Betsided

Matt LaFleur Should Be Favorite to Win NFL Coach of the Year

By Matt De Saro

Matt LaFleur is climbing up the AP COY odds board but still has betting value with three weeks left in the season.
Matt LaFleur is climbing up the AP COY odds board but still has betting value with three weeks left in the season. / Dan Powers/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin /
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Aside from a few outliers and early firings, the coaching talent in the NFL is of a much higher caliber than in years past. Long gone are the days of teams relying on older coaching talent, and instead are seeking out young coaches with new schemes and strategies to keep things fresh. 

One of those guys is the Green Bay Packers' third-year head coach Matt LaFleur. LaFleur was a finalist in the AP Coach of the Year poll last year but ultimately lost the award to Kevin Stefanski. LaFleur finished fifth with three votes behind Ron Rivera, Brain Flores, and Sean McDermott. 

This season, LeFleur’s team sits atop the NFC North, has the best record in the conference, and is the only 11-win team in the NFL as of Week 15. The Packers are currently co-Super Bowl favorites at WynnBET Sportsbook at +450 with the Kansas City Chiefs. As of this writing, the Packers starting QB Aaron Rodgers is second in the AP MVP odds at +175 behind Tom Brady at +145. 

So, why isn’t LaFleur the favorite to win the NFL Coach of the Year Award? 

One major reason why he might not win this award is that the New England Patriots are leading the AFC East heading into Week 16 for the first time since Tom Brady left town. Bill Belichick continues to show why he might be the best football coach in history and has the Patriots back in the playoff hunt.

Belichick is a three-time winner of the award and has turned his team around after a 2-4 start.

Getting back to LaFleur, he hasn’t received the respect that he deserves after leading this Packers team to three winning seasons. He won 33 games in his first 40 games as head coach, which is more than any other coach in history. He also led the Packers to the NFC Championship game in his first two seasons and is trending towards achieving that feat for the third straight year.

Now that the Packers are back on top of the NFC with the best record in the league, LaFleur deserves some more attention and makes for a great bet with Belichick currently favored on the odds board.

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