Which of the NFL's 11 New Coaches Are Up to the Task?

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Tom Cable—Oakland Raiders

Cable put together a season good enough to allow him to stay, but that won’t be enough this year.

The upside is, the guys in the backfield, if healthy, can pose a serious threat to teams, and the defense should get better against the run; which was an Achilles heel to last year’s season. Look for Higgins to have a breakout season, but other than that, the Raiders will finish 4th behind two teams that have better players and experience, and one team that has better tools to work with.

Todd Haley—Kansas City Chiefs

Haley has a very intriguing situation in KC. He gets Cassel at QB, which will vastly improve the landscape of who is throwing the ball.

The trouble is, outside of Bowe, the Chiefs will need newly acquired Bobby Engram to keep double coverage away from him (Bowe). Enter in, they gave up Gonzalez for Engram and a RB position that, unless Johnson gets himself together, remains suspect—and things don’t look so promising.

The only thing that would help is Johnson. If they can run effectively, the Chiefs can continue to try and spread the field a bit, and with Cassel at the helm there is no reason to think it can’t be done. The DBs are a bright spot but the D must improve on the lack of sacks from last year.

Look for the Chiefs to finish a modest 3rd in the division.

Jim Caldwell—Indianapolis Colts

Wayne and Gonzalez get promotions with Harrison gone, Donald Brown should fit well in the system, and Caldwell is in line to be yet another coach to inherit an already well-built team.

The conundrum with the Colts is that, they have to not only run the ball better, but stop the run better as well. They will probably finish second behind the Titans, but don’t be surprised if the Texans give them a run for their money.

Rex Ryan—New York Jets

If you pay attention closely to the Jets and get away from Mark Sanchez, which in my opinion will be a huge bust, then you can clearly see Ryan’s concerns. Ryan is trying to utilize Jones by instilling a new ground and pound system offensively. He has already improved upon a weak defense in acquiring Douglas and Scott, but without a TE who can block, and virtually no receivers worth mentioning, this team is no better than 4th in the division, even on paper.

Jim Schwartz—Detroit Lions

The best for last perhaps?

The Lions are a big topic with Stafford, but he inevitable comes into a team that isn’t ready just yet—to add to that, Flacco and Ryan set the bar for rookie QBs and although, if you compare Stafford to either of the aforementioned, he clearly measures up—but he won’t be the starter come time game one.

Culpepper reunites with Linehan, and although he won’t have what both of them had in their days in Minnesota, Culpepper has enough tools to make some noise.

The problem is whether or not he will, and the consensus is he won’t. Smith will be asked to be more of a power runner, which he isn’t, and the addition of Morris may not lessen the load.

The Defense will improve upon last year where they weren’t that bad, but the O-Line will definitely have to improve upon a franchise high 52 sacks only second to the 49ers. Is this the year? No!

Will the Lions be a better team in years to come Yes! But for now 4th place is all they will acquire...albeit a better 4th place, but still.

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