The Cleveland Browns (+3.5) upset the Pittsburgh Steelers in a 24-19 victory in the Week 12 Thursday Night Football game. It was the type of game in which our VSiN betting splits really came in handy. I noted in my Thursday Night Football betting preview that it was shaping up to be a “Pros vs. Joes” game, and that’s exactly what we ended up getting. And more often than not, those go the way of the Pros. 

The game itself couldn’t have been better. Reports all week suggested either light rain or snow, but we ended up getting a significant amount of powder. On top of that, Jameis Winston was Jameis Winston-ing. We got the inspiring pre-game speeches and interviews, the big throws, the head-scratching turnovers that undid most of those throws and then the game-winning drive — followed by a classic comment about Winston ordering a “dub” off Amazon. 

 

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However, we’re not in the business of simply recapping a meeting between a legitimate playoff team and one of the teams that is lobbying for the top pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. This game was particularly interesting because of how it impacted the Coach of the Year market. 

Mike Tomlin was the betting favorite to win the award heading into the game, as DraftKings Sportsbook had him listed at +225 before kick-off. Meanwhile, Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell was second on the oddsboard at +350. Well, Campbell is now at the top of the list at +200, which makes a little sense considering Detroit is favored by a touchdown in this weekend’s meeting with the Indianapolis Colts. Tomlin is now second on the board at +400, while Kevin O’Connell (+400), Jim Harbaugh (+450) and Jonathan Gannon (+550) round out the rest of the Top 5. 

Tomlin has never won the Coach of the Year award, despite having famously never had a losing record in Pittsburgh. He has also had four 12-win seasons, as well as a 13-3 season in 2017. So, with the Steelers having come into the year with very low expectations, there’s a lot of support for Tomlin to take home these honors — especially considering he had the stones to bench Justin Fields for Russell Wilson, which was a polarizing decision when he made it. 

You also can’t go wrong with Campbell right now. The kneecap biter is a natural leader, and his Lions team has been unstoppable to start the season. At some point, he deserves his share of credit for turning one of the league’s sorriest franchises into a powerhouse. Perhaps he’ll get it this year. It’ll be hard to deny him if Detroit doesn’t slow down towards the end of the season. 

It’s also pretty easy to see why O’Connell, Harbaugh and Gannon have their fans. Not much was expected of either the Vikings or the Cardinals, but both teams are in great shape when it comes to making the playoffs. And while many believed Harbaugh would turn the Chargers around, he still had to do it. And as of right now, Los Angeles is 7-3 and is now on the heels of the Kansas City Chiefs in the race for the AFC West. 

Dan Quinn (+600) and Sean Payton (+850) can also make very strong cases. They’re also leading winning teams that were supposed to be awful heading into the season. 

I also strongly believe that Sean McVay (40-1) and Nick Sirianni (60-1) are alive in this race, and I’ll be paying close attention when the Los Angeles Rams and Philadelphia Eagles meet in this week’s Sunday Night Football game. I tweeted it before last week’s meeting between the Eagles and Washington Commanders, but I threw down a little pizza money on Sirianni to win at 100-1. I’m genuinely shocked he was available at that price. 

Sirianni has his detractors around the league, as he’s highly aggressive and some of his decisions blow up in his face. But Philadelphia is still 8-2 this season, and a win over Los Angeles would make a 13-win season very likely. It also isn’t crazy to believe that the Eagles can end up at the top of the NFC.

As for McVay, a home victory over a very good Eagles team would be big in the minds of voters. It would also put Los Angeles over the .500 mark, and it would keep the group alive in a wide-open NFC West. If the Rams win the division, McVay will be on the shortlist of finalists. He has done a great job of retooling this team, keeping hopes somewhat high in the face of a lot of uncertainty. 

I also didn’t even mention Andy Reid, whose Chiefs are 9-1 as they look to win their third straight Super Bowl. Kansas City has every reason not to take the regular season seriously, but Reid gets them up week in and week out. 

This is simply a fascinating market to track, as there are a bunch of worthy candidates. But Tomlin had a chance to really step on some throats with a primetime win last night. Pittsburgh would have been in a great position in the AFC North. We now have ourselves a fun race to monitor down the stretch.

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