. So without further ado, here are the other games in which the Jets offense accumulated 99 or more yards rushing and still lost the game by allowing Sanchez to throw the ball 20 or more times. Week Four at New Orleans. Week Five at Miami. Week Six vs. Buffalo. Week Eight vs. Miami. Week 10 vs. Jacksonville. Week 11 at New England. Week 15 vs. Atlanta.
In case you're wondering, that is all seven losses this season. The Jets had the number one overall defense and the number one overall rushing offense in the entire NFL, and still lost seven games because in all seven, they allowed their rookie QB to throw the ball 20 or more times instead of just pounding the run and controlling the clock. Amazing!
And before everyone chirps up about how the Jets might have been down a lot of points and were forced into throwing the ball, they weren't. The Jets were down 3-0 to New Orleans in the second quarter with the ball at the Saints 15 yard line. Sanchez promptly threw an interception that was returned 99 yards for the touchdown and a 10-0 Saints lead. Still, only down 10, Sanchez then dropped back to pass later that quarter and was sacked, which was resulted in a fumble and another Saints defensive touchdown. If you're scoring at home, the Jets were actually down 17-10 to the Saints late in the fourth quarter and had held the highest scoring offense in the NFL to three total points at that point in the game. Had they just run the ball when they were down 3-0 in the first quarter, this game probably goes a little differently.
Besides New Orleans, the only other loss all season that was by double digits was a 31-14 defeat at the hands of the Patriots. In this game, I suppose you could argue that the Jets were down so much early that they were forced to abandon their game plan and throw the ball often. Of course, if Sanchez didn't hand New England an early 7-0 lead via an interception return, the whole flow of the game could've gone differently. Still, once down 24-0 in the first half, the running game goes right out the window. I understand that one.
So that brings us to the playoffs. The Jets offense was very efficient and the Jets disposed of the Bengals to advance to the second round. New York ran for 171 yards and only allowed Sanchez to throw the ball 15 times total. Funny how that worked out. In fact, upon some further digging around, in five of their nine regular season wins, the Jets attempted 19 or less passes total.
In the second round against San Diego, it was more of the same. The Jets ran the ball for a team total of 169 yards and relied on their strong defense to keep them in the game late. Sanchez only threw the ball 23 times total on Sunday.
Do you see a trend here? When the Jets offense runs the ball, controls the clock, and wears down the opposing defense, they usually win the game. When they get pass happy and starting chucking the ball down the field, they usually wind up losing the game. Reminds me of myself when I'm playing Xbox. Yet somehow it took almost the entire season for Schottenheimer to come to this realization and adjust their play calling accordingly. Hell, I don't even know if he fully realized it yet. I guess we'll see this weekend in Indianapolis.
So before everybody mourns the fact that Schottenheimer passed up the opportunity to interview with the Bills, maybe we should take a step back and be thankful. Not only will he not bring his erratic play calling to Orchard Park, but he is staying in the AFC East, where his offense is bound to give the Bills another one of their few wins.
Labels:
Follow Us
