Chuck Pagano has said that he is "very proud" of his Indianapolis Colts side, despite their exit from the NFL playoffs.

The AFC South champions were beaten 43-22 by the New England Patriots last night.

The head coach told Colts Radio: "I told them, 'Hold your head high'. We're very proud of what this team did. They overcame injuries, circumstance, adversity, whatever you want to say.

"A lot of teams in the middle of the season going what we went through wouldn't have done what this team did. I'm very proud of this team and our coaching staff. They did a tremendous job.

"We took another step forward. We're going to go back to work. We're going to keep building. We're building a program for sustained success. We made another step in the right direction. Certainly we didn't want the season to end like it did, but I'm very proud of the guys."

This season was the first time that the Colts progressed past the wildcard round since reaching the Super Bowl in the 2009 campaign.