SBK Edge Rush: Have the Colts had a masterstroke or disaster in appointing Saturday?

Unlike football, where managers are regularly ditched within months of being hired, rarely does an NFL owner pull the plug on a head coach unless things have become ugly. 

Those on the hot seat usually have to nervously wait for Black Monday - the day immediately after the final game of the regular season - for the news. Often this is because teams are in some kind of playoff contention, however tenuous, for the duration of a season. 

Teams were forbidden from interviewing candidates during the season for many years, hence the often-painful stay of execution for some sitting duck coaches. But with these rules now amended, we will see more teams doing what the Colts, who parted ways with Frank Reich, opted for this week.

Reich was unlucky. The signing of Matt Ryan was believed by many to be a masterstroke, and compared to the Matthew Stafford switch from Detroit to LA ahead of last season that ended with the Rams winning the Super Bowl. But Ryan struggled and was benched, leaving the Colts to drop under the water margin, and Reich, who had already whiffed on Carson Wentz the season before, knew his time had come.

Saturday ready to make his mark on Sunday

Much more surprising than his firing was the appointment of Jeff Saturday, the former Colts center and Peyton Manning’s partner in crime, as the caretaker head coach. Not only does Saturday fail to boast NFL head coaching experience, but he’s barely had any experience full stop - a three-year stint with a high school team notwithstanding. It could prove to be one of the more sensationally disastrous moves in NFL history or a masterstroke. Perhaps, both? 

Ollie Thornton, aka Prop-O (named after Proposition Joe in the seminal US drama The Wire), made a canny observation about the hire on my podcast this week. Assuming Saturday is out of his depth and the wheels firmly come off the Colts, it almost certainly guarantees them the number one pick in the 2023 NFL draft, thus ensuring either a franchise quarterback selection like CJ Stroud, Bryce Young or Will Levis. 

If they rally and play for him – think Zidane’s motivational success in his first spell as Real Madrid Head Coach – it’s a masterstroke, a genius play that will silence detractors, of which there are plenty. 

Matt Ryan: began the season as the Colts' starting QB but has been benched

His opening game is against the last-chance saloon Raiders. Saturday announced that 30-year-old Parks Frazier will be calling the offensive plays – Reich had previously doubled down here. Given his age it would be stretching the truth to call Frazier a long-standing member of the Colts coaching staff, but he has been in an assistant role in Indy for four years and therefore knows the personnel and the playbook. 

But it’s an almighty gamble as the Raiders, who are currently on life support, will be a dangerous opponent. Although suggestions have been made that if the Colts pull off the upset, Las Vegas head coach Josh McDaniels could be toast. 

Wounded Rodgers needs to fight back

Speaking of wounded animals, elsewhere in Week 10 the much-hyped Cowboys – freshly linked with a move for Odell Beckham Jr – head to Green Bay to take on Aaron Rodgers, the reigning MVP in the biggest home underdog spot of his career. 

It’s do or die for the Packers, and injuries are not making life at all easy for their very own under-fire coach, Matt LaFleur. They are missing defensive lynchpin Rashan Gary and possibly their promising rookie receiver Romeo Doubs. It will either prove to be a ‘remember who you’re talking about’ masterclass from Rodgers, or it will get ugly. 

It could also be a weekend where back-ups make a name for themselves. The talented, but underutilised John Walford will step up for the Rams if Matthew Stafford can’t go (he’s in concussion protocol), while Case Keenum is on hand if the Bills decide they don’t want to risk Josh Allen, who’s carrying an elbow injury. 

Cooper Kupp: might be catching passes from John Walford if Matt Stafford can't play

The Rams have a decent get-right spot against the Cardinals, but their playoff hopes remain thin even with a win. The Bills, on the other hand, want to bounce back after getting their noses bloodied against the Jets last weekend. 

The seven-and-one Vikings stand in their way. We may find out the answer to whether Minnesota are legitimate Super Bowl contenders or just another pretender in a season soaked in ambiguity. 

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