Predicting The 2026 NFL Season

Posted on August 26, 2026 by Taylor Handsome

It’s that time of year again, where I try to predict all the division winners and the playoff outcomes. Let’s go! Here are my prior season predictions:

I don’t really have a whole lot to hang my hat on from last year. I had the Broncos winning the West, which was a little bit of an upset, but not huge. There’s lots of nuggets of sounding like I know what I’m talking about, but I also had the Ravens in the AFC Championship Game, and they didn’t even make the fucking playoffs.

2026 is a new year, though! So, let’s dance.

NFC East

Dallas Cowboys
Philadelphia Eagles
New York Giants
Washington Commanders

Yeah, I guess I’ll bite. This will probably look super dumb at this point next year, but Dallas is a very chic pick. The offense looks tremendous, and the defense appears to have taken strides towards improvement. I like them and the Eagles to be neck and neck; maybe a tiebreaker situaton gives Dallas the edge. Also, watch out for the Giants. Don’t ask me why; I don’t believe they’ll have what it takes to make the playoffs, but they could get close. I like Washington to be TERRIBLE.

NFC North

Green Bay Packers
Chicago Bears
Detroit Lions
Minnesota Vikings

This is the most difficult division to predict, because all of the teams have a chance to be good. Many are saying it’s going to be the best division in football, which usually feels like a death knell for said division. I have decided to just run back my prediction from last year. I’m choosing to drink the Jordan Love Kool Aid. I’m choosing to believe Ben Johnson will be a Top 6 head coach after this season. I’m also choosing to believe that the Lions keep getting massive amounts of injuries for a reason, and maybe Dan Campbell is kind of an idiot. Finally, I choose to believe Kyler Murray sucks, and no amount of KOC is going to fix that quarterback room.

NFC South

New Orleans Saints
Carolina Panthers
Tampa Bay Bucaneers
Atlanta Falcons

I’ll also gladly step onto the Saints bandwagon, as I think Tyler Shough is the real deal! And, in spite of losing a valued D-Lineman, I think the Saints have enough on defense to win this pathetic division. I was going to throw Tampa into the second spot, but they hired one of the worst OCs of recent memory in Zac Robinson (he was with the Falcons last year, and didn’t know what the FUCK he was doing), so they’re third. I legitimately believe Carolina has a good coaching staff, and will continue to hang around .500 in spite of Bryce Young. The Falcons are kind of a disaster, as much as it pains me. Tua has no business starting over Penix. You could chop any three limbs off of Penix’s body and he should still play over Tua!

NFC West

Los Angeles Rams
Seattle Seahawks
San Francisco 49ers
Arizona Cardinals

I’m taking all of my homerism out of the equation here. This brings me zero joy, and quite frankly, I hope to God I’m wrong! But, I got the Rams here. It’s not that I believe Seattle will be bad – indeed, they might be my highest-rated wild card team – but I just think the Rams have a chance to be a 2-loss team. I also think the 49ers will be mediocre, and the Cards will be one of the worst teams in football.

AFC East

Buffalo Bills
New England Patriots
Miami Dolphins
New York Jets

Maybe my biggest upset of this whole post is NOT having the Dolphins fourth. That just goes to show how little I believe in Geno Smith and Aaron Glenn. I like the Bills for a bounce-back, and I like the Patriots to lay a big, fat turd! Here’s a prediction for ya: the Pats will NOT be back in this year’s playoffs!

AFC North

Cincinnati Bengals
Baltimore Ravens
Cleveland Browns
Pittsburgh Steelers

Here’s what I’m thinking: I’m going to pick every single chic team from this offseason to win their respective divisions (Cowboys, Packers, Saints, Rams, Bills, Bengals) and just hope to hit on like 2/3 of them. I will say that this is very much a Heart pick, and not a Head pick. I want the Bengals back in the playoffs. I want Joe Burrow to stay healthy for the full season. And, I’m curious to see if the moves they made on defense can be just good enough. That being said, I don’t think any other team is an overwhelming favorite. I’ll believe the Ravens when I see it; moving on from John Harbaugh feels like a mistake. The Browns are obviously a joke. But, that being said, I think the Steelers will be worse. Aaron Rodgers is toast. McCarthy is kind of a loser. The defense is old and overrated. D.K. Metcalf is abysmal. I think the Steelers will finally bottom out and next year will have a real chance to draft their quarterback of the future.

AFC South

Houston Texans
Jacksonville Jaguars
Tennessee Titans
Indianapolis Colts

I like the Texans a lot. So much, in fact, I’m predicting they will get the #1 seed in the AFC. I still like the Jags to make the playoffs. I like the Titans to take a step forward, and I like the Colts to take a step back.

AFC West

Denver Broncos
Kansas City Chiefs
Los Angeles Chargers
Las Vegas Raiders

I just think the Broncos are good. Their defense is great, and the offense is fine. Here’s something for you: I like both the Chiefs and Chargers as wild card teams! And, I like the Raiders to be better than last year, but not good enough to make the playoffs.

NFC Playoffs

Los Angeles Rams
Green Bay Packers
Dallas Cowboys
New Orleans Saints
Seattle Seahawks
Philadelphia Eagles
Chicago Bears

AFC Playoffs

Houston Texans
Buffalo Bills
Denver Broncos
Cincinnati Bengals
Jacksonville Jaguars
Kansas City Chiefs
Los Angeles Chargers

Wild Card Round

Packers over Bears
Eagles over Cowboys
Seahawks over Saints
Bills over Chargers
Chiefs over Broncos
Jaguars over Bengals

Divisional Round

Rams over Eagles
Seahawks over Packers
Texans over Chiefs
Bills over Jaguars

Championship Round

Seahawks over Rams
Texans over Bills

Super Bowl LXI

Seahawks over Texans

The Seahawks Are Lucky To Have Mike Macdonald

Posted on January 13, 2026 by Taylor Handsome

I’m not going to sit here and tell you Mike Macdonald is the best coach in the NFL or anything. He still has a long way to go in his burgeoning career. But, in seeing what’s been going on this year with the coaching carousel – and what goes on EVERY year in the coaching carousel – it’s become more and more apparent that there very much AREN’T 32 qualified NFL head coaches in existence.

It feels particularly wild this time around. While Pete Carroll being One & Done with the Raiders isn’t totally shocking, he’s still a huge name and potential Hall of Famer. John Harbaugh, however, really took the world by surprise; who knew there were so many problems in Baltimore? I thought that was one of the most stable and together organizations in the league! Miami, Cleveland, Atlanta, Arizona, Tennessee, the Giants, they all round out a new 8-man class of incoming head coaches. Some will inevitably be retreads (probably one of the spots going to Harbaugh right away), some will be new guys most of us have never heard of. But, how many will stick?

Looking ahead, there are a number of teams on thin ice; it’s never a good sign when an organization has to give out a press release specifically noting someone isn’t going to be fired. I’m looking at Tampa, Cinci, probably the Jets again, maybe Indy, apparently the Packers and Eagles, and whoever ends up being One & Done from this class. Also, can’t count out old timers like Tomlin, Reid, and McDermott.

There’s lots of retreads besides Harbaugh in the mix. Stefanski is a big name. Brian Flores has done great things as a DC in Minnesota. Mike McCarthy after a year off is in high demand. Robert Saleh again for some reason. Kliff Kingsbury has already abdicated his OC job with Washington in hopes of being a head coach. Even guys like Matt Nagy, Steve Spagnuolo, and Vance Joseph are getting multiple interviews!

Do any of these guys inspire confidence? Harbaugh for sure. Maybe Stefanski. MAYBE Flores in the right situation, and if you can get him to call the defense. Same goes with Kingsbury and the offense. But, the rest of those guys?

Who are the new guys looking to get a shot? Chris Shula is a hot name, as DC of the Rams. Lou Anarumo as DC of the Colts (and previously with the Bengals). Jesse Minter, DC of the Chargers, is apparently a hot name. And even Klint Kubiak and Aden Durde with the Seahawks are taking interviews!

Of those names, Shula is interesting to me. That Rams defense turned around in a hurry, and unlike all of their offensive assistants who get OC jobs elsewhere, Shula actually has play-calling and scheming experience. Minter sounds promising; anyone who is a Harbaugh guy is immediately high in my book.

It just makes me feel incredibly lucky that we got Mike Macdonald, especially when he’s coming right on the heels of Pete Carroll, who was the best head coach we ever had.

I feel doubly lucky when I look at Macdonald’s head coaching class of 2024. There were 8 openings that year too; 4 of them have already been fired. That’s how crazy it’s been, how crazy it always is. You knew Brian Callahan, Raheem Morris, and Jerod Mayo wouldn’t work out. Shit, the Raiders are on their third coach in three years now! Of the guys still around, it’s Jim Harbaugh, Dan Quinn (two guys with proven track records), and Dave Canales (who, with Macdonald, appears to be one of the good up-and-coming head coaches in this league).

As for the 2025 class, Carroll is already gone; Aaron Glenn feels like a firing waiting to happen (because they’re the Jets, and because they somehow had zero interceptions as a defense?); Schotty is no great shakes, but Dallas is weirdly loyal, so he’ll probably stick around a few years; Kellen Moore is specifically tied to how well Tyler Shough develops (so far, so good); Vrabel has a great thing going in New England; and Ben Johnson and Liam Coen look like two of the good ones, who should be fixtures for a good, long time.

I’ll say this, I look around the NFL, and I don’t see very many – if any – I would rather have than Mike Macdonald, especially factoring in his defensive play-calling and scheming. It’s tough out there for some of these organizations. I don’t envy very many of them, that’s for damn sure.

All I know is, the Seahawks have the presumptive favorite for NFL Executive of the Year in John Schneider, and one of the top two or three NFL Head Coach of the Year candidates in Macdonald. Things are pretty damn good in Seattle right now; let’s hope it continues indefinitely!

What Is Sam Darnold’s Role In All Of This?

Posted on December 30, 2025 by Taylor Handsome

The NFL tweeted out a photo collage with five quarterbacks, with the caption being “The Only QBs In NFL History With Back-To-Back 13-Win Seasons”. Giving off heavy “One Thing Is Not Like The Other” vibes, the quarterbacks are Sam Darnold, Aaron Rodgers, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, and Brett Favre.

First of all, doesn’t that feel crazy to you, that only five quarterbacks have achieved this? I guess not when you figure the 16-game season started in 1978. But, doesn’t it feel like Jim Kelly or Dan Marino or John Elway or Joe Montana should’ve done this? But, I digress. In this one very specific chapter of the history books, Sam Darnold finds his name.

The thing about 13-win seasons is that it’s still VERY impressive. The Seahawks have had two such events (not counting playoff wins) in their entire history (2005 and 2013; notice anything noteworthy about those seasons?). Both times, the Seahawks were the #1 seed in the NFC, and both times they went to the Super Bowl (the Seahawks were also the #1 seed in 2014, but that was only a 12-win regular season).

The Seahawks have never won 14 games in a regular season. They will need to do so this year, if they want to earn the #1 seed.

At this point, I don’t know how you dismiss what Sam Darnold has done. This is two years in a row, two different teams, two different offensive schemes. He’s currently fifth in passing yards, and he’s 150 away from back-to-back 4,000-yard seasons. He’s got a 99.2 passer rating, which is in the Top 10, and that’s while throwing the third-most interceptions in the league.

He’s a viable starting quarterback in this league. But, I think he’s also comfortably outside of the Top 10 quarterbacks in this league. Here’s a list of guys (when healthy) I would take over Sam Darnold, if my life depended on it in a winner-take-all scenario: Dak, Goff, Maye, Stafford, Caleb, Herbert, Allen, Mahomes, Burrow, Lamar, Hurts, Purdy, and Love. I currently have Darnold in the same tier as Nix, Lawrence, Baker, and Stroud. That’s the 14-18 range. Are you seeing how that doesn’t line up? He’s a guy who’s won 13 games in back-to-back years – something only four Hall of Famers have done – and he’s barely cracking the Top 15 quarterbacks in the game today!

Am I underestimating him? I probably am. Caleb, Goff, Hurts, Love, and Purdy are all kinda shaky too, but that’s neither here nor there. Part of me wants to say, “We would have to wait and see how Darnold plays on a team that isn’t as talented, and that doesn’t have a Top 3 defense.” But, we saw that. We saw Patrick Mahomes look totally ordinary and beatable this year. We’ve seen a banged up Lamar and Baker go from MVP candidates to absolute zeroes. We’ve seen Josh Allen – for as good as he is – struggle to a second place finish because he has no receivers and his defense is mediocre. We’ve seen the Lions totally fall apart without Ben Johnson; last year, the Bears were terrible, but now Caleb is on the national landscape because he HAS Ben Johnson! Stafford was a guy with great numbers and that’s it before he landed the starting job with McVay and the Rams; now he’s a surefire Hall of Famer.

You know what’s going to happen to Sam Darnold when he’s on a team with limited talent and a bad defense? He’s going to be just as useless as Burrow is on the Bengals and Dak on the Cowboys. Because no quarterback does it on his own! No quarterback can elevate a bad team around him! You saw what Tom Brady was in those final years on the Patriots, before he went to Tampa. He did nothing! We thought he was washed up! But, you put him on a good team, and see what happens.

Sam Darnold is just as good as any of these guys. He’s also capable of being just as bad as anyone else, on the wrong team.

These Seattle Seahawks are capable of winning a Super Bowl. Not because of Sam Darnold, but because the team as a whole is good. And Sam Darnold is good enough to be the most important piece. That doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy. Even those 2013 Seahawks had some close calls. That Saints game was no walk in the park, and we all remember what happened with The Tip in the NFC Championship Game. What if Kaepernick DIDN’T try to challenge the best cornerback in the game? They were moving the ball pretty well outside of that play. Would it have been Russell Wilson’s fault if the 49ers completed the comeback at the end? No, but we sure as shit would’ve been questioning him!

Sam Darnold’s role, ultimately, is to be the lightning rod. Yes, he’s won 13 games in back-to-back years, but you know what else he’s done? Led his teams in back-to-back years to winner-takes-all Week 18 games for the division and the NFC’s #1 seed. Last year, it was the Lions who hosted, and the Lions who took down Sam Darnold’s Vikings. This year, it’s the 49ers who are hosting. Will Darnold suffer the same fate two years in a row? God I hope not!

But, if he does, I’ll tell you what: all the 13-win seasons in the world won’t be able to wash the stink off. That will drop us from #1 to #6 (in all likelihood, assuming the Rams win out), leaving us with a wild card road matchup with either the Bears or Eagles (the Bears hold the tiebreaker between the two for the 2/3 seeds). And, assuming the Rams beat whoever makes it out of the NFC South, odds are they would face the 49ers in the Divisional Round, while we would go to either the Bears or Eagles (again, depending on who ends up with the 2-seed). Those would be some ugly games in some cold environments. I would much rather we get the week off and host those cold, ugly games!

Predicting The 2025 NFL Season

Posted on August 29, 2025 by Taylor Handsome

My favorite post of the year! My favorite, always wrong post of the year. But first, if you dare, a look down memory lane:

Last year, I nailed 4 out of 8 division winners, and 6 out of 14 playoff participants. I did accurately pick the Chiefs to lose in the Super Bowl, but other than that, I can’t say I did all that well.

Good news for this year: I’ve done even LESS research! That’s what having a soon-to-be one year old will do for you. Let’s get to the predictions.

NFC East

Philadelphia Eagles
Washington Commanders
New York Giants
Dallas Cowboys

The Eagles have too much talent to not win this division, but I don’t think they’ll be quite the juggernaut they were last year. It’s just not realistic. I keep hearing lots about Washington taking a step back, but I just think their coaching staff and quarterback are too good. I actually like the Giants to be a bit of a sleeper; that defense should keep them in a lot of games. Dallas is a total dumpster fire. I don’t believe in Schotty, I think their defense is pretty bad, and I wouldn’t be shocked if this is a 4-win season for the ‘Boys.

NFC North

Green Bay Packers
Chicago Bears
Detroit Lions
Minnesota Vikings

You gotta shake things up somewhere, and this is the hill I’m going to die on. I’ll also say that I wrote all of this out BEFORE the Micah Parsons trade, so technically I’m a Hipster Packers Believer. I think Detroit is destined to take a step back. For starters, they just can’t stay healthy. Might be bad luck, might be the physical way they play. But, more than that, they lost both of their coordinators, and that’s just not tenable. There’s no way you’re not going to drop off with brand new play-callers, especially when the last ones were so effective. The Packers seem really solid, and I’ll say that I’m a Ben Johnson believer. This is the year Chicago puts it together and gets a wild card spot. The potential wrench in all of this is Minnesota. I love their coaching staff. I think their offense is idiot-proof when it comes to the quarterback position. I’m more or less banking on even the fourth place team finishing around 7-10 or 8-9.

NFC South

Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Carolina Panthers
Atlanta Falcons
New Orleans Saints

The Bucs just seem rock solid up and down that roster. I like the Panthers to take a step forward. I’m worried about the Falcons, and think they might have one of the worst defenses in the league. And the Saints are flat out the worst team in football. Honestly, this feels like the easiest division to predict.

NFC West

San Francisco 49ers
Seattle Seahawks
Arizona Cardinals
Los Angeles Rams

This is, by far, the hardest division to predict. I can buy the case for just about everyone, except the Cardinals. I’ll never get there with the Cards; I just don’t buy Kyler Murray as a winning quarterback in this league. But, I can see the Rams running it back; I can also see the Rams succumbing to their age and injuries to Stafford and others. I can see the bounce-back from the 49ers, with their coaching and overall talent; I can also see THEM succumbing to age and injuries, just like they did in 2024. And, I can see the Seahawks as a Top 5 defense, with a steady rushing attack and game manager quarterback putting it all together to win 11 games. Or, I can see the defense sort of spinning its wheels, with the offense crushed under their own mediocrity. Ultimately, though, I’m taking the 49ers, I’m putting the Seahawks in there as a wild card, I’ve got Arizona around .500 (or slightly blow, rather), and I’m giving the Rams a Season From Hell. Watch me be 100% wrong!

AFC East

Buffalo Bills
New England Patriots
New York Jets
Miami Dolphins

Just give me the Bills from now on until they prove they can’t do it anymore. I’ll raise my hand and say I’m drinking the Patriots Kool Aid. Better coaching, good-looking young quarterback, easy schedule, an influx of talent. Sign me up for a surprise wild card to boot! I think the Jets are a .500-ish (or slightly above, rather) team based on good defense and awesome running game. And I think the Dolphins are cooked (especially on defense) and their head coach will be fired after this season (if not during).

AFC North

Baltimore
Pittsburgh
Cincinnati
Cleveland

Again, keep giving me the Ravens until they prove they can’t do it. Mark the Steelers down for a 9-8 season. The Bengals STILL don’t have a defense, and I’m already regretting not putting them last. I want to say Cleveland will be a surprise team, but there’s just no way. This franchise is beyond dysfunctional.

AFC South

Houston
Jacksonville
Tennessee
Indianapolis

This division is what we thought it was. Houston will be a 4-seed, the Jags will be a sleeper, the Titans will improve over last year (but still aren’t anything special because their coaching staff stinks), and the Colts will be one of the worst teams in the conference.

AFC West

Denver Broncos
Kansas City Chiefs
Los Angeles Chargers
Las Vegas Raiders

Going bold here! Watch the Chiefs run away with it again. But, I love Denver’s defense, and I think they’re ready to explode offensively. The Chiefs won too many 50/50 games last year; they HAVE to see some negative regression. I think the Chargers are solid, and will be a playoff team. And the Raiders will be fun, but their defense isn’t up to snuff. Watch for them to maybe come on late in the season to make things interesting, though.

NFC Playoffs

Green Bay Packers
Philadelphia Eagles
San Francisco 49ers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Washington Commanders
Seattle Seahawks
Chicago Bears

AFC Playoffs

Baltimore Ravens
Buffalo Bills
Denver Broncos
Houston Texans
Kansas City Chiefs
Los Angeles Chargers
New England Patriots

Wild Card Round

Eagles over Bears
49ers over Seahawks
Commanders over Buccaneers
Bills over Patriots
Broncos over Chargers
Chiefs over Texans

Divisional Round

Packers over Commanders
Eagles over 49ers
Ravens over Chiefs
Bills over Broncos

Championship Round

Packers over Eagles
Bills over Ravens

Super Bowl

Bills over Packers

Where does Mike Macdonald Rank Among Current NFL Head Coaches?

Posted on May 21, 2025 by Taylor Handsome

Oh the NFL offseason, when you’ve really gotta scrape the bottom of the barrel to come up with topics to write about! I know the NFL is a year-round league that’s always coming up with interesting news stories and whatnot, but you can’t literally find 365 days’ worth of compelling content!

Anyway, I read this post the other day from Field Gulls, and came away surprisingly intrigued! So intrigued, in fact, that I decided to do my own list! Here are the parameters: rank head coaches from 1 to 27 (not counting first-time head coaches who have yet to actually coach a game). Here is the list I came up with:

Andy Reid
Sean McVay
John Harbaugh
Sean McDermott
Dan Campbell
Kyle Shanahan
Kevin O’Connell
Matt LaFleur
Dan Quinn
Nick Sirianni
Jim Harbaugh
Mike Tomlin
Pete Carroll
Sean Payton
Mike Vrabel
DeMarco Ryans
Zac Taylor
Mike Macdonald
Todd Bowles
Kevin Stefanski
Jonathan Gannon
Dave Canales
Brian Daboll
Mike McDaniel
Raheem Morris
Shane Steichen
Brian Callahan

As far as the rookies are concerned, I think Ben Johnson is in a good spot, I like Aaron Glenn a lot (but think he’s in a bad spot), I’m not wildly impressed with Brian Schottenheimer, but think he’ll be okay in Dallas (certainly not a Super Bowl winner, though). I still don’t know who Liam Coen is, and I think Kellen Moore will probably be One & Done.

Anyway, when I originally read the Field Gulls post, I thought Mike Macdonald was drastically underrated. But, then I did the list myself, and he only went up 1 slot.

There’s a couple of ways to do that list, though. The way I did it, I tried to incorporate the whole body of work of that coach. So, you know, if you’ve been consistently great, if you’ve won a Super Bowl, or put up good showings in the playoffs, you got slotted higher. But, that doesn’t necessarily mean some of those Super Bowl winners are guys I would want coaching the Seahawks right now!

Like, for instance, you’ll see Pete Carroll rated quite a bit higher than Macdonald, but that doesn’t mean I would rather have Pete back in Seattle. It just means I’m showing him respect as someone who did a lot to change the culture with the Seahawks, and took us to back-to-back Super Bowls, winning one.

If the exercise was: who would I want coaching the Seahawks right now, I feel like Macdonald would fare much better.

I think my top four would remain (seriously, I don’t understand how McDermott is so disrespected; he has five division titles and 7 playoff appearances dating back to his hire in 2017). After those guys, I think there’s a big pile in the next tier who are all pretty equal. This includes Macdonald, Dan Campbell, Shanahan, KOC, LaFleur, DQ, Jim Harbaugh, Tomlin, Vrabel, Payton, Sirianni, and Zac Taylor (I feel like he’s good, but the Bengals don’t do enough to field a balanced team for him). I don’t know if there’s anyone in that next tier who I’d rather have over Macdonald, if I put each coach head-to-head and made a pros & cons list.

I agree with the author of that Field Gulls post; defensive-minded coaches often get short shrift. That’s why I’m not automatically making Shanahan the #5 guy. I think guys like Campbell and Sirianni are in the perfect spots for their talents, but they wouldn’t necessarily translate to winners everywhere else. I need to see more in the playoffs from KOC or LaFleur before I automatically annoint them. And guys like DQ, Harbaugh, Tomlin, Vrabel, and Payton are all solid, but you really have to cede a lot of control to those guys, and if they don’t have the right QB, they’re pretty mediocre. That being said, I think it comes down to DQ or Jim Harbaugh for me. They have a good sense of how they want their teams built, and it tends to jive with what I want from the Seahawks.

So, yeah, in the list that matters, I would rank Mike Macdonald fifth. He’s the defensive version of what KOC and LaFleur do on offense. And I would always prefer the defensive wunderkind over the offensive one. But, he’s still got to put it all together if he wants to stay in the Top 5, or move into that vaunted Top 4.

It’ll be interesting to see where he ranks among the national media next year. It doesn’t seem like he gets very much credit for winning 10 games as a rookie head coach. I guess that team had too much of Pete Carroll’s hands on it, even though there’s no way in Hell that Pete could’ve gotten to 10 wins. Not with his bullshit assistant coaches. But, the 2025 Seahawks have much more of a Macdonald flare to it. No Geno Smith, no D.K. Metcalf, everyone doubting the Seahawks will win more than 8 games. If Macdonald gets to 10+ wins with THIS team? That’s a recipe to move up that list considerably!

The Eagles Hired Former Seahawks DC Clint Hurtt

Posted on January 31, 2024 by Taylor Handsome

As the Seahawks continue to mull over their choices for who’s going to be the next head coach (spoiler alert, it won’t be offensive coordinators Ben Johnson or Bobby Slowik), NFL teams around the league have been rounding out their staffs. It’s fair to wonder who’s going to be left when the Seahawks finally get off the pot, but one name we know who WON’T be available is Clint Hurtt.

I’m not a big Eagles fan or anything, but I really like what they’ve done so far this offseason. I don’t know why there was such fervor to fire their head coach, but the dude JUST took them to a Super Bowl last season. I’m glad he’s getting another shot. Clearly, the team was affected by losing both coordinators following their Super Bowl run, and as it turned out, the replacements weren’t quite up to snuff. Seems reasonable; you wait until after the Super Bowl to fill vacant coordinator positions, you’re bound to end up with some clunkers (*cough* *cough* Seahawks).

So, they’re gone, and in their place we have Kellen Moore (who I generally like as a play-caller) and Vic Fangio (someone I was BEGGING the Seahawks to hire the last time we were in the market for a DC). Instead, we opted for an in-house nobody in Clint Hurtt, who allegedly was supposed to bring us a Vic Fangio-style defense. What we got was more of the crap we’ve had to endure the last almost-decade. Part of me will always believe Hurtt is one of the big reasons why Pete Carroll was let go; if his defenses played better, the Seahawks would’ve made the playoffs this season and I have to imagine Carroll would’ve gotten at least another year.

There was always a nagging concern that – as long as he didn’t have a job – Clint Hurtt might talk his way into staying with the Seahawks in some capacity. That’s in spite of the fact that he has been just awful at his job from the very beginning. Before being promoted to DC, he was our defensive line coach from 2017-2021; what about those defensive lines made anyone believe he’d be competent running an entire defense?

Well, now he’s Philadelphia’s problem, having been hired to coach the defensive line there under Fangio. Apparently, they both had success together in Chicago back in the day, so maybe this will be a harmonious reunion. They seem to have a lot of talent at that position group, so maybe they’ll make him look better.

As for the Seahawks, it’s deliberation time. I would expect a head coaching hire any time. I’ll just tell you this right now, if it ends up being Mike Kafka, I think Seahawks fans are going to lose their minds. I know I will!

The Seahawks Are One Of The Last Two Teams To Hire A Head Coach

Posted on January 29, 2024 by Taylor Handsome

There’s sort of a nebulous beginning to this blog. I’m the kind of guy who would very much be someone to celebrate the “birthday” of a blog he’s poured so many hours of his life into, but I couldn’t for the life of me figure out what that date actually is. If you go backwards to the very first post on Seattle Sports Hell, you’ll see something dated 1/11/2010, but I know for a fact that that particular post was ripped from a previous blog I kept (on LiveJournal of all places). At some point that year, I decided to write a little bit about sports most every day, until the journal got too bogged down in sports content. So, I started a new blog – on WordPress – where this blog in its infancy got its start in August of 2010. At some point not long after that, a friend of mine savvy in the art of website creation talked me into just getting my own URL and running it through WordPress’ dashboard. That old WordPress blog is no longer around, so I can’t pinpoint when the changeover happened. But, let’s just say it was sometime in late August of 2010 (after the 22nd, before the 28th) and call it a day.

This is all a long-winded way of saying: in all the time I’ve had this blog, I’ve never had a Seahawks head coaching hire to write about. Thankfully, I threw up a post on my old LiveJournal, upon the Seahawks hiring Pete Carroll, with this little nugget written near the end:

Is it the right move? Who the fuck knows? Who the fuck EVER knows what the right move is? So much of this damned crapshoot is devoted to luck, it’s pathetic. Draft picks panning out, free agents living up to the money they make before they fall apart due to aging and indifference, avoiding too many costly injuries, fumbles bouncing your way, referees not shitting themselves on the field. X’s and O’s rarely decide the outcome. You’ve got to hit on all those intangibles first before you’ve even got a chance.
from the post entitled: A Team You Hate To Love

I would say, if I’m being perfectly honest, my opinion hasn’t changed much in the last 14 years.

My general assessment at the time is that the Seahawks went after a big name head coach to try to prevent too many fans from giving up their season tickets. It’s funny how little I’ve thought about season tickets in the subsequent 14 years. I did find it funny to be complaining about two down years (2008 and 2009, when we won a combined 9 games) after being so “accustomed to winning” in the Mike Holmgren regime.

My other big point in that post was that Jim Mora Jr. wasn’t working, and he wasn’t going to be the guy to turn things around. As much as it felt shitty to give the guy only one season (with a depleted roster to boot), we all still knew it was time for a change.

And today, as shitty as it is to move on from the greatest head coach in franchise history, we all knew it was time. The hard thing had to be done, in hopes that we can turn this franchise around sooner rather than later.

Other than what’s written in that post, though, I don’t really remember a whole lot about the 2010 coaching search, other than the utter shock that Pete Carroll was the choice. I completely forgot, for instance, that Mora was fired on January 8, 2010, and it was reported the same day that Carroll was the hire. How we managed to get around the Rooney Rule is beyond me, but that’s neither here nor there. I seem to recall there was a quickie sham interview set around that time, though initial outrage was quickly and quietly forgotten (interesting info in this article).

It’s hard to say exactly who the Seahawks have interviewed. We know they saw Ejiro Evero (Panthers DC), Patrick Graham (Raiders DC), Mike Kafka (Giants OC), Raheem Morris (Rams DC, current Falcons HC), and Dan Quinn (Cowboys DC). I’ve also seen Frank Smith (Dolphins OC), Ben Johnson (Lions OC), and Bobby Slowik (Texans OC) listed, with Mike Macdonald (Ravens DC) apparently set to meet with the Seahawks this week for the first time (now that the Ravens have been eliminated). And, various people have alluded to there being interest in Mike Vrabel, though no confirmed meetings have leaked to the press.

I see three people of color in that list (to my knowledge), so it appears we’re doing a better job of adhering to the Rooney Rule. And only one of our interview candidates, so far, has been hired as a head coach (Morris), which means unless the Commanders (the only other open job at the moment) snipe one of them, we’ll have our pick of the litter.

Am I particularly excited about any of these guys? Well, I was interested in Vrabel, but that seems to be a lost cause. I thought Hawk Blogger made an intriguing case for Dan Quinn, enough to at least change my mind to the point where I wouldn’t be crushingly disappointed if we did, in fact, hire him (the best argument is Quinn’s elite-level staff he hired when he was with the Falcons).

While I acknowledge that the head coach position in the NFL is important for setting a culture, I’ll be honest: I’m more invested in who we end up hiring to be our offensive and defensive coordinators. I feel like those guys will have more impact game to game, than the head coach. Considering how late we are in the process, there are upsides and downsides. The upside has to do with getting a chance to hire coaches from deep in their respective playoff runs. The downside, though, has to do with filling out the rest of the coaching staff. How many quality guys are available to be coordinators?

Which makes me think that Quinn or Vrabel probably won’t be the pick. If we were going to go with them, it seems like you’d want to snap them up early, and let them fill out their coaching staff before everyone else. If you go with a Mike Macdonald or a Ben Johnson, then you’ve already got a readymade playcaller for one side of the ball or the other. Half the job of picking your coordinators is already done! Oh sure, you still have to bring in someone and give them the title of coordinator; but, I’m guessing, if you hire a Ben Johnson, you’re hiring him to be the head coach and also call plays for your offense.

It doesn’t seem like the Seahawks are interested in anyone on the Chiefs or 49ers, so I’d be shocked if we don’t hire a head coach at some point this week. They’re scrambling to do their final interviews today and tomorrow, then they’ll probably deliberate for a day or two, with the likely hire happening on Thursday or Friday. So, it shouldn’t be long now.

Am I excited? I dunno, not really. I’m sure I will be when the guy is announced (unless it’s the OC from the Giants; what the fuck is he doing on that list?!). I’m more invested in what the Seahawks are going to do with some of the veteran players. But, I will say that if I had to choose, I’d go after the Ravens’ DC. That guy seems like he’s really on the ball. Whatever we can do to prop up this Seahawks defense, is the right decision in my book. Let’s get that right, and worry about the offense later.

Seahawks Death Week: What Would Make Me Happy As A Fan?

Posted on January 17, 2024 by Taylor Handsome

There’s so much going on right now, I really can’t be bothered to keep up. How many interview requests have the Seahawks put in for, like a dozen? Any one of these guys could be amazing, and any one of these guys could be a total disaster. I’ll admit, between the Mariners, Huskies, and Seahawks, my confidence level is pretty much bottomed out at this point. So, I’m going to be inclined – pretty much throughout this entire offseason – to come at this from a pessimistic standpoint. The Mariners were already incredibly bad offensively for too much of 2023 to be successful, and the notion that a second hitting coach is going to be the thing to turn everyone around is asinine to say the least. The Huskies are in a very toxic place right now – that place being the college football landscape at large – and the notion that we’re going to turn around our fortunes by going heavy into recruiting sounds like a fairy tale.

I would say, for the Seahawks, it’s funny that the number one objective in John Schneider’s head coaching search is to maintain our positive culture, because right now that’s the ONLY thing we have going for us. We’re not in a great spot with our roster the way it is – bereft of elite-level talent on both sides of the line of scrimmage – we’re not in a great spot with our salary cap – with lots of aging/useless veterans commanding high salaries and just-as-high dead cap hits – and we’re not even all that well off with our draft capital – having given away our second rounder for half a year of Leonard Williams, and only acquiring an extra third rounder from Denver (with no compensatory picks for the fourth year in a row). They don’t give away Lombardi Trophies for “best culture”. And, if you don’t win, it’s amazing how quickly that culture can dissolve.

The one thing that does make me happy is having John Schneider at the helm, making all the important decisions. It’s impossible to ever know how much influence Pete Carroll had over personnel. My guess is, not a lot when it came to the draft, and probably too much when it came to veteran trades and free agency. Even then, I wonder about what we were told at Schneider’s original hiring – or at least what we assumed, coming from his Green Bay background – and what we’ve actually seen come to fruition here in Seattle: namely, that we would be drafting a quarterback nearly every year, even if we didn’t necessarily need one. Why have the Packers been so successful in carrying over from Brett Favre to Aaron Rodgers to now Jordan Love? Because they don’t miss an opportunity to take a chance at finding their Quarterback of the Future. It’s something the Seahawks let go straight to hell throughout the Russell Wilson era, and I believe it’s still setting us back to this very day.

So, that would also make me happy: having John Schneider in charge, and getting back to John Schneider-esque decisions. I believe we’ve had a couple of high-quality drafts the last two years. I also believe that the 2023 Seahawks underachieved based on the talent they have. If we can manage to keep the good drafts flowing, and marry that with a coaching staff that can get the most out of our younger guys, then I think there’s potential for a quick turnaround. Let’s eliminate some of these panic trades for aging vets, let’s dole out smart contracts to the right guys, let’s get rid of aging players a year too early vs. a year too late, and let’s trust in our ability to coach up young players immediately, to better take advantage of their inexpensive cost to our salary cap while they’re on rookie deals.

I couldn’t tell you who would make me happy to bring in as a head coach. I think Dan Quinn is probably the likeliest guy, and I also think he’s the least exciting candidate. I think Jim Harbaugh is the most intriguing, but I also don’t believe he will go anywhere if he doesn’t have full control over every part of the team, so that kinda rules him out. Of all the coordinators getting interviews, I think Ben Johnson is probably the most thrilling, but he’s also among the least-experienced names being bandied about, having just two years of OC experience with Detroit. Is his scheme something that’s revolutionizing the sport of football? Or did he just come up with the right team at the right time, who just so happened to have an elite collection of players? Is he the next Shanahan or McVay? I’m guessing probably not. But, is the next Shanahan or McVay even out there? Again, I’m guessing probably not.

The Seahawks have only had three successful head coaches in the franchise’s history: Chuck Knox, Mike Holmgren, and Pete Carroll. All three of them had previous NFL head coaching experience. Now, obviously, that’s not a guarantee, because Jim Mora Jr. also was previously a head coach in the NFL, and Dennis Erickson was a longtime head coach in college. But, it strikes me that the three best guys were all pretty huge names in the sport at the times of them being hired, and maybe there’s something to be said for that.

I’ve always liked Mike Vrabel. I think he’s smart and knows how to lead a team as much as he can lead a culture. He probably best fits in that mold of a prior NFL head coach who’s a big name and has a lot left to give to the game. But, he doesn’t seem to be a viable option for whatever reason. I know I’d be concerned about his desire to play older guys over young kids, but maybe that’s a perception I’ve falsely acquired over the years. Like with any coach, his success level is going to come down to the quality of the players around him, regardless of their age or experience.

I guess the biggest thing that would make me happy as a Seahawks fan is for them to cut the dead weight. I know these decisions are tough, I know these older guys have given us everything they had, and I know it might mean enduring a tough salary cap situation for a year. But, if we can make it through, there’s a real opportunity in 2025 and beyond. But, we have to understand what this team is right now: it’s not a Super Bowl contender. And it’s not one offseason (with one hand tied behind our backs thanks to lack of money and draft picks) away from being that contender. This is a two-year window. Year one is the tear down, and year two is the immediate rebuild.

K.Y.P. Know Your Personnel. One of the local basketball color guys used to say that all the time (I can’t remember if it was Marques Johnson or someone else), but it’s universal across all sports. Seahawks, K.Y.P! Figure it out, get rid of anyone who’s not part of the future, and let’s get this thing turned around. Hovering around 9-8 and a potential wild card spot isn’t going to make me happy. Competing – TRULY competing – for a Super Bowl title, THAT will make me happy.

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