Insider: Why do Chuck Pagano's Indianapolis Colts keep getting blown out?

INDIANAPOLIS – The locker room’s stunned silence spoke louder than words ever could.

What do you say in response to a 37-point loss in a league where 57 percent of the games last season were decided by a single score?

The day’s events could not be easily articulated.

“It’s kind of hard to explain,” Indianapolis Colts defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins said. “I didn’t imagine giving up that many points.”

This was this past Sunday, immediately following the Colts’ 46-9 season-opening loss to the Los Angeles Rams. But it might as well have been Nov. 10, 2013 or Dec. 21, 2014 or any of the eight times since 2012 the Colts have been beaten by four or more touchdowns.

Losing via blowout has become one of the Colts’ go-to moves. They’ve done it more than any team in the NFL in recent seasons. Their eight losses by 28 points or more since 2012 is more than any other team. The New York Jets have done it seven times in that timeframe, while the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tennessee Titans and Jacksonville Jaguars have six such losses.

Alarmingly, six of those eight lopsided losses came by margins of 35 points or greater.

The Colts stand alone in this regard, despite averaging just shy of 10 wins per season since 2012, one of the league's winningest teams during that period.

So, what’s behind these recurring, brutal beatdowns? Is it a lack of preparation? Mistakes? A talent gap?

Whatever it is, this is an issue the Colts seemingly can’t escape. And it’s especially notable because the Colts on Sunday are preparing to face an Arizona Cardinals team that humiliated them with a 29-point win in the teams’ last meeting.

Let’s reflect on some of the Colts’ lowest points in recent years. You will find that they are emblematic of so many of the Colts’ core issues:

>> Patriots 59, Colts 24

This was as brutal a game as Andrew Luck has ever had. It was Nov. 18, 2012, the prodigious quarterback’s rookie season. He threw two interceptions that were returned for touchdowns by Alfonzo Dennard and Aqib Talib as the Patriots matched their single-game scoring record. The Colts, meanwhile, allowed the second-most points in franchise history.

Of his interceptions, Luck said, “(The Patriots) are good enough. They don’t need those gifts. But to their credit, they created those and we didn’t.”

The plays made by New England that day highlight one common denominator in many of these blowout losses the Colts have suffered. In five of the eight games, the opponents have scored nonoffensive touchdowns. As was the case on that long day at Gillette Stadium, some of the games have even included multiple nonoffensive scores (like this past Sunday’s in Los Angeles).

When opponents manage to score in all manners possible, the result is all but inevitable.

>> Rams 38, Colts 8

Nothing goes over worse than a blowout loss on your home field. The visiting St. Louis Rams entered this game on Nov. 10, 2013 against the playoff-bound Colts with an underwhelming 3-6 record. But you’d have never known it watching the day play out.

A 45-yard fumble-return touchdown by Chris Long and 98- and 57-yard touchdowns from Tavon Austin highlighted one of the ugliest first halves you’ll ever see from the Colts. They trailed 28-0 at halftime, well on their way to a day of being dominated.

Which leads us to another way these games get out of control: Slow starts.

The Colts have turned slow starts into an art form in recent years. The team has faced a staggering 27 double-digit halftime deficits under coach Chuck Pagano, at the helm since 2012, according to pro-football-reference.com. That’s an eye-popping 31 percent of the team’s games in the past five-plus seasons, three of which inexplicably ended with playoff berths.

>> Jaguars 51, Colts 23

This was one no one saw coming. The Colts rode a 16-game AFC South winning streak into Jacksonville on Dec. 13, 2015 and could not have conceived what would follow.

After taking a 13-3 lead early in the game, the bottom fell out for Indianapolis after Alan Branch’s 49-yard fumble-return touchdown just before halftime. The Jaguars would go on to score the final 28 points of the game, blowing open what should have been a close contest.

With the Jags on the brink of another score as the clock wound down, the home-field fans chanted “We want 50!” And they got their wish. It was one of the lowest points of the past few seasons for the franchise.

And it highlighted a problem they’ve faced in some of these one-sided games: They can’t manage to stop the bleeding once it starts.

Yes, Luck was out with a lacerated kidney and the Colts were struggling to cope with his absence, but there is no excusing a 42-point second half that stands as the most points allowed by the Colts in a single half in team history.

This past Sunday’s season opener was another example, the Rams scoring 27 consecutive points at one point. Where was the player willing to step up and stem the tide? Why could the team not find answers? If you lose control of a game in the NFL, things can and will get ugly — fast.

But Sunday brings with it another opportunity. The Colts, in spite of their quarterback situation and litany of injuries, can capitalize or they can embarrass themselves again.

“I think we’re all ready to get this week started and get that bad taste out of our mouths,” defensive end Henry Anderson said.

And in the previous five years, it’s a taste that’s become all too familiar.

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