from Barnwell’s 2017 NFL awards
http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/page/Barnwellx180101/2017-nfl-regular-season-awards-picks-mvp-offensive-defensive-players-year-best-rookies-coaches
Coach of the Year
After Week 4: Andy Reid, Kansas City Chiefs
After Week 9: Doug Pederson, Philadelphia Eagles
Reid dropped out of the picture when his Chiefs pulled the rare Meadowlands sweep in losing to both the Giants and Jets in New Jersey. Pederson’s a top candidate, although some steam has come off his case after Carson Wentz tore his ACL. The Eagles have gone 2-1 over the three ensuing games, but that included narrow victories over the Giants and Raiders and a loss to the Cowboys with Nate Sudfeld at quarterback.
I would ride for Bill Belichick, although he never garners serious consideration for an award despite the fact that we all think he’s the best coach in football. The Patriots finished with the league’s best record despite losing Julian Edelman before the season. Their defense coalesced after a horrible start and continued to improve throughout the season. New England rolled on and even thoughtfully developed a franchise quarterback for the 49ers along the way.
It seems like Sean McVay is the consensus favorite to win this award, though, and I can’t make a strong argument against that. Maybe you give Wade Phillips some of the credit for helping take the Rams’ defense to the next level, but what McVay has done is unprecedented. Scott Van Pelt pointed out on SportsCenter that the 2017 Rams are the first team in modern league history to go from last in scoring offense to first, and they did it while essentially taking Week 17 off to rest.
McVay accomplished this without changing his quarterback or adding a running back. He did bring in a new left tackle in Andrew Whitworth and acquired a trio of new receivers, but the two most impactful wideouts were a third-round pick (Cooper Kupp) and a block-first wideout who was an anonymous starter for the Bills (Robert Woods). We’re probably too quick to praise turnarounds as opposed to steady success — look at how quickly Jack Del Rio went from franchise savior to unemployed in Oakland — but few turnarounds have ever been more significant than what McVay has pulled off in Los Angeles.
Winner: Sean McVay, Los Angeles Rams
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