Chuck Pagano (left), Jack Del Rio fired after Sunday’s games.
Indianapolis’ Chuck Pagano and Oakland’s Jack Del Rio were fired Sunday after their respective games. Indianapolis missed the playoffs three consecutive years, the first time that’s happened since a seven-year drought from 1988-94, and finished with its first losing record in six years.
Pagano’s firing was the worst-kept secret in Indianapolis.
Almost from the moment the Colts (4-12) were eliminated from playoff contention, speculation ramped up about Pagano’s ouster being only a matter of time. Even Pagano hinted at the move Wednesday when he referred to Sunday’s game as the “last rodeo.”
Pagano wasn’t entirely at fault for this season’s results.
The early successes and steady decline during Pagano’s tenure coincided perfectly tandem with Andrew Luck’s health. When Luck started every game during his first three seasons, the Colts won 11 games each year, reached the playoffs three times and advanced one step deeper in the postseason each year.
When the injuries struck, Indianapolis crashed. The three-time Pro Bowl quarterback missed 26 of 48 games since 2015, and the result was consecutive 8-8 finishes before this season’s debacle during which Luck never took a snap.
Del Rio was fired after his third year when the impressive turnaround job he engineered for his hometown team collapsed with a disappointing six-victory season.
He had signed a four-year contract extension last February after Oakland ended a 13-year playoff drought with a 12-victory season.
The Raiders followed that up by becoming one of the league’s most disappointing teams. Oakland went 6-10 for the second biggest one-season drop in victories in franchise history, leading to Del Rio’s firing and raising speculation that former coach Jon Gruden could be in line for a second stint as Raiders coach.
Expectations were high coming into this year with quarterback Derek
Carr and most of the key offensive pieces back, along with the addition of running back Marshawn Lynch and tight end Jared Cook.
PLAYOFF LOOK
The Buffalo Bills have made it to the NFL playoffs.
They needed some last-minute help from Cincinnati, which stunned Baltimore 31-27 after Buffalo had won at Miami 22-16 on Sunday. Those results lifted the Bills into the final AFC wild-card spot and a visit to Jacksonville on Sunday.
The Bills’ playoff drought was the longest current string in North American professional sports.
Tennessee had a win-and-get-in scenario and took advantage by beating the AFC South champion Jaguars 1510. That gave the Titans their first playoff berth since 2008. They head to AFC West winner Kansas City on Saturday to open the wild-card round.
The Falcons will get another chance to reach the Super Bowl, though this time as a wild card. The team that blew a 28-3 lead in the second half of the big game in February defeated Carolina 22-10 to earn a trip to the NFC West champ Rams. Los Angeles sat most of its regulars in losing to San Francisco 34-13.
The Falcons-Rams game is Saturday night.
The Panthers already were in, and they will meet NFC South foe and division winner New Orleans on Sunday to finish the opening round. The Saints swept their two meetings with Carolina this season.
New England (13-3), as it almost always seems to do, secured home-field advantage for the AFC playoffs by beating the Jets 26-6. Pittsburgh (13-3) got the No. 2 seed.
Eight of the 12 playoff teams are newcomers from last year: Buffalo, Tennessee, Jacksonville, the Rams, Philadelphia, Carolina, New Orleans and Minnesota. That includes two teams that finished last in their division in 2016 and won it this season: the Eagles and Jaguars.