Jeff Saturday Reveals Colts’ Plan for Matt Ryan, QB Position
The bye week is always a good time for teams to re-evaluate things.
Self-scouting is very important in the NFL. From players to coaches to those in the front office, everyone needs to be looked at to see what they can do better.
The Indianapolis Colts have many things they can improve on. At 4-8-1, the season has not gone as planned, and players and coaches alike have not performed up to expectations.
This is especially true for the quarterback positions and Matt Ryan. While Ryan has led the Colts on game-winning drives in each of their four wins this season, his propensity to turn the ball over has been alarming and has hurt the Colts in a big way. On the season, Ryan has 13 interceptions, 14 fumbles (five lost), and 18 total turnovers.
Ryan’s Week 13 performance against the Dallas Cowboys should have been the final nail in the coffin for his tenure with the Colts. It seemed like the obvious move that Ryan needed to be benched after the bye. But talking to interim head coach Jeff Saturday, the Colts have other plans.
“Matt is going to be our guy going in Saturday,” Saturday revealed on Monday. “So, I’m planning on him going, practicing well this week and going in to play a good game against the Vikings here Saturday.”
The decision to continue starting Ryan may come as a shock to some. Over the last few weeks, Ryan has looked panicked in the pocket as he feels pressure before it is there. He also looks to have lost velocity on his throws, allowing defenders to jump on routes and make plays on the ball.
Both Ryan and Saturday know that the veteran quarterback has not played at his best. The two have even had conversations about Ryan’s play, and what has to change moving forward.
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“We talked about Dallas and about even our game (against) Pittsburgh not being what we want,” Saturday explained. “And I think he shoulders a lot of the burden. We haven’t been good enough in a lot of areas, so I hate to pinpoint one guy or one position but obviously that’s the quarterback position in the NFL. You get way too much credit and you get way too much blame. There’s part of his game that has to improve and we talked about that with a number of different guys…He’s honest about his performance. He didn’t try to cover it. If he’s not doing his part, he’ll own that as well, which I appreciate.”
But the biggest thing about Ryan’s performance that must be addressed is the turnovers. Against the Cowboys, the Colts were down 21-19 entering the fourth quarter. The Colts went on to commit turnovers on four consecutive possessions, with three of those being on Ryan. The result was an avalanche by the Cowboys, leading to a 54-19 blowout.
“It’s casual and careless,” Saturday said regarding the turnovers. “We as an offense, we can’t be defined by that and…it’s killing the football team. As much as you would like your defense to make these stands and all these kinds of things, when you give them four on your side in a quarter, chances are they’re not going to be – in fact, one we gave up a touchdown as we turned it over.”
The turnovers cannot continue, and both Ryan and Saturday know that. However, according to Saturday, the turnovers cannot all be pinned solely on Ryan. Others on the offense have contributed to the issue.
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“I think the problem, from the outside looking in, you want to attribute all those to one guy and if I could, that would be an easy position to change and all of a sudden, now you think you’ve made the team – all of a sudden we’ve kind of got no warts but that’s not the case. I feel like Matt has continued to give us the best chance and unfortunately, we keep turning the ball over but it’s not just on him. It’s on a number of different guys.”
Certainly, not all of the turnovers are on Ryan. All-Pro running back Jonathan Taylor has fumbled three times on the year, one away from tying his career high. Mo Alie-Cox, the normally sure-handed tight end for the Colts, had a ball punched out by the Cowboys that was returned for a touchdown.
The Colts lead the NFL in turnovers with 26, four more than any other team in the league. 18 of those are on Ryan. When the quarterback is giving the ball away as much as he has, it is hard to win in this league.
With that said, will Ryan be the starting quarterback for the Colts for the rest of the season?
“I sure hope so,” Saturday admitted. “That’s why he’s there. As few changes you can make to go win and like I told everybody, the focus of this is to win games. We’ve all got to go play better. Matt’s no different. He has to play better than he did last week if we have any shot to win.”
Winning certainly cures a lot of things. Unfortunately, for the Colts, they have not been doing much of that these days. Heading up north for a showdown with the 10-3 Minnesota Vikings on Saturday, the turnovers cannot continue if Indy hopes to pull off the upset.
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