3 Colts to blame after blowing largest lead in NFL history

3 Colts to blame after blowing the largest lead in NFL history

No. 1: Jeff Saturday, Interim Head Coach

The Colts fired Frank Reich earlier in the season after an awful game against the New England Patriots in Week 9. Instead of promoting an assistant coach from within to be the interim head coach, owner Jim Irsay decided to call on former center and ESPN analyst Jeff Saturday to fill the position. Saturday had no coaching experience beyond the high school level. Irsay tried his best to sell the fanbase and media that Saturday could actually be a good hire.

Besides beating the Las Vegas Raiders in his coaching debut, Saturday has been winless ever since. Now, he is the head coach of a team that blew a 33-0 halftime lead and lost in overtime. Specifically, he’s the second coach to lose after having a 30-point lead since 1930, per Yahoo Sports. 1,548 teams have won with such a lead.

Oh, and with this loss, Reich no longer has the largest comeback in NFL history. Reich led the Buffalo Bills to a 32-point comeback in the 1992 AFC Wild Card game against the Houston Oilers. Now, the team that fired Reich blew a 33-point lead.

Remember that the week prior to their bye, the Colts were actually giving the Dallas Cowboys quite the fight. Then, after 21-19 in the third quarter, the Colts allowed the Cowboys to score 33 unanswered points.

Saturday’s Colts have now been outscored 69-6 in the second half in the past two games.

https://twitter.com/PFF/status/1604230497596411904

Coaching experience matters. The Colts desperately need to hire the right head coach to turn the ship around. This was a tryout for Saturday, and it just isn’t working out.