Ftr it would hardly make sense to predict the Jets take a step back. There are too many variables other than Schotty's leaving. Will the OL stay healthy, for example? Even without upgrading the talent level, a season long healthy Mangold will make a big difference from last year. Slauson will never be an above average player, but he was dinged up, too, last year. Moore needs to stay healthy, too. Then there's the Tebow factor. This could be a real train wreck, and even a Sanchez critic like myself would not think to hang that on Sanchez if it goes as I fear. Conversely if somehow it works out, it would still mean the Jet O was very different from last year having nothing really to do with Schotty. Burress's departure, Hill's rookie year, Kerley with I presume a whole year in the slot, all will make this O different from last year. Finally Cally is also gone, so that's another variable. All that means it will be very difficult to isolate the variable, and in fairness to Sparano, if some of these things, and you should add lack of progress with VD, the failure to get a change up for Greene, and another year without upgrading the OL, all could be factors in another underwhelming effort by the O having nothing to do with Sparano. But if the O in fact does not get it done, it will not be long until Sparano gets criticized.
I don't disagree with you, at least as concerns some posters here, and I would include myself there, since I never said or believed that Schotty showed himself to be free of blame, and certainly not a top OC in the NFL heaven forbid. But some in fact did scapegoat him without acknowledging the other problems, especially the Sanchez Fans. That cannot be denied. And now there are people who just flat out assume that the Jet O will be better solely because Schotty is gone. For others, those in the broad middle as it were, it is perhaps nothing more than a question of emphasis.
With all the problems we had last year down the stretch on offense it can not all just be lumped on Schotty. There is more than enough to go around. Bad O line play, our Wrs could not get open, TEs couldn't block, penalties, poor decisions from our QB, and questionable playcalling. From the Head coach all the way down there were issues.
He was the OC it was his responsibility for all of that. How many OC's need special coaches brought in like Callahan and Moore? The amazing part is the guy lasted six years. How many new head coaches keep the prior coaches OC? Schotty never had the NFL experience to become an OC in the first place. He never played in the NFL and played very little in college was a QB coach for a couple of years and all of a sudden he is an OC? We went totally in the opposite direction with Sparano. A Journeymen type coach that coached under at least two hall of fame head coaches a brief stint as HC himself with mixed success. He has never been a coordinator but he most certainly put in his dues. We will see what he can do.
My nostradamus for Sparano running attack: 1) Greene 1,200yds 2) Tebow 777yds 3) New Kid From Butler 300yds 4) Mcknight 300yds 5) Sanchez 111yds When we run the football well, we pass the football well. Got to make the Ground game work this year. #1 priority on offense. Ground 'n pound!
This is the NFL - no individual should ever get all of the blame. However when you analyze the entire organization from the front office to the coaching staff to the players and seek to identify who the weakest link is - it was Schottenheimer. After 6 years of mediocrity it was his time to go.
I'm a Sanchez fan (to an extent) but I thought Schotty was the source of a lot of problems. Schotty was definitely in over his head in many ways. Some of the offensive problems may not have been directly attributable to Schotty but indirectly his poor management skills, the offense's lack of confidence in him and what seemed to be a rift between him and Rex, at least facilitated some of the other problems if not contributing to them. At a minimum Schotty's absence gives the offense a fresh start. Even if everybody in the coaching staff and the players hang last year's disaster on him the catharsis is worth it.
Personally, while sometimes illusions can be comforting, in general I do not think it best in life to proceed based on factual errors.
As cval pointed out if he throws the ball to McKnight the guy making a break on the actual intended receiver takes the ball back for 6. And yeah Hunter and his man are within a yard of Sanchez on his right shoulder when he makes the throw. At the point that he chose to throw it they were completely obscuring McKnight. There's no way Sanchez could have thrown the ball out to the sideline on that play without it likely getting intercepted and taken to the yard. He didn't make the smart throw though. The smart throw would have been to rifle the ball over McKnight's head and out of bounds. It was a throwaway the way the play was designed and executed.
If he threw it to McKnight leading him toward the sidelines there's no way a defender could have intercepted it.
Yeah, ya know he never worked with a great QB like Brett Favre.. oh wait! Don't get me wrong, Schotty did have SOME good plays, but the bad far outweighed the good.
I actually agree with you that a throw to McKnight could have been made and could have resulted in a first down, but assuming he called the correct play and went through his progressions as instructed by Schotty he did the right thing. He starts his read to the left, scans right through his progression and throws the first "safe" throw in that progression. McKnight was likely the last read on that play but he found an earlier target in the progression. The play call was stupid for that situation. I don't see how you can argue execution was the problem there unless you have some inside information that says Sanchez was supposed to go to McKnight earlier in the progression.
If he threw it towards McKnight leading to the sidelines there's no way McKnight gets a first down because he'd have to have broken on the ball to keep a defender from doing that. He's back in the toughest 2 yards of his life scenario. It was a horrible play design, call and then execution.
Since when was it a rare thing to hire an offensive line coach? Look, I'm not Schottenheimer fan, and I'm happy that he's gone. But people who think that the Jets offense is going to suddenly jump to the top of the league have another thing coming. Wayne Hunter being unable to hold a block for 3 seconds wasn't part of Schotty's playbook. Nor was Sanchez panicking and launching passes into double coverage/defensive linemen's stomachs. I don't think that the Jets will regress without Schottenheimer, but I don't see a huge improvement in the cards either. The fact of the matter is, we have a lot of severely limited players on that side of the ball.
You might be right about the progression, but with seven in the defensive backfield, reading the D was essential to a completion no matter what routes the receivers were running. But about the progression, what it was supposed to be is, you will concede, speculation. The main point is the Schotty Haters overplay their hand when they say a first down completion could not have come out of this play.
Anything can happen on any play. That was a terrible play to call in that situation. Arguing otherwise is silly.
