Because Dick Vermeil is the best coach in the league.

Okay, that's open to debate. Bill Bellicheck (sp?) may be better for gameday decisions.

But Dick Vermeil is perhaps the best ever at analyzing what you need to do to be successful. And that analysis is paying dividends this year.

Other coaches may be better at recognizing and implementing talent. But absent talent, and you get Mike Holmgren without Brett Favre, who couldn't sniff the Superbowl without the addition of a genius defensive coordinator, Ray Rhodes. You get Bill Parcells without Lawrence Taylor (remind my how many Superbowls Parcells has won without LT....sure, that may change with Dallas, but...). Not to diminish what the 70s Steelers accomplished, but it was due to one amazing draft in which they hit on everything. Looking at Chuck Noll in the 80s shows you what happens when other teams learn your scouting secrets...

Other coaches may be excellent at developing an offensive or defensive scheme. But without the proper personnel or motivation, what can they win? That's where you get Brian Billick, Mike Martz, Buddy Ryan.... A few winning seasons, but they can't win a Superbowl without help on the other side of the ball. Can anyone honestly say Billick would have a Superbowl ring without Ray Lewis....?

All right, maybe other coaches analyze just as much and just as well....maybe Dick just talks about it more than other coaches. But take a look at how he approaches the season:

Ranked in order coming into the season, we said the first thing we had to do was play smart. We end up plus 18 (in giveaway-takeaway) in the first eight (games) to lead the National Football League in taking the ball away 27 times. That’s probably the number one contributor to our success to date.

“We felt we had to win on the road. Last year we did not win on the road; we were 2-6. This year we’ve won on the road.

“We felt we had to keep former losing teams losing. Last year we lost to a couple of losing teams. This year we’ve kept them losing.

“We felt we had to win within our division and conference. We’ve been fortunate enough to do that to date.

“To beat 9-7 teams that didn’t make the playoffs last year that were good football teams. We’ve been able to do that this year.

“Beat former 8-8 teams. We’ve played two of them. We’ve beaten them both.

“Win during the first quarter of the season. We went 4-0 in the first quarter, really great to get off to a fast start. You can do it; you can be successful without doing it. New England proved that a few years ago. But it makes it tougher.

“We wanted to break even versus the former playoff teams that we’ve played in the first eight games. Well, we’ve done better than break even.

“We wanted to win at home and we’ve won at home.

“We wanted to play well when we played without a starter. We started out the season with (CB) William Bartee, a starter, not starting and we inserted (CB) Dexter McCleon and he has played beyond expectations and worked his way into a starting lineup position.

“Normally speaking…if you function well within the categories…I mentioned to you and do real well within a few of them you end up being a playoff team.

From the Chief's Official Site

The advantage to analysis over talent scouting, scheme development, or motivation ability is that the better you analyze, the better you can assemble the pieces that you need for success. Dick Vermeil didn't just depend on developing an awesome offense; he didn't just try to get speed on defense; he didn't just try to get a great sack specialist or ball-hawking defense.

In fact, you can argue that he didn't try to go out and get any superstars. Tony Gonzalez was already there. No one expected Priest Holmes to be more than the typical journeyman. Trent Green has been knocked and derided and cut throughout his career. No one expected Dante Hall to even stay in the league, much less star.

But Dick Vermeil starts with analysis. He adds in an excellent offensive whiz in Al Saunders, and an arguably quality defensive coordinator in Greg Robinson. He can recognize and develop talent in Dante Hall, Scott Fujita, Casey Weigmann, Mike Maslowski, Dexter McCleon, Eric Warfield, or Trent Green, none of whom were highly pursued by other teams (I left Priest Holmes off that list, because the way KC used him in his first two games here, I don't think KC even knew what they had). He adds a commitment to character. He mixes in an amazing ability to motivate. Perhaps best of all, he crafts a team.

He's been at this awhile. It only stands to reason that he'd get better at it. And he's coached successfully in an amazing three decades! He was a head coach when they only played 14 games in a season. He proved he can coach even with the salary cap (something Bill Walsh and Jimmy Johnson never proved they could handle...). There is no other coach who has had his success and longevity. Not even Don Shula or Vince Lombardi has had this kind of longevity...

Barring a near-total collapse of losing 4 games in the 2nd half, I think it would be a travesty if Dick Vermeil doesn't win Coach of the Year, Marvin Lewis, John Fox, Mike Tice, Bill Bellicheck and Tony Dungy notwithstanding.