Sean McVay had an immediate and dramatic impact on the Los Angeles Rams in his first year as the team’s bench boss. After capturing headlines with his hiring as the youngest head coach in NFL history, McVay guided the Rams to their first winning season in 14 years, ending a 12-year playoff drought and garnering NFL Coach of the Year honors.
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With the Rams sitting second only to the New England Patriots on the Super Bowl odds with just days remaining until the start of the 2018 NFL campaign, McVay has emerged as the favorite to once again be named as the league’s top skipper. He sports +900 odds to win NFL Coach of the Year this season.
The Rams had nowhere to go but up when McVay took over the coaching reins in January 2017. Los Angeles compiled a dismal 4-12 record in 2016, marking the team’s 10th straight losing season.
But under McVay’s guidance, Los Angeles led the NFL in points scored last season, while running back Todd Gurley finished second with 1,305 rushing yards, and second-year passer Jared Goff joined the league leaders with 3,804 passing yards and 28 touchdown strikes.
Los Angeles is now pegged as a solid -130 bet to win OVER 10 games, fueling Gurley’s +600 odds of leading the league in rushing yards. Goff owns intriguing +1400 odds of throwing the most touchdown passes.
Defensive end Aaron Donald also sits atop the NFL season player props, joining Joey Bosa and JJ Watt as a +600 co-favorite to repeat as NFL Defensive Player of the Year. However, the 2014 first-round pick remains a holdout from Rams camp as he seeks a lucrative contract extension, leaving his status for Week 1 up in the air for second straight year.
Nagy Close Second on Odds to Win NFL Coach of the Year
Chicago Bears bench boss Matt Nagy closely trails McVay at +950 on the NFL Coach of the Year odds, ahead of Philadelphia coach Doug Pederson, who rounds out the list of favorites at +1200.
Nagy faces a huge task in his rookie year as an NFL coach. The Bears are coming off a 5-11 campaign in 2017 that left them buried in the NFC North basement for a fourth straight year, while extending the team’s playoff drought to seven years.
Bears brass are looking for quarterback Mitch Trubisky to build on a solid rookie campaign, while the addition of rookie linebacker Roquan Smith should bolster the team’s defense. However, Chicago remains a distant +375 bet to return to playoff action this season.
Pederson also faces challenges as he leads the Eagles into the defense of their first Super Bowl victory.
Philadelphia looks to next Thursday’s season-opening matchup with the Atlanta Falcons with the status of quarterback Carson Wentz still unknown. Wentz suffered a season-ending knee injury last December and has yet to receive clearance from team doctors to suit up in preseason action. That uncertainty has contributed to the Eagles’ worrisome -105 odds of winning UNDER 10 games this season.
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Further down the NFL Coach of the Year betting odds, five bench bosses sit level at +1600, including Anthony Lynn of the Los Angeles Chargers, New England’s Bill Belichick, San Francisco’s Kyle Shanahan, Minnesota’s Mike Zimmer, and Pat Shurmur of the New York Giants.
*Bovada Odds as of August 31, 2018
