I have never seen a head coach hiring cycle like this one: every new HC is a rookie at the position. (Doug Marrone does not count because he was the same team's IHC last year.) Of those five - Sean McVay (Rams), Kyle Shanahan (49ers), Sean McDermott (Bills), Anthony Lynn (Chargers), and Vance Joseph (Broncos), who do you think is the best at his job even if the team's record does not show it? Who is the most surprising or disappointing HC so far?
FWIW the team records are:
Los Angeles Rams: 3-1
San Francisco 49ers: 0-4
Buffalo Bills: 3-1
Los Angeles Chargers: 0-4
Denver Broncos: 3-1
Has to be Sean McDermott with the Bills. No one would have guessed that the Bills would be 3-1 by now; most people thought the Bills would win 6 games total, week 4 is in the books, and they are halfway there. Whether or not they can stay hot is a question that can be debated, but they are doing better than anyone thought. Took out the donks and the falcons... beat a top notch defense, and beat a top notch offense. Pretty impressive wins.
Rams you half expected some kind of success, they have some good talent on that roster for a few years. They were held back by Coach 8-8.
The 49ers are a dumpster fire. It will take Shanahan a year or two to get the players he wants in there, most importantly he needs a quarterback. Hoyer isnt good.
Broncos have a dominant defense. The offense is garbage. Right now Vance Joseph is lucky that D is so stout.
The Chargers, despite having a decent qb, are looking more and more like the red headed step-child of the Cardinals and the Browns - Is there a worse owner in the league than Spanos? and it looks like that front office is bereft of common sense/football knowledge.
(10-04-2017, 11:21 AM)Pape Wrote: [ -> ]Has to be Sean McDermott with the Bills. No one would have guessed that the Bills would be 3-1 by now; most people thought the Bills would win 6 games total, week 4 is in the books, and they are halfway there. Whether or not they can stay hot is a question that can be debated, but they are doing better than anyone thought. Took out the donks and the falcons... beat a top notch defense, and beat a top notch offense. Pretty impressive wins.
Rams you half expected some kind of success, they have some good talent on that roster for a few years. They were held back by Coach 8-8.
The 49ers are a dumpster fire. It will take Shanahan a year or two to get the players he wants in there, most importantly he needs a quarterback. Hoyer isnt good.
Broncos have a dominant defense. The offense is garbage. Right now Vance Joseph is lucky that D is so stout.
The Chargers, despite having a decent QB, are looking more and more like the red headed step-child of the Cardinals and the Browns - Is there a worse owner in the league than Spanos? and it looks like that front office is bereft of common sense/football knowledge.
You are right on the surprise scale. Nobody saw this coming with the Falcons and Broncos on their first quarter schedule.
I knew the Rams have to be better this year than they ever were with the "7-9 coach" because Jared Goff praised Sean McVay for running a simpler, easier offense and the Rams got some more talent on that side of the ball. Wade Phillips is a top-notch DC, although I was skeptical about his ability to run a 3-4 scheme with 4-3 personnel. How good the Rams are, however, did surprise me, along with many other people.
Vance Joseph is not lucky to have a dominant defense. Most of same players are there this year. What he is lucky to have is a healthy Garrett Bolles after the injury scare. If their OL, which has been garbage for years, shows improvement in the second quarter of the season, it will be a boon for Trevor Siemien.
The other new coach in Los Angeles is going through what his predecessor did: long injury reports. The Chargers just can't stay healthy. The jury is still out on him.
McVay by a mile. I thought there would be a chance they might not win a game this year. Now, they are in first place. McVay apparently can perform miracles.
(10-04-2017, 05:58 PM)TheO-LineMatters Wrote: [ -> ]McVay by a mile. I thought there would be a chance they might not win a game this year. Now, they are in first place. McVay apparently can perform miracles.
I knew the Rams would win some games. What I did not know was they could cause problems for teams outside their division.
I agree with Pape's assessment. There's a realistic chance that Sean McDermott coached the Bills to victory over consecutive opponents that will end up at least in Conference Championship games this season. Even with the injuries to the Falcons WRs during the game against the Bills, beating Atlanta at home is a tremendous accomplishment. This doesn't mean the Bills will continue to surprise. It does mean that I never thought they would be at least 3-1 at this time.
(10-04-2017, 07:36 PM)D6 Wrote: [ -> ]I agree with Pape's assessment. There's a realistic chance that Sean McDermott coached the Bills to victory over consecutive opponents that will end up at least in Conference Championship games this season. Even with the injuries to the Falcons WRs during the game against the Bills, beating Atlanta at home is a tremendous accomplishment. This doesn't mean the Bills will continue to surprise. It does mean that I never thought they would be at least 3-1 at this time.
Nobody saw their 3-1 record coming. The Falcons have enough depth at WR to compensate when Julio Jones gets hurt and on paper, the Bills don't have enough talent on defense. I hope people don't think it is evidence of the 28-3 hangover many predicted since your birthday. Players are responding well to Sean McDermott.
(10-04-2017, 07:55 PM)JaguarsWoman Wrote: [ -> ] (10-04-2017, 07:36 PM)D6 Wrote: [ -> ]I agree with Pape's assessment. There's a realistic chance that Sean McDermott coached the Bills to victory over consecutive opponents that will end up at least in Conference Championship games this season. Even with the injuries to the Falcons WRs during the game against the Bills, beating Atlanta at home is a tremendous accomplishment. This doesn't mean the Bills will continue to surprise. It does mean that I never thought they would be at least 3-1 at this time.
Nobody saw their 3-1 record coming. The Falcons have enough depth at WR to compensate when Julio Jones gets hurt and on paper, the Bills don't have enough talent on defense. I hope people don't think it is evidence of the 28-3 hangover many predicted since your birthday. Players are responding well to Sean McDermott.
I don't think the Falcons have shown signs of a Super Bowl hangover. However, they needed to find a way to overcome the loss of their top 2 WRs at home against a team that has much less talent.
I'm interested to see how they respond on SNF at New England later this month. The Patriots are having major problems on Defense. Whether that will continue, time will tell. For the Falcons, their bye is coming at a good time, as they are dealing with key injuries on both sides of the ball. When they are at full strength, I can't think of a team in the NFL that has more talent.
(10-04-2017, 08:03 PM)D6 Wrote: [ -> ]I don't think the Falcons have shown signs of a Super Bowl hangover. However, they needed to find a way to overcome the loss of their top 2 WRs at home against a team that has much less talent.
I'm interested to see how they respond on SNF at New England later this month. The Patriots are having major problems on Defense. Whether that will continue, time will tell. For the Falcons, their bye is coming at a good time, as they are dealing with key injuries on both sides of the ball. When they are at full strength, I can't think of a team in the NFL that has more talent.
If the Falcons win, it will validate Sean McDermott's positive effect on the Bills for anyone who thinks they should not be 3-1 right now. We will be busy here the day of that game.
(10-04-2017, 08:52 PM)JaguarsWoman Wrote: [ -> ] (10-04-2017, 08:03 PM)D6 Wrote: [ -> ]I don't think the Falcons have shown signs of a Super Bowl hangover. However, they needed to find a way to overcome the loss of their top 2 WRs at home against a team that has much less talent.
I'm interested to see how they respond on SNF at New England later this month. The Patriots are having major problems on Defense. Whether that will continue, time will tell. For the Falcons, their bye is coming at a good time, as they are dealing with key injuries on both sides of the ball. When they are at full strength, I can't think of a team in the NFL that has more talent.
If the Falcons win, it will validate Sean McDermott's positive effect on the Bills for anyone who thinks they should not be 3-1 right now. We will be busy here the day of that game.
Three of the next 4 Bills games are home games for them. Then they go to Los Angeles to play the Chargers. That will feel like a home game for them. If they go at least 3-2 in these next 5 games, they will be in the thick of the AFC playoff race entering a difficult part of their schedule ( on paper ).
(10-05-2017, 01:18 PM)D6 Wrote: [ -> ]Three of the next 4 Bills games are home games for them. Then they go to Los Angeles to play the Chargers. That will feel like a home game for them. If they go at least 3-2 in these next 5 games, they will be in the thick of the AFC playoff race entering a difficult part of their schedule ( on paper ).
Those five games are:
@ Bengals
Buccaneers
Raiders
@ Jets
Saints
The bye week (before Tampa Bay) comes at a good time. It is probably the hardest one before Kansas City.
(10-05-2017, 01:29 PM)JaguarsWoman Wrote: [ -> ] (10-05-2017, 01:18 PM)D6 Wrote: [ -> ]Three of the next 4 Bills games are home games for them. Then they go to Los Angeles to play the Chargers. That will feel like a home game for them. If they go at least 3-2 in these next 5 games, they will be in the thick of the AFC playoff race entering a difficult part of their schedule ( on paper ).
Those five games are:
@ Bengals
Buccaneers
Raiders
@ Jets
Saints
The bye week (before Tampa Bay) comes at a good time. It is probably the hardest one before Kansas City.
I inadvertently didn't include this week's game at Cincinnati. Even if the Bills lose this one, they have a good opportunity to be 6-4 or better if their start to the season proves legit.
(10-05-2017, 01:42 PM)D6 Wrote: [ -> ]I inadvertently didn't include this week's game at Cincinnati. Even if the Bills lose this one, they have a good opportunity to be 6-4 or better if their start to the season proves legit.
If the Bengals win, will people say they are underrated or Buffalo is overrated?
(10-05-2017, 01:51 PM)JaguarsWoman Wrote: [ -> ] (10-05-2017, 01:42 PM)D6 Wrote: [ -> ]I inadvertently didn't include this week's game at Cincinnati. Even if the Bills lose this one, they have a good opportunity to be 6-4 or better if their start to the season proves legit.
If the Bengals win, will people say they are underrated or Buffalo is overrated?
Both.