Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Can Indianapolis Colts, Anthony Richardson Steal a Divisional Win in Houston?
Episode Date: October 24, 2024The Indianapolis Colts have a prime opportunity to steal a win in Houston this week. With the Colts' star players returning and the Texans' star receiver out, the time is right for the Colts to take t...he division lead. Become a Locked On Colts insider! Ask your burning questions and get prompt answers from someone who's around the team every day! Get special access from the locker room, practice field, and press box! JOIN HERE! Find and follow Locked On Colts on your favorite podcast platforms:🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/podcasts/locked-on-colts/📺YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLdpxJspi1hMh5HL7ExpWOQLocked On NFL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft & More🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/podcasts/locked-on-nfl/ Follow Jake and Zach's written work on HorseshoeHuddle.com, and give them a follow on Twitter @JakeArthurNFL, @ZachHicks2, @LockedOnColts, and @ColtsOn_SI, as well on TikTok and Instagram! Crossover Thursday is presented by PrizePicks. Download the app and use code lockedonnfl to win $50 instantly when you play $5. Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Pre-Alcohol by ZbioticsGo to zbiotics.com/LOCKEDONNFLto learn more and get 15% off your first order when you use LOCKEDONNFL at checkout.BetterHelpThis episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Make your brain your friend, with BetterHelp. Visit BetterHelp.com/LOCKEDON today to get 10% off your first month.LinkedInLinkedIn Jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONNFL. Terms and conditions apply.Hillsdale CollegeAll of Hillsdale’s courses are self-paced so that you can start whenever, and tune in wherever. Plus, you can go deeper with readings, quizzes, discussions - or just enjoy the lectures. Go right now to hillsdale.edu/lockedon to enroll. There’s no cost, and it’s easy to get started.PrizePicksDownload the app and use code lockedonnfl to win $50 instantly when you play $5. You don't even need to win to receive your $50 bonus, it's guaranteed! Prizepicks. Run Your Game.Click Here: https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONNFLGametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms Apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.FanDuelPlace your first FIVE DOLLAR bet and you’ll get started with TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS - guaranteed ! Visit FANDUEL.COM to get started.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)
Transcript
Discussion (0)
Can the 4-3 Indianapolis Colts take a shot at the 5-2 division leading Houston Texans this week?
Can the Houston Texans offensive line hold up to give C.J. Stroud the much-needed time he needs?
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co-host of locked on colts and i'm joined today obviously by john hickman over there at locked on
texans we're here talking about a pretty pretty big divisional matchup here
and week eight i mean this one's for the division lead halfway through the season
between two teams where,
I don't know about you, John,
but I expected it to be around,
like, you know, these two teams be competing
for the division title at this point.
I mean, I expect, I don't know about you, John,
but it's going to be a really fun matchup here
between the Colts and the Texans.
Colts get their chance for revenge
after a week one loss at home,
get to head to Houston, the place that T.Y. Hilton built,
and get a chance to beat Texas.
Okay, let's not do that.
We are only a minute and 30 seconds into the show.
Let's not do it.
Look, man, look, man, you have me hosting here.
I get to throw the shots
at it right there but no guys we're having fun today we're talking colts we're talking texans
we're keeping it civil but again having fun with it and look i'm the away team i'm starting off
talking about my indianapolis colts and the biggest key in this one is obviously the young
quarterback and i feel like on your end you're guys gonna be you're gonna be talking about young
quarterback and offense as well but uh for my end it's more so like let's get some efficiency going for our young quarterback.
You know, like Anthony Richardson has been very volatile this year in a lot of different ways.
If you look at every single passing chart, the accuracy is, you know, he's in the bottom corner, the average depth of target.
He's in the top corner.
You know, he's got the highest ADOT in football right now, but the lowest accuracy in football. So when it comes to getting a win
over a team like the Houston Texans, look, the explosive plays are great. We love explosives
here in Indianapolis. We're building our offense around explosives. Third most explosive offense
in football right now, but you have to have some efficiency. If you go three and out over and over
again against the Houston Texans, they're going to make you pay. You know, you can only keep
CJ Stroud down for too long unless you have a top tier defense, I guess, like the Packers
and the Vikings. But aside from those anomaly performances, you can't keep him down all
day long, keep giving him third, you know, three and outs from your offense, give the
ball back to CJ Stroud. So really for the Colts, man, it's about stringing together some success rate on offense
and make this a game where, you know,
you actually possess the football.
We saw back in week one when the Colts, you know,
the Colts came kind of close in that game,
but we saw in week one,
the Colts offense was so feast or famine.
And at the end of the day,
they weren't able to keep up with the rushing attack.
And then obviously the big plays by C.J. Stroud.
So for the Colts, man, it's about actually holding on to the football, putting together some drives, and it starts with Anthony Richardson.
Absolutely. And I got to ask this question, man.
Are you guys almost over the Anthony Richardson experience or is it like, well, this is a part of the growing pains of a raw quarterback that they knew who they would draft and we just got to get through.
Essentially, this is still somewhat part of his rookie year.
Hasn't played 17 games yet.
We got to get through this part of his career and allow him time to develop
because the offense looks totally different when Joe Flacco is out on the field.
The guys are able to do more feasting than famine, right?
They ain't got to pray to some
gold staff god for
rain to come out when Joe Flacco
is out there. What is Anthony Richardson?
They in the desert starving.
That brother is starving.
Is it like, you know what?
We got to give him that time
to get through these rough patches
so he can be that.
He was compared to, for a lot of people, Cam Newton,
so he can be that type of player.
Still raw, still young, he needs time.
Is that where you guys are right now?
I will say this.
I think there's a large portion of the fan base.
And, I mean, if you look at our YouTube comments section
every single week, you can see there is a portion of the fan base
that is done with the Anthony Richardson experiment.
But I think the people that really make the decision in Indianapolis,
from the owner even, yes, the owner even, I think, is in on this too.
The owner, the general manager, the coach, and the player himself too,
because I don't think Richardson's obviously given up or anything.
I think they all knew what this was going to look like.
I mean, the Colts were taking one of the most raw prospects
we've ever seen at the quarterback position.
That's not even just talking about his statistical output in college. That's talking about his age and his amount of starts in college.
This kid had barely seen the field in college and the Colts took him fourth overall, knowing that
this was going to be, you know, a long transition, a long process to get him up to where he needs to
be. And, you know, what we see in the NFL nowadays, progression isn't always linear.
And these guys don't take that big jump in year one, like CJ Stroud does, you know, what we see in the NFL nowadays, progression isn't always linear. And these guys don't take that big jump in year one like C.J. Stroud does.
You know, not every quarterback can be C.J. Stroud or Jane Daniels this year.
You know, sometimes it takes a little bit longer.
You know, like a Josh Allen took three years or three or four years to really get to where he is.
And even if you don't want to go away from the big outlier that is Josh Allen, look at Sam Darnold right now.
Look at Geno Smith right now. These guys took a long time to get to the point
where they are signal callers for NFL franchises
that are playing winning football.
So hopefully it doesn't take that long
for Anthony Richardson,
but I think the Colts understood
when they were starting him last year at 21 years old,
after what, 12 college starts, 15 college starts,
whatever it was,
that this was going to be a long process with this kid.
And it was not always going to be pretty.
He's in a really rough three-game stretch right now.
I mean, if you exclude that Steeler start where he had a couple good throws,
his last three starts have not been very good.
And that's way rougher than anything we saw, obviously, in week one against Houston
and last season in any of his starts. So you've got to hope that this is not the trend. This is something he can work his way out
of. Only nine starts in his NFL career, though. I really think this kid can turn it around and
the Colts are banking on that. So sure, there are some people that are certainly willing to
be done with the experiment, but you don't take a kid that young with that few amount of starts
if you're not willing to ride it out.. I think Anthony Richardson is going to be the starting
quarterback for the Colts until at least the end of this season and probably
until the end of next season at the very earliest.
The Texans do have a banged up second year right now. We were hoping to get Kamari Lassiter
back Sunday, but we definitely don't need to see
D'Angelo Ross taking a lot of snaps
out there against the Indianapolis Colts, who is a defense, which is,
I mean, an offense, excuse me, that they don't necessarily,
especially with Anthony Richardson, they don't eat in between, you know,
10 yards.
When you get to those bombs down the field, right,
even dating back to week one, the scores came from three big plays that ended up being down the field plays.
And so we're kind of hurting on the secondary here in Houston.
But that receiving core, some of those guys have had some drops.
Alec Pierce have really matured and become a down the field weapon for that offense. What should Texans fans know about this group that they may have not known
going into week one?
And is there a difference in terms of like who's the top dog right now?
Yeah, so I will say with the Colts receiving group,
they are very banged up right now.
Very banged up.
Like all of them are working through injuries.
They are all likely to play this week.
Michael Pittman Jr. had that weird IR thing where the reporters were saying he was going to go on IR.
And then the next day he was like, no, I'm going to play through this. Like that's the kind of guy
he is. So he's playing through it. Josh Downs is dealing with a toe injury that he's playing
through, but that's really the biggest difference right there is that guy right there. Josh
Downs was not preaching in that first game. Yeah, he was not in that first game.
He was out the first two weeks of this season.
In the Colts offense, I mean, especially in those first two games, was bombs away.
It was only throwing the ball deep because they didn't have their short pass catcher.
Now, Downs with Richardson, they haven't really hooked up too much this season.
It really hasn't been the greatest connection between those two players.
But I believe if the Colts are going to figure out this short game efficiency,
it's going to be with Josh Downs.
Josh Downs had great starts with Joe Flacco this season.
I do think eventually Richardson and Downs are going to hook up.
So really like this Colts wide receiver room is very similar to what you guys
saw in week one.
Alec Pierce bombs away,
deep threat,
one of the best vertical threats in football.
AD Mitchell will kill you with a couple of double moves here there so be careful especially with your guy's secondary that loves
to jump routes and attack underneath and Michael Pittman Jr. is just the gamer that that balls out
in the intermediate game but Josh Downs I think will be the big difference maker with him healthy
out there and just being that short yardage guy it's really just on the Colts and Richardson to
get him the ball in that area of the field yeah Yeah. When we come back, we have to talk about the Texas offensive line. I mean,
that's been the story for us for the last several weeks. Can't communicate, can't pick up blitzes,
can't control stunts, can't give CJ Stroud the time that he needs. And so I think that's a
perfect storyline for the Texans going up against, I still think,
respectable pass rushers
in Indy. We got to make sure that they
are communicated and giving CJ that time.
So can't wait to talk about that
more on this episode of the Locked
on Texans and Locked on Colts
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welcome back in locked on tex Locked On Coats listeners and viewers.
John, some sports guy Hickman here holding it down with Zach Hicks for the Locked On Coats.
The Texans offensive line has been abysmal.
There's no way around it.
Last week, the Green Bay Packers really beat up on the Texans offensive line.
And the blueprint for beating this line really came in week one with
the Chicago Bears and then we saw Minnesota kind of just kick the doors open on it but then we saw
in Green Bay Green Bay just said hey listen we're going to kick the doors open on it and we're not
going to let y'all quarterback get comfortable at all and that was the issue against the Green Bay
Packers and that's something that the Houston Texans cannot afford. Listen, Bobby Sloak has already talked about some of those play
calls that took place on Sunday. That's on me. The offensive line has been talking about
the issues all week. They got to be better with communicating. They got to understand
their assignments. So when I look at the Houston Texans offensive line, and will they show up? I think Sunday is a perfect game for this team to reset,
to bring themselves back to reality.
And I'm not necessarily looking for a dominating performance,
but I am looking for a capable performance.
I am looking for them to be able to give C.J. Tom the time that he needs
to be able to get some of those throws out to Tank Dale, Stephon Diggs.
And Houston's offense, with no Nico Collins,
it still feels like they're looking for shots down the field.
And we know Nico is one of those players where he can go get those shots down
the field.
But he hasn't been here with the offense.
They still want those attempts.
So he needs that time.
And when you got guys
on the other side of that defensive line
like the Indianapolis
Coast has,
time is needed. I'm looking at this team
to really bounce back and
allow CJ to have those moments where he can
throw for over 250 yards,
get a couple of TDs through the air.
The run game, I think, will balance
itself out.
Listen, we know that the coach's run defense right now is the worst in the NFL.
So they'll be able to clock manage very well by being able to establish themselves on the ground.
Joe Mixon has ran for over 100 yards in every game he's finished this year,
kicking it off against the Colts. So that will be a theme I continue to see, that I think we'll continue to see.
But being able to really maximize this offense,
you got to live and die a little bit by C.J. Stroud and his talent,
and they need the line to give them time to do so.
Yeah, yeah, for sure.
And that's a big thing I wanted to talk to you about is that Texas offensive line, because I've seen, I want to say
I saw a chart this week about how I don't think it was really just straight up like rushes that
were killing the Texans offensive line. It's been a lot of stunts and twists and, and I guess sim
blitzes and delayed blitzes. Like, is it a communication issue? Are guys getting beat? Like, what's going on with this thing?
One hundred percent.
It's communication issues.
And let's let's look at this.
King and Green started left guard, missed all the last year.
Drew Scruggs drafted last year, was intended to be intended to draft, was drafted, excuse me,
with the intent to play center, had to play left guard.
The Texans had a bunch of different offensive line shifts last year.
But this year, when we look at the chemistry between those two players alone,
which is where we're seeing the Houston Texans really lose that battle up front,
they've only played just with their eighth game together.
Yeah.
Right?
And, yeah, they went through the offseason program,
and I think Kenyon Green's best game this year was against the Colts.
And so – but I do remember that game.
The Colts didn't throw a lot at them.
It was kind of win your rep one-on-one.
So now, again, the Bears, the Vikings, Green Bay, NFC North teams,
they all kind of showed the league the kryptonite for the Houston,
Texas offensive line.
But those two guys, which is where the communication is coming from,
they've only played a handful of games with one another,
and I think that they are still learning how to communicate at the NFL level
while doing their job.
So, yeah, it's been a lot of that pressure.
You're seeing guys come free up the middle.
Guys are just coming scot-free up the middle
and putting their hands on C.J. Stroud.
I also think it's a toughness thing with this offensive line,
a lot of finesse with this offensive line.
This offensive line, I think, was built to pass block.
But what we're seeing is teams' front fours or front sevens altogether,
they've been punching the Houston Texans offensive line in the mouth,
and they have not responded to it by picking up those blitz,
picking up those stunts, handling those twists,
making sure that you give your offensive enough time
to win successfully on the outside,
through the middle.
So this is the game I think where the blueprint is out there.
I do think the Colts will take advantage of it.
But all week, that's been the emphasized point.
We got to communicate better.
And I think we'll see a better outing this Sunday.
Yeah, it should be a fascinating week because this might be the healthiest defensive line the version of the defensive line we've seen the colts all
year with the force buckner potentially coming back this week uh and then gus bradley's yeah
oh yeah he's great but gus bradley's been blitzing at like a 45 rate i believe on third and longs
this year so we might see some of those sim pressures those stunts and it'll be a big test
for the texans especially with Buckner back out there.
Another thing I really wanted to hit on with you real quick is, you know, you already mentioned one of these guys.
But two players I see on the injury report, or like you mentioned on IR, Nico Collins and Aziz Alshayer.
These are two players back in week one, man.
I'm looking at the film and I'm saying, these are two of the best players on this team.
Like, fantastic football players.
Nico Collins, for my money, a top five receiver in football.
I think he's fantastic.
Alshier was just dominating the Colts passing game in the short to intermediate game.
How big has it been not having those guys on the field?
Well, so Aziz's first game out was last Sunday against the Green Bay Packers.
And I honestly believe that between Jake Hanson and Neville Hewitt,
those guys, especially Neville Hewitt,
those guys stepped in and played extremely well.
Now, do they give you the same thing Aziz gives you?
No, they don't.
One of those touchdowns, the Tyler Craft touchdown,
where rookie safety, Kalen Bullock,
barely misses the interception by an inch.
And I don't know what's shorter than an inch,
but maybe something shorter than an inch.
You look at that play, you think to yourself, well, hey,
maybe if Aziz is right there,
that clear touchdown through the middle of the field won't be there.
Or if Henry Toto, who's out there,
who has played very well for the Houston Texans,
on the fake swing pass that Josh Jacobs scored on.
If that was Aziz, maybe the discipline and understanding how to attack that play
would be there if Aziz is out there, and maybe that's not a touchdown.
And that's totally different.
We're looking at two scores.
It makes it a totally different ballgame.
So Aziz has been great for Houston,
but I think Nico being out has hurt Houston more than Aziz being out.
We've seen at least two games compared to one.
And defensively, if you hold the Green Bay Packers to 24 points in 2021, all the way up until the last two seconds of the game, I'm not mad at that.
The Houston Texans passing offense, look at this.
We went up against the New England Patriots, and that's a weak defense.
They had a good day.
Played some real competition.
The team that was looking for a playoff spot in one of the tougher,
if not the toughest division in the NFL,
couldn't get the ball downfield to save their lives.
So I think Nico is the guy because he does so much downfield.
He does so much in between 20 yards.
He does so much if you need a possession to move the chains.
He does all of that at 6'4".
That's what's been hurting the Houston Texans offense, I think, a lot,
because he's been the security blanket for your quarterback,
and he hasn't been out there.
Yeah.
Look, it's a superstar-dominated league right now.
Nico Collins is a superstar, and it's good for the Colts.
We want to gain two of our superstars back,
and you guys are missing one of your superstars,
so that does lead to some good thoughts.
I mean, again, you want Nico to be healthy,
but it leads to some good things here for the Colts heading into this big matchup.
Coming up, guys, though, we are going to give our three most important things
that each of our teams must do coming up,
and honestly, I think that's a good little preview right there, like take advantage of the texans not having one of their superstar
players out there i think that's going to be a big part of this game or
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The Texans are five and a half point favorites.
That's way too much, guys.
Come on.
Come on, Colts fans listening.
Way too much.
You know, bet the Colts in this one, baby.
This is for the division.
Colts are going to come out slinging it.
Alec Pierce, 300 yards on three catches.
Like, it's going to be a great game.
Go over there to Panduel.com.
But some other things I want to throw out there.
CJ Stroud is 2-1 against the Colts.
11-point loss.
And, look, they've never won by more than four against the Colts.
So, again, I think, guys, I think this is the way to go.
Go Colts here.
That's Fanduel.com.
And also, I do want to remind you guys that this show is brought to you by PrizePix.
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Look at Anthony Richardson.
More or less than 40.5 rushing yards in this game. Anthony Richardson with a passing total,
not really being there lately. He's been leading on the ground game a little bit.
So again, crossover Thursday is brought to you by prize picks. And that's a great,
great thing to look at right there. Anthony Richardson, more or less than 40 and a half
rushing yards, prime opportunity, especially as John mentioned in the last segment. I mean, if they're down linebackers in this game,
Richardson might be able to run the ball a little bit more, again,
with the passing offense kind of struggling right now for the Colts.
But, John.
Can I say something to that?
Yeah, jump on in.
Listen, guys, especially Texans fans,
please take the less on Anthony Richardson's passing yards.
Yes, that might be.
It ain't happening. I don't know what it is right now. It could be 90 yards. Yes, that might be it. It ain't happening.
I don't know what it is right now.
It could be 90 yards.
Take the less.
Well, it's only one deep ball to Alec Pierce.
Tell Jimmy Ward to get back out there this weekend,
and we'll get back to the deep ball over Jimmy Ward.
Oh, man.
I love these crossovers.
I love these in-division crossovers, man. It's so cool.
Yeah, look, we got to get Jimmy Ward healthy out there.
That way we can get some deep passes out there in this game.
Jimmy Ward's missed the last couple games, right?
He's been out.
Injuries have really – so this team on all three levels of the game,
they haven't been fully healthy, right?
I mean, we look at week one was probably one of our healthier games.
Week two, Joe Mixon goes out.
And this offense did not look the same without Joe Mixon.
The game Joe Mixon comes back, he runs for over 100 yards, three TDs,
they score 41 points.
Joe Mixon, the two games that he's, you know,
debuted in for game one and coming back, were the
highest scoring games for the Houston Texans
so far. He makes a hell of a lot
of difference. Jimmy Ward being out
there forces guys that
may be good football players. I've
become a fan of Eric Murray, and that's
crazy because I used to talk about Eric Murray all
the time, but the fact is
he should be playing within a role.
When he's out there more than
what he's supposed to be bad things happen yeah so yeah we got to get guys healthy definitely
definitely and we're going to talk about what our teams need to do to win this game uh three things
for each of our teams here and i kind of i always sound like a coach when i talk about my things the
colts need to do because it always feels like such like high school coach thing where it's like
don't turn the ball over be efficient on offense and win in the trenches.
But honestly, that's what this comes down to for the Colts.
I mean, look, the coaches kind of got that thing going when it comes to the offense.
Anthony Richardson, we need some efficiency.
It doesn't need to be a 70% passing day or whatever.
It doesn't need to be this day where you're throwing the ball like Drew Brees out there,
but it can't be a 40% passing day. It can't be nine of your 13 drives
being three and outs. It cannot be that to beat the Houston Texans. You can beat the Miami Dolphins
that way. Perfectly fine. Especially with whoever there's Tim Boyle starting at quarterback,
but you can't beat the Houston Texans and CJ Stroud that way by going three and out on every
other drive. You have to supplement it with the run game
or supplement it with the short passing game.
There needs to be some efficiency in the Colts' offense.
When it comes to the defense, they've got to win in the trenches in this game.
Like you mentioned, John, the Texans' offensive line has struggled lately.
The Colts are coming to this game with the most healthy defensive line
they've had all year.
Leatu Latu is healthy.
Dayo Dengbo is healthy.
DeForest Buckner could be back.
Quiddie Paye is healthy.
These are guys that can fire off the ball, attack.
Grover Stewart can take advantage of some of those issues up there as well with his
strength.
Like, this is a game you really have to win the trenches.
And then at the end of the day, win the turnover battle, baby.
Like, that is, I know we all talk about it.
It's the most important thing for every team.
But when you're going against a better team like the Houston Texans, who have this really good young quarterback in CJ Stroud, and you're again,
kind of the underdog, you can't turn the ball over. You know, you have to take advantage of
the couple that you can get or if you can get a couple. And if you turn the ball over and give
Stroud short field, you're not going to win the football game. So it's as simple as that. Don't
turn the ball over on offense and then take the ball away on defense. Very simplistic things there, but something the Col everybody has been able to run over the coast i mean that
has been a thing you could be averaging 60 yards on the ground but if you play the coast this year
they're gonna allow you to rush for over 100 except for that bears game hey we did good
against the bear so what what was the bears total i think deandre swift had like four yards rushing
on like 15 carries it was it was great yeah it was terrible. But besides that, you're making a perfectly valid point there, John.
It's a thing.
But for the Texans offense, I mean,
it really does come down to getting the totality of what this offense can look like.
And I've been very critical of this offense in play calling
because I feel like even with Nico Collins going down,
who is still top five or receiving yards after missing two games,
you got Stephon Diggs.
You got Tank Dale.
You have Xavier Hutchinson and John Metchie.
You're using some of these receivers more as blockers
than you're using them to run routes.
That's incredibly insane.
But the fact remains is, hey, listen, block, give C.J. time,
and spread that offense out.
Allow him to pick his poison.
But it all starts up front.
So I agree, very high school-ish, it starts in the trenches.
And getting DeForest Buck in the back for you guys I think is big for the Colts,
but that's also a big challenge for the Texans front five.
Give them time, protect well, handle what you're supposed to do,
communicate, do your job, and give C.J. time in the pocket.
Number two, run the ball.
Don't make it hard.
Don't overthink it.
It's second and six, run the ball.
Third and one, run the ball.
Run the ball.
The opportunities will be there.
But I also think when you're playing a quarterback like Anthony Richardson,
do your job.
And I say that because for you edge guys,
you cannot lose outside containment.
He'll take advantage of that.
For our banged-up secondary,
the opportunities will come for you to create those turnovers.
And I'm not even being funny at this point.
He'll give you turnovers.
Be where you're supposed to be. Stick to your assignment. Win the turnover
battle, which is something that I think the Houston Texans have done fairly well this year.
Give your offense a shorter field to work with
and do your job. Those are my three things.
It all starts up with the offensive line. Set the tone early.
Punch them in the mouth before they punch you in the mouth.
Give C.J. that time, and we may see a phenomenal day.
Yeah, and one thing I will say before we get out of here,
I know we've been joking back and forth with the T.Y. Hilton comments
and how you've got to bet the Colts in this one, but I love this matchup.
I love these two teams.
They're really fun teams to watch on Sundays.
Even if the Colts have to win ugly at times because they're young quarterback.
Two really well-coached teams.
Two, what, second-year head coaches that have been doing great jobs with their franchises.
This game last year, again, not in this time of the year, but the last game of the season last year was for a playoff spot.
And now, right now, they're facing each other again for the division lead halfway through this year.
These are two teams that have been at each other's throats the last couple seasons.
And I think it'll be a tight game.
I mean, what, outside of week two last year,
these have been one score games like a lot recently,
even with the disparaging quarterback play, you know,
with CJ Stroud being really good.
The Texans have not swept the coach since 2016.
There you go.
There you go.
That should be nearly 10 years later.
They should sweep the coast this year.
But I'm just thinking it'll be exciting.
And again, guys, the house that T.Y. Hilton built,
you can't lose in the house that T.Y. Hilton built.
Maybe just bring him back for a one-day contract.
We'll have some fun with it.
The last time he built the brick in that house,
AARP was probably getting a call from him that very next day.
Yeah, yeah.
He's old.
That's old news, Texas fans.
Come on, let's talk, man.
They may not lose this game Sunday.
I'm going to just say that.
It'll be a good game.
It'll be a good game, everybody.
The Colts get the Texans at a good time again.
Nico Collins struggling offensive line.
Hey, if you're serious about making the playoffs, Colts,
this is the one you've got to win.
I'm not saying the Texans are this awful team or anything.
The Texans are a very good team,
but you've got to take advantage of these opportunities and make a name for yourself.
You can't just keep beating the Dolphins every week
and then expecting to make the playoffs.
So this is a big game for both these teams.
The Texans can give themselves some space too with the division. I think on the flip side of that, if the Texans are as serious as we believe that
they are, this is one of those games where you got to put this team down, right? A lot of one
score games for the Houston Texans this year. Coats, Chicago, the only blowout win that they've had
has been against the New England Patriots.
They've struggled offensively in a lot of these games.
Defensively, they've been amazing through seven games.
So for Houston, listen, put this team away.
Have that offensive explosion.
You know that they're going to play you tight.
They're going to play you tough.
They're going to play you close. But this going to play you tough. They're going to play you close.
But this should be a game where you create
separation from yourself and the second
best team in the division right now, which is
one of the weaker divisions in the NFL.
The Colts are going to get ahead of steam.
It seems like that's going to happen. That's history.
Put them away early.
Well said. Well said there. Before we
get out of here, though, I do want to remind you guys
that, first off, I want to thank you guys for listening to our shows today,
Locked on Colts and Locked on Texans,
but also want to remind you guys for your second list to go check out Locked on NFL.
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We'll see you on Sunday.