Prior to training camp, NFL.com released his rankings for all 32 NFL coaches, and the Houston Texans’ Bill O’Brien was slotted at No. 19, the lowest among coaches who have won playoff games. After all, as author Eliot Harrison wrote:
Bill O’Brien is a good coach. How good of a coach is he? Well, his detractors will say he’s good enough to get ya beat in the playoffs. Then again, O’Brien has helped the Texans post a winning season in four out of his five years with the team. That’s after taking over a squad that went 2-14 the year before he got there. The complaints about O’Brien often center around an inconsistent offense and his in-game management. Of course, much of a head coach’s job performance centers around things fans don’t see. That includes the culture around the team from Monday through Saturday, communication with the players, and the ability to keep a team focused. Without the latter, there is no way Houston wins over 40 games in five years. The struggle for O’Brien this season will be to squeeze better play out of the offensive line, as well as get Deshaun Watson to avoid creating his own pressure by holding the ball for too long.
Three weeks into the 2019 season, and there are already eight coaches on the list who were ranked higher than O’Brien who already have worse records than O’Brien’s 2-1 mark. Here are the unlucky eight so far:
1. Doug Marrone (NFl.com rank: 18)
A slot higher than O’Brien, Marrone has had to deal with issues with the Jacksonville Jaguars ranging from starting a rookie quarterback in place of the injured big-money free agent, and also weathering the temper tantrums from an All-Pro cornerback. Nonetheless, the Jaguars are 1-2 on the season and even lost a head-to-head encounter at Houston in Week 2.
2. Bruce Arians (Nfl.com rank: 16)
The new coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers has looked like most of the other coaches of the Bucs with a 1-2 start. It could be that Arians just needs his Heisman-winning, first-round quarterback to execute his system, or maybe a little more luck from his field goal kicker. Nonetheless, if Arians is after his first playoff appearance since 2015 with the Arizona Cardinals, he is off to rocky start.
3. jon gruden (nfl.com rank: 15)
The last time this Gruden took a team to the playoffs was before anyone dared consider Eli Manning a Hall of Fame quarterback, what with his two Super Bowls and all. The Oakland Raiders got their Week 1 win over the Denver Broncos, and that has been about it. Playoff-winning coaches in Andy Reid and Mike Zimmer have bested Gruden to this point.
4. Ron rivera (Nfl.com rank: 13)
The Carolina Panthers have had a string of misfortune hit them with starting quarterback Cam Newton sustained a foot injury that punctuated their 0-2 start. However, backup Kyle Allen did led the Panthers to a 38-20 win over the Arizona Cardinals in Week 3. Rivera gets a true road test when the Panthers play the Texans at NRG Stadium in Week 4.
5. dan quinn (Nfl.com rank: 11)
The Atlanta Falcons have been all over the place through the first three weeks with a loss in Week 1 to the Minnesota Vikings, a win in Week 2 versus the Philadelphia Eagles, and then dropping their Week 3 game versus the Indianapolis Colts. The wheels could finally be coming off the wagon for a Quinn-led team that has produced just one wild-card playoff win since a 28-3 lead in Super Bowl LI.
6. mike tomlin (nfl.com rank: 9)
It is actually quite surprising that the Pittsburgh Steelers are 0-3. It isn’t as if Ben Roethlisberger has missed significant time in the Tomlin era before. Even if they did have Big Ben, there is no guarantee the Steelers still wouldn’t be 0-3. After all, in 2013, Pittsburgh started 0-4, making this the second time in Tomlin’s career he has started 0-3 or worse. It has only happened to Bill O’Brien once, last season, and the Houston Texans rebounded to win the AFC South.
7. Anthony lynn (nfl.com rank: 8)
The Los Angeles Chargers gave up a 10-point lead at home to the Texans, and then gave up a four-point lead the previous week to the Detroit Lions on the road, and couldn’t score a touchdown with half of the fourth quarter left to do so. The Chargers are already in the morass of the AFC West with the Oakland Raiders at 1-2 while the Kansas City Chiefs are about to sprint away with the division with a 3-0 start.
8. doug pederson (nfl.com rank: 5)
This is actually sad that a Super Bowl-winning coach, whose whole run to winning the big game was built upon the “next man up” philosophy as injuries ravaged that 2017 team, can’t post a .500-plus record through the first three games. The only team the Philadelphia Eagles have been able to beat has been winless Washington, and even so, they had a 17-point deficit to overcome at home. Perhaps there are just one too many injuries for Pederson to coach ’em up in Philly this time around.
