Schrager's Cheat Sheet: Titans' Vrabel leads stacked Coach of the Year field

By Peter Schrager
FOX Sports NFL Analyst

Welcome to the Week 17 edition of the Schrager Cheat Sheet.

Each week, I take a look at several things you need to know heading into the NFL weekend. This week, we break down the race for Coach of the Year, ponder if the Trey Lance era has arrived and more.

1. Is Mike Vrabel the Coach of the Year?

The NFL Coach of the Year award could end up being an even hotter debate than the MVP this year. Whereas Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Jonathan Taylor and Cooper Kupp have emerged as the favorites in the latter discussion, there are about a dozen NFL head coaches who could make a case for the award this year. Here's my top 12 entering Week 17.

1. Mike Vrabel, Tennessee: The dude has had 88 players dress for his team, he has been without Derrick Henry for the entire second half of the regular season, and he's still got his boys fighting and atop the AFC South. They've swept the Colts, beaten the Chiefs and somehow remained contenders despite missing Henry, AJ Brown, Taylor Lewan and Julio Jones for huge parts of the year. Next man up.

2. Frank Reich, Indianapolis: Indy started the year 0-3 and fell to 1-4 yet just won on back-to-back Saturday night games in December to put itself firmly in the thick of the AFC playoff picture. The win over Arizona was a coaching masterpiece, with four offensive linemen inactive to start the game, two All-Pros (Quenton Nelson and Darius Leonard) out due to COVID and a host of injuries that occurred during the game, including one to Jack Doyle.

3. Matt LeFleur, Green Bay: What appeared to be a toxic situation back in July has ended up being a glorious one in December. Rodgers has led the way, but LaFleur has been nothing short of Svengali-like in managing his star player, his locker room and the bosses upstairs. Add in the way Green Bay has won without key players on the offensive line, at wide receiver and on defense this season, and LaFleur — who has won more regular-season games to start a career than any other coach in NFL history — could be the guy.

4. Brian Flores, Miami: The Dolphins are the first team in NFL history to have a seven-game losing streak and a seven-game winning streak in the same season. If they can beat Tennessee and/or New England over the final two weeks and make the playoffs after a 1-7 start, I'd say "Flo" deserves serious consideration.

5. Andy Reid, Kansas City: The Chiefs were 3-4 and being written off as a team at the end of its run. Wake up in Week 17, and they're atop the AFC standings with a top-five scoring offense and a top-five scoring defense. Big Red never wavered, never panicked and never showed a sign of doubt throughout.

6. Nick Sirianni, Philadelphia: The Eagles, like the Dolphins, were written off and left for dead midway through the season. All Philadelphia has done is discover an identity, become one of the most physical teams in the league and embody the positivity and spirit of its first-year head coach.

7. Bill Belichick, New England: The two straight losses hurt his case, but the fact that New England is in this position with a rookie quarterback and a host of new faces on both sides of the ball should be recognized.

8. Zac Taylor, Cincinnati: Entering the season, Las Vegas had the Bengals' over/under on wins at 4.5. Now, they're on the precipice of winning the division title after sweeping both the Steelers and Ravens. Taylor's aggressiveness was questioned after losses to the Chargers and 49ers at home, but he has responded with two dominant wins in a row.

9. Mike McCarthy, Dallas: Micah Parsons is getting a lot of credit, Dak Prescott is getting a lot of credit, Trevon Diggs is getting a lot of credit, and even coordinators Kellen Moore and Dan Quinn are getting a lot of credit in Dallas. What about the big man? Amidst a pressure cooker situation in Dallas, McCarthy has been a rock of stability.

10. John Harbaugh, Baltimore: No team has been stung by the injury bug more than the Ravens, and for three-quarters of the season, they were not only finding a way to win but also at one point in pole position in the AFC. Tough losses to Miami, Pittsburgh and Green Bay, along with two blowouts to Cincinnati, might keep him from this individual honor.

11. Dan Campbell, Detroit: Yes, a coach with two wins deserves some recognition. The Lions are so undermanned, they're fighting so hard, and they've taken on the identity of their coach.

12. Rich Bisaccia, Las Vegas: Think about what Bisaccia was stepping into after the Gruden firing, the Henry Ruggs tragedy and losing three of four games in November and December. And yet, here we are, in Week 17 — and the Raiders are fighting hard for their coach and knocking on the door to their first playoff berth since 2016.

2. Sony, Sony, Sony

I could have probably thrown Sean McVay into that Coach of the Year conversation, too, as he has had to welcome a turnstile of new faces into the fold since the start of the previous offseason. One of the great under-the-radar moves of a busy 12 months of roster-shuffling in Los Angeles was the August acquisition of Sony Michel. The Rams gave the Patriots two picks in next year's draft — one fifth-rounder, one sixth-rounder — for Michel. He has responded by being their bell cow when the team needs to rely on the run the most.

Consider this: The NFL's leading rushers in Weeks 13-16 are as follows:

1. Sony Michel, Rams, 423 yards

2. Jonathan Taylor, Colts, 421 yards

3. Rashaad Penny, Seahawks, 346 yards

Michel has stepped in with Darrell Henderson struggling to stay healthy and rookie Jake Funk in and out of the lineup. The return of Cam Akers made a lot of headlines last week, and I do think he'll play a role in January, but I expect Michel to be the bell cow over the next few weeks. I've spoken to folks in the Rams organization, and as much as it might cause some to roll their eyes, Michel's championship experience with the Patriots is one of the things the organization likes most about him. Michel has played in big games and won big games. The Rams are relying on that know-how now.

3. Trey Day

It was quite a 72 hours for the 49ers. On Thursday, Jimmy Garoppolo struggled mightily in a must-have Thursday night game in Tennessee. On Friday, in one of the more bizarre stories of the NFL season, GM John Lynch accidentally "liked" a tweet suggesting the quarterback be left behind in Nashville. Then it was revealed that Jimmy G suffered an injury in that game, leading to Trey Lance running with the starters in practice all this week.

This week's opponent is Houston — hardly a pushover after two straight wins — but the expectation is that the 49ers can still win with Lance under center. After that, it's decision time.

Week 18 is a showdown versus the Rams in L.A., and then, if things go right, the playoffs. Do the 49ers rip the Band-Aid off now and go with Lance from here on out — even if Jimmy G is healthy? 

Here are a couple of my thoughts on the situation:

— Lance has looked much better in practice this month than he did previously. The injury he was dealing with in September and October was legit and kept him from being a functional quarterback.

— There's not much film on Lance from this season. How do you prepare for what you don't know? Be certain that Kyle Shanahan has a deep reservoir of plays written up for him, too. This could end up being one of the wildest storylines of the 2021 season if Lance is leading the 49ers through the playoffs.

4. Lane's big day; Lane's awesome year

I loved seeing Lane Johnson score a touchdown — the first of his NFL career — and then celebrate like a little kid on Sunday versus the Giants. Johnson has been through a lot this season. His openness about his mental health — including his public discussion of it with Jay Glazer on FOX NFL Sunday — might be his lasting legacy as an NFL player.

That's real-life stuff. On the football field? Well, he has been absolutely dominant this season. Somehow, some way, he was left off the NFC's Pro Bowl roster when it was announced last week. That's absurd. He might have to pull a Darius Leonard. What's that? In 2019, Leonard was left off the Pro Bowl team but was named a First-Team All-Pro. I'd expect Johnson to do the same.

5. Bubba: An under-the-radar head-coaching candidate to watch

Bubba Ventrone might not be a household name, but he could be the head coach of your NFL team next season. A 10-year NFL veteran and special-teams demon, Ventrone is now the Colts' special-teams coordinator.

Indy is having a resurgent season after a slow start, and its special teams are among the best in the NFL. But Ventrone has served as more than merely an X's and O's guy at the chalkboard. A former standout with the Jets, Browns and 49ers, Ventrone learned the coaching ropes under Belichick for three years before joining Reich's staff in 2018. 

If you're looking for an example of what Ventrone brings to his team, give this year's "Hard Knocks" in-season journey with the Colts a watch. Ventrone has been a star of the program, both for his coaching and for his enthusiasm. Read about him predicting plays here.

Bubba has been beloved in every building he has been in. I think he's going to get some interviews this offseason to potentially be the CEO of one of the 32 buildings in the league.

Peter Schrager is an NFL writer for FOX Sports and a host of "Good Morning Football" on NFL Network.