Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Colts dominant on defense once again in 19-11 win over Bears

Episode Date: October 6, 2020

On today's episode, Anthony Smith from Coast To Coast Scouting joins Evan to recap a 19-11 slugfest win for the Colts over Chicago. Three straight weeks now where the defense has truly dominated the football game. Is this now legit? We're truly going to find against the Browns' high-powered offense.DeForest Buckner and Justin Houston have reset the line of scrimmage, while Julian Blackmon looks like the next homegrown defensive star. Just how good can this defense be?Philip Rivers didn't have a great game, but he was efficient when it mattered. However, changes need to be made. Maybe a more heavy pass emphasis game plan next Sunday?Then, we preview Sunday's clash in Cleveland. Who will win the battle between the Colts' defense and Browns' offense? It will decide a crucial battle between two 3-1 squads for future AFC playoff positioning. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You are Locked On Colts, your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello everybody, welcome back into your latest episode of Locked on Colts, part of the Locked on Podcast Network. Today's host is Evan Sider, and you'll meet Anthony Smith of Coast to Coast Scouting. We're here to recap a very impressive Colts win once again, Anthony. As it now won three in a row, starting off the year 3-1, winning 19-11, in a true slugfest that we called last week, Anthony, in Chicago.

Yeah, absolutely. Definitely a bit of a great game. Glad to get the win and, you know, go to Chicago and get to 3-1 on the season. Yeah, let's talk about that defense first off because, once again, just another dominant performance Thursday week in a row now. I mean, it was Nick Foles' first start for the Chicago Bears. They benched Mitch Trubisky last week.

They had Matt Nagy trying to adjust to Foles' strengths. But it's fair to say, Anthony, even without Darius Linder for half that game, he went down with a groin injury. That defense looks super impressive, especially that front forward, DeForest Buckner and Justin Houston. When they're on together, Anthony, they're so much fun to watch. They're almost unstoppable when they're both going like they were yesterday. Yeah, absolutely.

I totally agree. I think this is a game that the defense really led the way again, kind of becoming a little bit of a trend here through four games in this season. The defense looks absolutely fantastic. Like you mentioned, Justin Houston, DeForest Buckner, that pass rush has really been going lately. And it seems like something that this team should really be able to build on and be consistently dominant on the defense throughout the season.

Let's tell him Julian Blackman because, I mean, I don't think this is too much of a hyperbole to say. Honestly, I think he's the most impressive Colts rookie they've had on defense since 2018 with Darius Leonard. Just the impact plays he makes every single game the last three weeks, even against Minnesota. He had two pass deflections in one half. The Jets, he had a couple flashes here and there.

I think it's the Bears, he had a couple pass deflections, two amazing hits to force pass breakups, got the interception late in that game as well. It really truly sealed the game when it was a little bit out of reach anyways. Julian Blackman, the Colts rookie, he was only 10 months out from an ACL injury. Anthony, I think it's fair to say Chris Ballard hit a complete home run at this point. I know it's only three weeks with Blackman so far, but according to Robert Mays on his podcast in The Athletic, he's heard from Colts personnel say they think Julian Black could be one of the best safeties in the NFL one day. And he's certainly shown with the consistent, really elite flashes the last couple weeks. Yeah, absolutely. He's been a guy that has been awesome for this defense. I hate to say it, but he almost

makes you not miss Malik Hooker and that's crazy to say um I've been a huge fan of Malik Hooker but we've seen Blackman has just stepped in and immediately grown and become truly an NFL player um I saw that he already has more pass deflections this season than Malik had all of last season and you know that's no slight against Malik uh but Blackman he he's really, really improved. And he's learning this game really quick. He's going to be a huge factor throughout the season, I think. What do you think of comparisons, Anthony?

I read a piece from Albert Brewer today talking about Julian Blackman, too. And he's served from NFL executives who are comparing him a little bit, his ball skills and just his notes for the football to his safety like Tyron Matthew is so versatile. Is there a comp that comes up for you when you watch Blackman, at least through his last couple of weeks? Cause he looks like just a different breed compared to what we've seen from safeties in the past for the polls.

Yeah, I actually, I think Tyron Matthew, honey badger, I think that's a great comp. I mean, he's a guy that, you know, really has changed that Kansas city defense. You know, he's able to come down, lay those hard hits, make those big plays, but is very solid in coverage, solid tackler. And so far through, through just four games, we've seen the same thing from julian blackman i mean some of those hits where he's drawing the ball out i tweeted out a couple things about him this past weekend and he just runs downhill like a freight train i mean this guy you can tell that he loves football he loves to make plays and i think he guy that, you know, as we see him get more and

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GetRoman.com slash LockedOn. Once again, a game where the Colts allowed 11 points or less third week in a row. They allowed 11 against the Vikings, 7 against the Jets, and 11 against Chicago, Anthony. I mean, we're going to know a lot more. We're going to talk about this game later on, of course. The Colts versus Browns, both teams 3-1.

It could be a pivotal game as far as AFC seating goes later on in the year. But I feel like at least through these four games, of course, it's been low competition. We knew the Bears are kind of a fraudulent 3-0 team. They play the Jaguars here better than expected, but also the Vikings and the Jets are true disappointments this year so far, Anthony. Do you feel like now maybe these next couple weeks when they play against teams like Joe Burrow, I know maybe that's not a tough test,

but it's actually a really good quarterback compared to what they played in the last couple weeks, I think, with Burrow and Cincinnati. They also, of course, play next week against those teams that really could test them, like Cleveland with Baker Mayfield. I feel like these next couple weeks are really going to be a true testament of whether the Colts have taken that elite leap or not. I mean, what do you think? I mean, obviously the number one in defense in the quarter pool of the year,

but I think it's going to get more tougher and more from the point where we should really know how good this defense is the next few weeks. Yeah. Yeah, totally agree. I mean, you look at the, the quality of the quarterbacks, you know, the Colts have played through the first four weeks and it's not necessarily super inspiring or anything like that. But I mean, the defense, you can see that it's a, it's a, a defense that knows how to work well together. All the pieces fit in perfectly. They swarm, you know, to the ball, to the,

to the playmakers, and are making plays. Both the defensive line, getting those sacks. Justin Houston, I believe, six sacks in his last six games. And in the backfield, of course, getting a few turnovers there as well. It's going to be huge as they see this step up in competition. I'm not a huge Baker Mayfield fan, but there's so much talent on that Cleveland team that, of course, that's going to be a tough test. And then, like you mentioned, Joe Burrow, even though the Bengals aren't winning a ton,

of course, they got their first win over the Jaguars. They're still working through some things, but that's a great quarterback as well in his rookie season. And so it's going to be interesting to see what Frank can do and scheme up and what Matt Irafus as well can scheme up with these better talent quarterbacks. But I think that what we've seen so far through four weeks, it seems like this should be something that's relatively consistent from this Colts defense throughout the season. Last point on defense

here before we dive into some offensive talk and then round it out with the Browns preview, Anthony. But we hung DeForest Buckner a little bit at the beginning of the episode with Justin Houston as to how dynamic that deal has been so far on the front four for this Colts 4-3 defense. But we talked about it all offseason too. I mean, I feel like every guest on the show has just agreed that Colts fans are going to really be in shock and awe when they watch Buckner consistently week in and week out

and the type of dominance we can put out there. This past Sunday, I mean, we saw it again, Anthony, three weeks in a row now where Buckner's truly been a terrifying all-pro presence in the middle there. The Colts have truly never had, and it's awesome to see it go on right now. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I mean, he's a guy, even when he's not, you know, getting sacks or generating turnovers, you can see on every single play, he's giving 100%. He's impacting the plays, you know, every single play he's giving 100 he's impacting the plays you know regardless of whether he's actually getting to the quarterback or making contact with the ball or anything like that he's making it so much easier for you know our guys off the edge um to

make a difference and so it seems like you know through these these first four weeks uh he's completely worth a first round pick in my opinion. He's been absolutely dominant. And I think as he continues, you know, he's only 26 or 27, I believe. He's, you know, just entering his prime. He should be a guy that only continues to ascend throughout his career with the Colts. Let's say on the offense now, a little bit of a, I'd say, average or below-average performance on the offense yesterday. We saw a solid first drive, of course. Rivers finds Malaya Cox for his touchdown.

It seems like Big Mo now is going to be that true red zone threat for this Colts offense the rest of the year. Phillip Rivers loves targeting him. He only saw two targets yesterday. And really a heavy run game plan for this Colts offense. 38 runs compared to 29 passes for Phillip Rivers. Rivers was 16 of 29 for 190 yards in that touchdown to Malaya Cox. Wasn't a very efficient day for Rivers.

He completed around 60% of his passes, Anthony. But once again again he kept the ball out of harm's way throughout the game what was your assessment of rivers in this offensive game plan where once again it's not surprised with michael piment jr and paris camel being out that it was a heavy run game script against that bears defense yeah i mean it's a little disappointment when your quarterback doesn't throw for over 200 yards and you don't have a ton of success on the ground i mean a little bit i i actually lean for this game was a bit on the game plan for me i mean some of these plays you know that we were seeing called by by frank reich and xeriani i didn't love um seems like we got into a little bit of a funk running a little bit too much you know on on second and long type of plays and stuff like that so

i feel like that's something that you know reich maybe was wanting to be a little bit too much you know on on second and long type of plays and stuff like that so I feel like that's something that you know Reich maybe was wanting to be a little bit more conservative um against a tough Bears defense you know you have Khalil Mack coming off the edge um and Akeem Hicks and players like that and so I think it's something that you know was a little bit of a scripted idea um for this offense to not be, you know, completely dynamic, you know, as we maybe have seen in the past. But I think there's some there are some things to improve on. I mean, we saw that Mo Alleycox touchdown early on in the first quarter. And then after that, he pretty much disappeared. And so there's some things definitely to improve on. But I feel like part of it at least was just because we know that that Bears defense is really, really talented.

Also on this offense, I mean, what do you think moving forward now? Hopefully we see more of a play-action pass game from the Colts moving forward because we really haven't seen that through the first four weeks, Anthony. It's been really heavy runs, quick passes. Do you feel like Nassus is going to be the tougher part or the easier portion of the schedule for this Colts team before they really have a tough November coming up? That we're going to see maybe Frank Reich open the playbook a little bit more maybe he's been hiding some stuff against his lower tier teams yeah I do agree with that in a sense I mean I think he's been a little

bit conservative with some of the play calls like like I mentioned earlier I think when we see you know some of these games where you might get into shootouts with the Browns or the Bengals you know if the defense is not you know running it at full clip. I think we'll see Frank and Nick Sirianni dig into the playbook a little bit more. I mean, you got to figure, like you mentioned, we're missing two of the, you know, top pieces in this offense, you know, in Michael Pittman Jr. and Paris Campbell. So I think it's been a little bit of an adjustment for the Colts on offense.

Of course, it's still just four games into Phillip Rivers' career here, and so I think it's something that we'll see continue to improve. One thing that's kind of been a little disappointing so far this year, I don't want to end it on a sour note, we had a key injury on the offensive line too in a moment, along with a few linebackers that could be out for Sunday, which could be big against this Browns team. What's been your assessment, Anthony, of this offensive line through four games? Of course, they've been kind of hit or miss, especially in the running game. A lot of rush attempts.

They're only averaging around four yards per carry so far this year, maybe even less than that. I feel like they've not taken a step back. Of course, the offensive line has so much continuity, and they've already shown they can play on an elite level, but a little surprised they're not as dominant. Maybe it's just the new set they've standardized here is watching them play. Yeah, I think we'll see as the season continues to progress. We'll see that offensive line continue to gel. I mean, we saw the offense was a little

bit clunky, some stalled plays or some stalled drives, a couple three and outs, actually four or five, I believe, after not having any prior to this Bears game. And so it's something that I think we'll continue to see improve. I think that we saw some uncharacteristic penalties and things like that, but I'm not exactly worried just yet. They're still not allowing Phillip Rivers to be hit, and there are still some nice holes for the offense. We're just not quite capitalizing,

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But Anthony Costanzo with a rib injury. Darius Leonard, of course, pulled. Look at him he pulled his groin in second half of the game yesterday against the Bears Bobby Okereke had thumb surgery he might be able to play with the cast on what do you think Anthony if even one of those guys can't go on Sunday or maybe all three that could be like a doomsday scenario for this Colts team missing their left tackle and their two-star linebackers yeah Costanzo is going to be a huge one to watch. Hopefully he's in the game on Sunday because we know that that Browns defensive line, Maul Garrett and Ogunjobi and those guys are super, super talented

and very dangerous as a pass rush defense. So definitely going to be something to watch for with AC. As far as the defense, of course, you don't want to lose Darius Leonard. I think they would be able to manage perhaps if Okereke has to miss or if he plays with cast, I'm sure he'll be fine. But definitely want to see, especially with this Browns offense being so talented and so quick, definitely need to see Darius Leonard get to a position where he feels like he's comfortable to play on Sunday. It seemed like, you know, he was on the sideline. He was cheering, hooting, hollering like he usually does.

So it seems like he was in good spirits and I'm hopeful that he can play, but he would be a really, really big loss for what could potentially be a shootout. Yeah. With that shootout, I wanted to get into just what you think could happen here on Sunday. Of course, Odell Beckham, Jarvis Langer, the receivers, you have Kareem Hunt instead of Nick Chubb, who's Chubb went on the short-term IR list for the Browns on Sunday. Of course, Odell Beckham, Jarvis Landry, the receivers. You have Kareem Hunt instead of Nick Chubb, who Chubb went on the short-term IR list for the Browns on Sunday. He hurt himself

in that game, so he won't be playing their star running back. Of course, you have Kareem Hunt, who will be able to step into that role and do pretty well. How do you game plan here against this Browns offense? Do you think it's going to be one of those games where the Colts try to out the clock here more and just do power running game and just milk the clock, find this offensive line? Or do you think they might finally get into their playbook a bit more maybe you could see more of a shootout coming on Sunday if this is Colts defense can hold them yeah I think the I think the game is going to start out with a heavy run approach I think they'll try to control the clock and not let that Browns offense onto the field quite as much. But, you know, if, if the defense has any slips if, if there's any, you know, unfortunate plays,

I think this could be a game that quickly turns into a shootout. If the Browns catch fire, they have so much talent. And so that's something to worry about a little bit, but at the, at the same time, I mean, the Browns defense hasn't been very good. We just saw them, you know, get into a giant shootout with the Cowboys. And so it feels like if the Colts can control that clock early, I feel like they'll be okay. But if they stall out with a couple of these three and outs, you know,

early on in the first quarter, I think we could see this become a game where we have to rely on Phillip Rivers a little more throwing the ball. Yeah, what would you say the three keys are to this game on Sunday? a game where we have to rely on Phillip Rivers a little more throwing the ball. Yeah, what would you say the three keys are to this game on Sunday? Because I think it's going to be maybe the most entertaining game of the year so far. I know all the Colts games really have, and especially the ones where they are blowing out teams like against the Jets. That was a fun one to watch.

But what do you think this upcoming Sunday here, where I think truly there is a good chance the Colts could lose this game. If a few things don't go right for them. Yeah, I agree for, for my three keys for this game. The first one I said was limit the big play. We saw some trickery from Kevin Stavansky and co, you know,

with, with sweeps and stuff with Odell Beckham jr. And their dynamic athletes, of course it helps that Nick Chubb isn't going to be playing, but they still have cream hunt, a very, very solid running back. And so I think the biggest thing is they need to limit the big play. We saw just a couple chunk plays. I believe a 33-yard play was the longest that the Colts had allowed all season. So if they can continue to limit those big plays from that Cleveland offense, I think that's really going to help. Number two, I said we need more from the

offense. I mean, when you have these drives that are that are stuttering and stalling, you know, even when you get turnovers or make, you know, these third down stops and get good field position, if you're not able to capitalize, you know, or if you're relying on the on these field goals from from hot rod, it's not something that's going to be, you know, conducive to winning against a team that's very talented, like the Browns. So definitely want to see, you know, some to winning against a team that's very talented like the browns so definitely want to see you know some of these plays or some of these drives end in turnovers or excuse me in touchdowns and then the third one uh i also said uh on top of just big plays that we need some game-changing plays and so uh we didn't see a ton as far as of course julian blackman got his first pick but i want to see more as far as getting to the quarterback getting some more sacks getting forced fumbles we saw that players were rushing

to the ball and swarming this past weekend but I want to see some more turnovers because you don't want to allow this brand's offense to get into a rhythm and really get rolling and so if we can get a couple you know a couple plays maybe a forced turnover here and there and a couple timely sacks I think this will be a game that the Colts can win i totally agree with you there i think this could be a game where they try to establish the run once more i think if you don't let rivers throw the ball 40 or more times it's better for this offense to see more of that rushing imbalance but i think at some point on the second and long as they got to air it out a little bit more there take the conservative approach off a little bit but i think this is going to be a game on Sunday, Anthony, where this Colts team is going to try to

establish themselves once more, really truly prove around the NFL they're one of the best defenses in the NFL as well. I think we're going to see Baker Mayfield get flustered by this front four. I know this Browns offensive line is really good, but I think DeForest Buckner is nearly unblockable when he's going, and we see the impact that Buckner's had with a guy just in Houston already this year, opening up one-on-ones for him consistently. I think this is going to be a Buckner is nearly unblockable when he's going, and we see the impact that Buckner's had with a guy just in Houston already this year opening up one-on-ones for him consistently. I think this is going to be a slugfest again. I think I'm going to go 23-20.

I think the Colts barely pulled this one out. Maybe they got a Baker Mayfield turnover or two in there. They're able to stop the running game. I think if they just play truly Bimba Don't Break defense, maybe get one or two impact plays from guys like Buckner, Houston, Julian Blackman, Darius Leonard if he can go on Sunday as well I think this is one of the Colts pull out and really ride their defense once again and being like a low scoring 23-20 affair yeah I'm looking at something like probably around 27-24 I do think it'll be a close game I think we're gonna see something

similar to you know kind of the script that we've seen before where I think the Colts will start out okay I think they'll they'll get up ahead a little bit early but we've seen you know, kind of the script that we've seen before, where I think the Colts will start out okay. I think they'll get up ahead a little bit early. But we've seen, you know, with really talented playmakers, they start to eat up this Matt Iverflus zone defense a little bit. And so I think we'll see it'll be tightly contested throughout. And I have the Colts making a stop towards the end of the game to seal this one away. I think they will be able to get to Baker.

They will be able to pressure him. And I do expect them to come home with this win. At this point, just real quick before I let you go, Anthony, it seems like the lock of the week already is going to be Millie Cox scores at least a touchdown. He seems just like a touchdown machine now. If he's only getting a couple targets, Phillip Rivers is finding him. Yeah, I think we'll see. I mean, two targets is honestly at this point almost unacceptable from this offense and from Phil Rivers and company. I think we'll see him be heavily targeted.

I mean, he's such a dynamic threat and such a problem to get to in the red zone. I think we'll see him get at least five or six targets, and I do think he'll come down with one of those in the red zone. Always fun to watch Big Mo, and he's truly having his breakout performance this year. But that is the end of today's episode. Everyone, I appreciate you listening in. As always, to Locked On Colts,

as the Colts put out a victory yesterday in Chicago over the Chicago Bears, 19-11. Anthony Smith from Coast to Coast Sky, and join me, as he always does, throughout the weeks. Appreciate it, man. You guys can go follow him on Twitter as well, at Ant underscore The Oreo. Thanks, man. Appreciate it.

Absolutely. We'll see you guys next time.