London Fog: After Colts fall to Jaguars, will there be a shakeup in Indy?
The Indianapolis Colts had some momentum coming into Sunday’s game with the Jacksonville Jaguars after a come-from-behind win against the San Diego Chargers, their first victory of the season, in Week 3.
Apparently, they lost whatever mojo they gained against the Chargers on their flight to London.
Down 17-6 at halftime and 23-6 after three quarters, the Colts struggled mightily on offense early, in large part because their pass catchers couldn’t hold on to passes from Andrew Luck, who started the day 3 for 9 with an interception. He had a ball batted at the line of scrimmage that the Jaguars turned into their first touchdown of the day.
Indianapolis made things interesting in the fourth quarter, closing the score to 23-20 after a short touchdown pass to T.Y. Hilton, but Jacksonville regained a 10-point lead with a two-minute, four-play, 75-yard drive, capped by a Blake Bortles-to-Allen Hurns catch-and-run touchdown.
We theorized that a loss to the Colts could spell the end for Jacksonville coach Gus Bradley, but could it be the end for Indianapolis coach Chuck Pagano? It was a surprise that Colts owner Jim Irsay kept Pagano and general manager Ryan Grigson, but since an overtime win against Tampa Bay in Week 12 last season to up their record to 6-5, the Colts have lost six of nine games.
They started three rookies on the offensive line on Sunday, at center, right guard and right tackle, and the Jaguars sacked Luck six times. Already this season, he has been sacked 15 times. Drops have been a major issue, a prevalent problem on Sunday.
Defensively, Grigson has done little to give Pagano, a former D-coordinator with the Ravens, talent to work with. The Colts signed Arthur Jones in free agency in 2014, but Jones has played just nine games in blue thus far; he struggled his first year in Indy with an ankle sprain and missed all of 2015, also with an ankle injury. And Jones has yet to play this year, serving a four-game suspension for performance-enhancers.
Grigson traded for linebacker Sio Moore at the start of the 2015 season, and after playing a reserve role last year, Moore has been a starter and is the Colts’ leading tackler this year.
But Grigson hasn’t drafted many impact players on that side of the ball, either: Of the 38 picks the Colts have made on his watch, only 16 are defensive players. Perhaps even more damning, only six of those 16 are currently on the Colts’ roster, all of them drafted this year or last year.
When Irsay decided in January to keep Grigson and Pagano, he almost inexplicably signed them both to four-year contract extensions. Their contracts don’t count against the salary cap, but Irsay would have to eat that money if or when he decides to part ways with either man.
Despite traveling to London, the Colts do not have a bye next week; they’ll host the Chicago Bears.
