Week 16 of the NFL season is in the books—and we have another interim head coach finding his way into the action. Let’s take a look around the NFL landscape and see how the dust has settled after the Brandon Staley firing and stack rank every team’s head coach.
32. Washington Commanders Ron Rivera (Last Week #31)
At this point, it seems clear that the only thing keeping Ron Rivera employed in Washington is a handshake deal with ownership that he was going to hold down the fort while they labor through the remainder of this lost season.
31. Arizona Cardinals Jonathan Gannon (Last Week #26)
If Jonathan Gannon’s orders from ownership were to tank, he’s doing a great job. Otherwise, it has been a tough stretch for the Cardinals first-year coach, as this team has floundered for the better part of the season.
30. New Orleans Saints Dennis Allen (Last Week #23)
It was another tough week for Dennis Allen and the Saints. New Orleans fell under .500 and Allen was clearly out dueled by Sean McVay.
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29. Tennessee Titans Mike Vrabel (Last Week #24)
Once again, the veteran head coach did a good job of getting his struggling Titans team to fight out there, unfortunately, the Seahawks were too much to manage as they came back to beat Tennessee with a 14-point fourth quarter.
28. Carolina Panthers Chris Tabor (Last Week #29)
Chris Tabor has to be a happy camper having gotten a solid performance out of his team in what has otherwise been a lost season. It might be a little early to call him a quarterback whisperer… even tongue-in-cheek, but credit to him for an offensive game plan that got Bryce Young over 300 yards for the game.
27. New York Jets Robert Saleh (Last Week #27)
Just when it was looking like Robert Saleh might be on the hot seat, the Jets head coach managed to pull a win out of his hat. That said, we would have liked to see him keep the foot on the gas a bit longer, as New York almost blew a huge lead at home against Washington.
26. Atlanta Falcons Arthur Smith (Last Week #30)
Arthur Smith may have saved his job with the performance he put out there in Week 16. The Falcons came out ready to play for him, though, the question does remain why he waited this long to integrate Taylor Heinicke and Bijan Robinson into the offense.
25. New England Patriots Bill Belichick (Last Week #28)
His future in New England may be uncertain with the way this season—and, frankly, the last couple has gone, but credit to Bill Belichick for playing spoiler in Week 16. That one had to feel good, especially against a peer that he respects like Sean Payton.
24. New York Giants Brian Daboll (Last Week #25)
Say what you will about the Giants 2023 season, but this team has not quit on Brian Daboll. They fought hard for all 60 minutes against Philly this week and nearly stole the game out from under them.
23. Los Angeles Chargers Giff Smith (Last Week N/A)
Credit to Giff Smith, the Chargers interim head coach made the most out of his opportunity, by proving that he could get the team fired up and playing for him—even in a lost season.
22. Jacksonville Jaguars Doug Pederson (Last Week #18)
After emerging as an early Coach of the Year candidate, the train has completely come off the tracks for Doug Pederson. The veteran head coach has lost control of his team and they got embarrassed in a near must-win at the hands of the Buccaneers this week.
21. Pittsburgh Steelers Mike Tomlin (Last Week #22)
There is the Mike Tomlin we have all been waiting to see! The Steelers head coach absolutely delivered, by getting his team up to play in a dire straits, must-win against the Bengals.
What made the performance even more impressive was the efficiency he got out of Mason Rudolph, who hadn’t started a game in two years.
20. Chicago Bears Matt Eberflus (Last Week #21)
It is starting to seem like Matt Eberflus might be building something in Chicago… Or at least he is creating the illusion of that being the case, as his young Bears team has been much improved over the past couple of weeks.
19. Green Bay Packers Matt LaFleur (Last Week #20)
Matt LaFleur did well to get his team back on track this, albeit against an admittedly terrible Panthers team. He does, however, need to find a way to get a more consistent performance out of his team because they did nearly let Carolina steal the game at the end of the fourth quarter.
18. Indianapolis Colts Shane Steichen (Last Week #12)
Shane Steichen has done a great job with this young Colts team all year—there is no denying that… But Week 16 wasn’t it. The team came out flat and made a number of critical errors that resulted in a gutting loss.
17. Dallas Cowboys Mike McCarthy (Last Week #11)
It has not been a good last couple of weeks for the Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy, as all of the fraud allegations against his team have rung true, as they continue to falter against better competition.
16. Minnesota Vikings Kevin O'Connell (Last Week #17)
Kevin O’Connell has done a heck of a job keeping the Vikings in playoff contention this year, but the turmoil at the quarterback position proved to be too much, as his team ran out of steam on its fourth starter of the year.
15. Buffalo Bills Sean McDermott (Last Week #13)
Week 16 wasn’t the best for Sean McDermott, as his Bills looked a little out of sorts—and displayed poor game awareness down the stretch, as they continued to go out of bounds, nearly giving the Chargers a chance to get back in the game.
At least they were able to get the win and keep their playoff hopes alive.
14. Seattle Seahawks Pete Carroll (Last Week #19)
Pete Carroll seems to be working his voodoo once again. He has the Seahawks firmly in the hunt despite their questionable roster. It would be good to see him key in on the running game more over these next couple of weeks, as this team looks different when Kenneth Walker is leading the way.
13. Las Vegas Raiders Antonio Pierce (Last Week #15)
It is Week 16 and Antonio Pierce has secured another huge win as interim head coach, moving the Raiders to an overall record of 7 and 8. The team has looked incredibly scrappy since he took over for Josh McDaniels and at this point, there is a real chance that he is next in line for the HC job in 2024.
12. Denver Broncos Sean Payton (Last Week #14)
Sean Payton’s Broncos failed to answer the bell yet again this week, as Denver came up short in an absolute must-win at home against the lowly Patriots. It is tough to point fingers anywhere else, but at the head coach in this one.
11. Houston Texans DeMeco Ryans (Last Week #9)
DeMeco Ryans has undoubtedly been one of the best coaches in the league all season, but it looks like he has run out of magic with the injury to his starting quarterback, C.J. Stroud.
10. Tampa Bay Buccaneers Todd Bowles (Last Week #16)
As much as Todd Bowles has taken flack this year for his, shall we say, laissez-faire attitude on the sidelines, the Buccaneers head coach has to be given some credit, as the team has really come on strong in the second half of the season.
9. Cincinnati Bengals Zac Taylor (Last Week #4)
It is hard to drop Zac Taylor too much with the job that he has done this year keeping the Bengals season alive after the Joe Burrow injury, but this was not his best week. Cinci came out extremely flat on Saturday in what would’ve been a big game to win.
8. Kansas City Chiefs Andy Reid (Last Week #5)
Andy Reid and his staff was not at the top of their game this week, at least not to their Super Bowl winning standards. They lost to the middle-of-the-road Raiders and need to find a way to clean up the gameplan and execution if they want to repeat for the Lombardi.
7. Cleveland Browns Kevin Stefanski (Last Week #10)
Week 16 was another master piece from Kevin Stefanski, as the Browns head coach had the team firing on all cylinders against the Texans.
6. San Francisco 49ers Kyle Shanahan (Last Week #1)
Things did not go well for Kyle Shanahan this week—that is plain as the eye can see. But he is still among the top coaches in the league and there is little to no reason to doubt that his team will rise to the occasion next week—or in the subsequent playoff run.
5. Philadelphia Eagles Nick Sirianni (Last Week #7)
While you’d have liked to see the Eagles fully put away the lowly Giants this week, they did find a way to secure the win and they did so against a New York team that was fighting tooth and nail all game long. Sirianni did a good job of shifting back and for from explosive play calling to hardmouthed runs the entire contest.
4. Detroit Lions Dan Campbell (Last Week #8)
Dan Campbell may not be a perfect coach, but he has given this Lions team an identity and furthermore, he led Detroit to its first NFC North title in 30 years, so it is hard to knock the guy—even if you wanted to!
3. Miami Dolphins Mike McDaniel (Last Week #6)
Mike McDaniel outcoached his elder, fellow head coaching Mike… McCarthy this week by a significant margin. Miami was flying all over the field on defense and the offense did well to capitalize on the weaknesses in the Dallas D.
2. Los Angeles Rams Sean McVay (Last Week #3)
Sean McVay, like his veteran quarterback, is back at the top of his game. Everything the offensive guru draws up is firing on all cylinders and has the Rams right back in contention.
1. Baltimore Ravens John Harbaugh (Last Week #2)
What a showing for John Harbaugh this week as he out dueled Kyle Shanahan on national television. The Ravens looked extremely prepared on Monday Night and executed at the highest level.
