Latest Patriots victory prompts team to fire its coach

The New England Patriots‘ week nine victory prompted the Indianapolis Colts to fire their head coach, Frank Reich during his fifth season at the helm.  Coming into week nine it was easy to see how the Patriots had the advantage over the Colts.

They had advantages across the board.  The Colts had recently benched Matt Ryan in favor of second year man Sam Ehlinger, who played reasonably well in week eight.  However, in week nine, it was a much different story.

Sam Ehlinger and the Colts’ offense was absolutely embarrassed by the Patriots’ defense.  They sacked Ehlinger nine times, tying a franchise record, and recorded a defensive touchdown.  They also kept the Colts out of the endzone.

The 26-3 drubbing was as lopsided as it gets in the NFL.  I had began to think that Indy could make this type of move after the game, and on Monday, before they got too deep into preparation for the week, Jim Irsay decided that enough was enough.

Firing Frank Reich mid-season was a move that perhaps some saw coming.  The head coach who went to the playoffs two times in his first three seasons is now out of a job.  He finished with a 40-33-1 record, which is a .547 winning percentage.

By all accounts, Reich is a solid coach.  He got genuine production out of multiple veteran quarterbacks, but the Matt Ryan experience was too much for him to overcome.  Bill Belichick’s defensive gameplan, coupled with the Colts’ disaster of an offensive line and shaky quarterback play allowed the Patriots to have one of the best defensive performances of the Belichick era.

The Patriots advanced to 5-4 with their win while the Colts fell to 3-5-1.  Indianapolis’ record really isn’t that bad, but given their circumstances, it was clear that a change was needed.

To be completely honest, Frank Reich would be a perfect offensive coordinator for the Patriots and would be able to get more out of Mac Jones.  Maybe that’s a move they consider making in the offseason.