The best five coaches in the NFC after the first quarter of the season.

The best five coaches in the NFC after the first quarter of the season.

Jim Harbaugh - San Francisco 49ers
Jim Schwartz - Detroit Lions
Mike McCarthy - Green Bay Packers
Sean Payton New Orleans Siants
Mike Shanahan - Washington Redskins

It's has aways been said a coach need's a quarter of an NFL season to gage what kind of team he might have any given season. I think this particular season with what coaches had to overcome due to the lockout, fans around the NFL are finding out what kind of coach they have leading their teams thur the first quarter of this season. Above I've listed my top 5 coaches in the NFC who took advantage of the short window they had because of the work stoppage, and did an outstanding job of preparing their team's to start a very difficult season of NFL football.

( 1 )
Number one on my list is San Francisco's Jim Harbaugh who took over a 49ers team that finish the 2010 season's with a 6&10 record and going nowhere fast. A gapping hole at quarterback because up to this point their first's overall draft pick of the 2005 draft pick Alex Smith had done nothing to show he belonged in the NFL let alonethe number one pick in any draft. Harbaugh has brought a take no pioneers approach he learn from his super bowl winning coach Mike Ditka of the Chicago Bears. The 49ers have a toughness about them on both side of the ball and Harbaugh has found a way to reach his starting QB unlike coaches before him. If not for a questionable decision in the Dallas Cowboys game the 49ers might be one of three undefeated teams, however he's still number one on my list.

( 2 ) would have been easy putting Detroit Lions coach Jim Schwartz at the top of my list, however unlike Harbaugh his Lion's team was on everyone's radar as being a team to keep an eye on coming into the 2011 season. The Lions have started this season by winning their first 5 games and being one of only two teams who have yet to tasted a loss this season, which put him second on my list. The Lions enter this season with the key parts to fielded a playoff team. But with quarterback Matthew Stafford only having 13 starts in his first two seasons in the league, no one new if he could stand up to the pressure he would be under. Schwartz's has done a great job in the early stages of this season of instilling a winning attitude in his young team, and the believe's that anything is possible.

( 3 )Number three on the list is not a surprise it's coach Mike McCarthy of the super bowl champion Green Bay Packers. The hardest part of being a - champ is that most people expect you to do it again. So if you don't start the next season with a bang, the only place you can go is down. Coach McCarthy has shown Packers fans he has the pulse of his team. With all the questions he fielded during the lockout about if by his team not having team workouts, might it hurt his team's chances to repeat. Mike McCarthy not only let the media know but also Packers fan that he knew his team's was taking care of business during the lockout and when the season started they would be ready to defend their title. The Packers have taken up where they left off last season, by winning their first 5 games played, so far so good no super bowl hangover for this super bowl team.

( 4 )
New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton come's in atnumber 4, and if not for the close lost to the defending super bowl champ's Packers he would be first on my list. Of all the coaches on my list, the job Payton has done to get his team off to a 4&1 start this season is probably the most remarkable. Without the ability to have contact with his players ( due to the lockout ) and no real way of knowing what affect the lost to the 7&9 Seattle Seahawks in the first round of the playoff's would have on his team, Payton had to be a little worry about his team's mind set going into this coming season. The one ace in a hole coach Payton had going for his-self was knowing his team leader and hall of frame QB Drew Brees was not going to let his teammates forget how their season ended. Brees using money out of his own pocket, got his team together and ran his own team workouts. If there was ever a team the needed this time together before the lockout ended it was the Saints. Payton has parlayed his QB's hard work with his own great coaching into an almost perfect start to the season and a big chance at dethroning Green Bay as super bowl champ's.

( 5 )
Rounding out my top 5 is coach Mike Shanahan of theWashington Redskins who has proven his handling of the Donavan McNabb situation was right and all us football know it all's were wrong. Shanahan also gave further credence to Eagles coach Andy Reid ( poor Andy needs badly to be right about something ) that McNabb has lost the ability to play quarterback in the NFL. Shanahan and owner Dan Snider own up to their's mistakes of last season and cut ties with the dead weight they carry on the team by saying goodbye to millions of dollars and parting ways with McNabb and the out of shape, I don't want to play the 3/4 defense Albert Haynesworth. In doing that Mike sent a massage to his team that he had the backing of his owner, so it was his way or the highway. Now with a strong defense and running game and also a quarterback who can run his system on offense. The Redskins are out to a 3&1 record and leading the dream team Eagles and the rest of the NFC east.

Although we are only a quarter of the way into this NFL season, theses five NFC coaches have been far and away the best at doing their jobs.

Brought to by: AJ Jones from Cambridge
"Let's Talk Football" Visit- www.ajstakeontheNFL.blogspot.com

Has Andy Reid tied his-self to the right guy?

Has Andy Reid tied his-self to the right guy?
( Is Mike Vick a Super Bowl QB? )

The Minnesota Vikings did it, the Washington Redskins did it, and now Andy Reid and the Philadelphia Eagles are doing it. It cost Brad Childress his job, it cost Mike Shanahan a ton of respect, and now it has put Eagle's coach Andy Reid in the unenvious position of having a very big part of his coaching legacy tied to a quarterback choice. Brad Childress tied his-self to two time Super Bowl quarterback Brett Favre. The Vikings got one year of production out of Brett ( just missed going to a Super Bowl ) then went to the well one to many times with Brett and Childress go's down with his quarterback.

You might think Mike Shanahan would get a pass ( because of his two Super Bowl wins with John Elway ) but I say not so fast. Shanahan was in a prime position to veto a trade for Donavan Mcnabb, but signed off on the trade and tied his-self to Mcnabb. The 2010 season turn out to be a total nightmare for not only the Redskins, but maybe one of the most embarrassing moments in Mcnabb's great football career. His coach not only called him lazy, but also dumb. One would think before this trade would be made coach and his quarterback should have sat down and talk about the offense his new QB was going to run. And if this was all Owner Dan Syner's idea to bring in Mcnabb, than Mike Shanahan is not as smart as people think he is.

Now in my opinion Eagles coach Andy Reid has the biggest and brightest spotlight on him in this coach-quarterback situation, because of the way it came to be. I mention the Redskins in this blog because it was Andy Reid who traded Mcnabb to Washington to make room for his quarterback of the future Kevin Kolb. After trading Mcnabb coach Reid came out and all but gave the starting quarterback job to Klob knowing he had Mike Vick on his roster. There was no talk of a battle at the QB position to see who the starting quarterback would be. Andy Reid tied his-self to Kevin Klob though-out the hold off season and training camp and even the preseason football games. Now bad things happen to good guys, for Kevin Klobit was the Green Bay Packers. One hit by Packer's pro bowl linebacker Clay Matthew turn a dream of being a starting QB in the NFL for Klob, into a season of you've got to be kidding me for the young QB.

I want to state Mike Vick did nothing wrong, he was the right guy in the right place. He work his tail off to get back into the NFL and with the help of former Indianapolis Colts head coach Tony Dungy show Rodger Goodell and the Eagles he indeed had reformed himself and deserved another opportunity to play in the NFL. Mike Vick had a great season in 2010 ( made the pro bowl ) but this is about a coach tiring his-self to the right quarterback for his team. I'm not in Andy Reid head, but you have to wonder how a guy go's from being his QB of the future to trade bait that a minimum of 5 teams in the league wants as their guy. I can't figure out how a team can invest a second round draft pick for a pretty highly touted college QB, groom him for three years give him the keys to the car and than take them away after one game.

Coach Andy Reid has put his-self in a tough position, this quarterback-coach situation has to have a happy ending. Because with the immanence departure of Kevin Klob and his tie-ing his-self to Mike Vick this has to work. If Kevin Klob take his new team to the NFC playoffs or may I say to many playoff games over the next few seasons; the Reid-Vick combination needs to have at least one or two real shots at going to the Super Bowl in order to keep Eagles fans who already think Reid been there to long happy. Or Andy Reid will go down with a long list of coaches who tried theirselves to the wrong guy.

Brought to by: AJ Jones from Cambridge
"Let's Talk Football" Visit- www.ajstakeontheNFL.blogspot.com