Chuck Pagano says 49ers beat Colts, played the Rams (Video)

Chuck Pagano looked like a thoroughly defeated coach after Sunday’s game, so maybe it was easy to confuse who exactly the Colts played.

With Andrew Luck standing on the sideline, Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Rams went about as expected for the Indianapolis Colts. Scott Tolzien threw a pick-six on his first pass attempt, and the Colts never recovered on their way to a 46-9 loss.

Chuck Pagano is firmly on the hot seat this year, with a new general manager that did not hire him now in place in Indianapolis. The talent deficiencies across the roster are not Pagano’s doing, but when Luck is not on the field shortcomings in every area are exposed.

Pagano looked like a coach who had just lost a game at the post-game podium on Sunday, so some details could have gone by the wayside or been forgotten completely. But he misspoke in one pretty important way.

Pagano credited the “49ers and coach McVay” for beating his team handily. But the 49ers played at home against the Carolina Panthers Sunday afternoon, while Sean McVay is the head coach of the Rams.

That’s not to say the 49ers and Rams don’t have a lot of things in common. Both teams are in the NFC West, are located in California and have first-year head coaches in McVay and Kyle Shanahan. McVay and Shanahan also each have time as offensive coordinator for the Washington Redskins on their resume, to expand the similarities. The Colts even play the 49ers at home in Week 5, as the AFC South and NFC West play each other in cross-conference games this year.

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Pagano confusing who the team just lost to is a perfect metaphor for a season that is already going off the rails for the Colts. Luck’s eventual return to action, assuming it happens, won’t keep Pagano from being fired.