The Colts were a popular pick to represent the AFC in this year’s Super Bowl, but now sit at 3-6, on a three-game losing streak, and somehow still in first place in the AFC South. The Colts are still the favorite to win the division and reach the postseason despite their myriad problems, but for these three reasons, they shouldn’t take too much pride in it.
1. Six Wins May Be Enough To Win the Division
The Colts’ schedule going forward is unrelenting. They just lost to the unbeaten Panthers, and have the undefeated Broncos coming to their house on Sunday. They have games at Atlanta and at Pittsburgh remaining on the schedule too, and if they drop all three – and they are expected to be underdogs – they’re already at nine losses.
Pagano, Grigson On The Hot Seat
They are lucky to be in a division racked with utter turmoil. The Titans just fired their head coach, the Texans have cut their Week 1 starting quarterback and their franchise running back Arian Foster is out for the season, and the Jaguars lost their top pick on Day 1 of minicamp. It is difficult to imagine Jacksonville (2-5) or Tennessee (1-6) surging to seven wins, and the Texans are ranked 30th in FootballOutsiders.com’s DVOA ratings. Should Indianapolis win the division with six wins, it will be dubious history.
Then again, the last team to take flack for winning their division with a terrible record was the 2011 Seahawks, who gave fans one of the coolest runs of all-time.
Andrew Luck Would Be 'Fast' If He Looked Like Cam Newton
2. Every Coach In This Division Might Get Fired
We’ve already seen one coach, Tennessee’s Ken Whisenhunt, get the ax. Bill O’Brien’s seat is scalding hot, because it’s hard to have one of the league’s worst defenses when J.J. Watt is on the roster and healthy. He also gets poor marks for handling Houston’s QB situation. Naming Brian Hoyer the starter, and benching him one half into Week 1 is befuddling at best, especially when Ryan Mallett was not only ineffective, he was insubordinate.
Gus Bradley seems popular enough in Jacksonville, but the Jaguars were 7-25 in Bradley’s first two seasons, and 2-5 in 2015. A 9-30 record is a sure way to get canned in the NFL, regardless of how unfortunate the injury situation is.
And then there’s Chuck Pagano, who leads the best team of this sorry bunch. There has been lots of smoke regarding his fractured relationship with the front office, specifically GM Ryan Grigson. For the reasons stated above, winning this division with a sub-.500 record isn’t going to impress anyone, especially with Andrew Luck at quarterback. The Colts will likely need a deep postseason run to convince management they shouldn’t move on from Pagano. Luck has regressed this year, which is not something they can tolerate. If Pagano goes, the AFC South might be home to more dubious history.
3.The Quarterback Play Has Been An Eyesore
Quarterbacks are the most important players in the NFL, and this division features zero who are playing well. Blake Bortles has some pretty game logs, but most of them are because he’s launching the ball one hundred times because they are getting blown out. Ryan Mallett committed crimes against football with some of his play, and Brian Hoyer is sleep-inducing. Whisenhunt had shackles on Marcus Mariota, as if he’d forgotten part of the scouting report on him was that he’s pretty fast.
And then there’s Andrew Luck, who may be playing hurt, or in an outdated offense that hasn’t realized the offensive line can’t protect him. Each team has featured offensive quarterback play, and all of them have vacillated between poor and unwatchable. But someone has to win this thing.
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