Tag: NFL Coach of the Year (Page 3 of 5)

NFL Week 16 COY Power Rankings

January 3, 2010 /

Upsets galore and crazy outcomes have forced us to look a bit harder at the Coach of the Year rankings, but most of our contenders are hanging tough.

1. Jim Caldwell, Indianapolis Colts—The poor guy is still dodging proverbial rocks being thrown by Colts’ fans, who wanted their team to continue its pursuit of perfection instead of rolling over against the Jets. Being that the Colts were still in position to go to 15-0 when Caldwell did that, we have to cut him some slack and remember that his team is still the top seed in the AFC and would be in the NFC as well.

2. Sean Payton, New Orleans Saints—Payton surely did not want to back into the #1 seed in the NFC, but after losing two games in a row, his team did just that when the Vikings’ loss Monday night let the Saints snag the top position. And once again, we have to consider the entire season’s body of work.

3. Norv Turner, San Diego Chargers—When you consider that Turner’s Chargers always play lousy in September, only to win when it really matters, that’s far better than it being the other way around. It’s time we started to give Turner his due.

4. Marvin Lewis, Cincinnati Bengals—The Bengals are another team not playing well, but they have dealt with two tragedies this season—the death of player Chris Henry, and the passing of the wife of D-coordinator Mike Zimmer. And still, the Bengals are 10-5 with an AFC North title. Raise your hand if you expected that.

5. Brad Childress, Minnesota Vikings—Yes, the Vikings are floundering and in danger of losing the #2 seed to Philly or Dallas, but I’ll keep mentioning two players who Childress sought in the off-season that made this a championship caliber team—Brett Favre and Percy Harvin.

Honorable mention: Ken Whisenhunt, Cardinals; Mike McCarthy, Packers; Andy Reid, Eagles; Bill Belichick, Patriots; Rex Ryan, Jets; Wade Phillips, Cowboys; Josh McDaniels, Denver Broncos

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NFL Week 14 COY Power Rankings

December 19, 2009 /

As we seem to repeat week after week lately, you can’t put anyone other than Jim Caldwell and Sean Payton atop this list as their teams remain undefeated. That doesn’t mean there aren’t other contenders for coach of the year, however.

1. Jim Caldwell, Indianapolis Colts—The Colts have clinched their division, their conference, a first round bye and home field throughout the playoffs, and threatening the 1972 Dolphins, all with a rookie head coach. That just doesn’t happen, but here we are.

2. Sean Payton, New Orleans Saints—Like Caldwell, Payton’s Saints have encountered a few road bumps recently, but are still 13-0. One more win and they will have ensured that the road to the Super Bowl in the NFC goes through the Superdome…and that’s just daunting for anyone.

3. Brad Childress, Minnesota Vikings—The Vikings beat up a very good Bengals team last weekend, and are close to wrapping up the #2 NFC seed. Despite the Saints’ undefeated mark, nobody should be taking Childress’ team lightly.

4. Norv Turner, San Diego Chargers—Funny, we’ve been ignoring this guy the whole time, and all his team does is win, especially late in the season. This season, Turner’s Bolts might be Super.

5. tie Marvin Lewis, Cincinnati Bengals & Josh McDaniels, Denver Broncos—Despite losses to the Vikings and Colts, respectively, last weekend, the fact remains that both of these playoff bound teams have very much exceeded expectations, especially defensively, this season.

Honorable mention: Ken Whisenhunt, Cardinals; Jack Del Rio, Jaguars; Mike McCarthy, Packers; Andy Reid, Eagles; Tony Sparano, Dolphins

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NFL Week 13 COY Power Rankings

December 12, 2009 /

It’s not like we can dock Sean Payton here, but let’s face it. If Shaun Suisham kicks that 23-yard field goal for the Redskins, Payton’s Saints are 11-1 right now. Sure, they proved that they are never out of any game, but based on how Jim Caldwell’s Colts handled a red-hot Titans team, we give him the nod this week.

1. Jim Caldwell, Indianapolis Colts—We’ll say it again. Rookie head coaches, no matter how much talent they inherit, do not start 12-0. And don’t think Caldwell’s boys can’t run the table. Very impressive.

2. Sean Payton, New Orleans Saints—The bottom line is 12-0 and an early division crown. Next up, trying to lock up home field, which would make getting to the Super Bowl for any other NFC team next to impossible.

3. Marvin Lewis, Cincinnati Bengals—Did anyone else expect a shift in the balance of power in the AFC North like this? The Bengals have a three-game lead over the Ravens and a 3.5 game lead over the Steelers with four to play. And Lewis has his now defense-and-ball-control team believing.

4. Josh McDaniels, Denver Broncos—Maybe those four losses were not the norm, after watching the way the Broncs dominated both the G-men and Chiefs. Whoever winds up playing these guys in January should be really afraid.

5. Brad Childress, Minnesota Vikings—So finally the Vikings went up against an explosive offense their defense couldn’t stop. But that was likely just a bump in the road.

Honorable mention: Ken Whisenhunt, Cardinals; Jack Del Rio, Jaguars; Mike McCarthy, Packers; Andy Reid, Eagles

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NFL Week 12 COY Power Rankings

December 6, 2009 /

Just like Drew Brees, we have to give Saints’ coach Sean Payton love for the way his team manhandled the Patriots on Monday night. It wasn’t so much the fact that the Saints’ offense resembled an arena league team again, it was the way their defense made Tom Brady and company look terribly average—and of course, beatable.

1. Sean Payton, New Orleans Saints—Once again the fact that Payton gave up a quarter million dollars of his own money to lure Gregg Williams to run his defense was a stroke of genius, because this defense is suddenly shutting people down. And by people, we mean guys named Brady, Moss and Welker.

2. Jim Caldwell, Indianapolis Colts—The bottom line is, no matter how much talent the Colts have, or how they have had to come from behind a lot lately, they still have a rookie head coach who is 11-0 and has already clinched the AFC South.

3 Marvin Lewis, Cincinnati Bengals—It’s positively mind-blowing to think that the Bengals are not only sitting in first place in the AFC North with a 2-game lead on both the Steelers and Ravens, but that they have run the table in their own very tough division at 6-0. Don’t think these guys won’t make some noise in January.

4. Brad Childress, Minnesota Vikings—When you have guys named Favre, Peterson, Allen and Harvin making you look good, it’s easy to say anyone can be Brad Childress. But remember, he stuck his neck out to bring in half of those guys, so we prefer to use the words “borderline genius.”

5. Josh McDaniels, Denver Broncos—We like the fire this guy displayed last week when he dropped the F-bomb on national TV, but we also like the way he has won at least 3 more games to this point than we all thought he would.

6. Jeff Fisher, Tennessee Titans—We had to add one more name in here this week, because turning a team from 0-6 into 5-6 and a dark horse playoff contender takes more than sticking Vince Young under center.

Honorable mention: Ken Whisenhunt, Cardinals; Jack Del Rio, Jaguars; Wade Phillips, Cowboys; Mike McCarthy, Packers

NFL

NFL Week 11 COY Power Rankings

November 29, 2009 /

Once again we can’t ignore the two guys who have their teams at 10-0. Beyond that, there are a few others who are still overachieving, including Josh McDaniels, who brought his team back from the dead last night with a feisty effort against the Giants. Meanwhile, is anyone starting to sense that Jeff Fisher may be on our radar here? If you start 0-6 then win four straight and start to sniff any chance at the playoffs, that is just mind-blowing. It’s safe to say that if he does bring his Titans all the way back, it may be even more impressive than 16-0 would be.

1. Jim Caldwell, Indianapolis Colts—They just beat the Patriots and Ravens back to back, and are absolutely going to coast to a first round bye. However, they need to finish the job this time as they did three seasons ago.

2. Sean Payton, New Orleans Saints—Finally the Saints dominated in a game they had to dominate. Now they face their biggest test of the season at home Monday night against the Patriots. Both offenses are so explosive that I’m fully expecting 80 points between the teams. And if Payton’s Saints win, he will have earned his spot here again.

3. Marvin Lewis, Cincinnati Bengals—A heartbreaking loss in Oakland was a devastating blow, but the Steelers and Ravens also lost. Now, Lewis has a chance for his team to be 6-0 in the division by beating the Browns at home Sunday. Can he do it? Does Howdy Doody have a wooden butt?

4. Brad Childress, Minnesota Vikings—His team is 9-1 heading into Sunday’s game against Chicago, and if he wins that one, as he should, Childress will continue to remain on this short list.

5. Josh McDaniels, Denver Broncos—After being 6-0 and losing four straight in horrible fashion, McDaniels and his potty mouth brought his team back from the dead last night. That was impressive (the comeback, as well as the mouth). They will be a tough out for someone in the playoffs, assuming they can still get there.

Honorable mention: Ken Whisenhunt, Cardinals; Jack Del Rio, Jaguars, Jeff Fisher, Titans; Bill Belichick, Patriots

NFL

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