Welcome to the Thursday edition of the Pick Six newsletter!
As everyone knows, the first big decision any team has to make for the Super Bowl is which jersey color they're going to where, and our two teams both made that decision this week. The Chiefs have decided to wear their red jerseys while the 49ers will be wearing white.
The good news for the 49ers is that the team wearing white has gone 16-3 in the past 19 Super Bowls. The bad news for the 49ers is that one of those three losses came four years ago when the Chiefs beat them in Super Bowl LIV.
Since this is not a fashion newsletter, I will stop talking about jersey colors now and move on. For today, we'll be taking a look at the coaching hires made by the Commanders and Seahawks, plus, we'll be revealing the results of our NFL Honors vote. (We had everyone here at CBS Sports vote on the NFL's biggest awards.)
Anyway, here's your daily reminder to tell all your friends to sign up for the newsletter. To get them signed up, all you have to do is click here. Let's get to the rundown.
1. Today's show: Two former NFL players break down the latest NFL news
For today's episode of the "Pick Six NFL" podcast, we brought on two former NFL players to break down all of the latest NFL news: Brady Quinn and Leger Douzable.
If you don't know Quinn, he's a human Swiss Army knife: Not only is he a former NFL quarterback, but he's also a talented host, which is why we decided to let him host today's episode of the pod. Douzable and Quinn talked about multiple topics today, including why it might not have been a smart decision for Ben Johnson and Bobby Slowik to take themselves out of the running for the two head coaching jobs that were open when the week started.
It's rare to see an offensive coordinator stay with their team when they have chance to become a head coach, and we saw it happen TWICE over the past 48 hours. If Douzable were in the same situation, he would have taken a head coaching job, because you might be a hot candidate now, but that doesn't necessarily mean teams will want you in the future.
"You have to be careful when you're in a position to potentially be a head coach, because you just don't know which way the pendulum is going to swing in the future," Douzable said. "Kellen Moore was one of the hottest commodities when it comes to being a head coach, Byron Leftwich -- who's NOT EVEN IN THE NFL right now -- was one of the hottest commodities a few years ago. It's a little weird."
Douzable was definitely baffled by Johnson's decision, especially since he appeared to be the frontrunner for the Commanders job.
"Last year, I could understand him wanting to come back," Douzable said of Johnson. "Maybe he felt like he wasn't ready to take on that role as a head coach, he wanted to mature a little bit more when it comes to being a leader of men, but now, it gets everyone asking questions."
If you want to hear Douzable's full thoughts on the situation, along with Quinn's, then be sure to click here so you can listen to today's episode. The two guys also talked about a few other topics, including how Arthur Smith fits in Pittsburgh and whether they're excited about the Pro Bowl games, which start tonight. If you prefer your podcasts in video form, you can watch today's episode on YouTube by clicking here.
2. Dan Quinn headed to Washington: Four things to know about the Commanders' new coach
After spending three seasons in Dallas, Dan Quinn is jumping ship to a division rival. The Cowboys defensive coordinator has decided to take the head coaching job in Washington.
Here's everything you need to know about Quinn's hiring:
- Quinn finally takes a head coaching job. The Cowboys defensive coordinator had been one of the hottest commodities on the head coaching market over the past three years. Last year, the Cardinals, Colts and Broncos all showed interest in him, but he decided to stay in Dallas. In 2022, Quinn interviewed with multiple teams, including the Broncos, Bears, Giants, Vikings and Dolphins. He now takes over in Washington, will he'll be reporting to first-year general manager (Adam Peters) and a new owner (Josh Harris).
- Quinn may not have been the Commanders' first choice. The Commanders appeared to have their sights set on Ben Johnson, but that fell through after the Lions offensive coordinator decided to stay in Detroit. Washington was also looking at Mike Macdonald, but that option disappeared when he got hired by the Seahawks, a job many thought might go to Quinn. The fact that Quinn wasn't close to their top option makes this hire somewhat uninspiring. It's also interesting because the Commanders could have had Mike Vrabel or Bill Belichick, but they decided to go with Quinn.
- Why Quinn could be a good hire. During his three years in Dallas, Quinn built one of the best defenses in the NFL, which is good news for the Commanders, because they've had one of the worst defenses over the past few years. During the 2023 season alone, the Commanders surrendered the most yards per game (388.0) AND the most points per game (30.5). To put that second number in perspective, no other NFL team even gave up 27 points per game. If Quinn can turn the defense around right away, the Commanders should be competitive.
- This is Quinn's second stint as an NFL coach. The 53-year-old got his first head coaching job back in 2015 with the Falcons and he quickly turned that team around. By his second year, he had Atlanta in the Super Bowl, which is a game everyone remembers, because the Falcons blew a 28-3 lead. The one issue here is that Quinn peaked in his second year, as the Falcons had a losing record during his final two and a half seasons.
For our full story on Quinn's hiring, be sure to click here.
3. Seahawks hire Mike Macdonald: Four things to know about Seattle's new coach
For the first time in 14 years, the Seahawks are going to have a head coach not named Pete Carroll, and that coach is going to be Mike Macdonald. The Ravens defensive coordinator was in Seattle for a second interview Wednesday, and the team didn't let him leave. With the hire, the Seahawks will go from having the oldest coach in the NFL (Pete Carroll was 72 when he was let go) to the youngest coach in the NFL.
Here's everything you need to know about Macdonald's hiring:
- Seahawks stay on the defensive. The hot trend in coaching right now is to hire an offensive-minded guy, but the Seahawks have decided to buck the trend by going with Macdonald, who was the defensive coordinator for the Ravens for the past two seasons. The Seahawks clearly prefer having a defensive-minded coach. That's what Pete Carroll was, and with Macdonald being given a six-year contract, the Seahawks could go 20 straight years with a defensive-minded coach if Macdonald makes it through his initial deal.
- Macdonald was a hot commodity. There were eight head coaching vacancies this offseason and Macdonald interviewed at least once for SIX of them. The only two teams he DIDN'T interview with were the Raiders and Patriots. The Commanders were apparently interested, but Macdonald decided to take the Seahawks' job.
- Why everyone was high on Macdonald. The Ravens didn't just have a great defense this year; they were historically great. Under Macdonald, not only did the Ravens lead the NFL in sacks (60) and takeaways, but they also gave up the fewest points per game (16.5), which made them the first team in NFL history to lead the league in all three of those categories in the same season. Macdonald started his coaching career in Baltimore as a coaching intern in 2014. After seven seasons with the Ravens, he left one Harbaugh brother (John) and joined the other one (Jim) at Michigan, where he served as the defensive coordinator for one season. After one year with the Wolverines, he returned to Baltimore, where he was the DC for the past two years with the Ravens.
- Macdonald is now the youngest coach in the NFL. After holding the title for less than three weeks, New England's Jerod Mayo has already been replaced as the youngest coach in the league. The title now belongs to Macdonald, who is only 36 years old (he turns 37 on June 26). As for Mayo, he'll be turning 38 on Feb. 23, which makes him the second-youngest coach. The third-youngest coach is actually someone who's been around awhile. That's Sean McVay, who turned 38 on Jan. 24.
For our full story on Macdonald's hiring, be sure to click here.
Tyler Sullivan and I also recorded a podcast about the hiring, and you can watch that on YouTube here.
4. NFL Honors: We're handing out every award from MVP to Coach of the Year
Exactly one week from tonight, the NFL will be holding its annual awards show where it hands out every big award from the 2023 season from MVP to Rookie of the Year to Coach of the Year.
We decided to get a jump on that here by rounding up 32 of our NFL experts at CBS Sports to hold our own vote for the league's biggest awards. Our panel included everyone from JJ Watt to Bill Cowher to Amy Trask to Jay Feely to Tracy Wolfson. And me, I also voted.
Here's who came out on top in our voting. (Remember, the awards are based on regular-season performance only, so we couldn't take into account what anyone did in the playoffs.)
- MVP: Lamar Jackson. The Ravens QB received 30 of the 32 first-place votes. The other two went to Josh Allen and Brock Purdy.
- Coach of the Year: DeMeco Ryans. The Texans head coach earned 13 votes, which allowed him to edge out Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski, who earned 11 votes. No other coach got more than four votes.
- Defensive player of the year: T.J. Watt. According to the oddsmakers, Myles Garrett is the favorite to win this award, but he didn't come close here. In our voting, Garrett only got eight votes, which was well behind Watt, who more than doubled him up with 17 votes.
If you want to know who won the rest of the awards in our voting, you'll have to check out the full story here.
And just in case you're wondering, here's our full list of voters (it's listed alphabetically, which I'm only mentioning because I would never put myself ahead of JJ Watt on any list): Brett Anderson, Cody Benjamin, John Breech, Doug Clawson, Bill Cowher, Jordan Dajani, Bryan DeArdo, Leger Douzable, Jared Dubin, Josh Edwards, Jay Feely, Emory Hunt, Eric Kernish, Jeff Kerr, Aditi Kinkhabwala, Kyle Long, Joel Magaraci, Bryant McFadden, Garrett Podell, Pete Prisco, Brady Quinn, Phil Simms, Kyle Stackpole, Kevin Steimle, Tyler Sullivan, Chris Trapasso, Amy Trask, Brock Vereen, Evan Washburn, JJ Watt, Ryan Wilson and Tracy Wolfson.
5. Pro Bowl skills challenge kicks off: Here's what you need to know
The Pro Bowl is now called the Pro Bowl Games, and it's being held over two days this year: Feb. 1 and Feb. 4. The action will be kicking off tonight with several skill competitions. Here's what you need to know if you plan on watching:
Time: 7-8:30 p.m. ET
Location: Camping World Stadium/Nicholson Fieldhouse (Orlando)
TV: ESPN | Stream: fuboTV (try for free)
If you do check things out, you're going to be watching several fascinating competitions. Here's a quick look at those:
- Dodgeball. The AFC will have a team of six offensive players going up against an NFC team made up of defensive players. There will also be a matchup that features defensive players from the AFC facing offensive players from the NFC.
- Closest to the pin. This sounds like exactly what it is. The AFC and NFC will both have six players competing in a golfing competition where they'll see who can drive it closest to the pin. The winning team will take home three points for their conference.
- Precision passing. With this event, we're going to find out who the best QB at the Pro Bowl is. The AFC quarterbacks -- Tua Tagovailoa, C.J. Stroud and Gardner Minshew -- will be going up against the NFC quarterbacks, a group that includes Jalen Hurts, Baker Mayfield and Geno Smith. The quarterbacks in this competition will accumulate points by hitting as many targets as possible in one minute.
- Snap shots. I'm guessing the NFL finally got the 714 emails I sent them last year, because there's finally a competition for long snappers and this is it. In this competition, long snapper and centers will snap balls at targets of various sizes and point values.
For a full look at every event that will be airing tonight and the events that will be airing Sunday, be sure to check out our Pro Bowl story here.
I don't love the current Pro Bowl format, but I will watch almost anything that involves football, so there's a 99% chance I will at least check out some of this.
6. Extra points: Packers make surprise hire at defensive coordinator
It's been a busy 24 hours in the NFL, and since it's nearly impossible to keep track of everything that happened, I went ahead and put together a roundup for you.
- Packers steal Boston College's head coach. The Packers have a new defensive coordinator and went to the college ranks to find him. The team has decided to hire Jeff Hafley, who spent the past four seasons as the head coach at Boston College. For more on Hafley's hiring, be sure to click here.
- Titans find their defensive coordinator. The Titans are bringing in Dennard Wilson to coach the defense in Tennessee, according to The Athletic. Wilson was the secondary coach for the Ravens last season, which means Baltimore's defensive coaching staff has taken another big hit after losing Mike Macdonald.
- Dolphins could be hiring a Shula. The Dolphins have a vacancy at defensive coordinator, and they'll be interviewing Chris Shula this week for the job. Shula is the grandson of former Dolphins head coach Don Shula. The younger Shula has spent the past sevens seasons on Sean McVay's staff in Los Angeles. According to The Athletic, Shula is also expected to interview for the open defensive coordinator job in L.A.
- Micah Parsons calls out Cowboys. During his most recent podcast, the Cowboys defensive star seemed to take a slight shot at the team's front office. "I hope that we go out and get the players we're missing because we didn't do that this year," Parsons said. The Cowboys star also seemed to take a shot at the coaching staff: "We were just outperformed, out-schemed, however you want to put it," Parsons said, via PFT. "Like, they had an answer for everything." Both comments read like a message to the entire organization that everyone needs to do more. You can read Parson's full comments here.
