Colts' win against Jaguars will be remembered for more than just Matt Ryan's late TD pass

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INDIANAPOLIS — You’ll remember the Indianapolis Colts’ 34-27 victory Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars however you want, which is the way it should be.

You’ll remember Matt Ryan making that throw, and Alec Pierce making that catch. Maybe you’ll remember the way Frank Reich reinvented the offense on the fly, doing away with the running game, doing away with the huddle, just going all weird scientist on us.

Me? I’ll remember Keke Coutee and Bubba Ventrone. Chuck Pagano and the anvil.

Chuck Pagano returns to Colts, again

Minutes before kickoff, there’s Chuck Pagano.

You have to know, this sort of thing just doesn’t happen. Do NFL coaches return to cities where they used to work? Sure they do. For Super Bowl reunions, things like that.

Coaches like Pagano, who was fired? They don’t come back. Men are too proud. Feelings are too hurt.

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But there he is, on the concourse level, or wherever it is the Colts keep that enormous anvil. There’s a sledgehammer up there as well, and the Colts have someone bang it before every game. Who has banged that gong over the years? I remember Pat McAfee doing it once, because he’s Pat McAfee. You remember that guy. Whoever else has done it, apologies. No idea. Didn’t resonate.

Chuck Pagano resonates.

This was the Colts’ “Intercept Cancer” game, an NFL-wide promotion to remind people to screen for cancer. Seems so obvious, right? But things happen, like the COVID-19 pandemic, and at the height of the pandemic, according to NFL research, some screenings for cancer dropped by 90%.

Can’t happen.

Pagano knows. This isn’t merely a cause for Pagano, but a way of life since he famously beat leukemia during the 2012 season. He’s still getting phone calls and text messages from cancer patients he’s given his number, people who reach out to let him know the good news and, sometimes, the bad news. Chuck takes the calls. He returns the messages.

A great man, Chuck Pagano.

But this sort of thing just doesn’t happen, a former coach — fired on New Year’s Eve 2017 — coming back to hit that anvil and fire up the crowd. Pagano’s different, obviously. So are the Colts. Less than 18 months later Pagano was holding his annual ChuckStrong gala, which has raised more than $12 million for cancer research since 2013, at the Colts complex on 56^th Street. That was May 2019.

After the pandemic made such gatherings difficult in 2020, Pagano held his annual gala at the house of Colts owner Jim Irsay in 2021, and back at the 56th Street complex in August. Then came Sunday, the “Intercept Cancer” game, Pagano in a Colts hoodie, firing up the Colts crowd.

On Monday, a day removed from the hoopla from the game — OMG DID YOU SEE THAT MATT RYAN THROW TO ALEC PIERCE?! — I’m asking Reich what Pagano’s return says about the man he replaced.

“He’s an amazing man,” Reich said. “They don’t come any better than Chuck. I don’t know him that well, but everyone knows this guy is not only a great football coach but also a class act. Really excited about the way he’s able to have a major impact in his foundation."

Keke Coutee, Bubba Ventrone share a moment

More memories from the game, some bitter, some sweet, some a little of both. Here I’m thinking of Keke Coutee, the punt returner the Colts promoted from the practice squad for this game.

Coutee had a beauty of a return late in the first half, a 19-yarder that put the Colts in range for a 42-yard field goal before halftime, but the return had an ugly ending: Coutee being smashed from the side, taking a blow to the head, going down and not getting up. Teammate comes over and peers down at Coutee, and whatever they see scares them, because they’re frantically waving to the sideline for help.

As the CBS camera cuts away from Coutee, he’s lying on his back, his left arm moving slowly, back and forth, waving like an official signaling a first down. It’s terrifying.

A few minutes later Coutee is on his feet and walking slowly with trainers to the locker room. He was diagnosed with a concussion, but before he can leave the field, he’s greeted by Colts special teams coach Bubba Ventrone. A future NFL head coach, Ventrone has walked the length of the field to pull Coutee close and say something into his ear.

It's one of a handful of moments you saw only if you were at the game, and even then, probably not.