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Did Chargers' Anthony Lynn clinch Coach of the Year award on Thursday night?

The Los Angeles Chargers play in a small, soccer-specific stadium and have struggled to not just capture the attention of NFL fans at large but even fans in their newly-adopted city.

Still, it’s definitely time to start paying attention to the Chargers, and past time to start shining a light on the job head coach Anthony Lynn is doing.

Lynn and Los Angeles broke a nine-game losing streak to their AFC West rival Kansas City Chiefs on Thursday night, getting a 2-point conversion with no time left on the clock for a 29-28 victory. It was a gutsy decision to go for two rather than tie the game with a PAT and go to overtime.

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It pushed the Chargers’ record to 11-3, put them in the playoffs for the first time since 2013, and opened the door for them to win the division for the first time since 2009.

And it put Lynn among the favorites to win NFL Coach of the Year, though there are a lot of coaches worthy of consideration as we near the end of the regular season (postseason isn’t factored into Associated Press voting; the AP results are what the league uses at its year-end awards show).

Here’s our attempt at ranking the field:

Los Angeles Chargers head coach Anthony Lynn showed moxie on Thursday night, and is our favorite for NFL coach of the year. (AP)
Los Angeles Chargers head coach Anthony Lynn showed moxie on Thursday night, and is our favorite for NFL coach of the year. (AP)
  1. Anthony Lynn, Los Angeles Chargers: It’s been nearly a decade since the Chargers have posted double-digit wins, and they have 11 with games against the Baltimore Ravens and Denver Broncos still to go. Aside from a surprise home loss to the Broncos last month, Los Angeles has been stellar, even making the 5,400 mile-trip to London to play the Titans, one of their victories. The Chargers went into Thursday’s game as one of four teams who are both top 10 in points for and top 10 in points against, and all are likely headed for the playoffs (New Orleans, Chicago and Seattle are the others). The Chargers have played the whole season without starting corner Jason Verrett, and pass-rusher Joey Bosa missed the first half of the season to injury. In his first season as head coach last year, Lynn led the Chargers to a 9-7 record, a four-win improvement over 2016.

  2. Matt Nagy, Chicago Bears: The Bears’ offense was a hot mess last year. It couldn’t score (averaged 16.5 points per game, 29th in the league) even though it didn’t need to score much – the defense was a top-10 unit, allowing only 20 PPG. But with Nagy guiding Mitchell Trubisky (and Chase Daniels for a couple of starts), the offense has turned around, and with Khalil Mack the defense is even stronger. The Bears have already improved four wins over last year, and with a home win against Green Bay this week, they can clinch their first playoff spot since 2010 and first 10-win season since 2012.

  3. Frank Reich, Indianapolis Colts: Confession time: When Reich was hired by the Colts after Josh McDaniels bailed on the franchise, we wondered if he was riding the Eagles’ (and Doug Pederson’s) success and wasn’t yet ready to be a head coach. About that … Reich and the Colts are still very much in the fight for an AFC wildcard berth, Andrew Luck is having a career season as the offense is one of the highest-scoring in the league. And the defense is more than serviceable, which hasn’t always been the case in recent years.

  4. Bill O’Brien, Houston Texans: Three weeks into the season, it looked like O’Brien’s power play – getting general manager Rick Smith ousted and getting to hire his own guy in Brian Gaine – might have been for naught: Houston lost its first three games. But a nine-game win streak changes a lot. Deshaun Watson has looked good coming back from the torn ACL that ended his rookie season, and veteran coordinator Romeo Crennel has the defense humming. Houston has a two-game lead in the AFC South with two games to go (though the crown isn’t in the bag just yet), a far cry from last year’s four-win disappointment.

  5. Jason Garrett, Dallas Cowboys: Whether they’re whispered or shouted, calls for Garrett to be fired seemingly happen on an annual basis. And with the Cowboys 3-5 after a Week 9 loss to Washington, they were certainly getting louder. But with a big boost from the acquisition of Amari Cooper, Garrett has Dallas on a five-game win streak. The Cowboys are not just playing well but playing tough: All five of those wins are by a touchdown or less, including last week’s walk-off victory in overtime against the Eagles.

Also in the discussion: Sean McVay, Los Angeles Rams (11-2, NFC West winners; McVay was the coach of the year in 2017); Sean Payton, New Orleans Saints (11-2, NFC South winners, current No. 1 seed in NFC); John Harbaugh, Baltimore Ravens (7-6, four-game win streak with rookie quarterback Lamar Jackson stepping in for injured Joe Flacco); Andy Reid, Kansas City Chiefs (11-3, current No. 1 seed in AFC with first-year starter at quarterback); Pete Carroll, Seattle Seahawks (8-5, in playoff position though this looked like “rebuilding year”).

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