Colts owner Jim Irsay says 'this year isn’t over,' defends Grigson and Pagano

HOUSTON — Let Jim Irsay, still stinging from last Sunday, vouch for the therapeutic benefits of spending time behind closed doors with fellow NFL owners.

“It’s good to have an owners meeting as a distraction,” the man who writes the Indianapolis Colts' checks told USA TODAY Sports this week as he waited for an elevator.

The hotel where owners gathered wasn't far from NRG Stadium, where Irsay witnessed a meltdown of epic proportions in Week 6 — the Colts blew a 14-point lead in the final three minutes of regulation before losing in overtime to the Houston Texans.

“You go from first place to last place, just like that,” Irsay said. “I’ve got to get my mind off of it.”

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Hall of Fame coach Bill Parcells used to say that you are what your record says you are. Yet with his 2-4 Colts, carried largely by quarterback Andrew Luck, demonstrating a penchant for folding at crunch time, Irsay maintains, “We could be 6-0 right now if the ball bounced our way.”

If.

Many wonder if Irsay rues his big move nine months ago, when in the face of speculation that firings would occur after last season’s 8-8 finish, he instead extended the contracts of general manager Ryan Grigson and coach Chuck Pagano.

Nope. No regrets.

“When I made the decision in January, it was a long-term decision,” Irsay said. “I know we’re under a lot of pressure. But this year isn’t over.”

Two years ago, the Colts reached the AFC title game (when Grigson launched Deflategate after telling NFL officials he suspected the New England Patriots were using underinflated footballs).

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In each of the three seasons after Luck was drafted first overall in 2012, the Colts went one step deeper in the playoffs. Irsay points this out while defending Grigson and Pagano, comparing their track record to the years with Peyton Manning, former GM Bill Polian and, ultimately, coach Tony Dungy. In the five years after Manning was picked No. 1 overall in 1998, the Colts lost three times in the playoffs.

“The heap of criticism that has fallen on Ryan Grigson, it is so unjust,” Irsay said. “No one bothers to see what the accomplishments have been the first five years.”

Grigson has NFL executive of the year honors (2012) on his resume. Pagano persevered after battling leukemia to oversee three playoff wins.

But another measure pops up when comparing the Luck era to the Manning years: Sacks.

While the Colts rank seventh in the NFL in scoring, Luck heads into Sunday’s game against the Tennessee Titans as the league’s most-sacked passer. Playing behind a young line, he has absorbed 23 sacks and taken 47 hits. This after he missed nine games last season due to injuries.

In Manning’s 14 seasons with the Colts, he was sacked 23 times or more just twice and never more than 29. The Colts protected him — and he protected himself better than Luck does — and Manning went down just 1.1 times per game during his Indianapolis tenure.

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The sight of Luck, signed to a five-year, $123 million contract extension in June that guarantees $87 million, running for his life is so jarring.

Grigson used four draft picks this year on rebuilding the line, beginning with first-round center Ryan Kelly. And the Colts scored a coup by landing former Miami Dolphins coach Joe Philbin as the O-line coach, which marks a return to his roots.

But it takes time for blocking to jell. That was painfully obvious in Houston. Luck’s protection collapsed when it mattered most as the Colts made just two first downs on their final three possessions, two of which were thrown off the rails by sacks.

“I think our O-line has played fairly well,” Luck said on a conference call this week. “The sacks aren’t indicative of how well they’ve played. A lot of those sort of fall on me, but ... a lot of that has been us falling behind and having to throw and becoming one-dimensional. But I know we can fix it and get better.”

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To his credit, Luck is getting rid of the ball more quickly and taking fewer risks as a runner than in previous years.

“Andrew is a warrior,” Colts running back Frank Gore told USA TODAY Sports on Sunday. “I have as much respect for him as I have for anybody I’ve ever played with. He puts everything he has in it and never lets anybody else take the blame.”

But Luck clearly needs more help — even as injuries pile up on offense and a 30th-ranked defense, which some have called the worst the franchise has fielded in years, flounders.

“We’ve got to score in the thirties," Irsay figures.

No pressure, Andrew.

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Follow NFL columnist Jarrett Bell on Twitter @JarrettBell

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