NFL Panic Button: Saints, Colts among 5 teams looking for reset button after Week 2
By Shaun Church
Indianapolis Colts
Quotable
"Stick to the process. Come back in, go back to the grind. We’ve got to get that winning taste, get this losing taste out of our mouth right now. Again, we saw it for 30 minutes [against Philadelphia]. It’s not a 30-minute game. It’s 60 minutes. We’ve got stuff to clean up, and we’ll go back to work and get ready like we always do."
–Colts head coach Chuck Pagano, via Steve Andress of the team’s official website
Why the reset button?
The Colts fell victim to Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos at Mile High to open the season. That’s never fun, as the Broncos are 16-2 (.889) with a points-differential of plus-279 at home in the regular season since Manning signed with them in 2012.
Both the win percentage and points-differential at home are No. 2 in the NFL since 2012—only the Seattle Seahawks are better, with a 16-1 record (.941) and a plus-291 points-differential.
Monday night, Indy had a two-touchdown lead over Nick Foles and the Philadelphia Eagles in the third quarter, then led by a touchdown most of the fourth quarter before its offense and defense imploded over the final five minutes of regulation.
It’s bad enough that the defense has faltered to start the year, allowing 61 points in two games—they join the Jaguars as the only teams to allow at least 30 points in their first two games—but quarterback Andrew Luck threw an interception while in field-goal range late, leading to the Philly comeback.
Since conference realignment for the 2002 season, 16 teams have started 0-2 while allowing at least 30 points in their first two games. Those teams’ average winning percentage in the year they pulled of this horrible feat? Just .348, or an average 16-game season record of about 5.5-10.5.
Two of those teams did make the playoffs, and one—the 2007 Giants—even won the Super Bowl.
You can stump your friends with this trivia question: What do the 2006 Detroit Lions (that dreadful 0-16 team) and the Super Bowl-champion 2007 New York Giants have in common?
Both lost their first two games of the season by allowing at least 30 points in each game. Talk about polar opposite end results…
Anyway, all this means is Luck and the Colts are in trouble. On paper, it appeared they might run away with the AFC South division once again. But as they say, “That’s why they play the game.”
The fifth and final team looking for that reset button had one of the best defenses in the league a year ago. It also just signed its quarterback to a hefty deal.