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Espn: Schotty Sees A Q.b Transformed


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The revelatory moment for New York Jets offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer left him dumbfounded for a moment.

It was in the second half of the team's Week 16 road game against the Indianapolis Colts. Schottenheimer was trying to navigate his rookie quarterback to a desperately needed victory and keep the Jets' playoff hopes beating.

Mark Sanchez was playing decently. Schottenheimer pounded the run, but Sanchez managed to complete nine straight passes and 10 of 11 from the first quarter into the third. Then Sanchez misfired on four consecutive throws. He came off the field for a punt.

"He came over to the sideline and said something to me he's never said to me before," Schottenheimer told me Sunday. "He said 'Hey, how about giving me something easy so I can get a completion and get back on a streak?'

"And I thought, 'Wow.' I just stopped. It kind of floored me. I was, like, 'Absolutely!'"

Sanchez, by Jove, had gotten it. Schottenheimer interpreted the quick exchange as an indicator Sanchez finally had absorbed the team concept and no longer was hell bent on trying to win the game on every play.

"I've seen a transformation," Schottenheimer said.

Sanchez has been a different quarterback the past few weeks. The Jets seemingly were doomed less than a month ago because of his reckless play, but he gathered himself. The Jets won their last two regular-season games to slip into the playoffs.

On Saturday, they eliminated the Cincinnati Bengals 24-14. Sanchez completed 12 of 15 attempts for 182 yards and one touchdown with no interceptions. The Jets will play the San Diego Chargers on Sunday in Qualcomm Stadium.

"The light did kind of come on," said Schottenheimer, whose play calling has been virtuosic. "That takes all of us while to realize I'm a part of the process and not the only thing involved."

How do you get through to a hotshot rookie who experienced greatness at USC, won his first three NFL games and was asked to send his cleats to the Pro Football Hall of Fame while still only 22 years old?

"A lot of things came fast and easy to the guy," Schottenheimer said. "He had to get knocked down a little bit."

The Jets almost wasted a team that was great in critical areas: the No. 1 rushing offense, three Pro Bowlers on their offensive line, the No. 1 defense and perhaps the NFL's best lockdown cornerback.

Their quarterback nearly kept them out of the playoffs with bad decisions and interceptions. Checking down, even to a Pro Bowl running back like Thomas Jones, appeared beneath him.

Different forms of the word "regress" and the phrase "rookie wall" were used with Sanchez, but Schottenheimer disputes those notions. Schottenheimer conceded most of the problems were Sanchez-inflicted.

"The issue with Mark was he was making the same mistakes repeatedly," Schottenheimer said. "There's two types of interceptions. There's bad throws and there are bad decisions. Bad-throw interceptions happen. Bad-decision interceptions shouldn't happen, and he kept committing turnovers based on bad decisions.

"It was a maturity thing. He kept thinking he had to make a play, and that's rarely the case."

But a metamorphosis occurred.

The genesis actually came in Week 14 at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a game Sanchez didn't even travel to. The previous game against the Buffalo Bills in Toronto, he hurt his knee on a head-first dive three days after New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi taught him how to slide properly.

Sanchez was forced to watch Kellen Clemens guide the Jets' offense to victory.

"Being out of that Tampa game really bothered him," Schottenheimer said.

Sanchez pressed a bit when he returned in Week 15 against the Atlanta Falcons. He threw three interceptions, but the Jets still should have won. The field goal unit missed three field goal attempts and the defense gave up a fourth-and-goal touchdown in the waning moments to lose by three points.

After the Falcons defeat, Schottenheimer and Sanchez sat down for a heart-to-heart talk about where they should go from there. Schottenheimer let his quarterback do all of the talking and was impressed with his budding comprehension.

Then came the Indianapolis epiphany.

"We've always known how good he is and that it wasn't going to be too big for him," Schottenheimer said. "We just had to be patient to get through the growing pains."

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lol I had trouble getting through this article because I was laughing so much.

Hey Sperm, you think it's time to do one of those old line by line breakdowns from back when Herm was the HC and did his press conferences? Because...that is exactly what this is like.

This dumb OC...man...there are so many things I can post right here but I don't even think I can do it justice. Wow...just wow. Is this a parody article or something? There is no way this dumb writer believes this stuff...

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"He came over to the sideline and said something to me he's never said to me before," Schottenheimer told me Sunday. "He said 'Hey, how about giving me something easy so I can get a completion and get back on a streak?'

"And I thought, 'Wow.' I just stopped. It kind of floored me. I was, like, 'Absolutely!'"

You have to be kidding me.

For 3+ years I have been begging the question, "Why doesn't Schotty call plays that help establish rhythm on offense??? Why is his playcalling more to blame for drives stalling than the defense being run by our opponents???"

It took a ROOKIE QB to get Schotty's head out of his ass... unreal.

Let's hope that Schotty calls the best 3 games of his life the next 3 weeks and gets us to the show. I think he is treating this post-season as his interview for a couple of gigs... and frankly, there isn't a doubt in my mind that Callahan couldn't be more consistently productive with the talent we have on this team.

Gotta love that our Rookie was the one that finally stepped up and asked Schotty for some ****ing plays that make sense.

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Sanchez and Ryan are good on avoiding the dissension, but I'm fairly certain they're both of the opinion that Schitty is an idiot. It's a win-win if he goes and coaches the Bills. Unfortunately I think the Bills may only hire 70+ year olds for any vacancies. In that case, maybe Brian can pretend his father will coach the offense or something.

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You have to be kidding me.

For 3+ years I have been begging the question, "Why doesn't Schotty call plays that help establish rhythm on offense??? Why is his playcalling more to blame for drives stalling than the defense being run by our opponents???"

It took a ROOKIE QB to get Schotty's head out of his ass... unreal.

Let's hope that Schotty calls the best 3 games of his life the next 3 weeks and gets us to the show. I think he is treating this post-season as his interview for a couple of gigs... and frankly, there isn't a doubt in my mind that Callahan couldn't be more consistently productive with the talent we have on this team.

Gotta love that our Rookie was the one that finally stepped up and asked Schotty for some ****ing plays that make sense.

+1

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lol I had trouble getting through this article because I was laughing so much.

Hey Sperm, you think it's time to do one of those old line by line breakdowns from back when Herm was the HC and did his press conferences? Because...that is exactly what this is like.

This dumb OC...man...there are so many things I can post right here but I don't even think I can do it justice. Wow...just wow. Is this a parody article or something? There is no way this dumb writer believes this stuff...

It's too painful. I'd like to enjoy the post-season as much as possible.

Sanchez for OC.

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Im confused. Isnt that why NYJ dumped Pennington ?

Now we want that offense back again?

Seriously?

We dumped Pennington because that's all he was capable of.

Doing that with Sanchez who was throwing picks on 6% of his pass attempts (plus double-digit fumbles) as a rookie isn't even remotely close to the same thing.

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Seriously?

We dumped Pennington because that's all he was capable of.

Doing that with Sanchez who was throwing picks on 6% of his pass attempts (plus double-digit fumbles) as a rookie isn't even remotely close to the same thing.

If your point is the short, high pctg passing game is temporary and being used as a way for Sanchez to keep the int. #s down and get used to the NFL without getting picked off too often, well then yes you are 100% correct. It is not (as you said) even remotely the same thing.

Having said that, if this is the long term offensive concept for NYJ, I would stick to my comment. Only diff being Marcs short passes get to the receiver alot faster than Penny's did.

:)

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If your point is the short, high pctg passing game is temporary and being used as a way for Sanchez to keep the int. #s down and get used to the NFL without getting picked off too often, well then yes you are 100% correct. It is not (as you said) even remotely the same thing.

Having said that, if this is the long term offensive concept for NYJ, I would stick to my comment. Only diff being Marcs short passes get to the receiver alot faster than Penny's did.

:)

I see no reason to assume this is a permanent plan. Rather, it made little sense to start him out the way they did.

Everything doesn't have to be one or the other. A QB can dump off a lot and still kill you deep. Hell, Tom Brady made a HOF* career out of it.

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I see no reason to assume this is a permanent plan. Rather, it made little sense to start him out the way they did.

Everything doesn't have to be one or the other. A QB can dump off a lot and still kill you deep. Hell, Tom Brady made a HOF* career out of it.

correct brady has made an hof career out of it, but more importantly, short passes with yac, passes to the full back and running back with an occational deep pass is the foundation of the WEST COAST OFFENSE. This is the offense Sanchez needs to be in.

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