Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel received proper respect from The Athletic this week.

Vrabel, who can lead the Titans to the No. 1 seed in the AFC with a win over the Houston Texans on Sunday, appears to be the leading candidate to be the NFL coach of the year.

Not everyone, however, agrees.

Former NFL quarterback Dan Orlovsky caught some grief this week for suggesting that Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur should win coach of the year honors.

Matt LaFleur is the Coach of the Year

Nick Sirianni should come in 2nd

???

— Dan Orlovsky (@danorlovsky7) January 3, 2022

The Athletic disagrees with Orvloskly. They think Vrabel did the best coaching job in the NFL this season.

Here's what they had to say about Vrabel this season:

Mike Vrabel has deftly navigated Tennessee through injuries at key positions like running back, wide receiver and along the offensive line, all while playing an NFL-high 86 players this season. The Titans won crucial games in big moments, like beating the Chiefs by 24 points in Week 7 and sweeping the Colts. Now they’re on the verge of securing the AFC’s No. 1 seed. Yes, the Titans have had some letdowns (like losing to the Jets and Texans), but Vrabel has his team in position for a serious postseason run.

There's no doubt that LaFleur, who previously served as Vrabel's offensive coordinator in Nashville, has done a great job in Green Bay. But let's not forget that he has a future Hall of Fame quarterback in Aaron Rodgers. And despite all the drama surrounding Rodgers this season, that's still an advantage that not many teams in the NFL have.

Vrabel, on the other hand, has had to deal with a ridiculous amount of injuries this season, tough losses, and the loss of the NFL's best running back for half the season.

Plus there's been the whole Julio Jones debacle. Jones was expected to be a key offensive player for the Titans this season after the franchise traded a second-round and fourth-round pick for the seven-time Pro-Bowl wide receiver last summer.

Instead, Jones has played in only nine games this season and caught 26 passes for 376 yards and 0 touchdowns.

If someone told you that Jones would be a bust, Derrick Henry would miss half the season, and the Titans would lose to the lowly New York Jets, I don't think there's any way you'd believe that Tennessee was in a position to secure the No. 1 seed in the AFC in the final week of the season.

Vrabel is the NFL coach of the year. And it's not even close.

Featured image via George Walker IV / Tennessean.com / USA TODAY NETWORK