Fourteen NFL teams are competing for the title of Super Bowl LVIII starting today. During the regular season, the best teams on the pitch are represented by seven AFC teams and seven NFC teams.
Just two playoff teams have head coaches making their first-ever postseason appearances: Dan Campbell of the Detroit Lions and DeMeco Ryans of the Houston Texans, who is in his first season as the AFC head coach. The coaches of the other 12 teams have at least one postseason appearance under their belts.
But who are the best NFL playoff coaches? Before the wild card weekend games, this is how they stack up against one another:
The Chiefs are not among the top two seeds in the AFC this postseason, a first since the 2017–18 playoffs. That implies that this season, Super Bowls notwithstanding, quarterback Patrick Mahomes, the two-time MVP, may participate in his first-ever away playoff game. However, Reid’s four years of postseason success are unmatched by any coach. Three Super Bowl appearances, two titles, and a 10-2 postseason record over that era. In Reid’s eleven years in Kansas City, the 2023 Chiefs offence ranks as the second-lowest scoring unit. Reid, though, is a coach who knows how to game up a postseason victory.
Thanks to a significantly stronger offence, McVay and the Rams are back in the postseason after a weak year in 2022 following their Super Bowl victory. Following the Rams’ Week 10 bye, quarterback Matthew Stafford and company amassed nearly 400 yards each game, propelling them to a 10-7 victory. Only four head coaches in the playoffs have appeared in multiple Super Bowls, including McVay. The defence allows less points and yards per game than the league average, but since the offence is playing so well, the defence doesn’t need to perform above average to win games. With a coach who has won a Super Bowl in charge, the Rams are possibly the hottest team in the league.
Since Harbaugh and the Ravens won Super Bowl XLVII eleven years ago, Harbaugh has had two postseason losses (2–5). Despite leading the team to a 14-2 regular season record and winning MVP in 2019, quarterback Lamar Jackson’s squad lost to the Tennessee Titans in their divisional round playoff opener. With the Ravens as the number one pick and Jackson expected to win MVP again this season, fans should brace themselves for a replay of the disappointing 2019 season. Since then, Harbaugh has made significant staff adjustments that have paid off handsomely. He isn’t afraid to talk about how things went wrong that postseason. Under the direction of a Super Bowl-winning coach, this is a 13-win squad. This postseason, no other team can make that claim.
