Power Ranking the 8 Remaining NFL Playoff Coaches

With the NFL Divisional Playoff round just days away, every aspect of each team's game must be executed to perfection, meaning each coach must be able to out-duel their opponent. Some have been to this dance a few more times than others, and that will certainly factor into the playoff matches as well as this ranking.

All head coaches left in the playoffs are great at one thing or another, but there's a difference between being great in the regular season and in the playoffs, right Marty Schottenheimer? Here are the power rankings for the remaining coaches in the playoffs.

8. Jim Harbaugh

First off, I want to applaud Jim Harbaugh for helping resurrect the San Francisco 49ers franchise in just his first season, but he just doesn't have any playoff experience.

Harbaugh brought the 49ers from a losing season in 2010 to the second overall seed in the NFC this year, with the San Fran defense doing their best 2000 Baltimore Ravens impression. The new head coach has transitioned well from college level to the pros but the playoffs are a lot different than BCS bowl games.

San Francisco looks primed to be a playoff threat for the next few seasons with Harbaugh on the sidelines, but one season of work does not merit a ranking above coaches who have an abundance of playoff experience.

7. Gary Kubiak

Houston Texans head coach Gary Kubiak has delivered a 2011 season that will be forever written into the history of the franchise, but like the team this is Kubiak's first time in the playoffs as head coach.

The Texans will once again go to battle with the man who started the season as their third string quarterback in T.J. Yates. The rookie quarterback will face an always stout Baltimore Ravens defense on the road. 

John Harbaugh and the Ravens have made a habit of making it into the postseason and at least winning their first game. Kubiak is a fine head coach with a great young team, but the deck is stacked against Houston.

6. John Harbaugh

Speaking of those Baltimore Ravens, their head coach John Harbaugh finishes at number six in these rankings.

Harbaugh and quarterback Joe Flacco have given the Ravens an offense that has to be respected once again, but just haven't been able to reach the grand stage of the Super Bowl just yet.

In 2008, the team lost the AFC Championship game against arch rival Pittsburgh and have been unable to reach that stage since then. Harbaugh's squad have the best chance to get there this season with the banged up Texans coming to town, a team they already defeated back in Week 6.

The Ravens look primed for a Super Bowl run and have already defeated their opponent this weekend when they were healthier than they are now. Harbaugh should be able to out-coach Kubiak this weekend based on his playoff experience and talent on his roster.

5. John Fox

Lost in all the talk of Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow, is their head coach John Fox.

Whether you're pro or anti-Tebow, you have to give his head coach credit for essentially reworking his entire offensive scheme to fit his quarterback during the middle of the NFL regular season.

Fox hasn't seen the playoffs much in recent years with his last few seasons in Carolina proving uneventful, but his new team just pulled off one heck of an upset by taking out a very game Pittsburgh Steelers.

The former Panthers head coach made the Super Bowl just several seasons ago, losing to the New England Patriots whom he now faces this Sunday. Don't count out Fox and company when they take the field in Foxboro this weekend, because you know the Denver coach will be looking to work out some leftover Super Bowl frustrations.

4. Mike McCarthy

Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy has perhaps the best team in the playoffs taking the field for him this Sunday, but he's still relatively new to playoff success.

The Packers are indeed the defending Super Bowl champions, but guys like Tom Coughlin and the man in the hoodie who shall be named later have shown more ability to thrive in the playoffs than McCarthy.

Before last season, the Pack head coach had made the playoffs just twice in his tenure, losing to Coughlin's New York Giants in the 2007 NFC Championship game and the Arizona Cardinals in a 2009 Wild Card game.

McCarthy is on the brink of heading into the upper echelon of NFL head coaches, but I just need to see one more big playoff run from his team to put him there.

3. Sean Payton

Being a Dallas Cowboys fan, every time I see the former Dallas assistant coach Sean Payton patrolling the sidelines in New Orleans, I grind my teeth a bit.

In his first season as the Saints head coach, he brought the team to the 2006 NFC Championship game, and then to the franchise's first ever Super Bowl championship three seasons later.

Payton has put together one of the most electrifying offenses in the NFL down in the Big Easy with a 2011 team arguably better than the Super Bowl champion team from a few seasons ago.

The Saints head coach hasn't battled through a torn MCL this season to go home in the team's first playoff game like last year. Expect Bill Parcells' former assistant to bring his A-game to Candlestick Park this weekend.

2. Tom Coughlin

Younger NFL fans may only know Tom Coughlin for his time spent as New York Giants head coach, but he's enjoyed playoff success both in New York and during his time with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The Jaguars came into the league as an expansion team back in the mid 1990s and Coughlin quickly took that team to the playoffs, finishing first or second in the AFC Central from 1996-1999. All of those seasons lead to playoff births for the Jags, reaching the AFC Championship on two occasions.

Coughlin brought his knack for playoff births with him to New York in 2004, where he's lead the G-Men to five postseason appearances in eight seasons with the team.

In 2007, his team won the Super Bowl against the then undefeated New England Patriots, and will look to slay another Goliath in the form of Green Bay this round.

1. Bill Belichick

Don't ever let Bill Belichick's dress on the sidelines make you forget that he's easily one of the most decorated head coaches in the history of the NFL.

Under his regime, the New England Patriots became just the second team in NFL history to win three Super Bowls in a four year span and only the second team to ever finish the regular season undefeated.

Belichick has defeated some of the best head coaches of his time in the postseason, from Tony Dungy and Bill Cowher to Marty Shottenheimer and Andy Reid. You name him and The Hoodie has probably beaten him.

Tom Coughlin comes closest to playoff experience, but no coach left in these playoffs can point to more success than the Patriots head coach.