NFL Halfway: Wentz, Goff exceed expectations in Year 2
Page B3
DENVER — Of the half dozen first-year NFL head coaches, Vance Joseph inherited what was widely considered the best situation: a team just one year removed from a Super Bowl parade with a championship-caliber defense and a renovated offense.
Unlike the other five teams that averaged 4.4 wins last season, Denver was coming off a 9-7 season and the job only came open because of Gary Kubiak’s health concerns.
Yet, it’s the Broncos (3-5) who are spiraling with five losses in their past six games while Sean McVay’s Rams (6-2), Doug Marrone’s Jaguars (5-3) and Sean McDermott’s Bills (5-3) are primed for playoff pushes.
Even Anthony Lynn’s Chargers (3-5) are on the rise after a winless first month that included three losses by a field goal or less.
While the 49ers are an NFLworst 0-9, Kyle Shanahan could end up being the biggest winner of them all with his team jockeying for the top pick in next year’s draft.
The dive has started to fray nerves in Denver, where calls for offensive coordinator Mike McCoy’s job fill the airwaves.
When Kubiak quit, defensive coordinator Wade Phillips joined McVay in L.A. and offensive coordinator Rick Dennison joined McDermott in Buffalo.
Phillips is having his customary first-year effect with the Rams, who sport the largest point differential in the NFL, and Dennison is directing an offensive turnaround with the Bills, who could end the league’s longest playoff drought — they haven’t qualified since 1999.
The problems in Denver are mostly on offense, where Joseph spent his first eight months on the job pondering whether Trevor Siemian or Paxton Lynch would be his quarterback only to see Brock Osweiler emerge as his best bet.
Joseph has seen his team average an NFL-worst 14 points since Week 3, suffer its first shutout in a quarter century and get blown out at home coming off a bye week by the battered Giants.
Joe Woods’ defense is having too many breakdowns in coverage, Brock Olivo’s special teams are too sloppy and McCoy stubbornly sticks to a steady diet of three-receiver sets even though his quarterbacks have 18 sacks and 10 turnovers out of that formation over the past six games.
“It’s a league that’s really built and operated to have equal parts. So, the difference sometimes is the coaching. The difference is the scheme and play calling,” Joseph said.
“So, when you don’t win, absolutely you have to coach better. And that starts with me. Because in this league coaching is very important and the bettercoached teams win.”
Right now that includes the Bills, Rams and Jaguars.
BILLS: McDermott is doing more with less than his predecessor Rex Ryan. Fewer than two dozen players remain from last year’s roster and the losing culture is finally fading in Buffalo. McDermott has gotten the most out of QB Tyrod Taylor and the Bills lead the NFL with a plus11 turnover margin.
RAMS: With help from McVay and a better supporting cast, former top overall draft pick Jared Goff has made a huge jump this season. After failing to win the starting QB job until halfway
Anthony Lynn (left) and Kyle Shanahan (right) are two of the new group of head coaches rising in the NFL. Lynn’s Los Angeles Chargers are rebounding from a winless first month. Shanahan’s San Francisco 49ers are still in a hole, but may end up a big winner in the NFL draft next year.
through his rookie season, Goff is undergoing a sophomore surge not unlike Carson Wentz’s in Philadelphia.
The Rams hit the halfway point in first place in the NFC West. Down the stretch, they’ll be tested by fellow NFC division leaders Minnesota, New Orleans and Philadelphia.
JAGUARS: Having spent the previous two years as Jacksonville’s Oline coach, Marrone knew exactly what he had with turnover-prone QB Blake Bortles. So he built a run-first team that could control the clock, limit Bortles’ passes and play to an already-stout defense.
Drafting RB Leonard Fournette and LT Cam Robinson beefed up the ground game, and DE Calais Campbell has proven to be the NFL’s best free-agent signing. The Jaguars looked poised for a strong finish and their best season in a decade.
49ERS: Shanahan arrived with a lot of optimism as he brought his deep offensive knowledge and playbook from Atlanta to File photos / AP
a team in need of a change. But San Francisco got off to the worst start in franchise history.
QB Brian Hoyer went from starter to the bench before getting cut when GM John Lynch acquired Tom Brady’s longtime backup Jimmy Garoppolo. The only drama down the stretch will be if they can avoid 0-16 and get a good look at Garoppolo before determining whether to draft a quarterback with a premier pick in April.
CHARGERS: The relocated Chargers didn’t leave their heartbreak in San Diego when they moved to L.A. They’ve already lost four games by eight points or fewer. McCoy’s last two teams in San Diego lost 17 games by that same one-score margin.
They’ve once again had stretches of strong play and a string of solid victories with an undeniable collection of veteran talent. But narrow losses due to poor late-game execution and bad breaks have kept them from rising to the top of the AFC West.