Indianapolis Colts

4 Years, 4 Games, 4 Reasons Why Grigson and Pagano Should Be Safe For Season

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Oct 1, 2016; London, United Kingdom; Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay on the main stage during NFL on Regent Street prior to the International Series game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

The national media has heavily criticized Indianapolis Colts general manager Ryan Grigson and head coach Chuck Pagano over their team falling to 1-3 following a disappointing 30-27 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in London.

However, while there has been much frustration with the Colts upper management, it appears that both Grigson and Pagano’s jobs are fairly safe for the foreseeable future respectively.

Here are 4 reasons why:

Oct 2, 2016; London, United Kingdom; Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles (5) and Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck (12) shake hands after game 15 of the NFL International Series at Wembley Stadium. The Jaguars defeated the Colts 30-27. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

4. Life in the Lowly AFC South

As much as the Colts have struggled to start the season, they still aren’t even close to being out of the playoff picture, having the luxury of playing in the woeful AFC South.

Currently, there are three teams tied at 1-3 in the division, with only the Houston Texans having a winning record at 3-1.

The Colts still have two divisional games against the Texans (one in two weeks) among their five AFC South games left, as well as 12 total regular season games remaining–meaning that the divisional crown is still clearly up for grabs along with the automatic playoff bid that comes along with it.

The Colts season is far from over, but following Sunday’s disappointing loss to the Jaguars, their margin for error has become significantly smaller.

Aug 4, 2016; Anderson, IN, USA; Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck (12) hands off to Colts running back Trey Williams (40) during the Indianapolis Colts NFL training camp at Anderson University. Mandatory Credit: Mykal McEldowney/Indy Star via USA TODAY NETWORK

3. Midseason Changes Wouldn’t Matter

If the Colts did theoretically fire both Grigson and Pagano midseason, who are they going to get on an interim basis to come in and right the ship from the get-go?

Midseason moves rarely work out, as one of Pagano’s top assistant coaches–likely either offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski or defensive coordinator Ted Monachino would be promoted to head coach. However, does that actually make the Colts significantly better?

It’s still a product of the same coaching staff after all, and a coach like Chudzinski was criticized just as much as Pagano this past weekend for not running the no-huddle offense enough and not having Frank Gore in the backfield on a critical failed 4th and 1 late in the game.

We saw last season when the Colts replaced former offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton with Chudzinski that changes in-season rarely make much of an impact. It takes an entire offseason and training camp for players to effectively learn a new coach’s scheme and system–not just a few short days.

Meanwhile, even if the Colts did appoint a new general manager, without the luxury of the NFL Draft or a marquee free agency period in-season, there’s no real way for the team to actually improve their roster on the fly. Sure, the new general manager could always try to go dumpster diving or eye the waiver wire like a hawk, but it’s extremely rare that those fringe players actually make much of an immediate impact.

Oct 1, 2016; London, United Kingdom; Neil Reynolds (left) interviews Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay on the main stage during NFL on Regent Street prior to the International Series game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

3. Four More Years!

Colts owner Jim Irsay just handed both Grigson and Pagano new extensions that run through the 2019 season. There’s no telling what the contract numbers are, but I imagine both are due a lot of guaranteed money remaining on those freshly inked deals.

It would be a lot of money to eat, as well as to pay for their high profile replacements (someone like Jon Gruden isn’t coming cheap to call ‘Spider 2 Y Banana’) for an owner who just happened to shell out millions upon millions of guaranteed dollars to franchise quarterback Andrew Luck–making him the highest paid player in NFL history in the process.

Sep 11, 2016; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Indianapolis Colts head coach Chuck Pagano argues a call in the second half of the game against the Detroit Lions at Lucas Oil Stadium. the Detroit Lions beat the Indianapolis Colts by the score of 39-35. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports

2. Ultimate Knee-Jerk Reaction

When re-upping Grigson and Pagano, Irsay preached of having continuity and long-term stability atop the organization just like all-time winning organizations such as the New England Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers have had for seemingly so long.

Having freshly inked both Grigson and Pagano to new contracts that run for 4 years, it would be the ultimate knee jerk reaction to fire them just after 4 games to start the regular season–disappointing start and all.

One coach who was linked to the Colts last offseason, Sean Payton, has his New Orleans Saints at 1-3 just like Pagano, while the departed coach that everyone seems to want back, Bruce Arians, has his Arizona Cardinals shockingly only at 1-3 as well.

Point being that Pagano isn’t the only coach whose team is failing to meet expectations right now–as so are a lot of his sought after replacements.

Irsay has never fired a general manager coach or general manager midseason in his 19 seasons prior running the team, and it doesn’t seem like he’d make such a knee jerk reaction now despite his team’s slow start.

Jul 28, 2016; Anderson, IN, USA; Indianapolis Colts general manager Ryan Grigson watches during the Indianapolis Colts NFL training camp at Anderson University. Mandatory Credit: Mykal McEldowney/Indy Star via USA TODAY NETWORK

1. Sink or Swim Mentality

The Colts should have the ‘sink or swim’ mentality, which means that both Grigson and Pagano deserve the opportunity to go at least a full season before any drastic moves are even considered within the organization.

This is a team that is just one year removed from making the AFC Championship game and had starting quarterback Andrew Luck miss 9 games last season.

The team could very well be 3-1 right now–as much as they could be 0-4, but at the end of the day, the Colts are only as good as their record which could stand for considerable improvement.

That being said, both Grigson and Pagano deserve to either go down with their ship like any admirable captain of the seas would or sail it to more winning waters, having a full season of duration to actually right the ship.