Jeff Saturday tasted victory in his very first game as the Indianapolis Colts interim head coach after the team secured a 25-20 win over the Las Vegas Raiders.
After he was hired, Saturday was criticized by people in the world of football, including fans, pundits and even Washington Commanders head coach Ron Rivera and former Super Bowl-winning Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Bill Cowher.
Jeff Saturday’s coaching resume includes no experience whatsoever in both the professional and collegiate levels, even as an assistant. Saturday’s most recent gig was as a consultant for the Indianapolis Colts and an analyst for ESPN.
But as of right now, however, it’s Saturday who is the one laughing after getting the win over the Raiders, and even made Matt Ryan look like, well, Matt Ryan.
Jeff Saturday already commands the locker room. Absolutely love to see it. 💯pic.twitter.com/yDKZYFT4bM
— Indy SportsOne (@IndySportsOne) November 14, 2022
Just recently, I called Matt Ryan washed up. He actually didn’t get off to that bad of a start to begin the season, but in the past couple of weeks, it looked like it was near the end of Ryan. You know how when an elite quarterback plays great for years, and then all of a sudden the quality drops and they decline?
That’s how it was looking for Matt Ryan, and I just want to personally apologize to Matt: He’s still got it, at least for a little bit longer. And I also want to give props to Jeff: Good on you for squeezing out some juice from the 37-year-old — including a rushing touchdown to go along with his passing TD on the stat line.
Yeah, it’s only been one game, so we don’t have the proper sample size to say whether or not Jeff Saturday will work out as a head coach for the Indianapolis Colts, but rejuvenating Matt Ryan in a victory is a sure good sign that things can work out. Granted, they played a 2-6 Las Vegas team, but you’ve got to feel good about the win if you’re an Indianapolis Colts fan, and you’ve got to feel good about your potential future with Saturday at the helm.
what if the Jeff Saturday thing ends up revealing that being an NFL head coach is actually way easier than everybody has claimed and you don’t need to grind 90-hour weeks for 2 decades to be good at it
— Rodger Sherman (@rodger) November 14, 2022
As far as all of the criticism that was thrown at Jeff Saturday, I personally don’t get it.
Okay, so he doesn’t have any experience in coaching, so what?
He served 14 years in the National Football League at the center position, which is a pretty big leadership role in terms of the offensive line. Also, 13 years was with the Indianapolis Colts, you know, the team that he is currently the head coach of. Not many people would know the “Colts way” better than Saturday, right? (RELATED: ‘Pisses Me Off’: Las Vegas Raiders QB Derek Carr Breaks Down In Tears During Postgame Interview)
I just personally don’t see the problem. In a prior piece, I said I didn’t like the Indianapolis Colts, how there was no swag, and I still feel that way. But man, I can’t help but to root for them so Jeff Saturday can shut up his critics. Even though haters want to talk about his hire being “disrespectful,” it’s the people like Bill Cowher and Joe Thomas who are the real disrespectful ones, just dumping all over him before he even gets a solid chance.
What a
-disrespectful
-embarrassing
-entitled
-unproven
-inexperiencedWin by @SaturdayJeff
— Dan Orlovsky (@danorlovsky7) November 14, 2022
“It’s because other people deserve the chance!”
And how does Jeff Saturday not? Because he wasn’t a coach? So we’re going to ignore the 14 years of NFL experience?
Give me a break.
Plus, I just want to like Jeff Saturday now after this beautiful gem:
Jeff Saturday becomes first coach since at least 1950 to tweet that a team looks horrible, and then beat them within the next two weeks, after never having coached at the college or pro level before. pic.twitter.com/UcqXWvZqma
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) November 14, 2022
I never thought I’d be saying this, but go Colts!