Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Colts escape Houston with 26-20 victory

Episode Date: December 9, 2020

On today's episode, Evan is joined by Stephen Reed of Stampede Blue to recap the Colts' 26-20 victory in Houston over the Texans. In what was an exciting finish, what stood out the most in this one?Starting off with the second half, which was a shocking 2-0 outcome after a high scoring first 30 minutes, Matt Eberflus continues to be the king of halftime adjustments. How did the defense blank Houston? A lot of it is thanks to DeForest Buckner and Justin Houston up front.Flipping over to the offense, Jonathan Taylor and T.Y. Hilton had breakout performances. If both can get on a roll down the stretch, how will Indy's offense look moving forward? Also, Philip Rivers continues to prove why he was worth the offseason investment.Closing out the show, we preview a pivotal showdown in Vegas. This game against the Raiders has the makings of a blowout with how Indy matches up on both sides. 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 to your latest episode of Locked On Colts, a party locked on podcast network. Today's always your host, Evan Sutter, enjoyed by Stephen Reed of Stampede Blue to recap this latest Colts win 26 to 20 in Houston in dramatic fashion to the Texans came. Oh, so close to pulling off an upset against Indianapolis before Deshaun Watson

and Nick Martin had a bad exchange on a shotgun snap near the end zone. Grover Stewart pounced on tipped it back to Anthony Walker, recovered it, and the Colts barely escaped this one in Houston, 26-20. Steven, how are you doing on this Tuesday night? I'm doing well today, Evan. How are you? Doing good. Let's go ahead and recap this game because what a wild one it was. I mean, in the first half, Steven, I had to think that you thought first one to 40 or 40-plus win this game, the way the offense were going.

Colts couldn't stop Deshaun Watson. The Texans couldn't stop Phillip Rivers. He was firing on all cylinders in this one. And Jonathan Taylor in the second half had a monster one, too. But a combined score of 2-0 in the second half keeps the Colts on top 26-20. What was your overall assessment of that game? Yeah, you pretty much summed it up pretty well. You had over, I think, 500 yards in the first half, which was crazy.

So you kind of expected that to continue and to have it both defenses really shut down. Like when you think about it, the Colts defense outscored both offenses in the second half. So that's just a really crazy stat. It goes to show Matt Eberfluss in his second half adjustments, really he's been just a magician really like in, in the adjustments that he's made at halftime to where he's been able to shut down some of the best quarterbacks in the game. And honestly, maybe two or three of the best in the game,

and Aaron Rodgers and now Deshaun Watson. The plays by Kenny Moore, it goes unsung, but he had four or five just great pass breakups, and then obviously the interception was huge. Grover Stewart, DeForest Buckner, you see how big of an absence DeForest Buckner was last week against Tennessee. DeForest Buckner and Grover Stewart, I think are the best defensive tackle duo in the NFL. And I don't know anybody that's really close. Obviously, Aaron Donald is the best defensive lineman in the NFL. But in of having the pair I don't think you have anybody better than DeForest Buckner and Grover Stewart and I'm so happy that that they paid Grover Stewart his money he deserved

every penny of that but yeah it's just this team is is so different and and they're different between halves which is kind of kind of mind-blowing. You hate to see the injury to the Raven Clark. It looks like he, I think it was confirmed he tore his Achilles. So he's obviously out for the year. So the Colts are going to be struggling there at the left tackle position without Anthony Costanzo. And this, I think, is their – I think they're now 3-11 without Anthony Costanzo in there at left tackle since he's been a Colt. So this week it's going to be interesting, but the Colts really got lucky. At the end of the game, you kind of – even I think the announcers

during the game were saying, you know, do you let them score here? So you save yourself some time to try to get yourself into field goal range. And every once in a while, you see something like that happen. And it just so happened that it went in the Colts favor and Grover Stewart, I think made the play of the game to knock it away from Deshaun Watson, because Watson was probably going to jump on that ball. And then Anthony Walker being able to jump over and make the play and recover the fumble. But the defense as a whole has kind of been the MVP of the Colts in the second half all year.

And it's really stunning, and it makes you wonder, if they can put a whole game together, could they really shut out an NFL team? And I think they could. Moving over to the offense for a second, Steve, because unfortunately they shut out in the second half, I think a lot of people were saying on Twitter for good reason that Frank Reich had a really inconsistent game,

probably one of his worst coach games, I imagine, as a play caller this season. But let's hit on T.Y. Hilton for a moment because the last two weeks he's really starting to come on here, which is an amazing sign for this Colts offense and especially the rapport he has with Phillip Rivers. Over his last two games, four catch for 81 yards and a touchdown. Then he gets Houston, where he really owns them.

Eight catch for 110 yards and a touchdown. So 191 yards on 12 total receptions, almost 16 yards per reception, and two touchdowns in the last two games for T.Y. Hilton-Steven. If T.Y. is the old T.Y. and the first 10 weeks of the season were maybe just him getting a groove with Rivers, maybe him just maybe working through some things, how big would it be for the Colts if T.Y. is back to the old T.Y. over this final stretch?

I think it's huge because you've got a legitimate playmaker there on the outside. And if you notice, they've started to move T.Y. around a little bit more in the offense. And so they're no longer just playing him on the outside. They're moving him to the slot. They're trying to get him ways that he's got a favorable matchup. And I'll say this. I think one of the reasons that you're seeing T.Y.

start to produce a little bit more has nothing really to do with T.Y. and everything to do with Michael Pittman and Michael Harris and Ashton Doolin and Zach Paschal really kind of stepping up and also getting into a group with Phillip Rivers because Michael Pittman it he's a game changer and I've said it whenever we've talked about Michael Pittman I've just gushed about him and the type of player he is and so I think having him come up and having three solid games leading up to this really made opponents really look at him and try to say, okay, well, now they really do have a guy that can beat us. So we need to make sure that he

doesn't get us. And it's able to give T.Y. a little bit less attention now that Phillip Rivers is feeling more comfortable with Michael Pittman. And I you're right though that there is a groove that a quarterback and a receiver get into and it sometimes takes a little bit and so not having training camp you know really kind of struggling the first couple games to really find that connection and now they're really kind of getting into the groove you add that on top of how well Jonathan Taylor's played the past four weeks with the COVID game, missing the COVID game excluded. This offense really has an opportunity to start rolling at a really opportune time for them.

Let's jump into Jonathan Taylor. A good segue there, Stephen, because just looking at his numbers on Sunday, 13 carries for 91 yards, had a season-high run for any Colts running back with a 24-yard gain late in the fourth quarter. He also had 70 total yards in the fourth quarter as well. He also had that reception, that amazing check by Phillip Rivers at the Lions' coverage on that fourth down to get Taylor that 39-yard touchdown reception. He had caught all three of his targets for 44 yards. So over, it looks like around 134 total yards of offense for John Taylor on Sunday. What was your overall thoughts on Taylor and his usage of this one though? Because

I feel like he would have gotten at least six, seven more carries. I don't know if Brinkwick really is committed to this running back by committee, but I think the last few weeks have kind of shown us, Stephen, give Jonathan Taylor that Marlon Mack role we saw last year just let him feast yeah and jonathan taylor is a lead back um i'm i like everybody else's problem have probably been frustrated with frank reich's play calling in the running back usage there are times where you know the fourth down call from frank reich there at the one yard line really took a lot of attention. I really got a lot of attention and rightfully so no matter which running back was in there, they weren't going to get it, which means you shouldn't run between the tackles.

But even if Jonathan Taylor is in there, I think that he might be able to bounce that outside and feel a little bit more comfortable with it. You know, Naheem Hines is known for that, but really Jonathan Taylor, the past four weeks has really started. It feels like he's gotten more comfortable with the speed of the game he's got more comfortable with the offense and you see that you see the way that he finishes runs and defensive backs don't want anything to do with them because similar to how derrick henry will just run people over and you fear his stiff arm. Jonathan Taylor just lowers that shoulder and will drop the boom on guys. And that you see that like every week. And if you don't,

if you look back even to the green Bay game, you know, Jonathan Taylor had gosh, probably 30 40 yards pulled off from penalties and that last drive on holding calls. So he really has been coming in and he's he's earned more carries and this week really frustrated me and if anybody follows me on on twitter i said just feed him more he needs to get more carries and then after that they threw the swing pass out to him for that that great touchdown pass um and he just really needs to get more carries in this offense and i think that's the most effective way because the most effective way for this offense to go forward

because you're able to get to white hilton involved you're able to get that play action involved because you actually have a legitimate running back back there that defensive defenses have to pay attention to and you know having nine minds there you do a play action pass between the tackles and you're really like all right the big guys can probably wrap him up uh if if they're able to get a hand on him you get a guy like jonathan taylor through and they are not bringing him down first contact. And you saw that throughout the game this past week is he would get hit, you know, at the line of scrimmage or yard beyond the line of scrimmage, and he'd still get four, five, six, seven yards on these carries. He's really coming to his own, and it's a huge thing for Colts fans

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Pepsi. Let's move over to QB1 now, Steven Phillip Rivers, who it sounds like he's going to need foot surgery after this season. For me, it sounds like he broke a plantar plate in his foot after trying to block Zedaria Smith in that Green Bay game, but even still was on fire in this one, 27-35 or 285 yards and two touchdowns. Even with Chaz Green and LaRae VanCork at left tackle, he still was able to do his thing against his Houston defense. It just continues to impress me just the guttiness and the leadership

that Rivers provides, but also just how decisive he is in this offense, just because you see week in and week out why the Colts made this move for Phillip Rivers. Yeah, it made the most sense. And you see – you summed it up pretty well right there. Phillip Rivers in this offense is dangerous um he's not taking unnecessary risks like he did early in the season he's starting to trust his receivers more he's trusting the offense in the play calling there's still some uneasiness about the left tackle which

is completely understandable they're now on their third their third string left tackle over there. They had some tryouts this past week on Monday for left tackle position. But Phillip Rivers, he is a leader on this team. And he's one of those guys that walks into the room and you just want to follow him. And that's what the Colts are doing right now. And that's what the Colts are doing right now. And that's what this team and this offense is doing, is they're following Phillip Rivers because he hasn't made that just stupid mistake.

That one that all the Chargers fans will tell you about, oh, it's Phillip Rivers, he's going to just do something dumb. He's going to just throw the ball up willy-nilly and put it in a position to get picked off. Thankfully, he hasn't done that for the past handful of weeks. But he really does have the grasp on this offense. And having that knowledge coming in really has been just such a benefit for the Colts and going forward with this offense.

Let me ask you this, Stephen. I mean, looking ahead to January, I know the Colts were missing a lot of key guys last week against the Titans. Of course, DeForest Buckner was very much missed. And like you mentioned, had a monster game on Sunday, two three-quarterback hits, two sacks as well. Just really dominant performance from Buckner. And I think him moving forward really is the crown jewel piece

that Stephen's taken to it from an average level to an elite level. Probably still missing an edge rusher. I imagine they're going to try to add one this offseason here. But looking at this Colts team as a whole right now, outside of that Tennessee game, where really I think COVID was one of the major reasons why they lost that game. There's so many impactful guys out of that one. This team feels like it's on a roll right now.

Like how dangerous do you feel like this Colts team could be in January football when you have this defense fully healthy again? You have John Ted really finding his groove right now, really built for January football, as well as Phil Rivers to keep him up tight and have that offensive line get back to full health. I think this team, if they make the playoffs, they are the one team that other teams don't want to face because they've got the defense that can play anywhere. They'll have the running back.

They've got a knowledgeable quarterback that's not going to make mistakes. I honestly think that they could be a Super Bowl contender in the AFC if they can make the playoffs. And this week will go a long way to that because there's a handful of tiebreakers that are pertained to this week

and this game against the Las Vegas Raiders. But if the Colts can make the playoffs, I believe that they can go anywhere. They can go into Kansas City and win. They can go to Buffalo when they can go to Pittsburgh. I think they're going to go to Pittsburgh here in a couple weeks and win because I have that much faith in this defense, in the staff. And I don't think that there's any team in the AFC, or really the NFC for that matter,

that is just an absolute juggernaut that you can't touch. Because with the right defense, which is what the Colts have, you can at least slow down Patrick Mahomes a little bit. You know, the fact is that this team is well built from top to bottom, and they finally got the players in the most important positions on the defense. They've got a knowledgeable quarterback, and they've got a running back that is really starting to find his own. This team is the team that nobody else wants to face when the playoffs come.

Before we dive into our Raiders preview, Stephen, just looking ahead to the AFC South race right now, a huge loss for Tennessee on Sunday when the Colts barely sweep by Houston. So both teams are 8-4. Tennessee holds the tiebreaker right now due to the division record. That Jacksonville loss in week one still is really looming large for this Colts team. But the final four games for Tennessee at Jacksonville, home against the Lions at Houston,

and the Colts' final four games at Vegas, home against Houston at Pittsburgh, and then home against Jacksonville. This really feels like, to me, with that Browns win over the Titans on Sunday, Steven, I feel like the Colts are in the driver's seat. Am I wrong? Technically, yeah, just because the Titans, if they went out and the Colts went out, they're in the – but I do think that the Colts have the better opportunity with how the Texans are playing coming up

and the Green Bay will be fighting for a playoff spot when Tennessee plays them. You look at what's going on here with the Colts is that Las Vegas, they're a good team, but they're streaky. And so you don't know, I mean, shoot, they should have lost to the Jets this past week, if not for Greg Williams running the most unheard of defense ever in that play in that situation they get beat by the jets um and so you get the colts having to go to las vegas so that that'll be a tough game but hopefully the colts will win that you've got the colts playing the texans at home and Colts generally do well against Houston at home. We got Pittsburgh, which I've said all year has gotten really lucky in terms of who they

played when they've played them in the end of the year with Jacksonville at home. And so the Colts have a great opportunity to really finish this stretch going four and oh, and even if they go three and one, I still think Tennessee probably is at best going to go three and one during the stretch. I joke with my buddy Jerry Blond on our podcast that I think Tennessee is going to go one and three because Mike Frabel always seems to finish nine and seven. But I just don't see that this year because they've got a couple games in there that are going to be, hopefully, they think they're going to be wins. But Detroit's played well the past, I think they're, they've won a couple games here recently. So everybody looks at those games and say, okay, well, those are pretty much cakewalks for Tennessee. But they could legitimately lose

the last three games of their season, losing to Detroit, Green Bay, and then Houston. And so I think the Colts have a great opportunity right now, and they just have to take care of their own. And if they can make the playoffs, the Colts can play anywhere. And especially during this era of COVID, where you don't have that home field advantage like you do when you actually are able to have fans in the stadium. BuildGo makes you the best you at whatever you do. Break through your wall. Whether it's a mental or physical wall, break through it with Go every single day. It's easy to take in one and a half ounce packages and you can put it in your briefcase for the most focused presentation ever,

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But honestly, looking at the spread here on DraftKings, the Colts are two and a half point favorites. I might hammer that spread, honestly, Stephen, because it's looking at this Raiders team and how they played the last month plus their defense is atrocious. Looking at their past few games, they allowed 26 points to the Chargers. Take out the Drew Locke game, because I don't think Drew Locke's that good of a quarterback, honestly, but 35 points

allowed versus Kansas City. 43 to the Falcons and the Jets. The lowly Jets scored 28 points against this Raiders defense. This feels like a game where the Colts can really make a statement, really put a hurting on this Raiders team that feels really vulnerable right now. Yeah, the Colts have a real great opportunity this week to take advantage of the Raiders' weaknesses

because the defense, if they can get after Derek Carr and get him to get off his spot or get him to be a little antsy and DeForest Buckner and Justin Houston can make him do that he makes mistakes he throws balls up he can throw a little high get some air under it that's perfect opportunity for Julian Blackman to come down with an interception he's not totally However, if the Colts cannot get any kind of pass rush on Derek Carr, he has the ability to really carve you up, and that's going to be the tough part for the defense. I think for the offensive standpoint, like you said,

the Colts have a real opportunity to kind of gut this Raiders defense. I think they're going to rely heavily on Jonathan Taylor this week. I think that he's going to be a big part of the game plan. The wide receivers have an opportunity to really show up. The one thing that you'll have to watch out for in terms of the Colts for defensive purposes is to be able to keep an eye on Henry Ruggs. I mean, he's a speedster. Derek Carr, I mean, he just threw the ball up to him, and he goes and gets it. There's not many guys in the NFL that have legit 4-2-5-4-3 speed,

and so that's always tough. But if they can kind of make sure that Derek Carr stays on his spot and they're able to rush him a little bit, I think the run defense will take care of Josh Jacobs for the most part whenever DeForest Buckner and Grover Surtur play together. little bit. I think the run defense will take care of Josh Jacobs for the most part. Whenever DeForest Buckner and Grover Surt have played together, with the exception of Derrick Henry, they've been able to limit pretty much anybody they've faced. And so I think the Colts have a great opportunity this week to take a win. If they're able to get that win, they effectively

have a two-game lead over the Raiders for that last wild card spot, depending on what happens during the game. The Colts have a great opportunity to really secure themselves as the leader in the wild card spots, at the very least. And then who knows what's going to happen elsewhere in the division. So the Colts have got a great chance right now to really take hold of the wild card. And that's all they need. They just need to make the playoffs and then see what happens from there.

Looking at the Raiders' injury report, Stephen, I don't know if you had a chance to look at it yet, but Josh Jacobs, John Green says not confident he's going to return from his injury this week. Jonathan Abram, their star safety as well, is going to be out for this one. So the Raiders on both sides of the ball look pretty depleted right now. So this really seems like right for the taking for this Colts team against the Las Vegas Raiders. But I agree with you.

I think Jonathan Taylor is going to be a bell cow in this one. I think the Raiders and John Gruden know Phillip Rivers from the last couple of years playing against him in Los Angeles. So maybe they know a few things that have up their sleeve defensively. So expect a heavy run game and a really decisive, quick throwing approach. We'll probably know, I think, Costanzo as well from Phillip Rivers. But what's your prediction for this one, Stephen? I think personally this is going to be one of those games where the Colts

really come out and make a statement. I'm going to go 34-24, but I think it's going to be 34-17 late and the Raiders get a garbage-time touchdown. What do you think? I was going to say 31-17 was going to be my guess. I just think that the colts are gonna if the colts can get out ahead of the raiders early um it just plays into the colts strengths and i just don't see the raiders having the i don't see the raiders raiders having the firepower to come back uh from being down um, last week's win for them was a fluke.

So I see the Colts being able to take hold of this game and the defense is able to suffocate the Raiders in the second half. Steven, always enjoy talking with you, man. We're approaching the home stretch of the season. The final four games now for the Colts of four January football playoff football ensues this year for the 2020, 2020 NFL season. A crazy one, of course, due to COVID-19, but Steven, appreciate the time and stay safe out there.

Thanks. You too.