{"id":82134,"date":"2026-01-28T11:10:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T01:10:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/?p=82134"},"modified":"2026-07-03T10:29:33","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T00:29:33","slug":"which-nfl-team-can-make-the-super-bowl-after-firing-their-coach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/2026\/01\/which-nfl-team-can-make-the-super-bowl-after-firing-their-coach\/","title":{"rendered":"Which NFL Team Can Make the Super Bowl After Firing Their Coach?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

We have a Super Bowl set in name. It\u2019s a rematch of one of the greatest games of all time: Patriots v Seahawks.<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 However, in substance, after having watched the two Championship Games, I feel like I saw the true Super Bowl being contested by the Rams and the Seahawks.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In that game, one team\u2019s coach made the same mistake twice and his team lost.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sean McVay is the best coach in the league, but his Achilles heel has historically been game management. It reared its head again against the Seahawks.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the third quarter, the Rams were down to Seattle by 11 points on two separate occasions. In both situations, the Rams scored because their quarterback was throwing fucking darts all over the yard against the best defense in the league and they are one of the best low red zone passing games I\u2019ve ever seen.<\/a>  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead of going for two either time, they kicked the extra point to go down by 4 which meant that they would need a touchdown to take the lead. Predictably, down 27-31 at the Seattle 6 on fourth down in the fourth quarter, the Rams had no choice but to go for it on fourth down and couldn\u2019t get it<\/a>. That was the final score. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nobody in the NFL is better proof that coaching matters than McVay. He\u2019s a motivator and a breathing schematic advantage, but he also has game management issues.<\/a>  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coaches in the NFL are like eating a spicy curry. They can give you so much, but they can just easily take it away. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s where we get to the point of this column.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Long-tenured coaches with great quarterbacks, coaches who dragged teams out of the doldrums and into relevancy, were let go because their problems were part of the reason that their teams couldn\u2019t win at the highest level.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The change also breeds opportunity. For at least some of the teams in the market for a new head coach, like the Bucs with Jon Gruden in 2001 or even Mike Vrabel in New England this year, a new voice with different quirks could be what drives them over the top.<\/a>  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we head toward the 2026 Super Bowl, which team who just fired their coach could be preparing for one more game this time next year? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tier 1: Serious Super Bowl Threats<\/strong> <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  1. Baltimore Ravens<\/strong>\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    The Ravens, after moving on from John Harbaugh, are the most likely team to make the Super Bowl next year.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Like the number two team, they have a superstar quarterback.<\/a>  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Unlike the number two team, they don\u2019t have a moron owner who loves a bad GM.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Instead, Baltimore is a stable franchise with good talent across both offence and defense. After two decades of Harbaugh, they needed a fresh voice to get them over the top.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Defensive mastermind Jesse Minter has to deliver immediately, both with a dominant defense and a strong offensive coordinator hire.<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    1. Buffalo Bills<\/strong>\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      Bills owner Terry Pegula\u2019s daughter Jessica is an elite tennis player who is still alive at the Australian Open. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Terry couldn\u2019t get himself onto a private jet to Australia to watch her because he had to go to a press conference and insult a player that\u2019s still on his roster in defense of the GM who drafted him.<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      In firing ex-coach Sean McDermott, who did plenty with a very average roster devoid of top end talent outside of Josh Allen over the last couple of years, Pegula promoted the GM, Brandon Beane who is responsible for stocking the team with average players but clearly has the owner\u2019s ear.<\/a>  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Beane is better at cozying up to easily manipulated billionaires than Miranda Kerr. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      This franchise is owned by an incompetent who mistakes friendliness with ability.<\/a>  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Now they\u2019ve picked former offensive coordinator Joe Brady to be the head coach.<\/a>  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      If Pegula and Beane wanted a new voice in the room, he failed to find one. If Beane wanted someone who definitively could not challenge his authority, this hire is a great success. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Beyond that, the fact that they ended up with a person who cannot have been their first choice while they have under 30 year old Josh Allen on the roster speaks to the decay that McDermott covered up over his tenure. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      But they still have Josh Allen, and he alone makes them a contender even when Khalil Shakir is his best and often only option.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Tier 2: If They Got the Hires Right<\/strong> <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
        \n
      1. New York Giants<\/strong>\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

        I know I just railed on a bad franchise in the Tri-State-Area that is owned by deeply incompetent people, but the other one of those, the Giants, hired John Harbaugh and he gives me hope.<\/a>  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Harbaugh is a culture, and he has consistently shown the ability to hire elite coordinators, including Mike McDonald.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Unlike the Bills, this is a pretty solid roster with good pieces across the trenches and what looks like a quarterback and a receiver pairing that could work for years to come.<\/a>  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

        It\u2019s not out of the realm of possibility that Harbaugh is the one to bring the pieces together and get the Giants to do a Patriots in 2027. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

          \n
        1. Atlanta Falcons<\/strong>\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

          Kevin Stefanski is a good playcalling head coach. Jeff Ulbrich, the holdover defensive coordinator from last year\u2019s Falcons, is a good coordinator.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

          Terry Fontenot and the Falcons have drafted like a fantasy football team, which means they have good players at flashy positions like running back and wide receiver but have issues especially across the offensive line and with depth.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

          It could be that with a schematic advantage, Bijan Robinson and Drake London are good enough to paper over the cracks in what might be a weakening NFC next year, but I don\u2019t love their odds.<\/a>  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

          Tier 3: \u201cWHY DID YOU DO THAT?\u201d \u2013 Henry Hill \u2013 Me to the Rooney family<\/strong> <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
            \n
          1. Pittsburgh Steelers<\/strong>\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

            Chuck Noll. Bill Cowher. Mike Tomlin. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Mike McCarthy?<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

            What? Why?  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Ending up with McCarthy after that run is like ending up with Aileen Wuornos after dating supermodels your whole life.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

            The Steelers have a proud tradition of outside the box hires that work, and they hired Mike McCarthy?  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

            The one who oversaw dips in production from Aaron Rodgers and Dak Prescott just before he got fired, after which point both players got back to their best with relatively limited personnel changes elsewhere.<\/a>  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Did they hire him just because they are sick of hearing Aaron Rodgers wonder aloud about what happened with Larry Silverstein\u2019s insurance policies?  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Has the building grown sick of Rodgers\u2019 musings about Allen Dulles\u2019 role in the Warren Commission? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Or did Rodgers want McCarthy because he\u2019s forgotten that he hated McCarthy in 2018? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

            The Steelers still have some players across the team, especially on defense. But this is an older team that was coached by a coach whose scheme had butted up against its own limitations, and they just hired another coach whose scheme has already shown itself to be deeply limited.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Tier 4: Haha<\/strong> <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
              \n
            1. Miami Dolphins<\/strong>\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
                \n
              1. Cleveland Browns<\/strong>\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
                  \n
                1. Tennessee Titans<\/strong>\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
                    \n
                  1. Arizona Cardinals<\/strong>\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
                      \n
                    1. Las Vegas Raiders<\/strong>\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

                      We can dispense with these last five quickly. They could hire the child of Bill Walsh and Bill Belichick and none of these teams will make the Super Bowl next year.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

                      Honourable Mention: Los Angeles Chargers<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

                      If I were doing coordinator changes, this would be an even longer column, so I am not. But this one is worth a mention.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

                      Mike McDaniel has been hired to run the Chargers offence. Even with Jesse Minter going to Baltimore, and without knowing who Harbaugh will replace him with, that move alone puts the Chargers into Tier 1. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

                      The marriage of Jim Harbaugh and McDaniel in LA is a Bond and Q in Skyfall <\/em>level of odd couple that should go as well for opposing defenses as it went for Javier Bardem in that film. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

                      McDaniel is as good as anyone at making life easy for quarterbacks and Justin Herbert is as good as anyone at making life easy for coordinators, especially now that he\u2019s willing to take more risks.<\/a>  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

                      It should be fireworks for the Chargers.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                      We have a Super Bowl set in name. It\u2019s a rematch of one of the greatest games of all time: Patriots v Seahawks.   However, in substance, after having watched the two Championship Games, I feel like I saw the true Super Bowl being contested by the Rams and the Seahawks.   In that game, one team\u2019s coach made the same mistake twice and his team lost.   Sean McVay is the best coach in the league, but his Achilles heel has historically been game management. It reared its head again against the Seahawks.   In the third quarter, the Rams were down to Seattle by 11…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":82136,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8298,13,598],"tags":[8260],"hub_post_cat":[],"class_list":["post-82134","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-guywholikessport","category-american-football","category-special-interest","tag-guywholikessport"],"acf":{"md_tip_date":"","md_tip_date_end":"","md_market_url":"","tip_date":"28\/01\/2026","event_country":"Australia"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82134","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/37"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82134"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82134\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/82136"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82134"},{"taxonomy":"hub_post_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hub_post_cat?post=82134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}