IS SATURDAY ALRIGHT?
By: Braedyn Wozniak, RP Show Intern
The Indianapolis Colts are near the bottom of the league, and near rock-bottom as a franchise.
Indy sits 4-7-1 after their highly criticized 24-17 loss to the lowly Pittsburgh Steelers Monday night, while also giving new (really new) Head Coach Jeff Saturday is second loss in his first three career games.
Former NFL Pro Bowl Quarterback Gus Frerotte thinks he may just needs some time to get settled.
“There’s just little things that go on with coaching that you have to learn over time,” said Frerotte on the Rod Pedersen Show. “There’s going to be a learning curve.”
While there was plenty of criticism for his clock management at the end of the game, it really didn’t have an impact on the outcome.
Of course, hindsight is 20-20. If Jonathon Taylor gets the first down the Colts would have had 30 seconds, three timeouts and a fresh set of downs inside the Pittsburgh 30-yard line. Most teams would feel very confident in that situation.
Having 71 total yards of offence in the first half of a football game is a major issue, however. But this is what we expected, isn’t it?
The former Pro Bowl NFL Center and ESPN Analyst hadn’t coached a professional football team in his life before the Colts hired him three weeks ago. This hire wasn’t for them to win now.
“I think it’s (a decision) that the owner said okay, let’s see it. He’s a fan favourite. We may not be that great this year, but I can bring in a guy that everybody loves in Indy, and maybe that’ll take down some of the hard times we’re having,” said Frerotte.
He went from coaching Hebron Christian Academy’s High School football team to coaching the Colts in a matter of days. Is it not impressive he has a win at all?
Not only does he have a win, but he has kept the Colts within a possession in their two recent losses, losing by one point to the 10-1 Philadelphia Eagles and falling by seven to the Steelers Monday.
Not bad for a guy Frerotte believes was hired simply because of the respect and love the city and team had for him.
“He’s been one of the guys in the locker room forever,” he said. “He’s been a leader forever.”
And let’s not kid ourselves. Ever since Andrew Luck’s shocking retirement in 2019, the Colts have been scrambling to fill the position and have failed to do so.
“The Colts biggest issue is that they’ve been searching for a quarterback,” said Frerotte. “They brought in Philip Rivers and Carson Wentz and now Matt Ryan, instead of just going to get one of those top draft picks.”
“That’s the position they are looking to fill. They’ve had a great O-line, they’ve had some injuries but that line will get healthy. They have an incredible running back. I think they’re just missing a quarterback.”
So, give the guy a break. He’s not only been a Head Coach for just three weeks, he’s only been coaching pro football in general for that long!
Inheriting a 3-5-1 team for anyone is no simple task, especially for a rookie coach like Saturday. Colts fans should be feeling hopeful he can improve his coaching ability and the team’s ability to win games.
Plus, in just three career games, he’s already been a better Head Coach than the Denver Broncos Nathaniel Hackett.
Hackett has been a professional football coach in College and the NFL for 19 years.
(The Rod Pedersen Show airs daily on Game+ TV, YouTube Live and WQEE Radio)
