One thing I would like to address is the notion a team in the Playoff chase cannot change its offensive coordinator in December. It has happened in the past five years. The team that did it played in New York. The Giants did in 2006. They didn't just do it late in the year. They did it before the last game of the regular season, a game they needed to win to clinch a Playoff spot.
The Giants gave play calling duties from John Hufnagel to Kevin Gilbride. Gilbride called the Week 17 game at Washington and the Playoff game at Philadelphia. Gilbride played to his team's strengths, running the ball 59% of the time. Hufnagel was throwing it with his second year quarterback 55% of the time. Even though running it more tends to shorten the game, the Giants actually averaged 7 more total yards per game once Gilbride took over. They also scored over 6 points more per game. The Giants scored 10 points more under Gilbride than in the final 9 games of Hufnagel, where the offense really sputtered.
I am not suggesting that all of the Jets' problems will be solved by simply finding a new guy to stick with the run. The problems with Brian Schottenheimer go much deeper. The problems with the offense go beyond Schottenheimer. What I am attempting to show is a late change will not necessarily spell doom. The Jets have an offensive coach on their staff, Bill Callahan, who has run multiple top ten NFL offensive units. The team wouldn't have time to scrap its playbook, but a new voice and a new approach could at least help things. I doubt it would happen, but there should at least be some discussion.