After controversially not calling a timeout, Jeff Saturday admits that he wishes the Indianapolis Colts did use a timeout and explains why.
On Monday night, the Indianapolis Colts we’re driving with a chance to win, or send the game to overtime late in the fourth quarter. Then, on a second-and-17, Matt Ryan scrambled for 14 yards to the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 26-yard line to set up a third-and-3. Instead of using one of Indy’s three timeouts, the Colts elected to hurry to the line and run the ball. As everyone knows by now, the run was stuffed, and Indy was stopped a play later on fourth down, effectively ending the game. Since that moment, interim head coach, Jeff Saturday, has been the subject of criticism for not using a timeout on third down.
Immediately following the game, Saturday explained that he didn’t really feel like a timeout was necessary because the Colts were in good field position with more than enough time left and they already had the play call they wanted for third down. This statement brought even more criticism to Saturday. Now, a day removed from the game, Jeff has slightly changed his tune.
Speaking with the media on Tuesday afternoon, Saturday admits that after watching the film several times since Monday night, he now wishes that the Colts would’ve used a timeout on third down. However, he didn’t change his belief about the time, maintaining that he felt Indy was in a pretty good spot time-wise. The reason Saturday wishes he called a timeout is because the team was in “disarray.”
Colts interim head coach Jeff Saturday on wishing he'd called a timeout late in Monday night's loss — "that was one that's gonna stick with me." pic.twitter.com/gA3toW5094
— Zak Keefer (@zkeefer) November 29, 2022
Jeff Saturday says Colts should’ve used timeout to settle the offense
While Saturday is taking a lot of lumps right now, he’s not necessarily wrong; time wasn’t Indianapolis’ biggest enemy at the end of the game. After all, Indy did lose because they ran out of downs and not out of time. Had the Colts converted the third down, they would’ve been in or right outside of the red zone with roughly 30 seconds left and three timeouts. That’s plenty to work with. But, as Saturday highlighted, the timeout could have helped settle the offense down and give them a better chance to convert.
In an attempt to keep the defense on their heels and catch the Steelers off guard, it was the Colts that weren’t prepared for a pivotal third down. But to be real, the entire timeout snafu has been a bit a blown out of proportion because it isn’t even one of Indy’s biggest problems from Monday night’s game. Indianapolis used a timeout a play later and couldn’t convert a gotta-have-it fourth down, and that’s because Indy’s problems run far deeper than saving an innocuous 25 seconds.
One of the biggest problems, that was also on display on the final third down was that Pittsburgh knew a run was coming. Alex Highsmith, the defender that made the tackle for the Steelers, told the media postgame that he could tell what was coming based on tendencies and that’s why he was able to burst through the line and make a play. It wasn’t just Highsmith though. A look at that play again and it was clear that the Steelers weren’t caught off guard by the tempo run.
Even with Pittsburgh knowing the play coming, Indianapolis didn’t offer much resistance with the game on the line and that’s the biggest problem in all of this. The Colts haven’t been a good team this season and they play with very little consistency. That would’ve been the case whether Jeff Saturday called a timeout or not.
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