INDIANAPOLIS -- Are you worried about the Indianapolis Colts after they gave up 51 points in their 17-point loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers last weekend?
You should be a little concerned, but there's no need to be in over-the-top panic mode. The blame could definitely be spread around for the Colts' performance.
Yes, the Colts were atrocious on defense, as they gave up big plays and weren’t able to sack quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. The offensive line struggled to protect quarterback Andrew Luck. And they even messed up on special teams, getting called for an offsides penalty on a field goal attempt, a mistake Pittsburgh eventually turned into a touchdown.
But the Colts have been in this position before. That’s why there wasn’t a lot of panic inside the Colts’ locker room after the game or from Chuck Pagano and the players that talked on Monday afternoon.
“We didn’t play very good,” Pagano said. “We didn’t play very good and it doesn’t have anything to do with arrogance, cocky, taking the foot off the gas, complacency. We’ve got great veteran leadership in the locker room. We’ve got a bunch of guys that don’t allow that to happen. We ran into a buzz saw, if you will, last night. They played a great football game, and give the Steelers credit in all three phases. Beat us soundly in all three phases.”
The ability to bounce back following a loss is something the Colts have excelled at with Luck.
Luck has lost back-to-back games only once his NFL career, when the Colts dropped games against Denver and Philadelphia in the first two weeks of this season. The Colts will attempt to keep it that way when they play the New York Giants on Monday.
“They have to, and they’ve done it so many times before,” Pagano said. “So I have faith and trust because of history that they will be able to move on, and we have to move on. Just like a great win, you can’t let a loss like this linger. You can’t have a hangover. There’s a team sitting and waiting and licking its chops in New York right now who’s going to be well-rested. They’re well-coached. They’re a really good football team and a great organization and we all know that. They had a week off so they’ve had two weeks to prepare for us. So we better not [let the loss linger] because if we do, then we’re going to be barking up the wrong tree.”
Here’s a look at each of the Colts’ losses with Luck and how they played in the game following:
2012
Loss: Sept. 9 at Chicago 41-21
Win: Sept. 16 vs. Minnesota 23-20
Loss: Sept. 23 vs. Jacksonville 22-17
Win: Oct. 7 vs. Green Bay 30-27
Loss: Oct. 14 at New York Jets 35-9
Win: Oct. 21 vs. Cleveland 17-13
Loss: Nov. 18 at New England 59-24
Win: Nov. 25 vs. Buffalo 20-13
Loss: Dec. 16 at Houston 29-17
Win: Dec. 23 at Kansas City 20-13
2013
Loss: Sept. 15 vs. Miami 24-20
Win: Sept. 22 at San Francisco 27-7
Loss: Oct. 14 at San Diego 19-9
Win: Oct. 20 vs. Denver 39-33
Loss: Nov. 10 vs. St. Louis 38-8
Win: Nov. 14 at Tennessee 30-27
Loss: Nov. 24 at Arizona 40-11
Win: Dec. 1 vs. Tennessee 22-14
Loss: Dec. 8 at Cincinnati 42-28
Win: Dec. 15 vs. Houston 25-3
2014
Loss: Sept. 7 at Denver 31-24
Loss: Sept. 15 vs. Philadelphia 30-27
Loss: Oct. 26 at Pittsburgh 51-34
???: Nov. 3 at New York Giants