Great coaches don't look so great when their quarterbacks aren't so great. Name the three best coaches today. Tough question, but you could do worse than the Broncos' Mike Shanahan, the Jets' Bill Parcells and the Seahawks' Mike Holmgren. Before the season each was considered a good bet to take his team to the playoffs. Parcells lost his Super Bowl ticket, Vinny Testaverde, to a season-ending Achilles injury in New York's opener.
Impatience is at an alltime high.
They weren't thrown into the mix right away. Maybe Couch and McNabb should be playing, but you can't blame players and fans for looking askance when their coaches run reverses like that. Teams are extending contracts for their own looming free agents before the players hit the market, leaving a questionable crop for other teams to pursue. They've hit on a couple of players who have helped dramatically. Running back Tyrone Wheatley failed trials with the Giants and the Dolphins before finding a home.