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Tony Dungy knows a thing or two about coaching in the NFL. His teams were the model of consistency in his Hall of Fame career, only once finishing with a losing record in 13 seasons. He also knows a thing or two about motivating his players after a demoralizing loss.
Arguably the finest coaching job of his career came after one of those games, as the Colts were embarrassed 44-17 by the Jacksonville Jaguars late in the 2006 season. That loss had the potential to derail what looked to be a promising season for Indianapolis, but instead Dungy pulled his team together and the Colts won six of their last seven games, including four straight playoff games to win Super Bowl XLI.
So Dungy knows a thing or two about really tough losses, and the Hall of Fame coach said that the Colts’ collapse on Sunday night will be “a tough one to forget,” noting that the team has a lot of work to do in order to overcome that game.
Colts have some major work to do--psychologically--after melting down in the final 4 minutes last night. That will be a tough one to forget.
— Tony Dungy (@TonyDungy) October 17, 2016
Dungy is exactly right. After the Colts blew a 14-point lead in the final three minutes of the game on Sunday to a division rival in a key game to drop to last place in the worst division in football, they have a lot of work to do in order to recover from it. Many noted at the time that it’s the type of loss that has the potential to completely derail what was already an ugly season, and Dungy’s comments seem to suggest he thinks the same.
The Colts are going to really need Chuck Pagano and this coaching staff, as well as some of the leaders in the locker room, to step up and help the team get past this loss if they hope to salvage the season, and it’s uncertain whether they’ll be able to do that. The Colts are 2-4 and in last place in the AFC South, and if they want to climb out of that hole they’ll need to overcome this mental hurdle that will certainly be fresh in everyone’s minds. And take it from a guy who knows a thing or two about coaching in the NFL and about overcoming tough losses in Tony Dungy: this will be a hard one for the Colts to forget and move on from.