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Kyle Brandt Declares NFL Coach of the Year Race Over

One coach has stood above the rest.

Kyle Koster

Sam Darnold (14) passes against the Seattle Seahawks during the first quarter at Lumen Field.
Sam Darnold (14) passes against the Seattle Seahawks during the first quarter at Lumen Field. / Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images
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The Minnesota Vikings went on the road and outplayed the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday to move to 13-2 on the year. If Kevin O'Connell's side can take care of Green Bay at home then they will set up a Week 18 showdown with the Detroit Lions with both the NFC North and the No. 1 seed on the line. It's something very few could have seen coming as Sam Darnold has played like an elite quarterback with help from the great receiving tandem of Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison—and a defensive unit coming up with big plays when most needed.

O'Connell is the leader in the clubhouse when it comes to NFL Coach of the Year jockeying with only two regular season games left on the schedule. A reasonable case could be made for Dan Campbell and perhaps that Week 18 tilt will swing the pendulum. But not for Good Morning Football's Kyle Brandt, who declared the race over on Monday.

Brandt is certainly correct that the Lions had a much better infrastructure in place headed into the season. And that Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn get a lot of the credit for how the offense and defense is doing.

On the other hand no one this year—or any other year really—has had to navigate through so many meaningful injuries. So if you want to argue that in Campbell's favor, fine, just do it to someone else.

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Kyle Koster
KYLE KOSTER

Kyle Koster is an assistant managing editor at Sports Illustrated covering the intersection of sports and media. He was formerly the editor in chief of The Big Lead, where he worked from 2011 to '24. Koster also did turns at the Chicago Sun-Times, where he created the Sports Pros(e) blog, and at Woven Digital.

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