Monday’s question: Which NFL coach achieved the most with his talent this season?
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Reporters from around the Tribune family tackle the question of the day, then you get a chance to chime in and tell them why they are wrong.
Sam Farmer, Los Angeles Times
I certainly wouldn’t have written this through the first five games of the season, when the Chargers were 2-3, but Norv Turner has done this season’s best coaching job to this point. To lose the anchors of your offensive and defensive lines for most of the season – Pro Bowl center Nick Hardwick and All-Pro defensive tackle Jamal Williams – and still tear off a club-record 11-game winning streak is phenomenal. The Chargers have a lot of talent, true, but many of those were no-name players developed in San Diego’s system. You have to be doing something right to win 18 consecutive games in December, beat the red-hot Cowboys in Dallas, blow out Vince Young and the Titans in Tennessee… The true test, of course, is getting the job done when it counts most. For that, we’ll see. Ken Murray, Baltimore Sun
Until the Broncos took their dreadful nose-dive in the second half of the season, you could have made a case for Josh McDaniels. He traded Jay Cutler, won the staredown with Brandon Marshall and started the year 6-0. Everything after that, though, was a disaster.
No, the only guy who can claim this title is Marvin Lewis, who continues to pull surprises out of his hat in Cincinnati, albeit not always good ones. Lewis lifted up his bedraggled franchise again this season, playing through injuries (see Antwan Odom), bad luck (see the opener against Denver) and worst of all, tragedy (see Chris Henry).
Lewis resuscitated the career of Cedric Benson, finally delivered a defense that scared somebody, and turned a Carson Palmer team into a run-first team. He swept the AFC North decisively to earn his second division title in six years. Every other coach that won his division had superior talent, not that the Bengals are devoid. But they carry a lot of baggage.