By Brandon Simmons
Frank Reich Fired
The Indianapolis Colts fired head Frank Reich on Monday in a not-so-surprising move. Reich was let go in the wake of the Colts’ 26-3 loss to the New England Patriots. However, it was a multitude of things that led to this decision. Indy went 3-5-1 this season, despite coming in with high hopes for their roster. They added Matt Ryan in the offseason and looked to build on the stellar rookie campaign of running back Johnathan Taylor, but neither one of those things happened. Ryan had a rough start to his season and never hit his stride before he suffered an injury that sent him to the bench for the year, getting replaced by former 6th round pick, QB Sam Ehlinger. With injuries and slow starts happening, it’s no wonder the Colts were last 32nd in scoring. It also didn’t help that they had a 3-game losing streak.
Reich’s tenure as coach will largely be remembered as the team’s era in recovering from losing QB Andrew Luck. Luck was the team’s number one overall pick in 2012, but he abruptly retired in 2019 citing the need to take care of his body as he gets older. In the aftermath of that sudden announcement, the Colts went through 6 different starting quarterbacks in his tenure, including Ryan and Ehlinger. During that run, Reich made only one postseason appearance, with QB Philip Rivers in the signal caller’s last season. In spite of who was under center, Reich managed to keep a solid defense, finishing in the top 10 every other year with this unit. However, in a quarterback-driven league, you can’t go too far without a QB. That’s not an excuse to let Reich off the hook. As a former offensive coordinator – and former NFL quarterback – you would expect the quarterback play to be a little better but that simply was not the case. Besides, if they felt like he was the person to develop the eventual franchise QB they appear to be seeking, then they would have kept him. Unfortunately, the Colts feel it is in their best interest to a different route.
Jeff Saturday Reaction and Thoughts
As Reich was being ushered out of the door, the Indianapolis Colts announced that former player and current team consultant, Jeff Saturday, would be named interim head coach. While interim coach hires rarely push the needle, this one struck a nerve amongst those who feel black coaches don’t get a fair shake when it comes to being hired as head coaches – which has been proven true in quite a few instances.
It might seem minor to some, but the optics surrounding it seem loudly familiar. You have an unproven, comparably unqualified white candidate who is getting a high profile an equally, or more, qualified black candidate. In this case, Saturday obviously fits the profile of the former while the latter in this case is former Colts wide receiver Reggie Wayne. Now, granted, there are other coaches on this staff – black ones included who have decades worth of experience individually – that probably could have stepped into this role but the Colts felt they needed to go outside of the box for some reason.
As mentioned earlier, interim hires mean very little but this one represents a larger issue that people already have when it comes to hiring black coaches. Granted, this happens a few weeks after the Carolina Panthers named defensive coordinator Steve Wilkes their interim head coach after letting go of Matt Rhule. Wilkes is the former head coach of the Arizona Cardinals but was let go himself after one season. Some would argue that Wilkes’ resume as a head coach shouldn’t garner him that position, but it still wouldn’t take away from the fact that Saturday’s shouldn’t either, whose only head coaching experience is coaching a high school team. This certainly isn’t going to last past the regular season, given his inexperience and questions at the QB position. Before you know it, Saturday will not be coaching anymore Sundays.
Just What the Bucs Needed
Tom Brady might be going through a lot professionally, and personally, but you can always count on him to deliver some sort of comeback. Sunday, the Tampa Bay buccaneers QB led his team to a late, game winning touchdown against the Ls Angeles Rams. Taking a 16-13 victory. It was a game where the Bucs looked lifeless on offense for the longest time up until that moment. It was sort of like a microcosm for their season lately. After a 2-0 start, the team went 1-5 heading into that game. Their offense was barely producing, especially in the run game. But when it mattered most, Brady brought them out of the funk.
This might be what this team for a couple of reasons. They got a win over a team that has been considerably better 2 of their 3 straight losses. The Rams aren’t exactly having a wonderful season of their own but the roster is more talented than a Pittsburgh Steelers team with a rookie quarterback and a Carolina Panthers team that is on tanking time. The Bucs almost beat the Baltimore Ravens, who is 1st place in the NFC North. Their main thing to keep this going is not just competing with and beating the top tier teams but beating the less-competitive teams by not playing to their level.
Shoutouts/Shutouts
Shout out to Joe Mixon for putting up 5 touchdowns this past Sunday. The Cincinnati Bengals running back ran the score up on the Carolina Panthers with 5 total touchdowns, rushing for 4 and catching 1. He finished the day with 153 yards on 22 carries for the Bengals’ 42-21 win.
Shutout to the Indianapolis Colts who gave up 9 sacks in their loss to the New England Patriots. It was the 2nd start for Colts QB Sam Ehlinger and it has been a sore one. Overall, he has been sacked 11 times in his 2 starts.
Shout out to Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields for setting the rushing record as a quarterback. Sunday, Fields rushed for a total of 178 yards breaking the previous record of 173 set by Michael Vick. This included a 62 yard run by Fields that led to a touchdown.
Shutout to the Las Vegas Raiders who blew another 17 point lead. The Raiders lost to the Jacksonville Jaguars 27-20 after the Jags stormed a 20mpoint comeback after falling 20-7 in the 2nd quarter. Las Vegas tied the record for losses in which they blew 17 point leads which is set at 3.
Week 10 has kind of snuck up on us but not without some action-packed matchups. The Minnesota Vikings will visit the Buffalo Bills. It might not be the matchup it would be hyped up to be if Bills QB Josh Allen is out due to injury, but his backup, Case Keenum, will be on the field with Bills wide receiver Stefon Diggs, both of whom connected for the Twin City miracle when they played for the Vikings. Surprisingly, the game of the week won’t even be in the country as the Seattle Seahawks and Tampa Bay Buccaneers meet up in Germany. The Seahawks are having a glamorous season with the surprise play of QB Geno Smith while the Bucs are sitting at 4-5 looking to return to their winning ways. Tampa got a win last week but still had some struggles while this Seattle team will show some resiliency if backed in a corner, but until then…I’ll holla.