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Felger & Mazz: NFL Head Coaching Vastly Improved Since Patriots Dynasty

BOSTON (CBS) - A discussion started Thursday afternoon on Felger & Massarotti about head coaching in the NFL, and how many quality coaches there are.

The premise being, the gap has shrunk between Bill Belichick at the height of the Patriots dynasty in 2005 and the rest of the head coaches currently roaming the sidelines.

"I still think Bill is the best," said Felger. "There's nobody I'd rather have. But opposed to the past, when I wanted nobody else, it feels to me like I would take a handful of coaches across the league and feel okay."

To prove this theory, they ran the numbers and performed an exercise where each coach was given either a "thumbs up" or "thumbs down." It's hardly scientific, but the idea is that if you're given a thumbs up then Felger, Mazz and Beetle consider you a quality head coach.

First they did 2014, then 2005. Here's what they came up with...

2014 NFL Head Coaches:

Arizona Cardinals - Bruce Arians - Thumbs Up

Atlanta Falcons - Mike Smith - Thumbs Up

Baltimore Ravens - John Harbaugh - Thumbs Up

Buffalo Bills - Doug Marrone - Thumbs Down

Carolina Panthers - Ron Rivera - Thumbs Down

Chicago Bears - Marc Trestman - Thumbs Down

Cincinnati Bengals - Marvin Lewis - Thumbs Down

Cleveland Browns - Mike Pettine - Thumbs Down

Dallas Cowboys - Jason Garrett - Thumbs Down

Denver Broncos - John Fox - Thumbs Up

Detroit Lions - Jim Caldwell - Thumbs Down

Green Bay Packers - Mike McCarthy - Thumbs Up

Houston Texans - Bill O'Brien - Thumbs Up

Indianapolis Colts - Chuck Pagano - Thumbs Up

Jacksonville Jaguars - Gus Bradley - Thumbs Down

Kansas City Chiefs - Andy Reid - Thumbs Up

Miami Dolphins - Joe Philbin - Thumbs Down

Minnesota Vikings - Mike Zimmer - Thumbs Down

New England Patriots - Bill Belichick - Thumbs Up

New Orleans Saints - Sean Payton - Thumbs Up

New York Giants - Tom Coughlin - Thumbs Up

New York Jets - Rex Ryan - Thumbs Up

Oakland Raiders - Dennis Allen - Thumbs Down

Philadelphia Eagles - Chip Kelly - Thumbs Up

Pittsburgh Steelers - Mike Tomlin - Thumbs Up

San Diego Chargers - Mike McCoy - Thumbs Up

San Francisco - Jim Harbaugh - Thumbs Up

Seattle Seahawks - Pete Carroll - Thumbs Up

St. Louis Rams - Jeff Fisher - Thumbs Down

Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Lovie Smith - Thumbs Down

Tennessee Titans - Ken Whisenhunt - Thumbs Up

Washington Redskins - Jay Gruden - Thumbs Down

Final Tally: 18 Up, 14 Down

"When we get to 2005 we'll do the same thing, and I guarantee you we'll go 'Suck! Suck! Suck! Suck! Suck!'" said Felger.

"I just feel either our view of Belichick has come down, or our view of the field has come up. Something like that, because 10 years ago we felt like everyone sucked compared to Belichick."

 2005 NFL Head Coaches:

Arizona Cardinals - Dennis Green - Thumbs Down

Atlanta Falcons - Jim Mora - Thumbs Down

Baltimore Ravens - Brian Billick - Thumbs Down

Buffalo Bills - Mike Mularkey - Thumbs Down

Carolina Panthers - John Fox - Thumbs Up

Chicago Bears - Lovie Smith - Thumbs Down

Cincinnati Bengals - Marvin Lewis - Thumbs Down

Cleveland Browns - Romeo Crennel - Thumbs Down

Dallas Cowboys - Bill Parcells - Thumbs Up

Denver Broncos - Mike Shanahan - Thumbs Up

Detroit Lions - Steve Mariucci - Thumbs Down

Green Bay Packers - Mike Sherman - Thumbs Down

Houston Texans - Dom Capers - Thumbs Down

Indianapolis Colts - Tony Dungy - Thumbs Up

Jacksonville Jaguars - Jack Del Rio - Thumbs Down

Kansas City Chiefs - Dick Vermeil - Thumbs Down

Miami Dolphins - Nick Saban - Thumbs Down

Minnesota Vikings - Mike Tice - Thumbs Down

New England Patriots - Bill Belichick - Thumbs Up

New Orleans Saints - Jim Haslett - Thumbs Down

New York Giants - Tom Coughlin - Thumbs Up

New York Jets - Herman Edwards - Thumbs Down

Oakland Raiders - Norv Turner - Thumbs Down

Philadelphia Eagles - Andy Reid - Thumbs Up

Pittsburgh Steelers - Bill Cowher - Thumbs Up

San Diego Chargers - Marty Schottenheimer - Thumbs Down

San Francisco - Mike Nolan - Thumbs Down

Seattle Seahawks - Mike Holmgren - Thumbs Up

St. Louis Rams - Mike Martz - Thumbs Down

Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Jon Gruden - Thumbs Up

Tennessee Titans - Jeff Fisher - Thumbs Up

Washington Redskins - Joe Gibbs - Thumbs Down

Final Tally: 11 Up, 21 Down

"So there you go. The exercise kind of proves our point," said Felger.

"The coaching has gotten better," added Marc Bertrand.

Listen below for the full discussion!

NFL Head Coaching Vastly Improved Since Patriots Dynasty

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