NFL Coach Of The Year Odds Update: Kyle Shanahan Takes Lead

For most of this NFL season, the Philadelphia Eagles’ Nick Sirianni was the betting favorite to win NFL Coach of the Year, and that made sense. Led by one-time MVP favorite and quarterback Jalen Hurts, the Eagles started 8-0 and were the last time to lose, doing so in Week 10.

No matter, Philly then won its next five games to improve to 13-1 and looked poised for the best season in franchise history and to easily earn not just the NFC East title for the first time since 2019 but also the top seed in the conference.

Alas, Hurts has missed the past two games with an injury, and the Eagles have lost them both. They now need a victory in Week 18 against the visiting New York Giants to earn the division title and NFC’s No. 1 seed. If they are upset, it’s quite likely the Eagles slip to a wild-card spot.

Sirianni is now the +175 second favorite for Coach of the Year – which no Philly coach has won since Andy Reid in 2002.

Niners Cycling Through QBs

Philadelphia Eagles’ Nick Sirianni coaches during an NFL football game, Sunday, Jan. 1, 2023, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Your new betting favorite is the San Francisco 49ers’ Kyle Shanahan at +150. Hard to argue that as the Niners have already won the NFC West and would earn the conference’s top seed with a win Sunday as a huge home favorite vs. the Arizona Cardinals and Philadelphia being upset by the Giants.

San Francisco lost starting QB Trey Lance to a season-ending injury in Week 2 yet barely missed a beat when he was replaced by Jimmy Garoppolo. Then Jimmy G went down for the season in Week 13 vs. Miami, and the Niners haven’t lost since with rookie seventh-round pick and Mr. Irrelevant Brock Purdy under center. The team’s nine-game winning streak is the NFL’s longest and the franchise’s best this century.

Shanahan has simply put Purdy in the best position to succeed. Purdy is the fifth rookie QB in the Super Bowl era to win each of his first four career starts (last was Ben Roethlisberger in 2004) and seventh rookie in that span with at least two touchdown passes in five consecutive games (Purdy threw two in relief of Jimmy G vs. the Dolphins).

Jim Harbaugh in 2011 was the most recent 49ers coach to win NFL Coach of the Year. Kyle’s father Mike won two Super Bowls in charge of the Denver Broncos in the late 1990s but never won it.

The Giants’ Brian Daboll (+225) is the only other coach with a chance at this season’s award.