Indianapolis Colts fire Coach Frank Reich after lopsided loss to Patriots

There is another head coaching opening in the NFL. The struggling Indianapolis Colts have fired Frank Reich following a 26-3 loss at New England on Sunday, the team's third straight defeat. Indianapolis didn't top 16 points in any of them, and Reich is supposed to be an offensive guru. The Colts visit Las Vegas this Sunday and are 6-point underdogs at Caesars Sportsbook.

Reich finishes his tenure with a record of 40-33-1 and two playoff appearances. He replaced starting quarterback Matt Ryan with the inexperienced Sam Ehlinger two games ago – although it's been reported that owner Jim Irsay was the driving force behind that change. Reich also fired offensive coordinator Marcus Brady last week, even though Reich was the playcaller.

Ehlinger threw for 103 yards and a pick in Sunday's loss and was sacked a whopping nine times. Indianapolis totaled just 121 yards and was 0-for-14 on third down.

"Each person has to go back starting with me," Reich said. "That's what I said in the locker room. I mean, the offensive performance — that's why I was brought here. That's my responsibility. We got the players. We got players that are plenty good enough. I have to do a better job. It starts with me on offense. I have to do a better job getting the guys ready to play, putting guys in good positions to win and having answers when we face problems. ... We got to do more on offense. That starts with me. We've made the moves that we made. Everybody's responsible, everybody has their role to play, but I'm the leader of the offense, and that's my responsibility."

This is the first time in Irsay's 25 years as the owner that he's fired a coach midseason. At 3-5-1, the Colts are now +650 to make the playoffs – remember, they collapsed in the final two games last season to miss out on the postseason – and are -1100 to miss.

It's somewhat ironic that the Colts face the Raiders this week. Las Vegas is coached by Josh McDaniels, who took the Indy job in 2018 only to change his mind at the last second, which led Irsay to hire Reich. It's not clear yet who the interim coach will be. It could be defensive coordinator Gus Bradley, simply as he has head coaching experience with Jacksonville.

The Carolina Panthers were the first team to fire a coach this season, dumping Matt Rhule following a 1-4 start. 

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