The Indianapolis Colts are 2-4 and in last place in the NFL’s worst division, yet owner Jim Irsay still sees the glass half full.
The owner is also completely out of touch with reality.
Here’s what he had to say about his team’s pathetic start.
“We could be 6-0 right now if the ball bounced our way,” Irsay told USA TODAY’S Jarrett Bell this week.
In truth, the Colts are lucky not to be 0-6. They are already 0-2 in the AFC South, having lost to the Jacksonville Jaguars and Houston Texans. And their only wins have come against other bad teams, the San Diego Chargers and Chicago Bears. Worse still, they’ve won those games by a combined eight points.
Head coach Chuck Pagano hasn’t developed any of the talent the Colts do have. Both he and general manager Ryan Grigson are culpable when it comes to the team’s failings the past couple of years.
Most of the buzz coming from NFL insiders last year indicated that Irsay was finally ready to rid himself of both Grigson and Irsay. Or at the least, that one of them was going out the door. Instead, the owner gave both of them extensions.
Rather than admit he made a mistake, however, Irsay still thinks things are going to work out in the long run.
“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.
The roster is outrageously barren of depth and overall talent, thanks to the continued mismanagement of Grigson. He’s wasting the best years of Andrew Luck’s career and should have been fired a couple of years back. In fact, the team’s success during Luck’s first three years had more to do with the quarterback overcoming a roster that has lost ground in each of Grigson’s five years on the job.
Don’t tell that to Irsay, though.
“The heap of criticism that has fallen on Ryan Grigson, it is so unjust. No one bothers to see what the accomplishments have been the first five years.”
This isn’t the first time the owner has heaped praise on Grigson. He compared his work to the work of Hall of Famer Bill Polian this year, saying Grigson actually has surpassed Polian’s accomplishments (seriously, he said that).
It brings us no pleasure to say this, but Colts fans should get used to feeling sad. If Irsay continues to stick with Pagano, and especially with Grigson, things are not going to get better any time soon.