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BLITZED: Daniel Jones, Spencer Shrader's Faces PLASTERED to Indianapolis Colts' Loss to Vikings

October 27, 20260 comments♥ 0
00:00 The Colts dropped a close one of the Vikings on Sunday in a game that they really should have won, and the reasons they let it slip away are pretty clear. Let's get to it. You are Locked on Colts, your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. All right, welcome to Locked on Colts on the Locked On Podcast Network. I am your host, Jake Arthur, the Indianapolis Colts beat writer for Roundtable Sports. and today we are discussing the Colts 16 to 10 loss on the road to the Minnesota Vikings.
00:41 It drops the Colts to 2 and 5 on the season. And as the weeks continue and the losses begin to mount and pile up, I think the meaning of the season continues to change a little bit. Obviously, last week it was about firing Chris Ballard. And now after another disappointing loss, I think people want heads to roll once again. So today we're going to talk about how they're going to talk about how the defense performed overall pretty well, I think, how the offense did and maybe what their plan of attack was, how part of it worked, but maybe what they could have done differently.
01:16 And we'll start out the show by talking about Daniel Jones, who is kind of this week's main target for criticism. But before we get there, we're going to tell you that this show is brought to you by Kalshi. For a limited time, download Kalshi and use code locked on to get $25 when you Trade $25. Calci. Trade, what's next? All right. So last week began with the firing of Chris Ballard, former GM on Monday. I think a lot of people wanted this coming Monday to be all about Daniel Jones being supplanted as the starting quarterback. That is not the case. Shane Steichen is still fervently in support of Daniel Jones. He believes that Jones still gives them the best chance to win. And he kind of really downed, played Jones issues against the Vikings on Sunday as if Jones hasn't been having the same issues
02:09 for like a year now. So, you know, he's very much into all the preparation behind the scenes from Daniel Jones and the leading by example and all that. And that's all fine and well, but it has to translate the success on the field because how many quarterbacks, former quarterbacks have you heard of that were great locker room guys. They were good examples, hard workers, they prepared the right way, but they couldn't really play. That's how you get guys who were good coaches, you know. So at some point, all of this great preparation Jones does has got to translate to things on the field because a lot of the things he does on the field are the results of poor decision making. So it shows he could be smart all he wants leading up to a game.
02:56 When he gets on the field, he's doing a lot of not smart things. So against the Vikings, 13 and 22, which is 59% for 108 yards. That's 4.9 yards per attempt, which is bad. A good game is about 7.5 yards per attempt. So 4.9, far below the bar, what you want to see. No touchdowns, one interception, four sacks. So I will start by saying this. the key to success for the Colts going in in a game against the Vikings,
03:30 Jones shouldn't have had a good looking stat line. A good game for Jones in this should have still been an ugly looking stat line. Honestly, the 59% completions is fine for me. It's in context because with how much Minnesota blitzes, there should have been several throwaways in there. You know what I mean? And like the low completion percentage is totally fine with me. You can win with 59%.
03:58 But the 4.9 yards per attempt, you know, they can't push anything down the field. They did do a lot of screens, which I think is smart against, again, a very aggressive team. But you just had some guys, they were, they tried to force the ball to Will Mallory a bunch. It didn't work. Josh Downs was taken away as he always has been. Ashton Doolin hardly played on offense. I think just one offensive snap. So there's a lot that kind of went into this.
04:27 But the story of it is Minnesota blitzed the crap out of Jones. 85.2% blitz rate was the highest ever in a game that had been measured by, I believe it was NFL next-gen stats. That resulted in four sacks. All four sacks that the Vikings had were results of the blitz. So we all knew that was coming, coming into it. If you listen to the show last week, you heard us say that Minnesota blitzes more than any team in the league. And Daniel Jones typically doesn't handle it super well.
05:01 So that is clearly going to be the recipe for success. I think the Colts plan of attack to counter it was, you know, I think they did fine with it. They did a lot of stuff over the middle. They ran right into the teeth of it, which we said they needed to do because running the ball was really going to be the only recipe for success here. So the Colts ran the ball exceptionally well. The screenplays, I think, we're smart. The quick throws over the middle, we're smart. But when it comes to Jones, there's just too many opportunities for him to hold the ball too long.
05:36 You have to get rid of it quicker. You have to get rid of it in general and throw the ball away. The guy continues to take just some really detrimental sacks. And when you're taking sacks for a loss of seven, eight, nine, ten yards that kills the entire drive right there. It's like getting a holding penalty. You know, on those, those drives, when you get such a negative play like that, it hardly ever results in points. And that was the case with the Colts. Again, just 10 points. You had a lot of missed opportunities where you could have put points on the board. It wasn't just Jones. But overall, let's dive further
06:11 into some of the statistics here. This one was from Ian Hartzitz on Twitter. Daniel Jones had just 2.6 yards per dropback today, which ranked 206th out of 207 qualifying games this year. The only worst one was Jalen Hertz, I believe, against the Rams. But yeah, it not a good performance by Jones, among the very worst in the league this year statistically. I honestly didn't think it was his worst game. of the year just passing the eye test. But I think the margin for error there, he was kind of walking to tie row.
07:00 He had numerous throws, I think, that were near interceptions. I think it counted three or four where Vikings defenders got their hands on the ball and could have intercepted it feasibly. So he got away with some really risky throws there. But if I'm going to take all this away, I'm going to give him a little. little bit of credit here as well. I did think he had a great two-minute drive at the end of the first half. I had some really nice throws, a third downer to Allen, had a good one to tread well on the sideline, had a couple of quarterback dives that kept drives alive on like third down.
07:35 So I thought he performed really well there a little better in the second half, of course, through the interception late. That killed any chance for the Colts to win it. They were down by six with under two minutes to go. So they legitimately did have a chance to win the game, but just apparently didn't see Harrison Smith and do it right to him at the end. So this is another one of those things we're kind of learning. I mean, I think a lot of people were checked out on Daniel Jones,
08:02 but he just clearly isn't going to be the guy. I don't know that he's going to be the guy they gave $88 million to and turn it around and become last year's Daniel Jones. But the big problem is we saw this transformation in him happen last year. Around that Pittsburgh game where he had like four or five turnovers and then they lose. And then they go to Berlin and they beat Atlanta, but the turnover issues persist. The turnovers and reverting back to like New York Giants, Daniel Jones, that happened like a year ago. This isn't a new problem just this year.
08:44 I think it would be appropriate for them to explore what else they can do at quarterback, just based off Marin alone. Daniel Jones might give them the best chance to win. But at the same time, when it comes to accountability, you can't let a dude torpedo you this often and just let him continue to play. You probably wouldn't do that with any other position. If you had a running back who was fumbling in every game, he certainly would not be getting 20 carries a game.
09:12 So how it's happening at the quarterback position, I don't know. Shane Steakin obviously has an apprehension to play either of Anthony Richardson or Rihle Leonard to this point. But I think, again, just based off merit alone, it would be appropriate for them to explore who else might be under center. So I know a lot of you guys agree as well. So just drop in the comments here, your thoughts on Jones still is the starter. should he be, should they pull the rod for someone else? Anthony Richardson, Riley
09:42 Leonard, go ahead and let us know. Here in a moment, we're going to talk about the rest of the offense. Every NBA season has those moments that make you jump out of your seat. The half-court buzzer beaters, the unbelievable comebacks, and the plays that you just can't stop talking about. But what if the excitement went beyond the court? Welcome to your most rewarding season ever, only on Fandwell. This NBA season, Fandall Rewards Club brings exclusive offers, prizes and more. So check the Fandau lap every week to see what is waiting for you. All right.
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12:11 All right. So let's discuss the rest of the offense beyond Daniel Jones because I think between the squad show and today, we've kind of post-mortem to that enough. So Jonathan Taylor, another really solid day as a runner. 18 carries for 95 yards. Honestly, Seth McGowan played quite a bit as well. So Taylor would have been, I think, ripe for 100 yards
12:35 if McGowan hadn't been quite as involved. He hasn't had one since last year. I think the Atlanta game midseason. So another solid game, though, for Taylor, I think he's got like four games this year with at least 90 rushing yards. So he's been knocking on the 100-yard mark all year. You'll notice I said he had a great game as a runner. He did have a couple rough reps and pass protection that resulted in sacks against the Colts.
13:03 He did have a couple good ones as well. I had one where he actually wound up picking. up two different blitzers on the same play. But yeah, some really rough moments in pass protection overall. That cost the Colts a couple sacks. Killed a couple drives. So that's obviously not great, not what you want to see. But that's something we've always kind of known about him.
13:24 He's not fully terrible on pass pro. He showed us last year that there are some good things that he can do. But if you're just, I think if you send a blitzer just write down the pipe full steam at him, he's going to give up the sack more often than not. So pass pro, thumbs down, running, thumbs up. Did have a good 38-yard touchdown. Not his first explosive run of the year, but his first long touchdown run of the year,
13:52 something that had been eluding him for a while, again, since about that Atlanta game last year. So overall, solid game for Taylor, if not a couple of kind of ugly gaffes. I mentioned Seth McGowan. He continues to get more and more playing time, He'd have like two or three games in a row with 19 snaps played, which were his most. Had another, I think 20 snaps on Sunday.
14:17 So he continues to get more playing time. Pretty much every new week is the most playing time he'd seen in his career. He's had his biggest game today, 11 carries for 46 yards. I think we all can appreciate his running style. Just head down, go get the yards. No must, no fuss. You're just going to go get it. I think he's a very, very good compliment to Jonathan Taylor.
14:40 They finally found someone who is somewhat comparable to that Zach Moss type that they had back in 2023. They've really been kind of longing for that type of tough runner for a while at a compliment Taylor. And I think they finally got it. In the receiving game, I had mentioned that Josh Downs just continues to be taken away. Just two catches in this one. Ashton Doolin barely played. like this was his first game back from injury. He's only, this was only like his third game this year,
15:12 but he played one offensive snap. And so I don't know if they did that just to conserve him for special teams because he did have a great game on special teams, especially as a gunner on the punt team. But I would expect more involvement from Ashton Dulin in the offense as one of the few guys who actually have speed and can separate a little bit. Yeah, maybe as Doolin continues to play and continues to prove that he could stay healthy, his usage on offense might increase a little bit, but I just was a little surprised to see him play so little. I thought Keenan Allen had a solid day, had a few catches as a chain mover, a couple key third downs.
15:58 I think this was like a perfect example of just the role you want to see for him. now you don't want them to have to be so important because you want Josh Downs to factor him to some things as well. But I thought Keenan Allen had a really solid game overall. Getting Josh more involved. I don't really know, like I think they could do more with him in the screen game. They could just manufacture more for him because I feel like he's being used in more classic ways as a receiver.
16:29 Like he's your slot receiver, but he's outside too. he's running more things that are a little more downfield and to the sticks a bit. But I think just to get him more involved, you're going to have to manufacture quicker stuff, shorter routes, more screens and things like that. Because they can't just have this guy out there on the field that they're not using at all. He's, he's their best receiver right now with Alec Pierce out. So they have got to find some sort of role or some sort of way to get downs and ball because it's just such a clear, obvious part of their offense. that's missing right now. So let's get to a couple guys who really kind of have their fingerprints
17:07 outside of Daniel Jones, kind of have their fingerprints on what went wrong here. So someone I haven't really heard much criticism towards is Tanner Bordolini. He did have a couple holding calls. The second one didn't wind up really being super detrimental to the call. Like maybe, but they were already kind of in their own territory. And we don't know what that drive would have become. but the first one was near the end of the first half, and it was in the red zone.
17:36 The Colts very well could have actually put the ball in the end zone in that one and put a touchdown on the board, especially with how John and the Taylor and Seth McGowan running the ball. So that holding call by Tanner Borderlini in the red zone near the end of the first half really took them out of that area. They wound up having to settle for a field goal on that play. So that's a play that could have directed. affected the outcome, truthfully.
18:03 But someone who, I don't want to be too hard on him because he's arguably been the team's MVP all season. Spencer Schrader's two missed field goals were directly detrimental to this loss. The Colts lost by six points, and he cost them six points with his two misses. And, you know, people could talk about missed field goals and stuff. And obviously the points coming off the board, but what gets kind of glossed over is the fact that when you miss a field goal, it then gives your opponent's a pretty decent field position. So unfortunately, the six points wiped off the board is enough to be an obvious catalyst for this loss.
18:45 But then when you also look in context of the missed field goals, Minnesota scored 10 of their 16 points off of Schrader's missed field goals, in part because they got really good field position. They got a touchdown on the first one with the Hawkinson, and then they got a field goal on the second one. So as much as I hate to say it, Spencer Schrader's face is plastered all over this loss because the field goals he missed directly make up the gap
19:14 in their margin of defeat, six points, but also the field position that cost them really gifted Minnesota's offense, good enough field position to put points on the board, because you basically already start at, midfield or just slightly backed up in your own territory. You don't have much yardage to make up even just to get a field goal. So not great, not great.
19:39 Schrader has been lights out, though. This year he had made over 30 field goals in a row coming into this, had no misses on the season other than one extra point in week one. So I don't want to bury Schrader too much, but like obviously if you're looking to point the finger of blame in this one, you don't have to look too terribly far. It is a team effort to lose. But when you're looking at just guys doing your job and what leads to wins and losses, that one's kind of tough.
20:08 So coming up next, guys, we're going to talk about the defense. Unfortunately, this was one of the defense's better performances and it gets wasted in a loss. Support for today's episode comes from Indeed's sponsored jobs. When Workplace Chaos hits and you need the right hire, Indeed, sponsored jobs. Indeed-sponsored jobs helps connect employers with candidates who match specific needs like skills, certifications, and location so that less time gets spent searching and more time get spent actually finding the right fit for you. People are finding quality hires on Indeed right now. Actually, in the minute that I've been talking to, companies like yours have made 27 hires on Indeed
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21:30 Indeed.com slash podcast terms and conditions apply. Need to hire? This is a job for Indeed sponsored jobs. All right, guys. And with the football season well underway, it is time to see how your predictions are shaping up. Who makes the playoffs? Who wins the division? Who takes home the title at the end of the year? Cal She, America's number one prediction market platform, lets you trade those predictions in a live market. So the Colts have another tough one this week. It's a curse game. It's in Jacksonville. Will the Colts beat the Jaguars in Jacksonville this week for the first time since 2014? Well, right now, Indy is currently trading at 25%, meaning a $100 trade would pay out nearly $400 if they're victorious. On CalShoe, you're trading against peers in a live market,
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22:45 Prices, values, and available markets may differ from those mentioned. For more information, see calshy.com slash regulatory. All right, guys, let's officially bury this loss and move on by talking about the defense. Now, I rewatch the game before hopping on here, and I really came away encouraged by the defense, because something you heard us talk about if you watch the squad show after the game was a lot of standout performances from young players, and a lot of those were on the defensive side of the ball. Now, mind you, the Colts lost this one, but normally, if you hold your opponent, to 16 points.
23:25 If you make their quarterback look as herky jerky as Kyler Murray looked and you get the pressure on that they got, usually that's going to be a win. But because the Colts offense faced such a tough test against Minnesota's defense, you kind of get what you get here. So ultimately, the Colts defense did play pretty well. Starting with the run defense, I thought they played pretty well. If you take away Kyler Murray's long 30-plus yards, scramble late in the game, and you look at just what Minnesota's running backs were able to produce 94 yards on 23 carries.
24:04 So the Colts held them pretty well in check. I didn't really think, like Joan, Aaron Jones had a couple nice plays to the outside, but overall, like Jordan Mason was pretty well contained. You had a lot of guys getting in there to crowd the line of scrimmage, get some stuffs, get some tackles for loss. I thought Jalen Tua had his best game as a pro easily. Five tackles. I thought he was constantly there affecting the running lanes.
24:32 So great performance by Jalen Tua Moloow. I thought from the linebacker position, Akeem Davis Gather was solid, really solid, especially early on. Seven tackles, one for loss. I thought he really made life rough and fit the run. run really well against Minnesota's run game. So Minnesota was relatively one-dimensional. Again, I mentioned Kyler Murray didn't have the greatest game either.
25:01 Not super productive. I thought his accuracy really fluctuated. Had some nice downfield throws, but just some routine throws that looked like a mess. Hopefully for people who wanted the Colts to go out and sign Kyler Murray for cheap this offseason, hopefully that quelled that a little bit because it's not like he. He's doing a ton better than Daniel Joneses this year. Other young linemen that performed well at a time in a while at a bari had a great game. A couple sacks in the fourth quarter, not only had one from the interior at defensive tackle,
25:34 but also had one lined up on the edge against Christian Darrasaw, who is one of the best left tackles in the league, bent the edge on him, slapped his hands, bent the edge and got his second sack of the game. Again, pass rushers who can get sacks in the fourth quarter. order totally invaluable. That's how you, that's how you milk away games and you close games. Colts are getting that from Laotu Latu. Latsu's on the side of a milk cart and we don't know about him at all.
26:02 He's, Latsu's had like three or four games this year where he's like not even registered as statistic. It's even like. So just such, such a big disappointment there coming, the production or lack there of that you're getting from Latu. but guys like Tommy are making it up. That brings me to my next point that I want to see more George Gums moving forward as well. If you're not getting production from the veterans in front of him,
26:30 then you got to keep giving this guy more opportunities. He had a couple pressures on Sunday against the Vikings, had a hit on Kyler Murray in the end zone. So I like what I'm seeing from George Gums. I think you've got to get him a little more involved in the secondary, A few corners, I think, had solid performances. Justin Wally played outside in place of Soss Gardner. And I thought he looked really, really good, especially as a tackler,
26:56 affected the backfield a bunch. Wally did leave the game late. And he was replaced by Kenneth Harris, who was a practice squad call up over the weekend. He had a couple of nice plays in coverage, a pass breakup. He's someone who's, I don't know if you want to just keep giving playing time, too, because he's on the practice squad, but certainly if you sign him to the active roster permanently from the practice squad,
27:22 and he wasn't just a game day call-up, I think that would be reasonable because he's proving to be capable of playing. Cam Taylor Britt was out there playing in the slot in Wally's place when Wally filled in for Soss Gardner. Taylor Britt also left the game late with a groin injury, but I thought he had a really, really good performance as well. did get dinged for a penalty at one point, but had a couple past breakups. One of them was a near interception,
27:49 had a couple really solid tackles, a great play on punk coverage where he was able to save a ball from becoming a touchback and the Colts pinned the ball at the four-yard line. So great game by Taylor Britt, I think. Hopefully he isn't injured for too long
28:04 because Soss Gardner might still be out a little bit as well. So Taylor Britt, I was pleasantly surprised by him. I thought he might get picked on a little bit in this game, but he really wasn't. And then I thought AJ Halsey at safety, I had a really solid game as well. Played confidently. I think he placed his tackles and his hits pretty accurately.
28:26 He reacted quickly to things. He had a team high nine tackles. So I think he was a really solid game by him. Played really well in the box and flew downhill. So I think you're seeing Halsey kind of grow up before our eyes as well. He's becoming a really solid player for them. So I think that's it, guys. I think we can move on from this game and look forward to the witch's curse.
28:47 That is Jacksonville and the fact that Colts haven't won there since 2014. Last year, that's when Daniel Jones tore as Achilles. So what fun awaits us all this week, we certainly will see. We'll have more for you as the week progresses. Zach and I are going to keep getting more kind of big picturey, though, before we move into, you know, we'll have crossover Thursday with Tony Wiggins from Lockdown Jaguars on 3rd. Thursday. We'll have our normal pregame show on Friday. But before then, I think we're going to get more big picture and look at what the needs for this team really are and kind of set the plate for the
29:23 offseason and what Zach and I really want to see. So don't forget to check out the Everdayer Club for perks of being a loyal fan of the show. We're getting a lot more content out there for you guys. After every episode, we kind of wrap this up and give it to you as a newsletter as well, if you're someone who prefers to read things. If you're an All Access member, you get one from Postgame as well. We send you bonus videos and all that good stuff. There's a direct chat line.
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