It’s almost time for arguably the best football day of the the year: Championship Sunday. As we get closer to the games, let’s look at ranking the most important positions on a team, the coach and quarterback. The most important player is a quarterback because he makes most of the on-field decisions. The head coach is obviously extremely important because he creates the game-plan and theoretically put players in position to succeed.
Here are the coach and quarterback duo rankings for the final four teams, based on separately ranking each coach and quarterback:
Until he retires, Belichick should be and will be recognized as the best coach in the National Football League. No exceptions. What he has done is incredible, especially in the free agency era. The New England Patriots have a total of five championships during his tenure and have made the last nine – again, NINE – AFC championships. It would be absolutely disrespectful to name any other coach better than him in the playoffs. This year, many people thought the Patriots were as vulnerable as they would ever be. However, the pressure did not get to them in the Divisional Round. Belichick seemingly had a perfect game-plan that got the Patriots to a 35-7 lead at the half over the Chargers. New England never looked back.
Brady signaling during playoff game against Chargers (Image from Bleacher Report)
On the other hand, Brady is the greatest quarterback of all time. He is arguably the most clutch quarterback of all time. (This is arguable only because of a couple other legends like Joe Montana). However, this year he has simply not looked like his former self. Brees and Mahomes have been extraordinary, and deserve to be ranked ahead of him. But still, we should obviously never count Brady out; he is still Tom Brady.
Belichick and Brady have the same coach and quarterback points than the next group, but no one would argue against them being the top duo. Belichick and Brady have to be number one; They are greater than the sum of their [current] parts.
Brees and Payton (Image by AP Photo/Bill Haber)
Sean Payton is an extremely aggressive playoff coach. He called a fake punt at his own 30-yard line against the Eagles; famously, he called an onside kick immediately after halftime in Super Bowl XLIV. He may not be necessary as great at the Xs and Os as Andy Reid, but he has proven in playoff games that he can make the right calls in key situations, even at the end of games. Payton has a Super Bowl win to back him up and has the guts to make decisions that can win the game.
Drew Brees is one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history. Playoff-wise, he has the third highest passer rating of all time, behind only Bart Starr and Kurt Warner (two Hall of Famers). Tom Brady certainly has the greater postseason legacy because he has been part of so many wins and championships. However, Brady started to fall off from his former self this year. He was great in the Chargers game, but there was no pressure on him and his receivers were wide open. On the other hand, now-40-year-old Brees was spectacular this regular season with 32 touchdowns and only five interceptions. Last week, he connected for first-downs on third and long a countless number of times; this includes third and 16, third and 13, and third and 10 on key possessions. Brees is proven in the playoffs and has been great this season.
Andy Reid is a terrific coach during the regular season. He is even a great coach in playoff games -until the game comes down to crunch time. For some reason, Reid has been consistently bad at clock management in playoff games; either he doesn’t call the right plays to keep the ball on offense and close the game, or his team goes very slow trying to make a comeback. Examples of these are the 2004 Super Bowl, when the offense took way too much time off the clock when down two possessions in the fourth quarter, and last year’s playoff game against the Titans. No matter the reason, he has proven himself as unreliable in playoff late-game situations. For that reason, he is the third best coach remaining.
Mahomes is third simply because he is young and this is his second ever playoff game. The Chiefs quarterback was absolutely incredible this season with 50 touchdowns and 5,000 passing yards. However, he simply does not have the playoff credibility that Brady and Brees do. Mahomes has an opportunity to prove himself against the Patriots; because he was clutch in the regular season, there is no reason to doubt him. The plays he makes are ones that very few in the NFL can make. This duo is ranked third but this weekend, they are also the ones with the highest ceiling.
Sean McVay (Image by LA Times)
Naturally, the most inexperienced coach and quarterback combo is ranked last. While all of the other head coaches have participated in double-digit playoff games, this will be McVay’s third game. He is a wonderful offensive mind and gets the most out of Goff. But not only do the other three coaches have a lot more on their resume, but they also are probably better pure coaches at this point in their careers. Nothing against McVay, but he has a long way to go before catching up to Reid, Payton and certainly Belichick.
Rams’ quarterback Jared Goff was on the MVP candidacy fence for the first 10 games of the season. But over the last month and half, he has made surprising mistakes. Goff is the quarterback that has the most to prove by far; he is not a proven element in the playoffs and is not nearly as talented as Patrick Mahomes. In his two career playoff games, he has had passer ratings of 74.4 and 77.9. Goff needs to perform at a much higher level for the Rams to win on Sunday.
Nothing against Sean McVay and Jared Goff, but they have a lot to prove before joining the top three coach and quarterback duos’ level. That can start this week against the New Orleans Saints.
Featured image by Associated Press
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