A Saturday Sunday, Part Deux

So, give 'em their told-ya-so's, this happy Monday. Let 'em gloat. Let 'em thumb their noses at all of us who said the Indianapolis Colts were straight-up crazy, hiring a TV analyst as their head coach.

To that, allow Jeff Saturday (and Jim Irsay and Parks "The Play-Caller" Frazier and Matt Ryan and, oh, hell all of 'em) to say this: "Neener-neener-neener!"

Because, yeah, the Indianapolis Colts did that crazy thing, pulling Saturday out of an ESPN studio and making him their head coach without a lick of experience, and everyone said what a mockery it was -- including Bill Cowher, who stuck out his Gibraltar jaw and declared it "a travesty" right there on national TV.

And then ...

Well. And then, the Colts went out to Las Vegas and played like a real football team.

Parks the Play-Caller gave 'em an offense that made sense, with a drop-and-pop passing game that leaned heavily on the Colts best targets (Michael Pittman Jr. and Parris Campbell) and took pressure off the embattled O-line, and that gave the ball to Jonathan Taylor on the regular. 

Taylor ran for 147 yards and a 66-yard touchdown. Ryan had his best game as a Colt, going 21-of-28 for 222 yards and the winning touchdown to Campbell. Campbell and Pittman caught seven balls apiece, and the defense was solid again.

The Colts went right down the field and scored on their first possession, which never happens. They jumped out to a 10-0 lead. And they led at halftime for the first time in almost a year, after Saturday worked the clock like a vet at the end of the half, squeezing a field goal out of the last 58 seconds.

In the end, the Colts won 25-20, and you could say some stuff about that, if you were so inclined. You could say they were playing an awful Raiders team coached by a meathead, Josh McDaniels. You could say every team plays better in the immediate wake of a coaching change. You could say the real measure of Coach Saturday and this team will be next Sunday, when the unbeaten Eagles come to Indy.

All of that is true.

But for now?

Let 'em have their moment. And let us entertain the notion, however briefly, that maybe football isn't nuclear physics after all, but a game that's pretty elemental if you don't outthink yourself, and in which emotion outweighs all other factors. 

Oh, yeah. And Bill Cowher?

Neener-neener-neener, pal.