Pagano-led Colts Teams are 3-1 after the Bye Week

Sitting at 3-7 and last in the AFC South, it’s not exactly fun to be an Indianapolis Colts fan in 2017, but I will bet you still wish they were playing this week.

With the Colts on their bye — and without our normal articles building up to the week’s game — I wanted to look back to see how Chuck Pagano-coached Colts teams have done following their bye week.

Note, 2012 was not included because Bruce Arians coached the team in their first game following the bye.

• 2013 — Week 9 | Win (6-2), 27-24 @ Houston Texans
• 2014 — Week 11 | Loss (6-4), 42-20 vs. New England Patriots
• 2015 — Week 11 | Win (5-5), 24-21 @ Atlanta Falcons
• 2016 — Week 11 | Win (5-5), 24-17 vs. Tennessee Titans

Some things you can take from this:

• 3-1 record overall.
• 1-1 record at home, and 2-0 on the road.
• 2-0 against AFC South opponents.
• 1-0 against the Titans.

This also won’t be the first time that it’s not Andrew Luck under center for the Colts. In 2015, it was Matt Hasselbeck slinging the rock for the Colts against the Falcons as he began the “Weekend at Bernie’s” portion of his career.

Next Sunday, the Colts host the Titans. The two teams squared off five weeks ago on Monday Night Football, a 36-22 win for the Titans. It was the Titans’ first win against the Colts in their last 11 tries, and it was one of many times this year that the Colts have squandered a multi-score lead in the second half.

The Colts and Titans have not changed much since that time. The Titans are 3-1 since then; the Colts are 1-3. Tennessee has regained first-round pick Corey Davis from a hamstring injury, and the Colts lost theirs, Malik Hooker, for the season with an ACL injury the week after their MNF matchup.

The Colts should, however, be getting two important players back this time around that they didn’t have last time, one on each side of the ball. Tight end Erik Swoope started the year on Injured Reserve following a minor knee surgery but has been practicing recently. Safety Clayton Geathers suffered a season-ending neck injury against the Titans last year, and he should be playing for the first time since then next Sunday.

Last night, the Titans got whooped by the Pittsburgh Steelers on Thursday Night Football, 40-17. The Colts actually faced Pittsburgh last week and should have won, but let it slip away, 20-17.

What does this mean for next week? Probably nothing. However, the Colts’ track record shows that the Colts will win. The odds makers? They probably won’t concur.