Brian Schottenheimer

[DaveFan'51]

It's amazing that Fisher has lasted this long, the guy seems like an idiot, employing someone for 3 years just due to who their farther is. He needs to go.

YAH! Bring back Spags!!

 

[tahoe]

His play calling is lacking in my opinion. He has no clue how to use Austin, he could learn a lot from Turner. Im not asking for a Martz offense but how about some jet sweeps with Austin or trips with Quick and Britt in front of Austin to block for a screen. He just seems to run the same plays that dont work over and over.

 

[DaveFan'51]

How about something constructive instead like what would you do with the players we have if you had his job?

I, for one, thought that Saffold should have been playing at RG instead of LG. IMO he's better their. I may be wrong but I believe it would have made a difference! I hope our O-Line is Long - Robinson - Wells - Saffold and Barksdale this week in TB!

 

[RamzFanz]

I'm no fan of Schotty.

I've rewatched the game 4 times. I mostly have no problem with his calls the first half. The Rams were tearing up the Vikings in the air. It was a 1 score game until nearly the 2 minute warning. The drives were killed by penalties and execution errors.

In the second half, when things were dire and Rams were down 20-3, he didn't take the chances you would HAVE to take to win. If you're going to lose anyway, what risk is there in lighting them up?

Of course with the level of protection and AD in there, it would be very high risk behavior. So what?

However, Fish is going to do what Fish is going to do. This is a tired subject.

 

[Dxmissile]

It's an article on nfl.com about the jet sweep, and how it is taking the league by storm. The problem with schotty is that he tries to play smash mouth football with Tavon. Meaning that he doesn't use any misdirection and counters and stunts or the jet sweep. He is a ok play caller when the run game is working. Take him out of his element eliminate the run game and his play calling ineptitude goes really up and fast. His creativity or lack thereof is disappointing. His in game adjustments are terrible because he can only call plays based off the run. We don't need a one dimensional OC that is handicapping the team from the jump. That Seattle game on Monday night prime example the one yard line and you go five wide out I would take my chances with Stacy at the one then throw a pass with my backup Qb

 

[Robocop]

I'm no fan of Schotty.

I've rewatched the game 4 times. I mostly have no problem with his calls the first half. The Rams were tearing up the Vikings in the air. It was a 1 score game until nearly the 2 minute warning. The drives were killed by penalties and execution errors.

In the second half, when things were dire and Rams were down 20-3, he didn't take the chances you would HAVE to take to win. If you're going to lose anyway, what risk is there in lighting them up?

Of course with the level of protection and AD in there, it would be very high risk behavior. So what?

However, Fish is going to do what Fish is going to do. This is a tired subject.

that is my point too. if your down big and limited at QB then throw the play book at them. why continue play conservative and soft. I would respect him if he tried throwing out trick plays left and right even if they didn't work

 

[tahoe]

The jet sweep was made for a guy like Austin with his speed and agility

 

[-X-]

That Seattle game on Monday night prime example the one yard line and you go five wide out I would take my chances with Stacy at the one then throw a pass with my backup Qb

Stacy had an injury at the time and was only out there as a decoy. But what if Schotty did make Stacy try to run it in and he got nailed for a 5 yard loss? Would that be the end of it, or would people be asking why he didn't go five-wide to spread out the pressure and throw it to one of his taller receivers on a corner fade? It's just one of those things where the coordinator is smart when something works and dumb when it doesn't.

 

[wrstdude]

Tavon Austin has failed to hit 50 yds rec in 13/14 career games now. He struggled w/ drops early as rookie, but I still see this as an indictment of Schottenheimer. Austin was the most dynamic playmaker in the draft; I don't understand how he can't find a way to get him the ball & allow him to make plays. At this point Tavon is looking like a draft blunder; at no fault of his own.

 

[fearsomefour]

The main thing I question is not getting Austin in motion....or running crosses. If you put him in motion to create matchups no LB, S or back up CB is going to run with him. It just seems every time he gets the ball he is standing still. He may be destined to be a guy who has a couple of huge games a year is just sort of there the rest of time. The efforts to get him the ball seem like that....forced efforts. Create some plays that are not "Austin" plays, but, get his spot moving and let the QB find him if he is open.
Thats it for me.

 

[thirteen28]

There are two sides to the Schotty thing, and I'll try to tackle them both here. But as I wrote in another thread or two yesterday, he's just good enough not to get fired. But I don't think he's ever going to be good enough to really maximize the talent he has.

You can't put all the blame on Schotty for what has ailed the Rams offense during his tenure, and certainly not on what happened in the game Sunday. It's not his fault that the OL played bad and in particular, that Joseph was at times a turnstile. It's not his fault the OL couldn't open holes, it's not his fault that we pathetically had three false starts in our own building. Nor is it his fault in previous years when receivers dropped perfectly thrown passes, ran the wrong routes, didn't look for balls or fight for them, etc. And it's not his fault that Mark Sanchez did a face plant into the big, hairy ass of a Jets OL (ok, Schotty was gone then, but you get the point). He can only draw up the plays and call them.

Still, I think it's fair to ding him for a lack of creativity in both play design and playcalling. In the basic running game I think he's good enough there, but once you get to the passing game he leaves something to be desired. I don't think he makes the best use of route combinations on many pass plays, doesn't do the best job at exploiting mismatches, and so on. He could use pre-snap motion more too, either to get guys in position to exploit a mismatch or to tip us to the coverage. He'll occasionally call a great game, like he did last year at Indy, but then won't follow up on that success.

Just do a thought experiment using Sunday's OC's, Schotty and Norv Turner. Assuming proper execution of the plays, who do you think would get more out of the offensive talent we have? Is there really any question?

Sure, every OC will have his bad games. Few will argue that Martz knew how to call a game, but I vaguely remember one game in about the 03-05 timeframe where we played the Saints, who were nearly dead last against the run, and we ended up the game with less than 10 rushing attempts and a loss. But I remember many more where, even though the execution was good, you still have to give him tremendous credit for calling a great game. Remember the Max Q game against Miami, when the Rams were going up against a fairly stout defense? Absolutely shredded them. One of numerous examples.

And another thing about Martz (yes we were spoiled) is that he was a great teacher as well. In just one offseason, he installed the new Rams offense and had them running like a well-oiled machine right out of the gate. It's probably a bit much to expect, but our offense hasn't run like a well-oiled machine in years.

At the end of the day, I think Schotty is at best, adequate. Given his long history as an OC, both with the Rams and the Jets, I think we can see what we've got. I want better than adequate. I hope I'm wrong about Schotty's ability to grow and adapt, but don't blame me if I don't feel confident on that one.

 

[DCH]

that is my point too. if your down big and limited at QB then throw the play book at them. why continue play conservative and soft. I would respect him if he tried throwing out trick plays left and right even if they didn't work

IMO because Davis isn't capable of handling it, and while the L still counts as an L, you go from getting blown out to getting Blown the Fuck Out, while at the same time destroying the confidence of the last active QB on your roster (I don't think Keenum was active Sunday?).

 

[Dxmissile]

Stacy had an injury at the time and was only out there as a decoy. But what if Schotty did make Stacy try to run it in and he got nailed for a 5 yard loss? Would that be the end of it, or would people be asking why he didn't go five-wide to spread out the pressure and throw it to one of his taller receivers on a corner fade? It's just one of those things where the coordinator is smart when something works and dumb when it doesn't.

Stacy a decoy on a passing route no a better decoy would be him staying in the backfield play action pass. Sending Stacy out wide already told the defense pass. So yeah that was schotty at his worse

 

[thirteen28]

Stacy had an injury at the time and was only out there as a decoy. But what if Schotty did make Stacy try to run it in and he got nailed for a 5 yard loss? Would that be the end of it, or would people be asking why he didn't go five-wide to spread out the pressure and throw it to one of his taller receivers on a corner fade? It's just one of those things where the coordinator is smart when something works and dumb when it doesn't.

Why didn't we try putting Cunningham in the game at that point?

 

[-X-]

Stacy a decoy on a passing route on a better decoy would be him staying in the backfield play action pass. Sending Stacy out wide already told the defense pass. So yeah that was schotty at his worse

And if it had worked? There were all kinds of plays being dialed up on that final drive inside the 10. You can't blame the coordinator when one quick pass was dropped by Givens, a run failed to punch it in, and then Quick didn't even try to locate or fight for the last pass (which was perfectly thrown). Sorry, but this one doesn't pass the litmus test for me.

http://www.seahawks.com/videos-phot...al-drive/83cb5fe9-f356-4d9a-bdad-ac278243db31

 

[dieterbrock]

And yet Shotty was a genious last year in games against Indy, New Orleans, Chicago, Jacksonville.....

 

[Dxmissile]

And yet Shotty was a genious last year in games against Indy, New Orleans, Chicago, Jacksonville.....

That's the problem with schotty, because he can dial up good plays it all goes back to the run game though. Look at our rushing yards for those games, minus the Indy game when Tavon went off. He is a good play caller when the run game is effective but when it's not his play calling is poor.

 

[SAMTHERAM]

Honestly, blaming the O-coordinator just seems stale and unoriginal to me. Can't you guys think of any other scapegoats to blame? Execution on pretty much all levels was pretty terrible, hard to put all that blame on just one guy.

The execution of predictable, pedestrian and boring plays is on one guy, namely BS.

 

[SAMTHERAM]

this guy hasn't even tried with Tavon. the lack of opportunities and the lack of creativity with the ones he called (executed poorly or not) were unoriginal. how on Gods green Earth do you justify running your little 180lb spark plug up the gap to get pounded when the running game was already going nowhere? how many injuries do we need? the obvious toss to him in the flat that was sniffed out too. this is in no way about ONE game. we're playing with backup and third string QBs so forget trying to be conservative and attempt to squeeze out a win with the defense he should be throwing the damn play book at them and say BRING IT! win or lose give it 110% and I've never seen Schotty do it

agree 100% !

 

[Thordaddy]

I am not a Schottenheimer fan, but it is interesting how the OCs in this town are treated. Shurmur was vanilla and not very well liked, McDaniels was crazy and had no idea how to work with the "talent" he had, and now Schotty is too stupid to run an NFL offense after squeezing blood out of a rock in New York and helping Mark freaking Sanchez of all people maximize his potential and get to AFC title games.

Aren't the players at least somewhat culpable, and to a certain extent the guys picking those players? It's not like Schottenheimer threw the interception, missed blocks, ran the ball right at defenders, gave up on routes, and committed bone headed offensive pass interference penalties.

Again, I agree that I don't think Schottenheimer is good enough to lead a talent deficient offense to a championship, but he is certainly good enough to beat the freaking Vikings at home with the players he currently has. The players just didn't show up on Sunday.

FWIW Martz has been a damned tough act to follow, truth be known I wouldn't be at all surprised to discover Shotty is more prone to complexity and adventure than Fisher is comfortable with, Fisher dialed him back last year , wouldn't surprise me if he did it again.

I'm fully on board with execution being problem one,injury 1A , dumb luck, opponents with two super stars who we accounted for one , lack of pre season playing time for vets, astrological anomlies ,ugly blue unis, then play calling .

I wonder, can Tavon Austin throw the halfback option?cuz I know he wouldn't be stifled like he's been if the rest of the league wasn't scared to death he'll take over a game,seems like that would slow the all out pursuit he gets