AP Photo/Andy Clayton-King
Indianapolis Colts quarterback Matt Ryan and head coach Jeff Saturday endured no shortage of vitriol from Twitter on Saturday after the Colts blew a 33-0 lead and fell 39-36 to the Minnesota Vikings in overtime.
Minnesota's win marked the biggest comeback victory in NFL history in the regular season or playoffs, breaking the record of a 32-point comeback previously held by the Buffalo Bills, who overcame that deficit in a playoff win over the Houston Oilers in the 1992 season.
The Vikings trailed 33-0 at halftime because of a cavalcade of errors that included a blocked punt returned for a touchdown, a lost fumble by running back Dalvin Cook, a pick-six thrown by quarterback Kirk Cousins and two failed fourth-down conversions.
It was an entirely different story in the second half and overtime, though, as the Vikings scored 32 unanswered points after a Colts field goal made it 36-7 in the third quarter.
Josh Dubow of the Associated Press noted that the Colts are only the second team since 1930 to lead by 30 or more points in a game and lose:
There was plenty of blame to go around for Indy's collapse, but much of it fell on Ryan and Saturday.
Ryan now holds the distinction of being the losing quarterback in the biggest comeback in NFL history, as well as the biggest comeback in Super Bowl history, as Ryan's Atlanta Falcons blew a 28-3 lead to Tom Brady and the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LI.
Not surprisingly, people on Twitter took advantage of the opportunity to troll Matty Ice:
While Ryan didn't play a great game with just 182 yards and one touchdown, he didn't turn the ball over either, and it can be argued that Saturday deserves even more of the blame.
The Colts already fired head coach Frank Reich this season and replaced him with Saturday on an interim basis, which was a controversial decision since he didn't previously have any coaching experience beyond the high school level.
Many on Twitter referenced that fact and joked about the Colts potentially firing two head coaches in the same season:
nick wright @getnickwrightSo now that Jeff Saturday has blown the biggest lead in NFL history, and hasn't won a single game since beating the Raiders, do those of us that said the hire was an embarrassment *still* owe him an apology, or were we right all along?<br><br>Asking for myself, <a href="https://twitter.com/JoyTaylorTalks?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JoyTaylorTalks</a> & others
Others pointed out the irony that the Colts' former head coach, Reich, is no longer on record as being the winning quarterback in the largest comeback in NFL history due to the coaching performance of his replacement:
The Colts' season was already essentially over before Saturday's game since even winning out wasn't likely to yield a playoff spot, but now that they are 4-9-1, their fate is sealed.
Meanwhile, the Vikings improved to 11-3 and clinched the NFC North with their win, meaning they will play at least one postseason game at home.
What would have been a hugely embarrassing home loss for the Vikings turned into the ultimate embarrassment for the Colts and left them searching for answers for 2023 and beyond.
