Here is how irrational some Jets fans have gotten when it comes to offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer: A fan website conducted this poll earlier in the week: “Would you sacrifice the playoffs this year to be rid of Schotty?”
Fifty-three percent of the respondents to the Jets Insider poll said ‘‘Yes.’’ So, basically in the Jets’ universe, the most-hated list looks something like this:
1. Bill Belichick
2. A.J. Duhe
3. Brian Schottenheimer
And Schottenheimer jumps to No. 1 whenever he calls a pass on second-and-1. The Schotty haters may get what they want soon.
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The 38-year-old assistant coach has been with the Jets for six years. He survived the purge of former head coach Eric Mangini’s staff. He survived the failed Brett Favre experiment. He even made it through last year when chants of “Fire Schotty” filled MetLife Stadium toward the end of the season.
Now, he faces another crisis. No one in the Jets organization has more riding on the next six weeks than Schottenheimer. If the Jets fail to make the playoffs, he could be on his way out the door.
Head coach Rex Ryan is not going anywhere, no matter how poor the team finishes. The Jets are not going to give up on quarterback Mark Sanchez. That leaves Schottenheimer as the potential scapegoat.
His hopes and job could be riding on Sanchez’s erratic right arm.
“Do I think Mark will respond and play well? Absolutely,” Schottenheimer told The Post. “Am I aware of how the business works? Absolutely. I’ve grown up around it. I’ve seen it from a lot of different angles. Am I worried? No. I just do the best I can. I know I’m good at what I do. I know Mark can play well and will play well.”
Sanchez has flat-lined this season. The progress everyone expected from him in his third year in the NFL has not happened. Instead, he still makes terrible decisions, whether it’s calling a timeout too soon against the Patriots or throwing a pick-six against the Broncos. If Sanchez’s play does not improve, the Jets likely will miss the playoffs.
No one around the Jets is talking about this doomsday scenario yet. They are optimistic, as they should be, about playing in the postseason.
But if Sanchez falters and the Jets are left watching the playoffs from their couches, the question is: Why did Sanchez not get better?
The blame will not fall on the 25-year-old former first-round draft pick, who has two years left on his contract. The new question will be: Would Sanchez be helped by a new voice at offensive coordinator?
To be clear, no one from the Jets has told me they are considering this. In fact, firing Schottenheimer would go against the Jets’ recent philosophy of maintaining as much continuity in the organization as possible. Schottenheimer also has a contract for 2012, so there would be a financial consideration involved.
During a quiet moment this week, Schottenheimer said he is not focused on what might happen to him. He was just worried about game-planning for Sunday’s game against the Bills.
“I think where people get in trouble is when they start to try to figure things out,” he said. “ ‘Hey, if we don’t do this, this is going to happen.’ Or ‘If we do this, this will be great.’ You can’t do that. It’s one game at a time, one play at a time. The minute your focus gets off of that, that’s when I think people have problems. I will never do that.”
The Jets’ offensive problems extend beyond Sanchez this season, but he has become the poster boy because he is the quarterback. Schottenheimer also must answer for a non-existent rushing attack and the failure to capitalize on having Santonio Holmes and Plaxico Burress at wide receiver.
The offense ranks 22nd in the NFL entering this week’s games. That is a huge drop from their No. 11 ranking a year ago, the best the offense finished statistically under Schottenheimer. Jets fans are starved for a top-notch offense. The team has not finished in the top 10 since 1998.
This offense has six more games to put it together.
“I have a lot riding on the offense,” Schottenheimer said. “I’ve never said that we win because of Mark. I guess Mark said he lost the [Broncos] game, but that’s not true. It’s a team game. We all have a lot riding on these next six games.”
No one more than Schottenheimer.
Brunell is no threat to Sanchez
Coach Rex Ryan breaking out his motivational ploy for Mark Sanchez this week — giving backup Mark Brunell first-team snaps — is like a baseball manager calling a team meeting when the Kansas City Royals are in town.
Chances are, Sanchez is going to look good by Sunday night.
The Bills are reeling after losing three straight and watching their trainer’s room get more crowded than Wal-Mart on Black Friday.
Sanchez should have a big game against a depleted Bills secondary and Ryan will look like Tony Robbins.
But Ryan delivered an empty threat to Sanchez this week. He admitted it.
“I don’t see taking Mark Sanchez out of a game,” Ryan said. ”I don’t see that. If we did put him out or pull him, would it be for a series, whatever? Maybe so, but I don’t see myself ever taking Mark out of a game.”
This is a stunning admission from an NFL coach, even one as candid as Ryan.
Sanchez has been too comfortable since the moment the Jets took him with the fifth pick in 2009. They handed him the job as a rookie. They then brought in over-the-hill Brunell to be his backup.
Sanchez has not earned this comfort level. The Jets would be wise to bring a backup in next year who has been a recent starter in the league and poses a threat to the franchise quarterback. Sanchez is a competitive guy. It’s time to give him a real threat to his job.
* It seems as if Jets safety Eric Smith has been in the wrong place at the wrong time often this season. The most recent example was Tim Tebow’s game-winning touchdown last week in Denver.
Smith, who only seems to leave the field when the offense is on it, does not shoulder all of the blame for this.
“Eric Smith is a warrior and I would say if I was starting a football team, I would want him on my team every day of the week,” defensive coordinator Mike Pettine said. “[But] we have to take some reps off of him.”
Smith, a team captain, deserves some rest to see if that helps his play. He has drawn some nearly impossible assignments, trying to cover the tight end and stop Tebow on that play last week or covering Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski, who is five inches taller.