Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Colts fire on all cylinders in 41-21 win over Lions

Episode Date: November 3, 2020

On today's episode, Evan is joined by Stampede Blue's Stephen Reed as they go over another impressive Colts victory. The defense was awesome, while Philip Rivers remains on fire in terms of quarterbac...k efficiency.In what was a close game at first, Darius Leonard's strip sack changed the entire momentum as Indy closed on a 21-7 run. How has the defense looked as their positive trend continues upward? Tyquan Lewis is starting to ascend, while Bobby Okereke is becoming a bonafide Pro Bowl caliber linebacker as well.On offense, Rivers' effectiveness was helped by Nyheim Hines playing an explosive role with two touchdowns. How should Indy utilize Hines moving forward? Also, Jordan Wilkins and Jonathan Taylor should expect a more even split on carries as the struggles continue for the Wisconsin rookie.All of this, plus so much more, as it's Baltimore week in a very important matchup happening at Lucas Oil Stadium! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Starting point is 00:00:00 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 the next episode of Locked On Colts, probably Locked On Podcast Network. Today's live is your host, Evan Seder, joined by Stephen Reed of Stampede Blue. We're going to recap the Colts' 41-21 win in Detroit over the Lions on Sunday. Stephen, how are you doing today? I'm doing well, Evan. How are you? Doing well, and I know, obviously, we're back on Monday to recap an impressive win for the Colts.
Starting point is 00:00:42 I know it was a little bit nip and tuck there in the second and third quarters, but I think really impressed to me what was the most impressed to me, Stephen, honestly, was how the Colts blew it open in the fourth quarter of that game, the second half really, the end of the third quarter and on, where they outscored the Lions 21-7, and really the main pivotal point of that game was
Starting point is 00:00:59 Darius Leonard and that forced fumble he had on a strip sack, where the Lions dragged on the field, about to tie up the game there. And then Leonard, the maniac, changed the game there. I think the biggest impression to me from Sunday, outside of Leonard's play and just that momentum shift ahead in that game, was just the defense itself here. Continually, week in, week out, Stephen, this is starting to prove here that they are very legit and we're going to really know the next three or four games
Starting point is 00:01:24 how good they truly are. But to the first seven games of the season Stephen it's a polar opposite what's been the last 10 plus years in Indianapolis. Oh yeah absolutely and it's what's kind of crazy is how well this defense has played and they've over the past handful of weeks they've been pretty consistent and especially in the second half of games where you saw this um with the previous regime that the second half they would just fall apart the colts i think in in the chuck vagano era had the lead going into halftime pretty frequently and and somehow had would consistently lose the game um this team and this coaching staff has got these guys where, yeah, okay,
Starting point is 00:02:07 they seem to start out slow and everything to start the game. But once halftime hits in that second half, they really kind of turn up the energy and they turn up the intensity. And they're able to make plays. I mean, shoot, like you said, the Colts defense really changed that game with the Darius Leonard forced fumble, Colts score defense really changed that game with the Darius Leonard forced fumble, Colts score, a touchdown on that drive, and then immediately, eight seconds later, it's a pick six for Kenny Moore, I believe. And so, I mean, that's 15 points in eight seconds for a team, which is
Starting point is 00:02:38 crazy in and of itself, but it really just shows how quickly a game can turn when you have a defense that's really putting pressure. And the Colts defense was able to get pressure with their front four. Taequann Lewis played a heck of a game, something that we've all been kind of waiting for, for him. And he's shown in a limited number of stats, snaps that he's gotten that he can really produce if given the opportunity. It's kind of what we've said about Marcus Johnson is when they've given him
Starting point is 00:03:06 the opportunity, he's really kind of shown up and played. And you've seen that this year. I can't, you know, I'd be remiss to not bring up how big of an impact DeForest Buckner has played in this defense and the return of Darius Leonard. They're just a different defense with Darius Leonard on the field. Yeah, it really does show a lot, too. I know in the box score, it will show that DeForest Buckner didn't do much yesterday. He just had one tackle in the box score, no QB hits, nothing else like that.
Starting point is 00:03:33 But his presence out there really helped guys like I mentioned, like Taequann Lewis, Grover Stewart, Danico Autry. I think Autry and Lewis themselves had multiple sacks in this game on Sunday, really helping open up that pressure, playing next to Buckner as well speaking of Lewis for a moment Stephen we talked about I think in August when training camp was going on during the COVID-19 pandemic and still wondering whether this was going to happen or not it's so impressive to finally see Tyquan Lewis really hit it off now because you saw in Cincinnati last week limited snaps five tackles and a half sack this week he starts over to Niko Autry he has even better production He has two and a half sacks in this game –
Starting point is 00:04:06 or excuse me, two sacks in this game. He's gone with a couple of tackles, a couple of QB hits as well. I think Tyquan Lewis, we're really starting to see the true breakout now, Steven, for Tyquan Lewis. So that's the case. You add in Kamoba Ture here in a week or two. That 2018 draft class, it was already historic in the first place by Colt CM, Chris Ballard.
Starting point is 00:04:22 But if Tyquan Lewis has a hit now, Steven, I mean, that's a nearly flawless, perfect draft class he had in 2018. Yeah, when you look back on it, and if Tyquan Lewis does continue this ascension like we're seeing, and Kamoko Ture goes back to the form that we saw at the beginning
Starting point is 00:04:39 of the season last, or the beginning of last season, where he was almost unblockable to start the year before his ankle injury um and so if those two guys can really come up and play it it literally could be one of the best draft classes in modern NFL history um and I I know that sounds hyperbolic but that really is the the case. Like you'd have two all pros. You would have a starting right tackle. You have a, you've got a starting defensive end on both sides.
Starting point is 00:05:13 So two starting defensive ends, an elite pass rusher. You've got all these other great players. It's almost unheard of for a general manager to really hit in his first five picks in any draft. And that just seems like what they're doing, like what he's done. It's really, really crazy to see how well Chris Ballard has drafted over the years and just to see how well that this team is really coming together. Speaking of Matt Eberflewer on here, so defense overall, we've seen after that week one debacle in Jacksonville,
Starting point is 00:05:50 where Gardner Minshew tore them up. Now Gardner Minshew is probably on the outside looking in now as the Jaguars started quarterback in 2021, as he's now on the bench due to an injury. But it seems like for now, they're going to start that developmental project, Jake Luton, for the seventh round for the rest of the year, it sounds like, over there in Jacksonville. But I really think we've seen a lot more disguising coverages,
Starting point is 00:06:07 a lot more exotic looks from Eddie Rufluso over the last two-plus months since that game. What's been your impression of this defense so far? It's really not just a vanilla cover two defense anymore, Stephen. We've seen a lot of cover three, a lot of blitzing packages, a lot of man coverage too as well. A lot of mixing it up. I mean, we've been asking for Rufluso to do this for years, honestly, Stephen,
Starting point is 00:06:24 and he's finally doing it. And I think this comes down to the personnel that he has um back when he was playing with molly cooker molly cooker was limited in what he could do like yeah he was an athletic freak um but he really wasn't a guy that you really trusted to go up into the box and make a hit um now with the guys that they have in Julian Blackman, Corey Willis, and the defensive backfield that they have, you know, Kenny Moore, Xavier Rhodes, Rocky Steen, they've got players that can really, that are versatile, that can play in this defense and play anywhere. And Matt Eberflus,
Starting point is 00:07:01 I think that they feel more comfortable with Julian Blackman and giving him more assignments. You see him on the field now often, and when you see him, he's always around the ball. And so that, I think, is making such a huge impact on the way that they play this defense and the way that they call their defense. They're allowed to be more aggressive, and they feel more comfortable when, even if they're not aggressive and they just stick with rushing the front four, they still feel comfortable that they're going to be able to make a play. And I think that has to do a lot with the personnel,
Starting point is 00:07:33 and they're finally getting the guys to really fit this defense. And it's showing now, especially in the second half of games. Like I said before, it's a night and day difference between how they start games. I mean, I think all of us were probably screaming at the TV in the beginning of the Cincinnati game. And then finally they turned it on the second half. And similarly, the defense now, I mean, shoot, I think the Dolphins had something like, not Dolphins, but the Lions had something like 29 rushing yards on the day like the defensive line really has come to play and they're really setting the tone for this entire defense
Starting point is 00:08:13 and now that they've got those pieces behind them that they feel comfortable with it's just they're allowed to be more aggressive and they're allowed to go and just make plays and that really is just how they're doing things in the Colts organization and how well Matty Rufus is putting those pieces together to make himself an elite defense. Thanks to a lack of natural athleticism or commitment or overbearing sports parents, fewer than one percent of one percent of one percent of people were okay professional football. But instead of entering the NFL, they've joined another league, the League of Football Watchers.
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Starting point is 00:09:06 defensive side, Stephen, before you jump over to the offense, who, I mean, obviously, the Bill Burris had an impressive day, as did Jordan Wilkins, who we're going to have in a
Starting point is 00:09:13 moment here. But on defense, Bobby Okereke, over the last couple weeks, has really started to ascend, in my opinion. He's really, like, a star linebacker in this
Starting point is 00:09:19 league, and really, I think, started to phase Anthony Walker out a little bit. Walker did not have the best game on Sunday, really becoming just a two-down linebacker. He only played 40% of the snaps on Sunday.
Starting point is 00:09:27 Okereke and Leonard near 100%. It seemed to me, Steven, that right now I'd be surprised if Walker is back next year because I just feel like Bobby Okereke, he's shown over the last three weeks that he's becoming a true three-down linebacker, one that's very, very versatile, one that really is at perfect with Darius Leonard. Yeah, and that's what the Colts originally said when they drafted him, is that they expected him to kind of grow into that position. And that's what we had said, talking about the different position battles,
Starting point is 00:09:57 is Bobby Okereke is more likely than not going to overtake Anthony Walker. Now, Anthony Walker is still – I don't know if I'd say that this might be his last year. I know he's going, this is his contract year. And so I think that they might try to extend him. But Bobby Okereke has taken over a lot of his snaps. Now, in those two games that Darius Leonard didn't play, Anthony Walker was playing a lion's share of the snaps, not 100% of the snaps. he was playing the majority of them so he still is a very valuable piece and he's still a very valuable player but yeah Darius Leonard I think played 100% of snaps and then Bobby Okereke played something like upper 70s lower 80s and I think Andy Walker played under 50% of snaps this week. And that might be that,
Starting point is 00:10:46 that honestly might be game specific because at that point the Colts were ahead and the lions weren't able to rush the ball. So they were passing constantly. I think they threw for like 330 yards and like that. And Anthony Walker, isn't the coverage linebacker in that group, Bobby Okereke and Darius Leonard are your clear coverage linebackers. And so based on the defense and what they were playing, I wouldn't necessarily read so far into it that they're going to phase out
Starting point is 00:11:14 Anthony Walker because I do think he's an important part of this defense. But his snaps are clearly being eaten up by Bobby Okereke in that nickel and in that dime situations. Let's move to the offense now, Stephen. Phillip Rivers, back-to-back weeks now where he's had incredible games. Rivers was 23 of 33 for three touchdowns and zero picks, 262 yards as well, almost eight yards per attempt to add on to that. I mean, after Phillip Rivers read those press clippings from where the Zach Heaper,
Starting point is 00:11:43 Kevin Bowen, Stephen Holt, the rest of that indie media group, it seemed like he's really turned it on because I know a lot of us were even mentioning like even outside the Browns game, we can talk about the Bears game as well, a couple games before that too as well. It seemed like he was kind of just fading off a little bit. These last two games, granted it's against the Bengals, it's against the Lions, but very impressed that the Bounce Out Phillip Rose has had six touchdowns and one pick over that span. It's been really incredible throwing football down the Lions, but very impressed with the bounce that Phillip Rivers has had, six touchdowns and one pick over that span.
Starting point is 00:12:05 It's been really incredible throwing the football down the field, being very smart with it as well. What was your impression of Rivers on Sunday, Stephen, especially that second quarter where, once again, he had three touchdowns in the quarter? Yeah, I think Phillip Rivers is doing exactly what they're asking him to do, and that is opening it up when they want to open him up and now you're seeing Frank Reich feel a little bit more comfortable with with his play calling
Starting point is 00:12:33 it feels like they're starting to open up the game for Phillip Rivers and that really plays into his his mentality so we started the season and everybody was really, really, I think at one point he had more interceptions to touchdowns. And so we were all kind of saying, you know, is he done? You know, and I, people were thinking that. I said, you know, give it some time. You know, it's a new offense, new guys. They didn't have training camp. They didn't get an opportunity to really get some game action or some live action with each other and practices now that they've gotten some of those
Starting point is 00:13:07 under their belt it's good to see philip river is really clicking and he's not making he still sometimes will make that what are you thinking throw where you just kind of put your hands up and go what are you doing are you throwing that? But for the most part, even those balls are in positions where only his receiver can catch it. And so you're seeing him get more comfortable with the offense. You're seeing him get more comfortable with the wide receivers that he's working with, getting more time, getting to use those tight ends, use the running backs
Starting point is 00:13:43 the way that Phillip Rivers really likes to. And so I think the arrow is certainly going up for Phillip Rivers. And this is the quarterback that I expected him to be from the start of the season. And I'm glad that he's kind of showing up now because this is the stretch of games coming up that really are going to make or break the Colts season and whether they make the playoffs. Yeah, I was about to mention, Stephen, is how good of a sign is it that Rivers is doing this right now when they're heading into this four-game stretch against the Ravens, Titans,
Starting point is 00:14:12 Packers, where he's really finding a group, even without a consistent running game right now. We're going to have Jordan Wilkins in a moment here, and John Taylor as well, that overall situation of running back. But Rivers even doing so without a ground game is even more impressive than that. Yeah, and he's getting time to throw from Rivers. I know he took two sacks this week, but he's able to get time to throw for the most part.
Starting point is 00:14:34 And it really is impressive that he's doing this without having a consistent running game because you're seeing some little runs here and there, and you're seeing the running game start to hopefully start to pick up here soon. But yeah, it really is impressive that he's able to make this happen. You know, we really kind of would like to see Jordan Wilkins, you know, get the starting nod coming up because he he's been more consistent this year
Starting point is 00:15:02 and maybe it's the familiarity with the offense and the offensive line and just with the speed of the game that you don't have with Jonathan Taylor. I know that Frank Reich and Phillip Rivers had mentioned that Taylor might be a little nicked up. And so that might be going on. But I'm excited to see once they start really getting that running game going. And I think they will. Because they ran for 120 yards this past week, which was good for them.
Starting point is 00:15:32 But you still don't have a consistent running back one, really, after the Marlon Mack injury. You hope Jonathan Taylor would step into that role, but so far he hasn't. And so I'll be very excited to see what Phillip Rivers can do with a legitimate play action because that's going to be a bread and butter play right there for them once they really get that running game and get teams to fear that running game a little bit. Jordan Wilkins on Sunday had a career game, 20 carries,
Starting point is 00:16:02 a career high for 89 yards and a touchdown, all over four and a5 yards per carry. Meanwhile, Jonathan Taylor, who did not play much in the second half, like I mentioned, possibly did an injury, 11 carries for 22 yards, only two yards per carry. What was your impression of the rushing attack on Sunday's team? Where did you feel like they were starting to slowly build it up and Jordan Wilkins kind of getting that momentum punch they needed over there?
Starting point is 00:16:22 Yeah, Jordan Wilkins is, I might have said it on this podcast earlier in the season, he's one of those guys that whenever he gets an opportunity to play, he really, he finds his holes, he does his job, he gets positive yardage, he's got great vision, and he had great vision come out of college, and that was one of the biggest things for him, and one of the things that I was really excited about about him as a prospect was his vision and just ability to find the hole and hit the hole and you're seeing that here in the NFL the one of the plays that I remember is he had hit behind the line of scrimmage should have been a three-yard loss he turned it into a 12-yard game um because he was able to
Starting point is 00:17:11 dot get get out of that that tackle and then saw the hole and just hit it and that's one of those things where i i think that jonathan taylor will learn that because his vision was never a problem at wisconsin and you see him just kind of hesitating a little bit and it might be a lack of familiarity with the offense. Might be the speed of the game where he's just got to get himself used to it. Because again, these rookies didn't have training camp. They didn't have an opportunity to really acclimate to the speed of the NFL and to the speed of these professional football players. Before just being kind of tossed into the sharks. And so Jonathan Wilkins has been kind of a breath of fresh air for the
Starting point is 00:17:48 Colts offense because he is so able to do everything that they ask. He can pass block. He can catch out of the backfield if he needs to. He's a very patient runner, but has good vision and can hit the hole. So he's an ideal backup running back for this Colts offense with Marlon Mack going down and with Jonathan Taylor kind of struggling thus far. So I don't feel that there's such a huge drop off going to Jordan Wilkins. And I'm excited for him to get an opportunity.
Starting point is 00:18:21 And I hope the coaching staff gives him an opportunity after going and playing as well as he did this past week. Moving ahead now, I mean, let's say Taylor is okay and he's good to go fully on Sunday or even in a limited role. The rest of the year, I mean, honestly, what you mentioned, Jordan Wilkins, he always does very well when given opportunity. He showed again this past Sunday, really helping get this momentum going for the rushing attack. Do you feel like the rest of the year we should see more of a 50-50, maybe 60-40 split between Taylor and Wilkins in the running game? I hope so. Because unless if Jonathan Taylor really kind of picks it up
Starting point is 00:18:56 and all of a sudden everything clicks, then I think that you'll see him get more carries. But I do hope that there's going to be a little bit more of a 50-50 split. They go with the hot hand. And obviously this past week, that hot hand was clearly Jordan Wilkins. So I'm glad that they didn't try to force Taylor in there and take away time from Wilkins when he was really playing well. But I do think that you're probably going to see more of a 50-50,
Starting point is 00:19:22 50-60-40 split between the two going forward. Let's tell Naheem Hines before we go into the last part of our show, talk about this Ravens game and also the stretch coming from the Colts. Incredible game from Naheem Hines again. Almost reminded me of the Panthers game last year. I mean, of course, that was a special teams game from Hines, but this one in the receiving game, three receptions, 54 yards, two touchdowns, two super impressive touchdowns to fact there.
Starting point is 00:19:44 That's been at the end of the first one. There's the pure lead gymnastics in the end zone for both two touchdowns, two super impressive touchdowns to fact there. That's been at the end of the first one. There's the pure lead gymnastics in the end zone for both those touchdowns that went viral on Twitter, as you all know. But Naeem Hines, I feel like, should be used more often as offense, and it kind of should on Sunday. He can be that sort of Paris Campbell-esque guy in their offense, and I even tweeted out on Twitter on Sunday during the game that why not use Naeem Hines more in that Paris Campbell role,
Starting point is 00:20:04 use him as a gadget guy in the slot or outside of the running back, just like flare it out to him a little bit. I really think if Hines could be that player that they're missing in this offense as far as that speed goes, they didn't use the Michael Harris history at all. Number 12, as you guys all know, that played really well against the Bengals. I really think that Hines could be that guy for them, Stephen,
Starting point is 00:20:23 until Paris Kimmel returns. What do you think about Hines' game on Sunday and also his role moving forward? Yeah, I think that they used Hines similar to how they used him at the beginning of the year against Jacksonville. And that was – it's good for Naheem Hines. It's really his forte is catching the ball out of the backfield and being a little bit shifty, making guys miss, versus what they did for a handful of games
Starting point is 00:20:45 in there is they try to run in between the tackles which just wasn't working so I'm glad to see that they've adjusted their game plan with Naeem Hines and are using him more in space because that's where he is lethal and like you said that's where Paris Campbell was lethal as you get him in space and he's able to make a play he He makes one guy miss and he's gone. And that's how it was with Liam Hines this past week. And I'm glad you mentioned his celebration. That was maybe the most impressive thing that I saw during Sunday's game. And there were a lot of impressive things from the Colts. But to get an impressive quote tweet from Simone Biles about how impressive his acrobatic work was
Starting point is 00:21:28 in his gymnastics work. That's always fun to see. But as a whole, I think Neem Hines is one of those players that he should be used more. It's the same thing with Jordan Wilkins. I wouldn't be upset if they started to push carries, push touches to Neal Hines and Jordan Wilkins. Because those guys have really shown that when given an opportunity, they perform well. And you just got to keep going with your hot hand. And I just think that's a smart way to coach. Colts fans, Bilt Bar is back. It's even more delicious.
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Starting point is 00:23:09 They're back up running back to J.K. Dobbins, the star rookie running back behind Lamar Jackson. He's out as well. So the Braves come in a little bit battered and bruised after that Pittsburgh game. The Colts could be coming around the Perk opportunity here, Stephen. They're 3.5 underdogs per draft kinks. They're not the favorites in this one,
Starting point is 00:23:25 but I have a hard time thinking why the Colts can't be favorites because Lamar Jackson has not been good at all so far this year. He's been very up and down. This Colts defense has the recipe to go against Lamar Jackson. They have that front four of Buckner.
Starting point is 00:23:36 They have the Spies and Okereke and Leonard, a good discipline secondary as well. The Ravens really don't have much outside weapons except Hollywood Brown. I just feel like the Colts match up very, very well against this Ravens team. What do you think is going to happen here on Sunday, Stephen? Yeah, I think that the – I'm a little surprised that the line is as big as it is being a three-and-a-half.
Starting point is 00:23:57 I think it should be closer. I think it probably should be a pick-em game because the Colts defensively really match up well against the Ravens. Like you said, they've got that front four. They've got the speed at the linebacker position. And Lamar Jackson has some faults. And the Tennessee Titans last year really kind of highlighted those in that he really can't throw the ball more than like 15 to 30 yards
Starting point is 00:24:21 really accurately. And if you can contain him in the pocket and force him to make those throws and, and are able to keep that spy on him and not let him get out, he can be kind of neutralized to a point. The Colts run defense is the top in the league. If not the top in the league, if not the top in the league, the top three run defense. And that's really Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens spread and putup for the Colts and to hit them when Ronnie Stanley is now out.
Starting point is 00:25:10 So they're going to be down their left tackle, which you never like to see that from having a player get hurt. Same thing with Marlon Humphrey. You never like to see a player contract the virus that will keep them out. But it does happen to be at an opportune time for the Colts. So Ravens as a whole are not a super disciplined team. And so they've been penalized a lot. I could see the Colts taking advantage of that. I don't see the Ravens, I don't see this being a blowout. And obviously neither does Vegas for
Starting point is 00:25:46 that matter but I think the Colts match up better against the Ravens than they do against some of the other teams other top teams just because of the speed on defense their discipline that they show they're able to take advantage of weaknesses the opponents have, and it happens to fall right into the Colts' strength. So, again, the Colts' run defense is top of the league. The Ravens focus on the run. So the Colts could effectively neutralize the run defense, put the onus on Lamar Jackson to make passes.
Starting point is 00:26:27 You bracket coverage Hollywood Brown, so then he can't get over top of you. And then you put the, you can either put Leonard or Riki on Mark Andrews, who is the tight end. It's a Lamar Jackson's biggest safety valve. And those guys can cover him. You could also put Kyrie Willis on him and feel comfortable having coverage on that tight end. After that, the Ravens don't have a lot. It's Willie Sneed. You know, do you feel confident if you're a Ravens fan that Willie Sneed's going to be the guy that leads your team to victory over the Colts? I wouldn't. And if the Colts coaching staff can really put those things together, I think they've got an opportunity to put the Colts in a great position to win this week. And I wouldn't be surprised if the Colts pull out a victory.
Starting point is 00:27:06 Let's have our predictions here for this game real quick before we just dive into our general thoughts of this stretch coming up here in November. It's really going to make or break the Colts season. I'm going to go with an upset here. It's based off the Vegas odds. I'm going to go 24-16. The Colts win over the Ravens. I think we're going to see a slugfest game.
Starting point is 00:27:21 If Phillip Bruce keeps the ball clean, if the Colts defense comes out to play well against the run, I just don't see how the Ravens match up well against this colts team if they do just play discipline and strong football so i'll go 24 16 a touchdown win for the colts over the ravens to move them ahead of them in the standings steve what is going to happen here on sunday oh that's a great great question um so i'm going to say that it is, you said 24-16, so you're putting it at like a 40 point. They spread over under is anywhere from 49 to 51. So I'm going to say, I'm going to put it at like 27-21 Colts. I say they win by six. And so that's where I'm going to put it at. I feel confident in the Colts being able to shut down the Ravens, but I don't think they're going
Starting point is 00:28:17 to keep them completely bottled up. I feel like the Ravens are going to get a little bit of a lead to start the game because that's been the Colts' MO the past couple weeks is to give up a couple early touchdowns. And I think the defense is going to really shut them down the second half. Yeah, I agree. I think it's going to be a really fun game on Sunday. Arguably the most important game of the year for the Colts. They've got to start out this stretch here strong.
Starting point is 00:28:40 They really show they're either contenders or pretenders this year in the AFC, which is really loaded across the board right now. But let's hit on that schedule just throughout the month of November they have of course the Ravens in a short week at Tennessee you have to also go to home against Green Bay and you have to also go again and play Tennessee the week after that so Titans twice in four weeks you have the Packers and Ravens between there just how important is the stretch for the Colts I mean it's incredibly important right now they're tied for the top of the division at five and two at Tennessee Tennessee doesn't have an easy schedule coming up either so if the Colts can come out of this at three and one I think that's a fantastic I think they are elated to come out of this quarter, this four-game stretch here at
Starting point is 00:29:26 three and one. I think the one loss could potentially be at Tennessee, that Thursday night game. Thursday night games as a whole are very difficult for teams, especially for the traveling team, and now especially during the age of COVID in terms of trying to travel. The only good part about that is it is a five-hour drive to Tennessee. And so it's maybe an hour flight down there. So it's not as much air travel time. So if they flew down day of the game, day before the game, there's not as much of a jet lag situation as it would if they were flying across the country for Thursday night game. I think that the Packers are incredibly inconsistent at this point. You saw Tampa Bay just kind of lay a licking on them. Packers struggled, I think, against Minnesota this week. And I'm not as convinced that they are this juggernaut that they look like to start the season.
Starting point is 00:30:29 And then you've got Tennessee. I think the Colts will win this week against Baltimore. And then we'll get a win against or lose to Tennessee, win against Green Bay. And then they'll come back home and they'll beat Tennessee here at Lucas Oil Stadium. Yeah, it's going to be such a big stretch for this team to see whether they are truly a top contender in the AFC or not. Of course, you play against the Packers, too. Of course, you have Aaron Rodgers, you have
Starting point is 00:30:53 Lamar Jackson, you have Ryan Tannehill this month on the schedule where the Colts got to capitalize not only on defense, but also for the Brewers to really play his best ball of the year throughout this stretch. So, really appreciate everyone listening on today's podcast. We'll be back with you guys, of course, tomorrow for next episode. You guys can go follow Stephen on Twitter if you're not already at NiceReads. Stephen, go read his work and listen to his work over at Stampede Blue.
Starting point is 00:31:12 Stephen, appreciate your time, man. Thanks, Evan. Have a great one.

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