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Jeff Saturday joked that the Indianapolis Colts will start calling zone-read plays for 37-year-old quarterback Matt Ryan.
Ryan has never been known for his swift feet, but his career-best, 39-yard scramble to convert a third-and-3 in the fourth quarter led to his winning touchdown pass two plays later.
He completed a 35-yard pass to Parris Campbell with 5:07 left Sunday to give the Colts a 25-20 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders and Saturday — an ESPN analyst just a week ago — his first victory as the interim coach.
It capped an unusual week when the Colts fired coach Frank Reich and replaced him with Saturday, whose only prior coaching experience was at a Georgia high school. Saturday then handed play-calling to Parks Frazier, who had never been in that position. Finally, Saturday sat Sam Ehlinger, who started the past two games, and put Ryan back in the starting lineup.
“Jeff, he’s the thing that drives this thing,” Colts owner Jim Irsay said. “That’s the reason in bringing in him. I knew he had those abilities to come in and be a great leader and take over right away, because of all the help he had around him, because he knew to delegate. He, obviously, is thrilled with the victory, but in this league you’re on your next battle.”
Ryan had been battling a shoulder injury and wasn’t sure if he was ready to return. But Saturday said Ryan put together such a strong practice session Friday that it made the decision easy.
