Erhardt: Wins will ease pressure on Schotty

FLORHAM PARK, N.J.

Life isn't easy as an offensive coordinator in the crucible of New York, even when you're winning. And we're not even talking about Brian Schottenheimer.

Try another offensive coordinator -- one who helped his New York team win two Super Bowl titles, for goodness sake.

"That's just the nature of the game," former Giants offensive coordinator Ron Erhardt said by phone Monday night from his home in Boca Raton, Fla. "If you don't get it right, if you're not winning big, then something's wrong. It happens all the time no matter where you are. But the fact is you're not going to win every game 35-0."

Like Schottenheimer, Erhardt often was accused of running too conservative an offense with Phil Simms and Jeff Hostetler as his quarterbacks. But the formula worked well enough, because it got the Giants their first two Super Bowl titles after the 1986 and 1990 seasons.

Erhardt later helped the Steelers get to the Super Bowl after the 1995 season with Neil O'Donnell as the quarterback.

"We still won a lot of games, so [the criticism] doesn't bother you when you're winning," Erhardt said. "If you're not winning, well, that's a different story."

Welcome to Schottenheimer's world. Coming off three straight losses after a 2-0 start, Schottenheimer once again is the subject of criticism from fans over his play-calling. This time it was for being too conservative against the Patriots, who came into the game with the league's worst overall pass defense.

After the first three games, Schottenheimer was accused of failing to call a balanced game plan and having Mark Sanchez throw too many passes.

Talk about a no-win situation.

"You can understand the frustration that people might have, but there's nothing for to worry about," Erhardt said. "As long as the guys you're coaching aren't on your back, you're going to be OK."

For now, Schottenheimer has the backing of his players and his coaching staff. As well he should.

Jets fans might not want to hear this, especially those who want to pin the offensive problems on Schottenheimer, but he is not the problem, my friends. A bad play-call here or there? Guilty as charged. But if you're ready to lay the blame at Schottenheimer's feet for Sanchez's inaccurate throws, or for the dropped passes by Plaxico Burress, Santonio Holmes and John Conner, then your finger-pointing is misplaced. Schottenheimer's system is sound, it is imaginative, and it is effective when executed properly. It has been good enough for two straight AFC Championship Game runs, and there's no reason it can't work effectively now. Even with all the second-guessing and speculation surrounding him.

Rex Ryan on Monday voiced firm support for Schottenheimer and again denied a report that had the wide receivers coming to him to voice complaints about Schottenheimer's play-calling.

"I can guarantee you it was untrue because I was the guy supposedly that had the conversations," Ryan said. "Well, I can tell you this, 100 percent, I did not have the conversations."

That doesn't mean there isn't some discontent in the locker room about the offense; there is, especially after another three-game losing streak, the third of Ryan's career as the Jets' coach.

But Schottenheimer isn't the problem here. Poor work by the offensive line, which frequently has made it impossible for Sanchez to get into a groove because he's under duress much too often; an inconsistent running game, which hasn't given Sanchez a legitimate play-action passing option; Sanchez's struggles with accuracy, and the transition to new receivers Plaxico Burress, Derrick Mason and rookie Jeremy Kerley are the bigger issues.

"We'll get this thing right, I think,'' Ryan said. "We made strides It might not be statistically that you see it, because we didn't do a great job on third down, but I think we're making strides.."

But it's not good enough. The offense needs to ignite on a consistent basis, and until that happens, Schottenheimer will be looked at as the fall guy.

"You're very frustrated, because we're a better offense than that," tight end Dustin Keller said. "We have so much more ability than that. You'd hope it wouldn't take this long, but it has. Now we have to try and get back on the winning track." Take it from Erhardt: Once the offense gets going, the focus will be off Schottenheimer.

"You get your people to execute things and you start winning games," he said, "that's what it'll take. Nobody said it was easy."