Chuck Pagano Sure Put A Lot Of Stock Into Colts Beating 3-13 Jaguars

Perhaps the next banner hung from the Lucas Oil Stadium rafters will read “Beat the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 17 of the 2016 season.”

The Indianapolis Colts saw yet another disappointing season come to an end Sunday, albeit with a 24-20 win over the lowly Jacksonville Jaguars. The Jags actually jumped out to a big lead only to watch it evaporate after an Andrew Luck-led touchdown drive.

The Colts won the game in the final seconds on a Luck touchdown pass, providing an ending to the game that would have been much more thrilling had it actually meant anything.

Well, perhaps we should rephrase that and say “had it actually meant anything … to anyone other than Chuck Pagano and the Colts.” Obviously, you play to win the game, even in Week 17 when both teams are out of contention. But with the way Pagano described and assessed the win at a season-ending news conference Monday, you’d think the Colts were prepping for a Super Bowl run.

Pagano says beating Jacksonville proves team has "right guys, coaches and players."

— Gregg Doyel (@GreggDoyelStar) January 2, 2017

There’s moving the goalposts and then there’s using a Week 17 home win over an eventual 3-13 team with a banged-up quarterback (who’s not great to begin with) as proof you have the “right guys, coaches and players.”

Regardless of Pagano’s optimism, he did seem to understand and acknowledge there will be changes after a second consecutive 8-8 season, which again caused the Colts to miss the playoffs despite playing in one of the NFL’s worst divisions.

“8-8 is not good enough. And that’s on me,” Pagano told reporters, per NFL.com. “I told players today this team won’t be the same. It’s the harsh reality. I told them don’t worry about the future … just worry about today.”

There might, however, be somewhat of a method to Pagano’s madness. His news conference Monday might have been one of his last chances to actually make a case for keeping his job. According to Pagano, he’s yet to meet with owner Jim Irsay about his job security, but he certainly acted like someone who believes they’re not going anywhere.