Late last Thursday night, somewhere over Virginia, Doug Pederson had a private moment. He took a sip of stiff whiskey and let it linger for just a brief moment. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He thought about his 5-1 team flexing its superiority over the Panthers, and then said to himself, “Gosh, I’m the fucking man.” Actually, I have no idea if that’s true. Aside from word “gosh,” he probably didn’t say or do anything close to that—but he should have. Pederson, in my book, is the fucking man right now.

He has his team firmly entrenched atop the NFC East through six weeks and has this city dreaming of possible first round bye scenarios, which have become increasingly more realistic after the Aaron Rodgers injury and another bad Atlanta loss at home. Name a better team in the NFC right now–you can’t.

Making game by game predictions before the season is a pointless exercise because the football season is fluid and things often change on a dime, but there was no way even the most optimistic of fans saw this start coming. Yet, here we are. The offense can throw it and run it. The defense is nasty, physical, and consistently makes plays. Special teams? The return and coverage units are strong, and, if need be, they possess the ability to bang 60-yard field goals right in the face of the opposition. All of this, by the way, is happening despite a rash of injuries to key contributors. Not bad for a coach most people had no confidence in a month ago. “Fuck that guy,” I believe, was the popular sentiment after that Week 2 loss at Kansas City. Seems like a long time ago.

In fact, I think we owe Pederson an apology. Personally, I was pretty hard on him. But now? I don’t even know how to adequately explain the way I feel. Let me put it to you this way. If he was standing directly across from me and exhaled into my face, I would breathe it in and let it be in me. Is that weird? Yeah, I guess it is, but whatever. Anyway, no hyperbole, no bullshit here–he has to be THE front-runner for NFL Coach of the Year Award. That is a sentence I never thought I’d write.

Start with the competition. Who else would even be in consideration right now? Maybe Rams rookie head coach Sean McVay? Maybe. But the argument for Pederson is as strong. He was hired, in part, to oversee the development of a young quarterback. The team went out and drafted Carson Wentz, watched him show promise in year one, and is now watching him blossom into a quarterback on the brink of stardom. Wentz’s statistical output has jumped in almost every major category across the board from his rookie season. His touchdown percentage, passer rating, yards per attempt, touchdown to interception ratio are all up, while he’s emerged as the unquestioned leader of this team. Wentz’s talent is primarily to credit, but Pederson deserves a stiff, congratulatory slap on the ass for his young quarterback’s success this season.

Looking at Pederson through a larger lens, his offense has been efficient, dynamic, and diverse this season. The Eagles are third in the league in total yards per game (383.2), ninth in pass yards per game (250.7), fifth in rush yards per game (132.5), and sixth in points per game (27.5). They’re also first in the league in time of possession at over 34 minutes per game and first in third down conversion percentage (50.6). It’s incredible. While I’ll give the majority of the credit for the defense’s success to Jim Schwartz, there’s something to be said when all units across the board are playing with the energy, effort, and edge this team is right now.

Of course, it’s no certainty that the Eagles keep this up, but things look good. The Eagles will have had 10 full days to prepare for their Monday Night Football showdown with Washington, and key players such as Lane Johnson, Ronald Darby, and Wendell Smallwood could be back for it. They will play six of their last 10 games at home and will face teams with a combined 22-33 record so far this season. While I don’t have any idea what he was thinking on that flight home from Carolina, I can tell you one thing–it’s a great time to be Doug Pederson. He’s the fucking man.