Category: Colts

The ugliest winning seasons in NFL history

The 2023 Steelers have an ugly winning season, but it’s not the worst winning season in pro football history. Not even close.

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Folks, the Pittsburgh Steelers just keep winning ugly. In their 23-19 Sunday win over the Green Bay Packers, Mike Tomlin’s team continued its streak of being outgained by every single one of its opponents. This time, the Packers gained 399 net yards to Pittsburgh’s 324. The Steelers are now the only professional football team since at least 1933 to be outgained in every game and still have a winning record.

Impressive? In a perverse way, yes.

Despite this lack of offensive firepower, and a point differential of -26, the Steelers stand at 6-3 on the season, which got us thinking — what are the worst winning seasons in NFL history? Those seasons in which you think to yourself, “There’s no WAY these guys can be winning,” but they are anyway?

As it turns out, the Steelers are nowhere near the worst winning teams in these categories. But it is notable that in all three seasons of Matt Canada’s tenure as the Steelers’ offensive coordinator, the Steelers are either on this list, or in the discussion.

2024 NFL Mock Draft: Bears rule the roost with two top-five picks

In this two-round 2024 NFL mock draft, the Chicago Bears continue with Justin Fields as their quarterback, and start to build around him with the first and fifth picks.

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The Chicago Bears’ 16-13 win over the Carolina Panthers on Thursday night was a double victory for the Monsters of the Midway. Not only did they “up” their record to 3-7 on the season, but the first-round Panthers pick, owned by the Bears as part of the trade to select Bryce Young with the first pick in the 2023 NFL draft, is now the first overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft, because the Panthers are 1-8.

That puts forth an interesting question for the Bears, and whoever’s in charge of their personnel in 2024, whether it’s current general manager Ryan Poles, or somebody else: Are they happy enough with the development of quarterback Justin Fields (when he’s healthy) to avoid taking one of the two rock star quarterbacks — USC’s Caleb Williams of North Carolina’s Drake Maye — with that first pick? Chicago also has its own fifth overall pick as a result of its own dismal record, so it’s either hold onto Fields and build around him, or punt to a new guy.

In this mock draft, the Bears do show faith in Fields, giving him a possibly “generational” receiver in Ohio State’s Marvin Harrison Jr. with the first pick, and a potential franchise edge-rusher in UCLA’s Laiatu Latu.

For the rest of the picks in this two-round mock, read below.

Colts owner Jim Irsay with strange celebration dance after topping Panthers

Colts owner Jim Irsay with a wild celebration ‘dance’

Jim Irsay is the ultimate music guy.

That doesn’t explain the moves he showed off in the locker room on Sunday after his Indianapolis Colts downed the Carolina Panthers.

Bryce Young throws 2 pick-sixes to Colts Kenny Moore II

Kenny Moore II of the Colts took 2 Bryce Young passes back for pick-sixes

Bryce Young must have not gotten the memo that this was a revenge game for his coach Frank Reich as the Carolina Panthers played host to the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday.

The No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft was off-target, finding Colts DB Kenny Moore II twice. Moore returned each interception for a touchdown.

The first one covered 49 yards.

The second pick-six was good for 66 yards.

Reich coached the Colts for years before losing his job last season and eventually being hired by the Panthers.

Colts owner Jim Irsay says NFL admitted two bad calls at the end of Browns game

Colts owner Jim Irsay says the NFL admitted to him that two game-changing penalties vs. the Browns should not have been called.

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Referee Shawn Smith and his crew will be persona non grata in Indianapolis for a long time after Sunday’s events. These officials will have to wait a long time for tables at Prime 47 and Harry and Izzy’s and the legendary St. Elmo’s with all that happened late in the fourth quarter.

With 47 seconds left in the game, and the Colts up 38-33, a sack fumble in the Colts’ favor was negated by an illegal contact penalty on cornerback Darrell Baker. And on the very next play, Baker was busted for defensive pass interference.

Here are the two plays.

Illegal contact:

Defensive pass interference:

Both calls were highly suspect. The illegal contact play seemed to show Baker and receiver Amari Cooper hand-fighting about equally. And the pass interference call seemed to come on a pass that was uncatchable.

But those two penalties set up Kareem Hunt’s one-yard game-winning touchdown with 19 seconds left.

On Tuesday, Colts owner Jim Irsay said that the NFL told him that both calls were incorrect.

Sadly, there’s no way to reverse the final result. Also, what Irsay did is also apparently verboten by NFL standards, so let’s preserve this for posterity just in case.

4-Down Territory, in which Doug and Kyle are REALLY tired of bad officiating

More bad NFL officiating, trades we’d like to see happen, defensive player MVPs, and the Worst of the Week — it’s time for 4-Down Territory!

With seven weeks of actual football in the books for the 2023 NFL season, it’s time for Doug Farrar of Touchdown Wire, and Kyle Madson of Niners Wire, to come to the table with their own unique brand of analysis in “4-Down Territory.”

This week, the guys discuss these four downs:

  1. Does the NFL even care how bad officiating is right now?
  2. Which NFL trade should happen before the October 31 deadline?
  3. Could a defensive player win NFL MVP this season?
  4. And of course, our Worst of the Week!

You can watch this week’s “4-Down Territory” right here:

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You can also listen and subscribe to the “4-Down Territory” podcast on Spotify…

…and on Apple Podcasts.

The NFL’s Worst of the Week: Bad officiating, Deshaun Watson’s issues, Derek Carr’s loud misses

More bad officiating! The Saints, Raiders, and Commanders are disasters! What happened to Detroit’s defense? It’s time for the NFL’s Worst of the Week.

Football is a wonderful, thrilling, inspiring game that can lift us to new heights in our lives.

But football is also a weird, inexplicable, at times downright stupid game that may force you to perform Keith Moon-level furniture destruction in your own living room.

So, as much as we at Touchdown Wire endeavor to write about what makes the game great, there are also times when it’s important to point out the dumb plays, boneheaded decisions, and officiating errors that make football all too human.

Folks, it’s time for the Worst of the Week for Week 7 of the 2023 NFL season.

Myles Garrett is an absolute alien who cannot be stopped

Myles Garrett has been a one-man wrecking crew against the Indianapolis Colts.

Coming into Sunday’s game against the Cleveland Browns and their top-ranked defense, Indianapolis Colts head coach and offensive shot-caller Shane Steichen knew exactly the challenge he’d be facing.

“They’re fast, they’re physical, they’re playing at a high level right now,” Steichen said on Friday. “I think they’re giving up 200 yards a game, 120 through the air and 80 on the ground. We’ve got to be on it with our P’s and Q’s, the details, the fundamentals, blocking up front. They’ve got a really good pass rush, they cover well. It’ll be a heck of a challenge for us but we’re looking forward to it.”

What Steichen might have also anticipated was that Browns edge-demolisher Myles Garrett was going to go OFF. If he didn’t, he should have. Because Garrett, the best edge defender in the NFL today, has been unstoppable in all sorts of ways.

You want strip-sacks? Well, sure.

You want a Dikembe Mutombo-style deflection? Yeah, Gardner Minshew got himself denied here.

How about a blocked field goal in which Garrett just jumps over everybody without touching a Colts player, thus rendering the play legal? Well, why the heck not?

Garrett is taking this game over as you will see few defensive players ever do.

Gardner Minshew is taking the Browns’ NFL-best defense to school

Gardner Minshew and the Colts are demolishing the Browns’ NFL-best defense, because of course they are.

There’s a reason that “Any given Sunday” is a cliche — because it’s true. One thing you would NOT expect is for the Indianapolis Colts with backup quarterback Gardner Minshew to be taking it to the Cleveland Browns’ NFL-best defense. But that’s exactly what’s happened early on.

First with 11:38 left in the first quarter, there was this 59-yard touchdown pass to Josh Downs in which the Browns were offside, Minshew had a free play, and he perfectly exploited Cleveland’s coverage for the big play on a post/wheel concept.

Then, with 4:28 left in the first quarter, Minshew took off himself, took advantage of a bad angle by safety Grant Delpit (who’s usually awesome), and trucked in for a 17-yard touchdown run.

Not a bad early result as the Colts have lost Anthony Richardson for the rest of the season with a Grade 3 AC joint sprain in his right (throwing) shoulder.

Browns, Colts trade big-play touchdowns early

Jerome Ford and Josh Downs were probably not on many fantasy football players’ cards

The Browns are minus Nick Chubb for the season. That doesn’t mean their running game is dormant.

Early in Week 7 against the Indianapolis Colts, Jerome Ford showed he has some pretty good wheels. Get it? Ford has some good wheels.

The 69-yard run on Sunday put the visiting Browns on top of the Colts, 7-0.

The lead didn’t last as Gardner Minshew, playing for Anthony Richardson, who is done for 2023, hit Josh Downs for a TD pass that was good for 59 yards.