Bill Belichick isn’t the only former NFL coach making his head-coaching debut at the college level this year. Former Colts and Panthers coach Frank Reich is serving as the full-year interim coach at Stanford. On Saturday, they meet for the fourth time as opposing head coaches.
The game also marks Reich’s return to Carolina, two years to the month after he was abruptly fired by an owner who applied an unprecedented and illogical mispronunciation — twice — of Reich’s last name in the press conference explaining the decision to part ways with Reich during his first season on the job.
Belichick’s team is favored for the first time against a Power Four opponent, by 7.5 points. Which says less about the 3-5 Tar Heels than it does about the 3-6 Cardinal.
The game, which begins at 4:30 p.m. ET, will be televised by the CW. Which is good news for YouTube TV customers, since the network isn’t owned by Disney.
At the pro level, Belichick leads the series, 2-1. All three games happened during Reich’s time with the Colts. Their last meeting was also Reich’s last game in Indianapolis. He was fired three years ago yesterday and replaced by Jeff Saturday.
Belichick and Reich had another fairly important meeting during Reich’s last game as offensive coordinator with the Eagles. In Super Bowl LII, Philadelphia upset Belichick’s Patriots. And when New England offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels decided not to follow through on a verbal agreement to take the Colts’ head-coaching job, Indy pivoted to Reich.
There’s another interesting piece of connective tissue in this one. Stanford’s G.M. is Andrew Luck. He was the quarterback of the Colts in the 2014 AFC Championship, a blowout win for the Patriots that sparked the #Deflategate scandal.
Both Belichick and Reich have had the air taken out of their first seasons at the college level. The stakes this time around are much more modest than they were in February 2018; both coaches need a win to keep alive their slim hopes to become bowl eligible.
Falcons right guard Chris Lindstrom injured his foot in Sunday’s loss to the Patriots, playing 50 of 56 snaps. He missed Wednesday’s practice but returned to limited work on Thursday and Friday.
The Falcons list him as questionable to play Sunday in Berlin, calling him a game-time decision.
Cornerback Mike Hughes (neck) and defensive lineman LaCale London (shoulder) are also questionable.
The Falcons previously ruled out right guard Matthews Bergeron (ankle), edge rusher Leonard Floyd (hamstring) and offensive tackle Storm Norton (foot), who didn’t travel with the team to Germany.
Safety Jessie Bates III, who was added to the practice report on Thursday with a knee injury, returned to full participation in Friday’s practice and does not have an injury designation.
Rookie nickel Billy Bowman Jr. (hamstring) and defensive lineman Zach Harrison (knee) will return this week.
The Colts will have two key players for their matchup with the Falcons in Berlin on Sunday.
New Indianapolis cornerback Sauce Gardner (concussion) and receiver Michael Pittman (glute) are both off the injury report and are set to play in Week 10.
Gardner was a full participant on all three injury reports this week. Pittman was a non-participant on Wednesday. But he was listed as full on both Thursday and Friday.
Pittman leads the team with 52 catches, 561 yards receiving, and six touchdowns.
Defensive end Samson Ebukam (knee) and defensive end Tyquan Lewis (groin) did not participate all week and have been ruled out.
Receiver Anthony Gould (knee) also was a non-participant all week but is listed as questionable.
Cornerback Kenny Moore (Achilles, rest), offensive lineman Matt Goncavles (personal) and defensive tackle Grover Stewart (rest) are all off the report and are set to play.
The Colts will be without one of their best players for at least the next four games.
Colts defensive tackle DeForest Buckner has been placed on injured reserve with a neck injury that he suffered last week against the Steelers, head coach Shane Steichen said today.
The Colts had already ruled Buckner out for Sunday’s game against the Falcons in Germany, but by NFL rule he will now have to miss at least three games after that.
Buckner has 42 total tackles nine tackles for loss, 13 quarterback hits, and 4.0 sacks this season.
The Falcons’ preparations for Week 10 got shaken up on Tuesday when their opponents made a big move ahead of the trade deadline.
The Colts traded for cornerback Sauce Gardner and he’s on track to play in Sunday’s game in Berlin after clearing the concussion protocol on Thursday. On Friday, Falcons head coach Raheem Morris said that he’s seen other corners make immediate impacts after joining new teams in season so he expects Gardner to “figure it out” on Sunday.
Morris also said that he thinks the change is going to have more of an impact on how the Colts defend wide receiver Drake London than it will have on how the Falcons offense operates.
“It’s definitely going to affect some things we do, but it’ll probably affect them more in how they’re going to pay more attention to Drake and things of that nature,” Morris said in a press conference.
Morris said that he also expects the absence of Colts defensive tackle DeForest Buckner to be a factor in the game and exploiting it would be a big plus for Morris’ chances of returning to the U.S. with a win.
