Ephemera 21

There’s a lot of great candidates this year.  I’m going to name those that I think should be considered and make a case for them.  While none of us get a vote, I’m curious who you think should win it.   Bill Belichick- New England Patriots (record 14-2):  The Pats had huge roster turnover on defense this year and was playing a lot of young and unhearalded players.  How did they respond?  They finished with the best overall record in the NFL, secured homefield advantage throughout the AFC Playoffs, and are the odds-on favorite to win it all this year.    Mike Tomlin-Pittsburgh Steelers(12-4):  I haven’t heard Tomlin’s name much in this discussion and I can’t really figure out why not.  No one would have blamed the Steelers for a slow start with Roethlisberger suspended for the first four games, but their defense came out of the gate hungry and started a very respectable 3-1 with their only division loss coming in week 4 to their arch-rival Ravens.  The Steelers locked up the other bye in the AFC yesterday with a drubbing of the Browns.    Jim Caldwell-Indianapolis Colts(10-6):  The Colts were a team devastated by injuries this season.  Sure, they have Peyton Manning, but we saw this year that not even Manning can get it done on his own.  Staring at a 6-6 record and the prospect of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2001, all the Colts did was rattle off four straight wins and show the rest of the teams in the South who is still king.    Todd Haley- Kansas City Chiefs(10-6):  If you would have told me at the beginning of the season that the Chiefs were taking the West this year, I might have laughed in your face.  Sure they didn’t play well within their division(2-4,) they played the NFC West, but you can’t blame them for their schedule.  Haley calls the offense and often had Matt Cassell playing mistake-free football while pounding the rock with his solid vet Jones and stud rookie Charles.     Andy Reid-Philadelphia Eagles(10-6):  After dumping McNabb, a lot of people had this division either going to the Giants or Cowboys with Philly as an afterthought.  The Eagles were also hit hard with injuries this season, missing some key players at key times this year.  Kevin Kolb gets off to an ok start, then gets hurt, and the Eagles had to turn to Michael Vick.  Kolb is ready to come back and Reid made possibly the best choice of his career.  Players typically don’t lose their starting jobs due to injury, but Reid made it clear that Kolb was healthy and Vick would be his QB going forward.  The rest is history with the Eagles winning the East and the Giants, ‘Boys, and McNabb will be watching the playoffs from their couch.     Lovie Smith-Chicago Bears(11-5):  In Chicago, the optimists had the Bears finishing at 8-8, with the pessimists expecting a 4 or 5 win campaign.  The division was Green Bay’s or Minnesota’s.  After a 3-0 start, the Bears suffer the most lopsided 17-3 loss I’ve seen to the NY Giants and Cutler gets his brains scrambled.  After back-to-back home losses to Seattle and Washington, the Bears have their bye week and something remarkable happens.  Lovie Smith gets Mike Martz to abandon his mad scientist, get the qb killed, throw on every down mentality.  Results?  The Bears produced the most balanced pass/run ratio in the NFL from that point on and win 7 of their last 9 games to secure the #2 seed in the NFC and a first-round bye.     Mike McCarthy-Green Bay Packers(10-6):  Possibly the team most devastated by injuries this year, the Packers are back in the playoffs this year after their win against my Bears yesterday.  It seemed week in and week out, the Packers were losing another key piece to their team, yet they just kept plugging the holes and didn’t seem to miss a beat.  No Ryan Grant? No Jermichael Finley? No Aaron Rodgers? No problem.  That’s no accident.  That’s a well-coached football team.  Without Rodgers, the Packers gave the Patriots all they could handle and might have beaten them if Flynn had more reps in the hurry-up.     Mike Smith-Atlanta Falcons(13-3): I wasn’t sure how the Falcons would move forward after the Michael Vick era had ended.  With Mike Smith and Matt Ryan in tow the Falcons have steadily improved every season.  The road to the Super Bowl just might have to go through Atlanta in the NFC and they have been nearly unbeatable there.  I’m guilty of having taken this team lightly this year, since whenever I look at the scorebooard, they always seem to be in a close game and just don’t usually ever dominate their opponents.  13 wins and the #1 seed in the NFC doesn’t happen by mistake and Mike Smith has to get the credit.     Raheem Morris-Tampa Bay Buccaneers(10-6):  Sure they came up short of the playoffs due to their strength of schedule, but you have to admit that no one expected ANYTHING out of this team.  They are the youngest team in football.  Morris is the youngest head coach in the league.  They beat a playoff-bound Saints team on the road which is no small task.  Aside from the OT loss to Detroit, they pretty much always came on top in the close games.     My pick: Like I said, there are lots of great choices here, and I think all of these guys are deserving of recognition for the jobs they’ve done, but my choice(I hate to say this) is Mike McCarthy of the Packers.      Who do you think should win it?  Did I forget anyone?  Brad Childress?