'Embarrassing': America in disbelief over unthinkable NFL choke
The Indianapolis Colts have thrown away a spot in the NFL playoffs after suffering an embarrassing 26-11 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Monday morning (AEDT).
The Colts were heavily favoured to beat the Jaguars, who had lost their last eight games and had a dismal 2-14 record heading into the contest.
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In fact the Jaguars had been so poor this season, many of their fans planned to attend the game dressed as clowns as a means of protesting the direction of the franchise under current owner Shad Khan.
Despite the mismatch on paper, the Colts were never really in the contest and had their fate sealed after the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Baltimore Ravens in overtime.
NFL pundits were quick to share their disbelief at the result on Twitter, with one describing the result as the biggest choke in the Colts’ 68-year history.
In the span of two weeks, the Colts went from the team nobody wanted to see in the playoffs to a team nobody is seeing in the playoffs.
— Rich Eisen (@richeisen) January 9, 2022
The Colts losing a win-and-in game to a 2-14 franchise with fans wearing clown wigs would be one of the most embarrassing losses since the merger.
— Kevin Clark (@bykevinclark) January 9, 2022
So how bad was that @Colts loss? Here’s @zkeefer from @TheAthletic:
“It's not only the biggest choke job in Colts' history, it's perhaps the worst loss in the 68 seasons this team has played.”
Wow.— 𝙱𝚛𝚞𝚌𝚎 𝙺𝚘𝚙𝚙 (@BruceKopp) January 9, 2022
The loss also prompted an epic meltdown from former Colts punter turned media personality Pat McAfee.
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) January 9, 2022
Speaking after the game, Colts quarterback Carson Wentz was blunt in his assessment of the team’s performance.
“Sucked, honestly. I’m kind of in disbelief,” Wentz said.
“Hard to fully reflect on everything right now, it happened so fast. It hurts right now. A lot of reflection to come.
“It's a bad feeling when you know you were in complete control. It’s a bad, bad feeling.”
Wentz was sacked a season-high six times during the clash, completing 17 of 29 passes for 185 yards, including two turnovers.
Colts coach leaps to defence of Carson Wentz
Despite the underwhelming performance from his quarterback, Colts head coach Frank Reich stood by Wentz during his post match media conference.
“I think he's our quarterback,” Reich said.
“I think we're all going to learn and grow from this year. You know, how to utilize every player that we have to the fullest. I think there were a lot of bright moments for Carson.
“You got to have the maturity to understand that even though there could be a finality to this season, you can't just let [this loss] be in vain.
“You got to learn from it and got to figure out, 'OK, why did we finish the way we did this year?' And then let's not let that happen next year.”
To rub salt into the wounds, the Jaguars took to social media after the game to throw shade at the Colts’ failure.
"If only, if only," the woodpecker sighs...#DUUUVAL pic.twitter.com/sN1WZrTmKE
— Jacksonville Jaguars (@Jaguars) January 9, 2022
It was a bold move from a team that still finished the season with the worst record in the NFL, meaning they will get the first pick in the 2022 NFL Draft.
Jaguars have clinched the first overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 9, 2022
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