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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Andy Nesbitt

Jeff Saturday is exactly what we thought he’d be – a total disaster

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The 2022 Indianapolis Colts have been a dumpster fire for most of the year but they have taught us one valuable lesson – if you want things to go really wrong just hire a guy who has only coached high school football to be your head coach.

Ok, that’s one of those lessons that we all probably knew based on instincts and just understanding of general life, but it was nice of Jim Irsay to knock us over the head with it by hiring Jeff Saturday and then allowing us all to see in real time just how horribly that experiment will play out.

Lots of NFL analysts crushed the Colts when they named Saturday their interim coach last month. And rightfully so – he was a great NFL player but he had zero experience coaching at the pro level. It was a sketchy move by Irsay and thankfully (and predictably!) it has blown up in his face and now probably (and hopefully!) won’t be attempted by any of the other NFL owners.

The latest nightmare came Monday night when Saturday trotted out Nick Foles as his starting QB. There’s no better way to wave the white flag than to turn to a guy who hasn’t worked with the starting group all year and ask him to lead a very bad offense against a Chargers team that can do some damage in the upcoming playoffs.

Saturday said he thought Foles gave the team the best chance to win… and then Foles went out there and threw three interceptions in a 20-3 loss at home. The Colts’ offense was dreadful all night and the fans could be heard booing late in the game.

Saturday, of course, was the head coach of the Colts a few weeks ago when they blew a 33-0 lead to the Vikings. That right there should tell you everything you need to know about Saturday as a head coach.

Oh, and the Colts have now been outscored 90-9 in the fourth quarter of games coached by Saturday. 90-9! These stats tell an ugly, and accurate, picture.

 

Irsay has floated the idea of bringing Saturday back next year as his head coach. That would be one of the silliest ideas in NFL history but if we’ve learned anything by now it’s that we should never bet against Irsay doing something really dumb.

Hopefully for Colts fans he smartens up and moves on from this disaster.

Quick hits: NFL needs to suspend Mac Jones… NFL fans roast Russell Wilson for talking to football… Brady’s classy moment… And more. 

Eric Canha-USA TODAY Sports

– The NFL needs to do the right thing and suspend Mac Jones for his dirty hit on Eli Apple.

– NFL fans had so many jokes about Russell Wilson talking to teammates with a football near his mouth.

– Tom Brady shared a classy moment with Trace McSorley after the Bucs’ win over Cardinals on Sunday night.

– Green Bay’s Allen Lazard had one of the best celebrations of the season after knocking 3 Dolphins to the ground.

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