ENGLEWOOD, Colo. - John Elway broke the mould.The Denver Broncos general manager bucked this years trend when he hired his former backup QB and offensive co-ordinator Gary Kubiak as his head coach.Every other head coach vacancy thats been filled has gone to men with defensive roots: John Fox in Chicago, Jack Del Rio in Oakland, Jim Tomsula in San Francisco, Rex Ryan in Buffalo and Todd Bowles with the Jets.Oddly, every one of those teams also had trouble on offence in 2014.So did the Falcons, the only head coaching vacancy that hasnt been filled.It appears that offensive co-ordinators Josh McDaniels of New England and Adam Gase, Peyton Mannings co-architect in Denver, will have to keep waiting as defensive co-ordinators Dan Quinn of Seattle and Detroits Teryl Austin are the only candidates to get follow-up interviews with the Falcons.If Quinn is the choice, the Falcons will have to wait to offer him the job until after Seattle plays New England in the Super Bowl on Feb. 1.Quinns star rose with the Seahawks 43-8 walloping of Elways Broncos in last years Super Bowl, something NFL Network analyst Terrell Davis believes has driven this defensive shift, along with the aerial fireworks show the league has become.One, you look at who won the Super Bowl last year. Theyve got a formula people want, Davis said. Theyve got a good quarterback and their offence was good; it just wasnt as good as their defence. If you have a good defence, you can mask a lot of deficiencies on offence. And two, it really is about offences in this league and if you can stop them.Then again, Davis said, it could just be coincidence.Maybe it just happens to be the best candidates are defensive coaches, Davis said.Theres no ambiguity about it, insisted former NFL executive and current ESPN analyst Bill Polian.Each hire, each situation is different. Thats one part of the puzzle, Polian said. The second part is the pool of candidates is what it is. In any given year, you might have more people who come from the offensive side of the ball as opposed to the defensive. And third, anybody thats asked for my advice, I have said, Hire the best person regardless of orientation.Because what youre hiring is a head coach. Hes going to hire a defensive co-ordinator. Hes going to hire an offensive co-ordinator. Theyre the ones that are going to determine largely the scheme. So, hire the best person whose philosophy of football fits how you want to operate.The only other factor that should come into the equation is previous head coaching experience, Polian said.That certainly burnished the resumes of Fox, Del Rio and Ryan. Fox was 49-22 in four seasons in Denver even though the Broncos came up short in the playoffs each year.Guys who have been a successful head coach before, theres probably something to be said for that, Polian said.New Bills owner Terry Pegula said experience was the tilting factor in Ryans hiring. In San Francisco, it came down to Tomsula or Gase, but the deciding factor wasnt their backgrounds, CEO Jed York said.Youre not the head coach of the defence. Youre not the head coach of the offence, York said. Youre the head coach of the entire team.Interestingly, teams led by head coaches with offensive roots had an average rank of 16.1 in points per game this season to 16.0 for defensive coaches (excluding the Raiders, who switched mid-season from defensive to offensive). The season started with 16 offensive and 16 defensive coaches.So, there was essentially no difference in performance on average based on the expertise of the head coach.Yeah, if you want to use that metric, Polian said. When you use the word expertise of the coach, would you presume that Bill Belichick knows only defence? OK, so thats my point. If you hire a good coach, he understands both sides of the ball, how it fits, how he wants to do it, how it fits his personnel, etc. etc. Were hiring head coaches here, not co-ordinators.Raiders owner Mark Davis was initially looking for an offensive-minded coach to help quarterback Derek Carr develop, something he told Del Rio in their first conversation.And Jack said, Whoa, whoa, whoa, stop! I know about offence as well, Davis said.Labels dont matter when youre a head coach, Del Rio said, because if youre a defensive guy, quickly you become an offensive guy as well.He pointed to the two coaches who are in the Super Bowl.Bill Belichick was a defensive guy and hes doing a pretty good job with his offence, Del Rio said. Pete Carroll is a defensive guy in his background, but hes doing a pretty good job up there in Seattle with their offence and with their team. So, I think when you hire a head coach, you get that — you get a head coach.___AP Sports Writers Josh Dubow, John Wawrow and Janie McCauley contributed.___AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFLCheap Nationals Jerseys . - Pete Rose didnt want it to be about him, not on a day when four new members were elected to baseballs most exclusive club. Wholesale Nationals Jerseys .J. - The New Jersey Devils know the odds are against them as they chase a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. http://www.cheapnationalsjerseys.com/. Coach Randy Carlyle didnt know the severity of Bozaks injury. Bozak left the bench and went down the tunnel early in the second period, returned to play a handful of shifts and then did play in the third. Cheap Washington Nationals Jerseys . JOHNS, N. Cheap Nationals Jerseys China .DeMarco Murray got his 20th carry late in the fourth quarter with a 10-point lead, not long after Dez Bryant made his final catch of the day.Sure enough, a 44-17 win over Washington didnt change Dallas post-season position.OAKLAND, Calif. - Power forward Carl Landry has opted out of the final year of his two-year, $8 million deal with the Golden State Warriors to become a free agent. Landrys agent, Mark Bartelstein, said Wednesday that his client was coming off a big season and it only made sense for him to hit the open market in hopes of landing a long-term deal. He added that Landry could still return to the Warriors.dddddddddddd The Warriors had expected Landry to become a free agent. General manager Bob Myers said last week that Landrys contract called for him to inform the team of his decision before Thursday, when the NBA draft will take place. The 29-year-old Landry averaged 10.8 points and six rebounds in 23.2 minutes off the bench last season. 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