We're now mere days away from the 2024 NFL playoffs. The staff here at CBSSports.com has been covering things from every possible angle throughout this week, and we'll continue to do so over the next month. But in addition to the players and the matchups and the spreads and the props and everything else, something that will have a dramatic effect on who eventually ends up hoisting the Lombardi Trophy in early February is coaching.
So with that in mind, we are here once again to rank all 14 playoff coaching staffs -- head coach, and offensive and defensive coordinator (or play caller, or top assistant). As with the rankings from each of the last three years, there are a few things worth noting before we dive in:
- I came up with my own rankings to start things off, then ran them by the CBSSports.com staff over the past several days and weighed their input. That process is how we came up with rankings that are both tiered and numbered.
- The tiers themselves should be considered rigid, while the rankings within them are fluid. That means if you wanted to slot one Tier 2 team ahead of another, there would be very little argument, as we are basically splitting hairs. But if you tried to move a Tier 4 team ahead of one of the teams in Tier 1 or 2, that would draw more forceful pushback.
- What you see below is my analysis of why the teams ended up in the tiers they did, and the strengths and weaknesses of the coaches that factored into them.
Tier 5: Are we sure they know what they're doing?
14. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: HC Todd Bowles, OC Dave Canales, DC Larry Foote/Kacy Rodgers
13. Philadelphia Eagles: HC Nick Sirianni, OC Brian Johnson, DC (allegedly) Matt Patricia
This is a steep fall for the Eagles, who seemed to collapse in multiple ways this year, at least in part due to their coordinator changes. Johnson was unable to channel the same things offensively as his predecessor, Shane Steichen, and the defense was so bad that the team elevated Patricia over Sean Desai, only for said defense to get even worse.
Canales did a good job with Tampa's offense this year after coming over from Seattle. He got better play out of Baker Mayfield than we have seen in quite some time. But Bowles is one of the most conservative coaches in the NFL, and his defense was intensely flammable throughout the season.
Tier 4: One thing holding them back
12. Pittsburgh Steelers: HC Mike Tomlin, OC Eddie Faulkner, DC Teryl Austin
11. Green Bay Packers: HC Matt LaFleur, OC Adam Stenavich, DC Joe Barry
It feels ... wrong to have teams led by Tomlin and LaFleur ranked this low. The Steelers somehow being 10-7 this season feels like a Tomlin miracle, and what LaFleur was able to get out of the youngest offense in the NFL was nothing short of spectacular work. But these aren't head coach rankings; they are coaching staff rankings, and what the Steelers have on offense and the Packers have on defense is so bad that it almost negates everything else.
That neither of these teams made changes at those spots last offseason was pretty wild. Pittsburgh's offense almost undermined its entire season, to the point that they had to fire Matt Canada mid-year. (And things just barely got better after that.) And Barry's defense is only two weeks removed from giving up 33 points to the Panthers, who then did not score a single point in their final two games. That's how bad things are on that side of the ball.
Tier 3: Good, but ...
10. Buffalo Bills: HC Sean McDermott, OC Joe Brady, AHC/DL Eric Washington/Pass Game Coordinator/DB John Butler
9. Houston Texans: HC DeMeco Ryans, OC Bobby Slowik, DC Kevin Burke
8. Dallas Cowboys: HC Mike McCarthy, OC Brian Schottenheimer, DC Dan Quinn
The job that McDermott and Co. did turning around the defense in the second half of the season was pretty remarkable. Brady has gotten a ton of credit for doing the same with the offense, but the offensive results don't actually track with the narrative. (The Bills have been about as good under Brady as they were under Ken Dorsey. The team just had a better record in one-score games thanks to the defensive improvement.) McDermott has also shown some less-than-ideal game management tendencies at times, so we couldn't move Buffalo into the next group.
The Texans are a staff that could easily be moving up much higher the next time they're in the playoffs. As one-year turnarounds go, the one this team pulled off was about as good as I can remember. Ryans and Slowik put guys in position to succeed, and have done so consistently since their arrival. We just haven't seen them do it in a playoff setting in these specific roles just yet.
Ah, the Cowboys. McCarthy, like Brady, got a lot of credit for turning Dallas' offense around midseason. Not mentioned as much is that he had to turn it around because the plan he came into the year with failed so spectacularly early on. And we have seen in several games this season that his game management is still a massive issue (vs. Chargers, Seahawks, Dolphins, Lions.) Quinn is arguably football's best defensive coordinator, but his defense has also had some games where it just hasn't shown up at all.
Tier 2: Straight-up well-coached football teams
7. Cleveland Browns: HC Kevin Stefanski, OC Alex Van Pelt, DC Jim Schwartz
6. Detroit Lions: HC Dan Campbell, OC Ben Johnson, DC Aaron Glenn
5. Miami Dolphins: HC Mike McDaniel, OC Frank Smith, DC Vin Fangio
4. Los Angeles Rams: HC Sean McVay, OC Mike LaFleur, DC Raheem Morris
Again, it feels wrong to have some of these coaching staffs as low as they are. The Browns even being in the playoffs seems insane given the injuries they dealt with throughout the year. Stefanski pivoting the offense in a totally different direction amid offensive line injuries after signing Joe Flacco was amazing work. Schwartz getting so much more out of the defensive talent on hand than his predecessors did was as well. It's just ... not every staff can be in the top five. There has to be a group that lands at No. 7. But as the intro said, if you wanted to scramble the order within tiers, you wouldn't receive much pushback here.
Campbell's aggressiveness bleeds into every aspect of his team's personality. (Sometimes to a fault. Don't go for two from the 7-yard line, Dan.) And Johnson has designed one of the best offenses in the NFL. Glenn's defense took steps backward over the second half of the year, but offense matters more and Detroit's combination of scheme and aggression is one of the best in the league.
McDaniel is able to generate open space better than pretty much anybody in the league. There's a reason half the teams in football stole his motion and concepts during the season. The guy knows what he's doing. And once the defense got healthy, Fangio had them playing at as high a level as any group in the NFL over the second half of the year. The Dolphins are now decimated by injury, but they're arguably the league's most innovative staff right now, and that matters.
Oh yeah, the Rams are BACK back. McVay has almost completely overhauled his offense's style from where it was during the Jared Goff years, better matching the scheme to fit his personnel. All they need is Matthew Stafford, an offensive line that doesn't self-combust and a couple healthy skill guys to move the ball with relative ease. And what Raheem Morris did with one of the league's youngest defenses around Aaron Donald was wildly impressive.
Tier 1: The Elite
3. San Francisco 49ers: HC Kyle Shanahan, Run-game Coordinator Chris Foerster, DC Steve Wilks
2. Kansas City Chiefs: HC Andy Reid, OC Matt Nagy, DC Steve Spagnuolo
1. Baltimore Ravens: HC John Harbaugh, OC Todd Monken, DC Mike Macdonald
These groups are pretty much unimpeachable at this point.
Shanahan is the NFL's best play caller and offensive designer. There's a reason that every team in the league is trying to borrow from him, and why his offense essentially operates as a Death Star when it has all the important pieces healthy and on the field. Foerster is next in a long line of top assistants who will probably eventually get his own opportunity. Wilks has done different things with the defense than his predecessor, Ryans, but the Niners have rounded into the exact type of group their talent suggests they should be.
If you want to doubt Andy Reid, you do so at your own peril. And Spagnuolo's defense this year is by far the best it's been since he arrived in Kansas City. His ability to build bespoke game plans in playoff matchups is second to none, and it's part of the reason he has been able to get better results in the postseason pretty consistently since he's been with the Chiefs.
Baltimore has remade its staff over the past two years, and could not possibly have done a better job. Harbaugh's willingness to pivot strategies and styles to maximize his roster is his greatest skill, and hiring Macdonald and then Monken to lead each side of the ball were masterful strokes. Combined with his willingness to press the advantages Lamar Jackson creates, those decisions and the results they've yielded make the Ravens the top staff in the playoffs.
