Coaching duels... We talk about them often. More often than not, they wind up being one-sided. You saw what the less-talented Kansas City Chiefs did to the Philadelphia Eagles during the second half of Super Bowl LVII, didn't you? Andy Reid took the measure of one Jonathan Gannon, and it wasn't pretty, not at all. We learned something that day. Nick Sirianni's staff needs to get better (and in a hurry).
Since that sad night in February of 2023, Philly's offensive and defensive coordinators have changed twice, and we now respect the third, Michael Clay, more than we used to. The Birds are set up for success, and it doesn't hurt that they have the NFC East's most talented roster on paper. Philly has a shot at winning this division.
There will be those occasions when scheme comes into play. Philly will have to win coaches duels. That's especially true when they play the teams that know them best, their rivals in the NFC East.
How do these staffs measure up when stacked versus one another? We're glad you asked boys and girls. Here's a ranking of the division's coaching rosters stacked from worst to the first.
We tried to tell you. Nick Sirianni deserved to be the NFL's Coach of the Year in 2022. Instead, Brian Daboll was given that honor, and here we sit more than three years later asking ourselves a question. No one else has an issue with that?
How is it possible that we can enter a season believing a head coach will lead his team to a THIRD-PLACE FINISH and award him the honor of being the NFL's best head coach for any given season because he led his team to a THIRD-PLACE FINISH?
He didn't even win the division! How on Earth is that acceptable? Meanwhile, Nick Sirianni has led the Eagles to the playoffs during his first three seasons. He'll probably do so again this year while the Giants battle the Washington Commanders to stay out of the cellar.
Mike Kafka is the Giants' offensive coordinator now. You remember him. He's a former Eagles QB who has served on Andy Reid's staff in Kansas City and as the Giants' OC since 2022.
The defensive coordinator is Shane Bowen. He has done a lot of work in the AFC with the Houston Texans (2016-2017) and the Tennessee Titans (2018-2023), but if we were to rank the NFC's DCs we'd probably rank him as the fourth among the four.
3. Dallas Cowboys
We agonized over whether or not to place the Dallas Cowboys ahead of the Washington Commanders, and in the end, we settled on that being the wisest choice. Several things kept crossing our minds.
Mike McCarthy won a Super Bowl with the Green Bay Packers. He is 42-25 as the Cowboys' head coach during the regular season, but right now, we still view Dan Quinn as being the better coach between the two.
Quinn led the Falcons to the Super Bowl too (even if he didn't get the result he wanted), but Dallas will miss him moving forward. There's no way that you can convince us that Mike Zimmer is the upgrade.
Brian Schottenheimer is the offensive coordinator. We most remember him for guiding Russell Wilson to one of his best statistical showings in 2020 (career highs in TD passes and completion percentage), but he was dismissed following Seattle's struggles during the final weeks.
He was hired as part of Urban Meyer's staff in Jacksonville but wasn't retained when Doug Pederson took over as the Jaguars' coach. He has been on the Cowboys' staff since March 24, 2022 and was promoted to O.C. in February of 2023.
We see nothing that would make us believe the Cowboys' offense will be as consistently effective under Schottenheimer as it was under Kellen Moore. Signs point to this being the third-best staff in the division.
Dan Quinn leaves the Dallas Cowboys to lead the rival Washington Commanders. He brings Kliff Kingsbury with him, who, at various points of the offseason, drew interest from Philly.
Kliff wanted to bring his own O-line coach. Philly obviously wasn't moving on from Jeff Stoutland, so there's that. Still, KIiff is the owner of a great offensive mind even though we learned he isn't a great head coach.
That's cool. Sometimes a man must accept what he is, and even though Quinn may not have been the Commanders fans' first choice, he certainly knows how to put a staff together. Remember that ensemble he assembled in Atlanta? It doesn't get much better than placing Raheem Morris, Matt LaFleur, Mike LaFleur, Mike McDaniel, Jeff Ulbrich, and Kyle Shanahan under one roof.
Joe Whitt is a longtime secondary coach. He worked under Quinn in Atlanta during the 2007 season and again in Dallas from 2021-2023. He also served as a passing game coordinator. Trevon Diggs and DaRon Bland both took off under his watch.
We'll see how things go now with the Commanders.
1. Philadelphia Eagles
Vic Fangio's fingerprints are all over the NFL as several defenses run some variation of his scheme. There's nothing like having the architect in-house though. In a world where everyone is always looking for the next great young mind, it's nice to have a dinosaur. Fangio has forgotten more about football than many new head coaches will ever know.
Kellen Moore did wonders with the Dallas Cowboys' offense and even had us saying stuff like 'Dak Prescott is an MVP candidate'. He'll do well in Philly. Having weapons like Jalen Hurts, A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, Saquon Barkley, and Dallas Goedert will help the cause.
Nick Sirianni is treated like the weak link on his own staff, but his guys play hard for him. That means a lot. Philly gets the nod here as the NFC East's best coaching staff, but biased opinions that we may harbor have nothing to do with the choice. There are just two things that we can't get off our minds.
Moore didn't help Brandon Staley save his job in Los Angeles, and Fangio didn't work out in Miami. Keep close watch here.
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