The Indianapolis Colts (4-6-1) have moved forward with interim head coach Jeff Saturday following the firing of Frank Reich, and the team suffered a 17-16 loss to Nick Sirianni and the Philadelphia Eagles (9-1) on Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Sirianni, who served as the offensive coordinator under Reich for three seasons, has always been a passionate and fiery coach. It has shown in his two seasons as head coach of the Eagles.
Though he didn’t go into detail, it was pretty clear where he stood on the firing of Reich after the Eagles came back to complete a road win late in the fourth quarter.
“Yeah, you know, I’m emotional because I love Frank Reich. I really do. He’s one of the best damn football coaches I’ve ever been around. Yeah, I was hoping him and I would be able to coach against each other in this game, but he is one my of biggest mentors,” Sirianni said after the game Sunday. “You don’t want to know what I think if he should be here or not. You guys can probably imagine what I really think. I love him and so I got a little bit emotional about that.”
Sirianni’s squad is sitting at 9-1 with the best record in football and a team that is about as complete as it gets in the NFL. The Colts had their chances to pull off the upset, but Sirianni and the Eagles offense conducted a drive late in the fourth quarter that resulted in Jalen Hurts taking a draw into the end zone untouched.
Even though Sirianni was fired up after the big comeback win against his former team, he acknowledged it was good to see the players he coached just two seasons ago.
“It was good to see the guys that I really cared about and some of the things that Quenton Nelson and Ryan Kelly and Parris Campbell. Talked to them after the game, and Kenny Moore,” Sirianni said. “So that means a lot when they say some that things are — obviously I’ll keep those things to myself, but spent a lot of time here. One of my children was born here. It was sweet to come here, especially with what happened in this organization the last couple weeks and get the win. A win. We leave Indianapolis with a win.”
The Colts aren’t out of playoff contention yet, but they are certainly approaching that area. Their next two games come in prime time when they host the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 12 on Monday Night Football followed up by a Sunday night game against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 13.
We’ll see where they stand in the playoff race going into the Week 14 bye, but the changes in head coach didn’t have the same impact Sunday as they did in Week 10 against the Raiders.
Now, the Colts truly have their backs against the wall.
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