This past weekend, we saw some incredible performances in the Divisional Round of the NFL Playoffs. There is no shortage of stellar performances to call out from the Cincinnati Bengals. Joe Burrows picked apart the battered Buffalo Bills’ secondary. The offensive line looked impressive despite starting three backups. The defense was on fire and shut down an offense ripe with explosive playmakers.
Patrick Mahomes competed admirably on one leg. Chad Henne
came in for an electrifying 98-yard touchdown drive. Isiah Pacheco had what
should be a breakout performance, yet again. Though Mahomes’ play and injury
overshadows Pacheco’s brilliance.
The Philadelphia Eagles looked every bit of a first-place
team. They dominated the ground game with 268 rushing yards, 41 yards more on
the ground than the New York Giants gained in total. The defense had five sacks
and an interception. They had big plays on offense from Jalen Hurts, Dallas
Goedert, DeVonta Smith, Boston Scott, Kenneth Gainwell, and Miles Sanders,
among others. They had great offensive line play, too.
The San Francisco 49ers were not as impressive as an overall
team as some others mentioned, but their defense showed why they are as vaunted
as they are. While getting only one sack and two interceptions, they also
allowed only the Cowboys to convert 33% of their 3rd downs, blocked
a PAT, and allowed only 12 points. The defense showed why they were the best
team in 2022 in terms of points, yards and turnover-to-giveaway ratio
(obviously aided there by an offense that didn’t turn it over too much).
But it’s these last three games that most illustrate an
important point that was proven in several ways throughout the 2022 season.
That point is simple: coaching matters.
Let’s start with the Cowboys. For the second straight year,
their season came to an end with a befuddling at best play call in the last
moments of a divisional round playoff game against the 49ers. Yes, the
likelihood of a touchdown on the play was slim at best, but the call and
execution baffles the mind. It starts with the decision to punt on their
second-to-last drive and the seeming lack of urgency of the offense to get off
the field. While Eli Mitchell of the 49ers gave the Cowboys the chance to get
the ball back by not staying in bounds on a run, the rookie has some leeway as
a rookie.
Dalton Schultz has played 75 games over five seasons. He
shoulders some responsibility for not knowing that you have to be going forward
when you go out of bounds after contact for the clock to stop. He shoulders
some responsibility for getting his feet down on a catch while going out of
bounds. But both errors feel like they ultimately fall on head coach Mike
McCarthy. Which does seem unfair to hold offensive coordinator Kellen Moore
blameless, but such it is that the head coach takes the brunt. Why McCarthy,
though?
McCarthy has been a head coach for all but 20 regular season
games over the last 17 seasons (McCarthy was fired by the Green Bay Packers
with four games remaining in 2018 and did not coach in 2019). That’s 254
regular season games under his belt. He coached the Packers to a Super Bowl win
over the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2010 season. He has the track record, on
paper, to be a top tier coach in the league. Yet, it seems the Cowboys’ players
lack in discipline and situational awareness.
Then, there’s the play calls. Their 2021 season ended with a
QB draw by Dak Prescott with just enough time on the clock for the Cowboys to
not have time to spike it or run another play. Then there’s the final play of
the 2022 season: a weird formation that saw highly-paid RB Ezekiel Elliott line
up at center, and a ball thrown a little high to KaVontae Turpin who was
tackled before his feet could even touch the ground. It’s hard to create a
series of laterals when a) your RB is the only blocker and gets flattened and
b) your QB throws high. It was a longshot that they would score. But the lack
of urgency in conserving time when they decided to punt, the two bad plays by
Schultz, and the final play call with lackluster execution all lead back to the
head coach. It’s not the only reason that the Cowboys lost another divisional
round playoff game, but it’s definitely a reason. Better coaching, not just on
gameday, but throughout the season and the week, may have turned the tide for a
Cowboys team that boasted a plethora of offensive weapons and a top-tier
defense.
But coaching wasn’t all bad, either. Let’s look at some
statistics over the last two years:
Quarterback A - 2021
Record: 4-7
Completion Percentage: 64.3%
Passing Touchdowns: 10
Interceptions: 7
Yards: 2428
QBR: 41.5
Quarterback B - 2021
Record: 3-14
Completion Percentage: 59.6%
Passing Touchdowns: 12
Interceptions: 17
Yards: 3641
QBR: 33.5
Quarterback A - 2022
Record: 9-6-1
Completion Percentage: 67.2%
Passing Touchdowns: 15
Interceptions: 5
Yards: 3205
QBR: 60.8
Quarterback A - 2022
Record: 9-8
Completion Percentage: 66.3%
Passing Touchdowns: 25
Interceptions: 8
Yards: 4113
QBR: 54.7
If you haven’t guessed, Quarterback A is Daniel Jones of the
New York Giants and Quarterback B is Trevor Lawrence of the Jacksonville
Jaguars. While neither put up numbers in 2022 that would put them in the MVP
conversation, both made notable improvements to their respective games. A
common factor for each in 2022? A new head coach.
Last offseason, the Giants tabbed former Bills offensive
coordinator Brian Daboll to take his first swing at the head coach role while
the Jaguars turned to former Eagles coach and Super Bowl winner Doug Pederson to
right the ship after a disastrous 2021 season. Both coaches, in my opinion,
should be the two names at the top of the list for coach of the year, with all
due respect to every other coach in the league.
Pederson seemed to settle Lawrence after a shaky rookie
campaign under Urban Meyer (for most of the season at least). The front office
had the first pick in the draft for the second straight year and spent money in
free agency bringing in weapons for Lawrence. The Giants didn’t have the same
draft capital or cap room that the Jaguars did.
For the record, this is a huge factor in why my 2022 NFL
Coach of the Year is Brian Daboll. He was a rookie head coach that helped
turned around a middling Giants team that didn’t really do much in the
offseason in terms of splashy trades or signings. But that is beside the point.
The point is that each coach helped turn around franchises
and young quarterbacks, especially. Entering the 2022 season, many wondered if
Daniel Jones had a future with the Giants. While he did not have a season where
he became undeniable, he did a lot under Daboll to be considered. When Lawrence
was drafter number one overall in the 2021 draft, he was as much of a “can’t
miss” as there maybe ever has been. However, the rookie season and disaster
that was the Urban Meyer experiment left many wondering if the young
quarterback could bounce back. Daboll and Pederson deserve immense credit, as
due their respective coaching staffs, for turning around their young
quarterbacks. Both teams can begin their offseason disappointed in their
divisional round losses, sure, but also optimistic for 2023.
Each year, 31 NFL franchises must adopt the mantra of “next
year will be our year.” Only one gets to be Super Bowl Champion. Of the 14
teams that made the 2022 playoffs, it’s hard to imagine anyone, before the
season, predicted the Giants and Jaguars to be among them. Save for the most
Pollyanna of diehard fans. It’s never fun to lose, but the Giants and Jaguars
should take pride in knowing that most fans and pundits, if not all, expected
them to lose a lot more than they did. They can get better, and their coaches proved
that this season.
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