One week into the Jeff Saturday era, Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay may be feeling validation, and he let everyone know about it on Twitter.
On victory Monday following the Colts beating the Las Vegas Raiders 25-20 in Week 10, Irsay didn’t specifically address any of his critics from the past week. He’d need a lot more than 280 characters to do that, as Irsay received a lot of criticism after the team’s coaching change.
But he did address the criticism in a general sense, calling attention to one of the hypocrisies he finds in the media.
“All you critics…,” Irsay tweeted. “you criticize all of us in the NFL for losing…When we make moves to Win… you act so righteous! ‘Who You Crappin’..’. Just Win,Baby!!”
Saturday Wins Coaching Debut
During his first game on the sidelines in any coaching capacity in the NFL, Saturday led the Colts to a victory to keep the team’s playoff hopes alive.
The win snapped a 3-game losing streak and improved the Colts to 4-5-1. While they still sit in 10th place in the AFC, the Colts are now just 1 game back in the loss column of the New England Patriots, Los Angeles Chargers and Cincinnati Bengals, who are all in a tie for the final wild card spot in the conference.
Saturday has the team and fan base believing the playoffs are still possible because he didn’t do too much during his debut. He made the key decision to switch back to veteran Matt Ryan behind center, but then the Colts counted on Ryan’s leadership and Parks Frazier’s newly found play calling ability to capture the win in Las Vegas.
Indianapolis relied on All-Pro running back Jonathan Taylor plenty as well. Keeping their offense simple at times, Taylor had 24 touches, one of which was a 66-yard touchdown run in the second half.
Irsay commented immediately after the game how well Saturday utilized the team’s best assets to win his first game.
“He’s a great leader, and he uses everything around him to make the team better,” Irsay told the media.
What’s Left for Saturday & Colts in 2022-23 Season
Maybe the best lesson Irsay’s tweet can remind the media and fan base about is not judging a NFL front office move before seeing its impact on the field.
Of course, the same can be said for reacting after one game.
Irsay and defenders of Saturday were awfully boastful after the Colts beat the Raiders. While it was a big win, Indianapolis faces much tougher competition going forward.
In the last seven games, the Colts will see four teams who are currently in a playoff spot and another squad who has a winning record.
In Week 11, Saturday will get to coach his first home game in front of the Colts faithful at Lucas Oil Stadium, but Indianapolis will welcome the 8-1 Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles will be playing on a short week but also angry from suffering their first loss on Monday night.
For Irsay to keep attacking his critics on social media, and for the Colts to stay alive in the playoff hunt, they will likely have to pull off a few upsets down the stretch.
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