Early in the 2024 NFL season, there's still not a whole lot that we know for sure. It's important to remember that there is still more than 75% of the year left to play. But we can still take stock of what we've seen so far, and try to figure out who is doing things that are working on both sides of the ball.
That's why we're here today. We want to take a look at the best offensive and defensive play-calling duos in the league. We're doing "play-calling duos" rather than coordinators because, well, so many head coaches call the plays on their side of the ball these days; and if we didn't include them, we would really be narrowing down the field of available options.
We decided to break down the top 10 into three groups, and the teams in each group are listed alphabetically.
Shanahan-McVay tree offenses (with defensive questions)
- 49ers: HC Kyle Shanahan (OC Chris Foerster), DC Nick Sorensen
- Packers: HC Matt LaFleur (OC Adam Stenavich), DC Jeff Hafley
- Rams: HC Sean McVay (OC Mike LaFleur), DC Chris Shula
These teams have had their coaching staffs picked over the past several years -- especially San Francisco and L.A. But Shanahan, LaFleur and McVay are three of the very best offensive play-callers in the NFL, so good that they would be on this list almost no matter who their teams had as the defensive coordinator. Each of these three teams has new defensive coordinators this season, and they are off to varying degrees of good starts.
San Francisco has generally done well with developing defensive coordinators in-house (Robert Saleh, DeMeco Ryans), while McVay's choices on that side of the ball have worked out quite well, too. (Wade Phillips, Brandon Staley, Raheem Morris.) LaFleur has yet to get it truly right on defense, and we'll see how things go with Hafley through the rest of the year. (The early-season numbers are propped up a bit by having played Will Levis.)
Good on both sides
- Bills: OC Joe Brady, HC Sean McDermott (DC Bobby Babich)
- Ravens: OC Todd Monken, DC Zachary Orr
- Seahawks: OC Ryan Grubb, HC Mike Macdonald (DC Aden Durde)
- Texans: OC Bobby Slowik, HC DeMeco Ryans (DC Matt Burke)
- Vikings: HC Kevin O'Connell (OC Wes Phillips), DC Brian Flores
We know a bit more about the other-side coaches for this group than we do about the previous one -- even with Seahawks OC Ryan Grubb and Ravens DC Zachary Orr being in their first seasons in these roles. (At least at the NFL level.)
Brady's effect on Buffalo's offense has been strong, and we've always known that McDermott is an elite defensive mind. His ability to get the current group playing at a high level despite being without five starters from last year's group (and three expected starters for this year) is pretty incredible. Monken almost immediately got the Ravens offense kicked into high gear upon arriving last season, spurring Lamar Jackson's second MVP season. Things look supercharged this year with Derrick Henry added to the mix. Orr's unit uncharacteristically struggled in a come-from-ahead loss to the Raiders in Week 2, but has completely strangled the Cowboys and Bills in two games since. Baltimore always finds the right answers on that side of the ball.
It is WILD to see Seattle running a modernized offense after years of essentially operating in the 1990s under Pete Carroll's recent offensive coordinators. Grubb is only in his first NFL season; but we see what he did at the University of Washington, so we know this can work. And Macdonald is one of the best and most creative defensive minds in the NFL. Before his defense had to play without several starters against Detroit on Monday night, it had looked fantastic.
Slowik is going to be the next Shanahan-McVay tree guy to get a head-coaching opportunity. The work he did with C.J. Stroud last season, in a horrendous environment given the revolving-door offensive line, was spectacular. He knows how to scheme easy answers for his quarterback, and Stroud can do the rest on his ability and IQ. And now that the Texans have improved their personnel, we can really see Ryans' scheme come into full focus. He's excellent.
O'Connell is another Shanahan-McVay guy, and good lord is he good at this. Look what he's getting out of Sam Darnold right now! And he got good offensive results with Josh Dobbs and Nick Mullens last year. Flores' defense is bats--t nuts. The man is a menace. I feel bad for whomever has to play against him. It must be hell.
The two best duos
- Chiefs: HC Andy Reid (OC Matt Nagy), DC Steve Spagnuolo
- Lions: OC Ben Johnson, DC Aaron Glenn
The Chiefs are the best of the best until further notice. Reid is the best offensive coach of his generation, essentially the counterpart to Bill Belichick on his side of the ball. I'm not sure there are any coaches who have done more to push offense forward over the last two decades than has Reid. Spagnuolo was overmatched during his time as a head coach, but he has been a truly fantastic defensive coordinator, like his generation's Wade Phillips. He always gets his group playing at a high level by the end of the season, and with better personnel on hand last year, had one of the best units in the league.
There's a reason Johnson has been arguably the most sought-after name on the market in each of the last two offseasons. He consistently puts his players in position to succeed; he sequences plays better than almost anyone; and he is willing to do what's working until his opponent proves it can stop it. Glenn has been more up-and-down, but that, again, is largely based on personnel. Whenever he's had the defensive backs to ramp up the aggression up front, his unit has performed quite well. We're seeing some of that early on this season, and it should continue if they can stay healthy on the back end.
