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We're mere days away from the start of the NFL playoffs. Our crew here at CBSSports.com is covering things from every conceivable angle, and one angle that we need to hit is the coaching angle. The players on the field will obviously determine the result of each game, but the coaches are in charge of putting those players in position to succeed.

So with that in mind, we are here once again to rank all 14 playoff coaching staffs -- head coach, and offensive and defensive coordinator (or play caller, or top assistant). As with the rankings from each of the last four years, there are a few things worth noting before we dive in: 

  • I came up with my own rankings to start things off, then ran them by the CBSSports.com staff over the past several days and weighed their input. That process is how we came up with rankings that are both tiered and numbered.
  • The tiers themselves should be considered rigid, while the rankings within them are fluid. That means if you wanted to slot one Tier 2 team ahead of another, there would be very little argument, as we are basically splitting hairs. But if you tried to move a Tier 4 team ahead of one of the teams in Tier 1 or 2, that would draw more forceful pushback. 
  • What you see below is my analysis of why the teams ended up in the tiers they did, and the strengths and weaknesses of the coaches that factored into them.

Tier 5: Are we sure they know what they're doing?

14. Houston Texans: HC DeMeco Ryans, OC Bobby Slowik, DC Kevin Burke 

Last year, the Texans were higher on this list despite being in just their first season. But the way this season has gone did not inspire all that much confidence. Specifically, offense coordinator Bobby Slowik, who looked like a star play caller last season, has instead looked like a liability this year. And you need to be able to generate explosive plays on offense, so the Texans have backslid from where they were last year.

Tier 4: We have some questions

13. Washington Commanders: HC Dan Quinn, OC Kliff Kingsbury, DC Joe Whitt Jr.

12. Pittsburgh Steelers: HC Mike Tomlin, OC Arthur Smith, DC Teryl Austin

11. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: HC Todd Bowles, OC Liam Coen, DC Larry Foote/Kacy Rodgers

This is the first season for this Washington coaching staff. Dan Quinn and Co. have done a good job changing the culture, and Kingsbury has put Jayden Daniels in position to succeed. Quinn does have a playoff past, though, and some questions about how things were handled.

The Steelers coaching staff consistently gets more out of the talent on the roster than should reasonably be expected, but they also haven't won a playoff game since 2016. (Also, down the stretch of the season, they weren't getting all that much more out of the roster than they should've been. The defense backslid and the offense has fallen apart now that Russell Wilson has stopped running hot on deep balls.)

The Bucs appear to have hit it big on their offensive coordinator for the second consecutive season, and it would not be surprising if Coen landed a head coaching job just like Dave Canales did last year. Bowles' side of the ball has been a disappointment this year, even if we know his capabilities when it comes to coaching them up. There are still some game management questions on his part to work out, though.

Tier 3: Good, but ...

10. Denver Broncos: HC Sean Payton, OC Joe Lombardi, DC Vance Joseph

9. Philadelphia Eagles: HC Nick Sirianni, OC Kellen Moore, DC Vic Fangio 

Payton has lifted the Broncos beyond what many thought possible in the first year of the Russell Wilson's Dead Cap Hit Era. Joseph has the defense playing at an extremely high level. But it's been a while since we've seen these guys in a playoff setting and it's hard to just give them the benefit of the doubt based on a Super Bowl Payton won 16 years ago.

Moore and Fangio were two of the best coordinator hires of last offseason, with each taking their unit on their respective side of the ball to new heights and getting better over the course of the season. Sirianni is still in charge of the operation, though, and he is less than fully trustworthy. 

Tier 2: Straight-up well-coached football teams

8. Green Bay Packers: HC Matt LaFleur, OC Adam Stenavich, DC Jeff Hafley

7. Buffalo Bills: HC Sean McDermott, OC Joe Brady, DC Bobby Babich

6. Los Angeles Chargers: HC Jim Harbaugh, OC Greg Roman, DC Jesse Minter

5. Los Angeles Rams: HC Sean McVay, OC Mike LaFleur, DC Chris Shula

4. Minnesota Vikings: HC Kevin O'Connell, OC Wes Phillips, DC Brian Flores

It's really difficult to differentiate between the coaching staffs in this tier. As mentioned in the introduction, you could move any of them into any order at all and get very little pushback. They're ranked this way largely on the performance they get out of their teams this season, relative to expectations. 

The Packers were one of the NFL's best teams during the regular season, with a top-10 unit on both sides of the ball. LaFleur did a fantastic job of reorganizing the offense around Malik Willis when Jordan Love was out, and then around Josh Jacobs when it became clear that the run game was superior to the passing attack. There's nothing the Green Bay staff did wrong to rank behind any of these others. There were just a lot of good coaching jobs this season.

McDermott's defense has consistently been one of the most well-coached units in the NFL since he arrived, and the way the offense has pivoted since Brady took over reveals and intelligence in the way they go about things. And then there's Harbaugh, who is in his first season with the Chargers but obviously spent a lot of time in the NFL previously and we've seen him coach plenty of places for long enough that we know how good he is. He is always, always, always going to maximize the talent on his roster, and his coordinators are going to do the same.

McVay and Co. would be in the first tier if it weren't for his persistent issues with fourth-down decision-making, including in the playoffs. O'Connell's staff, meanwhile, may have done the best coaching job in the NFL this season. They got more out of a Sam Darnold-led offense than could have reasonably been expected, while Flores led the league's most creative defense. None of that was out of character.

Tier 1: The Elite

3. Kansas City Chiefs: HC Andy Reid, OC Matt Nagy, DC Steve Spagnuolo

2. Baltimore Ravens: HC John Harbaugh, OC Todd Monken, DC Zach Orr

1. Detroit Lions: HC Dan Campbell, OC Ben Johnson, DC Aaron Glenn

We know all about these three coaching staffs. You can take your pick between Reid, Harbaugh and Campbell as the NFL's best coach, and very few people would tell you that you're wrong

These teams land in this order only because the Chiefs have the weakest individual link (OC Matt Nagy, the only coordinator among the three teams who does not call plays) and Orr is in his first year as the defensive coordinator. Johnson and Glenn have been in place under Campbell for several years and have become arguably the most and second most sought-after coaches on the market when it comes to head coaching interviews. That's how good they are.