Jim Irsay: “There are other teams and players in other roles that could be bigger, but the three levels of the game – special teams, defense and offense – I really like this football team”; Watch Indianapolis Colts at Pittsburgh Steelers, live on Sky Sports NFL, Sunday, 6pm
Last updated: 24/12/20 6:14 pm
DeForest Buckner has had a huge impact since joining the Colts from the 49ers in the right time.
Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay considers his team to be the most “perfect” in the NFL as they look to win the South AFC division title in the final two weeks of the regular season.
The Colts are 10-4 on the season, tied with the Tennessee Titans, with the tiebreaker between the two teams to see them in pole position for the current division.
But Irsay couldn’t be happier with what he’s seeing from his team, ahead of games at the Pittsburgh Steelers – live on Sky Sports NFL on Sunday, 6pm – and against the Jacksonville Jaguars to close out the season.
“We’re so happy. And we have control over what we can control,” Irsay said NFL Network. “We couldn’t control it without having national television matches at home this year, which was disappointing.
3:57 A look back at the action and talk points from Week 15 of the NFL season.
“We couldn’t control DeForest [Buckner] not getting the Pro Bowl. But we have control over those 60 minutes, and in those 60 minutes no one can take anything from us.
“That’s our time. We know when we go into those 60 minutes how we’re going to define ourselves. And we take it one game at a time.
“But I have a special feeling about this team, I do. I think this is the most perfect team in the league. I believe that.
0:32 Jonathan Taylor was too quick for the Las Vegas defense as he extended Indianapolis ’lead over the Raiders.
“There are other teams and players in other roles that might be more to talk about, but the three levels of the game – special teams, defense and offense – and you put it all together, and I really like this football team.
“And we’re doing things now in December that we couldn’t do in September. I don’t think we’re going to go to the [Las Vegas] Raiders and hitting them on the road like we did if that was September.
0:25 Kenny Moore’s elegant one-handed selection in the endzone prevented Las Vegas from scoring a goal against Indianapolis.
“We have two more to go and we’ll see. It’s so hard to be in the [AFC] conference. You could be like the New England one-time, who were 11-5, and not making the playoffs this year.
“The way to solve that is for us to go 12-4, which wins the next two.”
0:20 Colts quarterback Philip Rivers placed Dan Marino on the full-time pass yards list throughout their game against the Titans in Week 10.
Building on Buckner, and neglecting the defensive jacket from the 2021 Pro Bowl squad, Irsay analyzed the surprise of learning that he had received the prestigious offseason trophy.
Buckner has made a huge impact on the Colts defense, since coming through a trade from the San Francisco 49ers, recording 52 wrestling, 7.5 sacks, eight tackles for loss and 24 QB hits – and his absence in major losses to him Tennessee in the Week 12 made its value even more apparent.
“I thought it wasn’t April or Christmas for April Fool’s,” Irsay said. “We follow DeForest. He’s our T-Rex.
“Trust me, when you’re in the fort and you see one like that next to you, you go like ‘it’s cool, this play is going to be okay’.
“To see a 300 pound person move as a small lineman or safety is amazing; hopefully he does what Darius does [Leonard] did and I did Pro Bowl only do All-Pro because I can’t imagine it won’t do All-Pro. “
Watch the Indianapolis Colts at the Pittsburgh Steelers, live on Sky Sports NFL from 6pm Sunday.