Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - COLTS SQUAD SHOW: 49ers BREEZE Past Colts | Defensive Collapse Leads to Fifth-Straight Loss

Episode Date: December 23, 2025

Philip Rivers and the Colts' offense performed admirably, but it didn't matter because the defense allowed nearly 500 yards of offense and 50 points to lead to Indy's fifth-straight defeat.The Squad convenes to talk about a listless Colts' defensive performance, Philip Rivers and the offense doing their part in a losing effort, Studs & Duds performers from Monday Night Football, and why we have reached the point of no return in the eyes of the fanbase when it comes to Chris Ballard. Find and follow Locked On Colts on your favorite podcast platforms: 🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/podcasts/locked-on-colts/ 📺YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLdpxJspi1hMh5HL7ExpWOQ Give the squad a follow on X/Twitter @Schultz975, @JakeArthurNFL, @ZachHicks2, @allenpinkett, @LockedOnColts, and @ColtsOn_SI, as well on TikTok and Instagram! Locked On NFL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft & More 🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/podcasts/lockedoncoltsSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Rocket MoneyTake control of your finances and cancel your unwanted subscriptions with Rocket Money.Go to https://RocketMoney.com/LOCKEDON today.Aura FramesFor a limited time, save on the perfect gift by visiting https://AuraFrames.com to get $35 off Aura’s best-selling Carver Mat frames - named #1 by Wirecutter - by using promo code LOCKEDON at checkout.FanDuelIf you want to be right in the middle of the action this season, visit FanDuel.com and place your NFL live bets all season long.PrizePicksDownload the PrizePicks app today and use code LOCKEDONNFL to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup.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.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) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Welcome to the Colts Squad Show. I'm your host, Derek Schultz, and I don't want to hear one word about Colts playoff scenarios right now. And I'm Zach Hickton. Hey, Least Phillip Rivers gave us a fun night. I'm Alan Pinkett, former Oiler, and the 49ers look just like the Colts six weeks ago. Colts Nation rise up. It's the Colts Squad, everything Indianapolis Colts every week. Covering all the big hits and game shows.

changing plays from the Circle City the way only the locked on podcast network can. It's time to squad up. The Colt Squajo starts now. Colts Squad Show after dark here on the locked on Colts Network. Thanks for joining us. Today's episode brought you by Fandul. If you want to be right in the middle of the action this season, visit fandul.com and place your NFL live bets all season long. I'm Derek Shultz. Any sports soccer sports columnist for the Indianapolis Business Journal. I am joined as always by Notre Dame Legend and former NFL. running back Alan Pinkett and you every dayers know your favorite resident film nerd of locked on

Colts, Zach Hicks, Jake Harder finishing up some postgame duties and he is slated to join us coming up a little bit later on in the show as well. Colts offense showed a lot of life in their only Monday night football appearance, but nearly 500 yards and 50 points later. None of it mattered. 4827, Colts on the losing end once again to the 49ers who really kind of kept the Colts at arm's length all night long on tonight's show. We're going to discuss just a horrifying 2024 versus Giants level defensive performance. I think it got almost that bad, honestly. We'll talk about the good, which was Uncle Phil

and how the offense performed. I mean, if you would have handed me a sheet of paper and said, hey, the Colts are going to put up 400 yards of offense and 27 points. I'd be like, okay, I feel pretty good about their chances. We'll play studs and duds as we always do. I know we've got a lot to talk about in the Duds category. And guys, look, my timeline was the whole way. I mean, Zach Allen, we're on the Colts Squad show,

group texts talking about what we're going to talk about on the show tonight as I'm walking to my car from Lucas Oil Stadium, and we're going to have to keep having the Chris Bower conversation, because that's all you guys seem to want to talk about. So we are wanting to voice what your concerns are. So we're going to talk about that coming up later on the show. But, Zach, let's start with tonight's game before we start to kind of zoom out and take that view on where the Colts are headed. I can excuse a lot. I understand injuries and all of that, that defensive performance tonight. I mean, come on. Like, it's unacceptable to me. It was indefensible, right? And I'm not even trying to be funny. Like, that's the best. way I think to describe it. Yeah, and how many times have we seen this in December in the Chris Ballard era? I know I know I'm going a little bit too big picture with this and we'll talk

about that more in the final segment, but this just felt like, like you said, Derek, a 2024 versus Giants type game. This felt like, I mean, the entirety of December in 2022. This felt like the 2019 Saints game where 40-year-old Drew Brees had like a 95% completion percentage in that game. You know, like this is just something that we've grown accustomed to. And I feel bad for Alan just trying to have to like get used to this now because this was kind of my fear a little bit after they had all of that heart last week in Seattle. It felt like the dying throws of a team that's ready to give up. And I don't think I've said that for most teams. I think I just say that for the Colts because it kind of just seems like it always happens. Now, I guess to defend it, I guess,

a little bit. This 49ers offense is on an absolute heater right now. They have it punted since November. Like, they are a very good offense with a top 10 quarterback by my money, a really good running back, a really good tight end. Like, I do really like the San Francisco offense. Now, are they 48 points on the road? Good. Probably not that good. But, yeah, if we're just talking about this defense, it's the perfect conglomeration of, like, you were outcoached obviously by the other coach on the other side, but also I just don't know what as a defensive coach you can do when you're getting dominated in every single thing you're doing out there. You try to go to these nickel fronts like they've always done against the heavier personnel sets and they're just getting crushed off

the ball, right? So then they go to some of their grizzly fronts and some base defense and they're still getting killed off the ball. You can't get killed in base defense and grisly fronts against these heavy personnel sets because then you're just at a disadvantage, right? Because you have heavier personnel on the field. So then when they were throwing against that, it was linebackers versus Christian McCaffrey. It was linebackers versus George Kittle. no chance whatsoever for these linebackers in particular. And then when they threw it to the outside, these fourth and fifth and sixth string corners

were getting just toasted by the 49ers receivers, whether they were playing man, whether they were playing zone. When they tried to blitz, there was answers for the blitz. When they tried to sit back in four-man rush, there was answers for that. So every single thing they tried to do on defense, and they tried to change it up as much as possible.

I saw a lot of different coverages. I saw a lot of different blitzes. I saw a lot of different things. Every single player on defense, no matter who they put out there, I don't even want to say the 11 players on defense, it goes as deep as the 20 players that got snaps on defense. They all got dominated. They got shoved into the locker,

and they got it locked behind them, and had all their lunch money stolen by the San Francisco 49ers. And for that to happen at home, at home, I don't care if you're a one-win football team. I don't care if you have your top 20 players on your team out, right? to have that happen at home like have some pride man like that is that's such embarrassing right to have that kind of performance no fight no life no matter what the four the 49 irs didn't have george kittle playing from like halfway through the third quarter for the rest of the game because they didn't need

them to score points they were they were putting out tongues or whatever the heck that titan's name was out there and he was looking like an all pro out there against the cold so it's like i don't know man I just, like, what can you even do at that point? Your team is just getting absolutely demoralized, and it's been a constant issue for the last nine years. We've seen this in December too often. I don't know what the answer is for something like that. It's just, it's just an embarrassing look for your team, and we've said that E word way too many times in these last nine years, especially in these last four or five years. Well, as a player, the number one thing you hate is taking a loss.

but one of the things that make you feel just a little bit better is the fact that sometimes you just playing against better dudes, you know, sometimes they're just going to be better than you. You know, sometimes coaches will say to you, you're not executing. And they harp so much on that, but, you know, the guys on the other side of the ball getting paid too. They're going to make some plays. And that San Francisco offense was just a machine.

And like I said, at the start of the show, that's what the Colts look like in the beginning of the year. They always had an answer. They had multiple people to go to with the football. Running game was good. I mean, I haven't seen Christian McCaffrey look this good all year long. And he ran for 117. As a team, they ran for 145. And what, Brock Purdy, his career high and touchdown passes, five T-Ds on this defense.

Could have had way more as well if he wanted to. Yeah, you know, so everything was clicking for San Francisco. And I feel bad because I think the Colts offense, you know, had a really good showing. But, you know, you just couldn't stop that onslaught. And like I said, as a player, sometimes you just realize, okay, look, those dudes were just better. And no matter what we did, you know, schematically, no matter, you know, and yeah, I hear you about having pride and, you know, defending your home. But those dudes were just better. They were.

And it showed on the scoreboard in this one. The scoreboard doesn't lie. And I think, again, you can always talk about, like, Like when you have like these one score losses, like these are 50-50 games. The talent in this league is so close. But to get just blown out like this at home, it like if it's one time, sure, sometimes it happens. But we've seen this so many times over the years. Like Derek, it just gets exhausting at this point.

And, you know, the cults have been decimated by injury. That's a fact. But this San Francisco team has had their share of injury. Yep. And they've won 11 games. their backup quarterback has started eight games this year. So this is like the one team you can't use the injury excuse against, right? Their entire defense, like, I mean, look, Philip Rivers played great.

We're going to talk about it in the second segment. Like, he was awesome tonight, especially considering the circumstance. But part of this is because that 49ers defense was lacking all of their top players. No Nick Bosa, no Fred Warner. Like, they're decimated on defense. But they still put up a better fight than the Colts defense did on that side of the ball. tackled exceptionally well. Like, yeah, their past defense is a mess right now,

but they tackled exceptionally well and did some good things. Like, I just wanted to see more fight from this team. I didn't want them to leave it all there against Seattle, and I was scared that that's what happened, and that is ultimately what did happen. And they weren't given Jonathan Taylor an inch of room. I mean, he was able to get a couple yards, but, you know, James Cook passed him up yesterday with his 117.

yard performance and Jonathan Taylor got what 46 yards so he got passed up but it just looked like that defense from San Francisco just made up his mind that he was not going to have a good game and you know the Colts really needed him to have a good game but the way Philip Rivers was was throwing the ball slinging it all over the place you didn't notice that the running game was bad, but they did need to run a game. But again, the defense, I felt good that DeForest Buckner was back in there, but it didn't matter because the 49ers just had to answer every single time. They went seven for 11 on third down. There was a while in the game where they didn't have any third downs because they kept moving the ball so much. But when they did, they made it most

at a time. Yeah. And to your point, Alan, look, the Niners are a better team, right? I don't think anybody's question that, especially after watching that game last night. But there's just something about 48 points at home in a game that really you had to have. I think their playoff their playoff odds, if they had won out, it'd been like 80 plus percent. If they don't win out, it goes down to like 16 percent. I think they're even like at six or seven percent now with where they are. And look, again, I don't want to have the playoff scenario conversation right now. like the Colts need to prove that they can win all game,

much less win two. And I just, this is a continuance as Zach mentioned of the past couple of years where the Colts just, when the chips are down, they lose every time. There's just, there's no other way around it. Like every single one of these late season games like this, well, if the Colts just do this and then this happens and then this happens, the Colts never take care of step one. They never get step one out of the way.

You don't even get to step five and six. and seven of, okay, we need this team to lose and this team to win or whatever else because the Colts can't take care of their own business because they always lose. And so like all this other stuff really doesn't like what the Chargers are doing, what the Texas is doing with the Jackers. I understand. I'm frustrated too. Like all those teams got red hot and all, you know, the Colts can't even catch the Jaguars and Chargers now with the way that the collapse went. But that's on them. You know what I mean? Like we can we we talk so much of this up to it. And Zach, maybe we should save this for the Chris Bauer conversation.

bad luck. And look, I agree that the Colts have had some crappy luck over the past eight or nine years, but we can't just keep blaming it on that over and over be, oh, shucks, well, they had some injuries. What do you guys expect? Well, their players are better than them. Why? Chris, they have a GM in year nine. They can't put a together, a roster doesn't give a 50 burger at home in a December game that they have to have. You know, like, that's where the frustration comes from for me. Yeah, and that's, I mean, that's a part of the conversation too at the very end is just like they've I don't want to say they've whiffed on a lot of draft classes recently because they haven't been like awful draft

classes but you do need to build up the bottom of your roster with draft classes with capable talent that fits your scheme and fits what you want to do and you just like all their top players are guys who are on these big contracts and then when they get hurt they don't have any kind of solution I saw guys out there for the 49 what was it de winters whatever had the pick six. D. Winters was, I think, like, a later round pick for them in there. Like, whoever they had a middle linebacker in place of Fred Warner, I don't know where they drafted him or where they found him. Luter out there had a couple of times where Pierce beat him, but I know that he was like

an undrafted free agent, too. Like, these are not guys, these are guys who had to step in there and just kind of fill roles despite being, like, you know, not these highly drafted guys, but when the Colts throw these guys out there, they're all getting smoked, you know? And I'm not saying the expectation needs to be like undrafted free agents are all stars for your team. Obviously, that's not going to be the case. But like, look, other teams can overcome these things better than the Colts have. And I think a lot of this does come to that guy at the top. So again, I know we're getting the fourth segment can't get here soon enough.

You know, Derek and I are just ready here to talk all about the general manager. But like the frustration with tonight is not like this happened, you know, like that, oh, in a, shell like this collapse is happening because again you can excuse it if this is one time but this has been a five six seven eight nine year thing with the colts and it just continually happens every single year i mean i don't know i felt like i was dissociating watching that that entire second half because i'm like oh yeah yeah this happened like i don't i didn't get angry like i don't know like i don't really get too angry at this but i i don't even for like colts fans i don't know how many of them were actually angry watching this because it's like oh yeah this is the expectation you know

Well, I can delay the Ballard talk. Maybe the key piece that the 49ers had, which is the first time I remember seeing it was a fullback on their offense. Yeah. They actually had a fullback who's, you know, Shanahan is basically running his dad's offense. But that mess works. I'm thinking maybe other teams will look at that and say, hey, maybe we should put a fullback back there.

I'll do it, Alan, at this point, give me the leather helmets, like, you know, give me it all, man. I will try anything and everything. I'm just tired of watching the same thing happen over and over again to this team, which is going to be a consistent theme on tonight's show. When we come back next, Colt Squad Show, there was actually some good tonight. Honestly, I know it's a 21 point loss and a blowout loss, including the quarterback play. The next segment is the only time that we're going to focus on the good stuff. That's next when the Colt Squad Show returns. This segment of the Colt Squad Show brought you by car gurus.

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Shultz. Jake Arthur is still slated to join us at some point today. He's hopefully going to hop on after he wraps up post-game duties at Lucas Loyal Stadium where the Colts fell tonight to the San Francisco 49ers by three touchdowns. And look, I fully understand and people in the comment section are going to be rolling their eyes at this.

Just like any other game, there's always just like a win. There's always bad that comes with good. There's always good that comes with bad. I did think tonight, Zach, you know, I was very squeamish about Philip Rivers. I thought that Seattle game was, okay, they squeezed what juice was left in this lemon. There's probably nothing left in there. And honestly, I was impressed. And I understand the Niners have banged up and all of that.

But the Colts, I think, did a really nice job moving the football tonight. And, you know, 27 points. And like I said, that offensive box, where if you would have handed to me, I would have thought they had a much better chance than they ended up ultimately have. Yeah, I mean, what was the big thing that we were talking about after last squad show, after the post game of the last game is like, hey, when you're going with Philip Rivers, you're trying to go ball control offense, pin them deep, win with your defense and your special teams. So if you told me coming into this game that the defense was going to be absolutely atrocious and you were going to lose the special teams battle by like a wide margin, I would have said, oh, this is like a 70 point loss in this game. The fact that this was even a conversation that this was a competitive game in the third quarter. with, again, a 44-year-old quarterback who came off the couch after five years,

who's not even been with this team for two weeks to deliver the performance that he did in this one, I don't care who, like, I truly don't care how many injuries there were on the 49ers defense. We're talking about a 44-year-old quarterback who came off the couch to deliver this type of performance. Like, this was something like, look, this doesn't change the big picture talk with the Colts whatsoever. this is just something that for the next 10 years 10 years plus we can talk about hey that was kind of cool what philip rivers was able to do you know i don't think we'll see many quarterback capable of doing that like this is a hall of fan quarterback that was able to come off the couch and do something that i don't i didn't think was possible you know five years away from the game not even remotely being in football shape and he looked like like i don't want to say it looked like prime philip rivers but it looked like end of career philip rivers again tonight like the way that he was able to diagnose things at the line of scrimmage, the way that he was able to call protection while missing three of his offensive linemen out there. I know the 49ers have a bad pass rush, and that was part of the gameplay, but it was really

incredible to watch, man. It really was fun to watch. So if there's anything to take away from this game, like, that's not angry. That's not just spiteful with this Colts team. It's the fact that, you know what, Philip Rivers is doing something that we've never really seen in NFL history, and I don't know if we'll ever see this again. so that's something to write home about at least you know that's again it doesn't do anything for anything big picture but gosh that was that i mean if you had if you were at like derrick you were at

the game today right you got to see something that we'll never see ever again in the league like what this 44 year court how many quarterbacks can come out of like Peyton manning five years post playing couldn't come out of retirement Tom Brady weighs 110 pounds right now he couldn't come out of retirement play right now like none of these guys could do this what he's doing right now is something we will never see like ever again it might be one of the one of the craziest things ever and for him to come out here and just be ripping the those passes like yes the the armed talent wasn't there but to throw two like what 10 15 plus yard touchdowns to alec pierce over the middle of the field at his age like this just shows what level of quarterback he was so yeah it does

nothing for the big picture but it was really fun watching philip rivers operate and we were at the point in the third quarter there was like hey just let the 49ers score quicker so I could see more Philip Rivers because I know we're not winning this game at this point. Like, let's just see more Philip Rivers. It sucks. It kind of ended with that pick six, but that was an incredible game to watch from Philip Rivers. I mean, all things considered, again, I don't think we'll ever see a performance like that again, especially from just what he was, you know, what he was capable of doing.

I didn't think it was possible he was capable of doing that still. You know, what Philip Rivers did flies in the face of this theory that you have to have this athletic, dual threat quarterback, you know, and the league was going that way for a while, especially with a Lamar Jackson who can beat you so many different ways. But for somebody that can just be back there and just mentally pick your ass apart, you know, sit up there on the line of scrimmage, we weren't even concerned about tempo. You know how sometimes you want to get tempo because you get the defense. you know, under heels now, and then you just keep running plays and running plays and making

them tired. But no, he was like a surgeon sitting up with the line of scrimmage. And I like the fact that we could hear some of his calls, you know, because he would sit there and make his little diagnosis and then come up with the answer and execute the play. And, you know, do you have to have elite arm strength when you know that you're going to have an open receiver, 10 yards downfield, five yards down field, just get it to those guys and let them make it happen. So I do feel like I was watching something special because I know how I felt one year after retirement. Now, you know, quarterback is one of those positions that it's possible to get off the couch and do. But it's still kind of hard to fathom when you think about all the anxiety.

defenses and the speed and athleticism you have on defense. And you've got, you know, linebackers that are just as fast as your wide receivers. You've got athletic defensive linemen that you got, what, 1.8 seconds to throw the football. And he's back there just wheeling and dealing. So I think what we saw was special. It was just unfortunate that the defense didn't show up tonight. Yeah. And one aspect to it, this game that I really wanted to go into, and I think this is probably the segment to go into it, is this offense isn't sustainable with him out of football shape. And like, like what they had to do to get the points that is probably as much as they could squeeze out, just in a sense of like, you can't really have a running game with,

with this version of Philip Rivers back there, because as we saw tonight, almost all of their run plays were draws out of the shotgun. And they went under center a couple times, but they all had to be these really quick short handoffs at the middle because you literally can't do any other kind of run play. So there are massive limitations to having Philip Rivers there, especially when it comes to the running game. So when people are like, oh, why didn't you feed Jonathan Taylor? Why didn't you do this these last two weeks? You really can't with a quarterback who can't move. He's limited to catching the ball, turning and handing, and you don't have many run plays you can do there. So they basically had to call more passes. If you're going to start Philip Rivers, you have to lean into the

passing game with him. And that's a big onus on a quarterback again, who's been out of the league for five years. It reminds me of when during the Matt Ryan season, the Colts beat the Jaguars at home. Obviously, he didn't beat them in Jacksonville. That doesn't happen. But they beat them at home that season in a game

where I think Matt Ryan threw the ball nearly 50 times because Matt Ryan had similar limitations to Rivers. Instead of running the ball, they just supplemented the running game with the passing game because you just can't do all those things that you want to do with the limitations at quarterback. at quarterback. So it's a way that can work, and it did for most of this game.

I think Rivers did everything he could. He read leverage really well. He threw the ball with anticipation, beat the blitz. And I think Stuyken did a good job of having as many rub routes and mesh concepts and just ways to get guys away from defenders to get these players open. So I think, you know, they squeezed out as much as they probably could in this game on offense. You mean 27 points.

And honestly, like, maybe you could. could have squeezed out a little bit more, like not a turn over here, not a, you know, drop snap here. But like aside from that, with, like, again, the three injuries on the offensive line with the limitations you have in the running game and at quarterback to squeeze out 27 points against a playoff caliber team, I think is phenomenal. And Rivers deserves a lot of credit there. Like, I'm not trying to just give it credits at Stuyken, but like Rivers deserves a lot of credit because his command on an offense being in here for less than two weeks is incredible. And that's why he should be a, I mean, there's a lot of reasons why he should be a Hall of Famer.

But this is a big part of why he should be a Hall of Famer. And, you know, what you say about how having Philip Rivers hurts the running game, you're exactly right. Because there is no, no really play action. There is no bootlegging or things like that. And ultimately, what you need on offense is balance. I mean, that's what San Francisco showed us, is that balance. And Brock Purdy is just mobile enough, you know, to, all you want to do is make the defense take one false step a lot of times, and you've got them right where you want them. And so for as good as Philip Rivers was, it's one of those you live by the past, you're going to die by the pass.

Yeah, and we saw it a couple times. There were a couple sacks taken, obviously, against a defense front that has very few sacks this year. because you just can't have your quarterback move back there. But, yeah, it's just kind of the nature of what you're going for with it. Like, you can't have the perfect offense with bringing Rivers off the street like this. But, you know, I think they did everything they could on offense in this one. And Rivers deserves a ton of credit, like you said. And I guess I never had him as a coach, but I spoke to him.

But Lou Holtz always talked about, you know, three things happen when you throw to football and only one of them is good. You know, you can throw an interception. It can be incomplete or dude can catch it. So that, he just, he loved to run the football. And so got to be able to find it. And it's a tough situation, too, because, and I think it's the reason why, as much as I don't like the fact that the MVP has become a quarterback award, I think part of the reason it is is because quarterbacks can sometimes succeed in a vacuum and running backs, even great ones like Jonathan Taylor can't. You know, when, you know, you have the offensive line kind of dissolve a little bit.

bit the way that it has and the quarterback situation the way that it has and the the wheels sort of fall off the offense you've seen the play fall off for for taylor too i mean i saw tonight was only what his second touchdown since the buy which i mean this was a dude that was scoring three tuds every game and and now you're like oh my god he's got you know he's got two touchdowns in the last six weeks and you know i'm not saying that necessarily to drag taylor i'm just saying that you know that's that's part of the reason i think why uh people are hellbent on not including running back sometimes in that conversation because he's, you know, it's one of these things

where the Colts season is eroding away and even a player of Taylor's caliber is really powerless to stop it. Yeah, so much of this Colts offense, so much of pretty much every NFL offense is how can you take advantage of linebackers? There was a tweet during the game where someone said, I just,

I would give anything for the Colts to have an elite coverage linebacker. Well, there's only one of those in the NFL. And that's Fred Warner. He's not even playing this year. He was, he's not even playing this year, right? there are zero elite coverage linebackers in the NFL, right? You can't, there's no such thing as then.

There are bad ones, obviously, but there's no elite coverage linebacker. So modern NFL offenses are all built around exploiting the linebacker as much as possible. So Stike in his early time with the Colts, used the RPO game, use the read option game. He used all these ways to dictate the eyes of linebackers and draw them out of spots and give the running back space to move, right? This year, it was the boot action game. It was a lot of their play action game. and they were doing so much with their window dressing on play action that linebackers,

even on run plays, instead of fitting the run, they had to run with Tyler Warren leaking out backside, right, even if they're just going to run it. And we saw, like, the Chargers have been the best run defense since week 12 in the NFL by like a wide margin. What did the Colts do to that Chargers run defense when they played them? They just eviscerated them. But since Daniel Jones got that fibular injury and they had to pull out a lot of the play action stuff, and then obviously the Achilles injury leading to Philip River,

is coming in here. This Colts offense completely lost their easy button. And that was, and they lost their ability to run the football as a result as well. You know, so you lose your easy buttons. You lose your ability to run the ball. You become one dimensional. It's just hard to sustain anything like that on offense. So yeah, the offense was certainly going to draw down a little bit, obviously, when that happened. But especially when you lose your top two quarterback, you just don't really have a way to to circumnavigate that in most cases and getting what they're getting out of Phillip Rivers is better than any team would get out of their third quarterback you know like this was better than anyone's getting out of this situation no no doubt about that

we come back here on the locked on cold squad show we'll play studs and duds uh lou anorumo anybody home the linebackers my god and do whatever it takes to keep alec pierce we'll talk about all of it when we return this portion of the cold squad show brought you by our friends at Fanduel. NFL Sundays move fast, or I guess NFL Mondays in this case, right? One big play and suddenly everything feels different. That's what makes live betting with Fanduil so exciting. You're not just watching the game. You're reacting to it in real time. With Fanduel, you can place bets as the action unfolds, every drive, every momentum swing, every highlight moment. Week 17 and week 18 might be the most equally fun and terrifying

weeks to bet of the year because teams look very different, both in a good and bad way from who they were the rest of the year, whether that be because of injuries or whether that be because, you know, they don't have anything to play for anymore. I mean, just take a look at the chief situation the other day against the Titans. That's a great example. Since an upset of a team that no longer has anything to play for, you can hop on Fandul and make your wager. Maybe a team is making a late season surge.

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and legendary Nordame running back Alan Pinkett. Zach Hicks of Locked on Colts. I'm Derek Schultz. Colts lose to the 49ers, 48 to 27. They are now 8 and 7 on the season, which means that some of my takes from when they started this stretch have not aged well because I thought like 11 and 6 was maybe the worst case scenario.

And, of course, that's not even a best case scenario that's on the table anymore for the Colts. But let's play studs and duds. We just talked about some of the positive. So let's get back into some of the negative. And Zach, you were kind of talking about the linebackers, man, just a disastrous night, I thought, for them. And they really, really got picked on, you know, the defense as a whole, right? You know, the pass rush. We can point to any area and say, look, it wasn't, it wasn't good.

They only had one quarterback hit. But I thought the linebackers especially kind of stuck out like a sore thumb. Yeah, I mean, look, Kyle Shanahan's going to find. your weakness and exploit it. That's what he's always, I mean, Kyle Shanahan can make anything work in that offense. When we talk about offensive geniuses, he's the true offensive genius of the NFL. There's a lot of replicas of Kyle Shannon, but there's only one Kyle Shanahan. There's only one guy who can make Nick Mullins have a 20 year career in this league.

And that is Kyle Shanahan, right? So if he sees your weakness on your defense, he's going to keep peppering that over and over and over again. And he went after those two linebackers, the Colts had out there in Jermaine Pratt and Zire Franklin because he's got two guys that are perfect. at beating linebackers in George Kittle and Christian McCaffrey. So they just kept going after those guys constantly. The Colts at times tried to bring blitzes to get those guys out of coverage.

And then the 49ers just went after the backup corners after that. Like there was just so many answers for them on offense. But yeah, the linebackers just absolutely be used in this game in every way. And run defense, they were out there in these nickel personnel groups. And look, when you're out there in nickel against 21 and 12 and 13 person, your linebackers have to be absolute dogs who don't miss tackles, right? Because it's going to be hard for a safety and corner to fit when you have tight ends and linemen blocking them, right?

So you really, really need your linebackers to be fitting with aggression and making plays. And that just didn't happen today. Those guys were just getting picked on and just running the wrong way in a lot of times and just getting run over. Like it was just a rough game, especially from a team where, look,

the Colts had been the best run defense. or the second best run defense in the NFL since week 12. Like, they've been very, very good. I'll be it, you know, I think the only good running offense they've gone against was Jacksonville. And Jacksonville, they had a good performance in that one. But this was the worst rush offense in football, according to efficiency. Like, they just struggled to really have any explosive plays. We gave Christian McCaffrey, I think he's like top three longest runs of the year in this game.

So, yeah, they just got blown off the ball constantly. And on top of, I mean, look, on top of the lineback, is a defensive line like they're they're paying a lot of money to this defensive line guys a lot of money to this grover steward de forest buckner uh lauatu lots who's getting that top 15 pick money which is pretty high for a rookie contract uh we got samson abu con making 12 million dollars we got tyquin lewis making like what four or five million dollars and they all got blown off the ball constantly in this game so yeah linebackers and also the defensive line just constantly getting smacked in this one um but i think when we're talking duds i think

we can just, any player who touched the field on defense today. I mean, good on Cameron Bynum for getting that interception, I guess. It's nice for the box score for it. But, yeah, any defensive player who touched the field today for the Colts, they all got beat. Like every single one of them got beat and stuffed into a locker in this game. So I think just Duds is just everyone that touched the field. Every coach on the defensive side, too, just because they all got beat. Like, it's just a performance you don't want to see from your defense.

Well, to emphasize the dud thing that you're talking about, it's all who can control the line of scrimmage. And on a running play, if you're getting blown back, then you're not going to be able to control the line of scrimmage. And there's like a trickle-down effect where if you can't stop them from running, you're not going to stop them from throwing the ball either. You're not going to stop the play action. You know, and as far as, the linebackers having to match up against a running back, I know personally, I loved having a linebacker be one-on-one with me. I'm supposed to win that battle 11 out of 10 times. So, I mean, I would just lick my chops if I knew a linebacker. I didn't care what linebacker

was. I remember I was in the Saints camp and Pat Swilling had just become the highest paid defensive player in the year. And, you know, I got traded to the Saints and he's, you know, You know, he was an excellent athletic linebacker. Man, I used to love running routes against him because as big and athletic as he is, I was just going to be too quick for him. And that's what McCaffrey showed today. I don't care what kind of linebacker you are. You're not going to keep up with a dude who's 210, 510 and 210, you know,

when you're 235 and 6'2. You just can't match up. So I think that emphasizes the importance of running backs nowadays being excellent receivers because it's just another way to punish the defense. You know, yeah, you want to be able to run the ball, but then you can't run the ball. You can get out in open field and get the ball in your hands on a pass or just work the hell out of that linebacker. You know, and just like you said with the tight ends, that's a mismatch too. Linebackers can't match up against a 6-5, 250-pound tight-in,

especially one that can run. So it's one of those, yes, you want to highlight it. I guess that's why they invented zone defense. Yeah, linebackers are just such a point to attack on all defenses now. Because, again, no linebackers can cover well in the NFL. It's just not a thing in this league. And the Colts were just getting exposed all game long with that. that and there's just really no way to hide it again disguising blitzing doing anything you could

there was just answers constantly in this one but moving away from the defense because i think we've made it clear our thoughts on the colts defense in this one uh the other part of this was just the third phase special teams bad for the colts i will give credit to the kicker i don't ever give credit to kickers but blake rupee right now is on some kind of heater because every kick he's kicking is not only being made but it's like right down the middle with like 20 yards to spare he is just strutting up to every kick and just he's swishing every shot right now basically you know it doesn't matter where he's shooting from so i hope he can he keeps this confidence he's got right now but aside from him my god special teams tonight was i mean the fumble early in the game was the

biggest momentous shift and it killed it like it killed all chances of of even contending in a shootout because this game looked like it was going to be a shootout early of contending because you just give up a free possession in the red zone of all places to the other team. And then the return coverage all day was bad as well. They were constantly getting out to the 35, the 40 on their returns. Like, it was just an awful showing. And again, like, we're talking about coming into this game where they need to win

on defense and special teams. The second and third phases have to be major wins for the Colts to win with Philip Rivers. The first phase offense exceeded expectations. The other two let down to such a degree that it was a three score loss. So, yeah, the defense was all. and the defense was certainly the worst part by the end of it. But in the first half there, I thought special teams was just as bad, if not worse,

than the defense. And it contributed a lot to a lot of things going against the Colts early in this game. And look, I've been there where I've fumbled the kickoff before. It's one of the lowest feelings you can have. And sometimes it's just a function of you're fighting for extra yards. But I learned throughout my career that, If somebody gets a hand on the ball or near the ball, just take your butt down to the ground. And that way you won't fumble.

Yeah, you know, you want to be one of those guys that fights for extra yards. Don't go down on the first hit. But if anybody gets their hands anywhere near that football, best thing you can do is go down so you can live to play another down. And I hated to see that, you know, Abdullah was taken out after that. And a lot of times, that's how it is in the NFL. You make a mistake like that, you know, a lot of times you get cut for making a mistake like that in a close game with the stakes being what they are now. We may have seen them for the last time, at least back deep on kickoff returns. But that was a huge, huge momentum swing because I think the Colts had good feelings.

Up till then, it's like, okay, it's our turn. You scored against us. It's our turn to score. And then boom, you just, you flip the script. And now the 49ers never let go of that momentum. They rode that wave the entire game after the turnover. So, Zach, you're right. You need to be, when you're limited on offense, you need to be exceptional in special teams.

and on defense and eliminate the turnovers. Yeah, for sure. And then on offense, I think really the only big dud was, like, I'm going to give the offensive line to pass a lot for the run game because, again, you're only running draw plays. You could have the greatest offensive line in the history of football, and they're not going to get much push on a draw on just, if the defense knows any time you're running as a draw play,

they're going to stuff you. Like, you have to be diverse in the run game, and they just can't with who they have a quarterback, right? So I can only really grade the offensive line in their past protection. And I thought four of the five did well all things considered, but Dalton Tucker, man, had a couple really bad beats in this one. And I think we are getting to the point with Dalton Tucker. And I say this as someone who really liked him as a draft prospect a lot.

And I liked him the first year. I thought he stood some flashes of what he could be. But we're now through two years of this thing. And look, the NFL is the not for long league if you can't show some progress. You know, you have to take advantage of your couple chances that you get out there. but yeah i thought he really struggled but um yeah i thought the rest offensive line was pretty good um overall especially in past protection a lot of clean looks there for rivers uh in there especially when he was throwing it deep uh and if we're talking studs i mean the the two obvious

studs aside from philip rivers is just alec pears and josh downs were awesome in this game those guys i mean alec pierce in particular uh i hate that we're showing him off on the national staged people now because his agent is probably like showing it like this is what he can be in your offense. Like pay him $25, $26 million per year, and this is what you can be. But, yeah, like, Alec Pierce is great. This has been such a great year. In the last two years for Alec Pierce, it's been awesome.

And I felt happy seeing other people talking about Alex Pierce, but not for, like, you know, how much it might cost the Colts that they want to keep them. But that's the conversation more for the all season. Alec Pierce was great in this game, though. Just, I mean, he made some awesome plays in the red zone. Probably the best 50-50 ball guy I've seen where Colts judo. form like it feels like 50, 50 balls or 70, 30 balls when you throw it to him. Like he's going to make a play on the ball.

He was just outstanding today. Yeah, now Chris, career high in yards for him now after tonight. And it's still an outside shot at getting to 1,000 if, you know, he's already going to get paid. You know, if he ends up with 960, I'm not sure that it matters that much, Alan, but it's always nice to say, hey, I was in a thousand yard receiver. Yeah, and it's an opportunity for me again to say the Labrador. receiver. Just because there's nothing more important in the world than him going up and getting

that ball. I mean, we can talk about all the skill that he has, but just his want to to go get that ball and make the reception. I think it's where he's created most of his value. And yes, I think he is going to get a lot of looks because he just adds an extra dimension. to your offense because like you said, he's made it better than 50-50. He's made it 70 to 30. And, you know, when you got a guy that can make plays like that, you know, it changes the whole dimension of your offense. I don't think it's any coincidence, by the way,

that Jake Arthur pops on right when Labrador receiver is smashed. That's when he comes into the room. Well, he's mostly jumping on. He's ready for our final segment about talking about Chris Ballard. That's the only reason he didn't want to jump on. because we all have something to say there. Yeah, we're going to have to do that next. We'll have the Chris Bauer conversation.

It's what you guys want to talk about, where the Colts go from here with their embattled general manager. That's next when we wrap up this edition of the Colts squad show. Thanks so much for joining us just a couple of minutes away from 1 a.m. Eastern time. And we got a full room, man. Commenters are fired up. are still awake. I didn't know what to think for the Monday night football game loss. I thought some of you'd be in bed by now. But thanks so much for joining us alongside the locked on Colts

duo now fully intact in Zach Hicks and Jake Arthur, as well as former NFL or Alan Pickett. I'm Derek Schultz. Guys, yeah, let's talk about it. This is something that we have sprinkled into the conversations, both when the Colts are playing well and when they've been playing poorly. It's just sort of omnipresent, right? The Chris Bauer situation and every, every game, every Every month, every sample size that we talk about is a new sort of, I don't know, indictment, I guess, on nine years. We're round and third on year number nine here for Chris Bowerd and whether there's going to be a year 10. And while I understand, Zach, that a lot of this roster is under contract for next year and the quarterback injury came at a really bad time when the schedule was starting to turn and all of that. And I do think, just like with anything else, I do think there was a healthy dose of bad luck involved.

I think the fans are just done. I think the fans are just ready to make a change. I mean, I'm seeing some in the comments being like, hey, tear it all down, full rebuild. And while I don't necessarily agree with that assessment, I understand it. You know what I mean? Like I understand that the fans are to that point right now

where they're just so frustrated that they'd rather watch anything else than see this 8, 9, 9 and 8 type football again and again and again. Well, I mean, honestly, I would agree with them on the tear it down and full rebuild because just how constant it's been. but we don't have a first round pick next year because that's what the general manager traded with. And here's the thing with Chris Ballard and a big part of this conversation is we've seen him rip the roster down to its, you know, bare components and build it back up, you know, from the Ryan Grickson era to the start of his era, build it back up. We've seen him build through

the draft. We've seen him take shots at quarterbacks. He took a quarterback high. He traded for a quarterback. He's signed quarterbacks. Like he has done so many different things. And this past off season, we really saw the first time, like him get aggressive and free agents. and aggressive in the trade market and do all these different things. But no matter how much he's tried to change and no matter how different he has tried to be, the same result has been there every single time. And sure, the circumstances can dictate the result once or twice. But when it's a nine-year thing at this point, it's hard to defend, you know?

Like, even if it is just all completely bad luck, everything just a bad luck against him or whatever, There's one constant through it all, you know? And I alluded to this in the first segment, too. It's like, you know, we talk about these embarrassing December games. Like, again, the 2019 game against New Orleans. Last year against the Giants. And this year now against the San Francisco 49ers, there was three different defensive coordinators in those games.

A lot of different players. Like, there are some constant players in there. A lot of different players, though. A couple different head coaches even with those three games. What's the one constant, though? The guy bringing the talent in here. Like, you know, we keep using the E word, the embarrassing word, but he's the one constant that's been here throughout all of it.

Everyone else has changed outside of some of the players he's brought him because it doesn't want to get rid of them. But, I mean, there's a new owner, right? There's new owner. New head coaches every year, new defensive coordinators, new offensive coordinators. Like, there are different things every single year to get the exact same result. So when you've already felt like you've changed everything, there's one more thing you have to change.

There's one more thing that you got to. It's like someone who keeps, like, putting new parts on, like, a car that's broken or whatever. And, like, at some point, you just got to just buy a new car. You know, it's like, please, just take it into the shop, sell it, and get a new car at this point. Because just duct taping parts to this car is not going to make it work forever, you know? And we just keep getting the exact same result. It's not working. Like, it's just not working.

And I know it's a tough thing now because now we don't have the first round pick next year. So it's a hard situation to get another general manager in here for. but, like, if anything, the best case against him is just, we can't have another one of his draft picks in here, you know? Like, another one of his draft classes. His draft classes haven't been terrible, but, like, the NFL is won and lost on the quality you can get on rookie contracts. Alan and I talk about cheap talent all the time on here and stuff of this.

You know, like the NFL is built off the cheap talent, off the backs of cheap labor, basically. The Colts haven't been able to get production out of their cheap labor, essentially. They were relying on, like, how, often has it been the last couple years where if the force buckner is playing our defense can be pretty good if he's not playing terrible terrible your team can't come down to just one high contract player you need guys on cheap for contracts to produce and we just haven't seen that in his tenure like he's found he's found fine players but you need more you need to find something you need to find

some gems and they can't take all the way until their second contract to break out for you like Alec Pierce's breakout has been great, but he's like now coming into his prime on his second contract. You know, like right when he's about to hit his second contract. I know he's still on his rookie contract for one more year here.

But like, I don't know. I'm just kind of ranting all my thoughts together here. But like at the end of the day, it has been nine years, man. And it's been nine years of the same. We have two playoff appearances in nine years. You get some grace for that for the Andrew Luck retirement.

You know, there is some grace for that because it's such an unprecedented thing. But the grace runs out eventually. You know, you don't get that. forever. What I say in the last segment, it's called the not for long league. The NFL is not for long. But for some reason for him, it is for long. You know, it is for long with him. So I don't know, he's tried everything, man. He's tried so many different plans of attack. And it's all led to

the same result. At some point, you just got to restart this thing and get somebody else in here. Well, I empathize with you guys because this is my first year going through this Colts experience of losing five in a row but now what you guys are telling me is that this has been the norm for the last nine years

and not to this degree Alan I will say going from seven and one to eight and nine it's never been that's a new one that's a little bit new yeah it's always slightly new you know a little bit different flavors but like the same overall taste

but you've been living in that 500 world is basically right right you've been living there, which I would say is the perfect model in the NFL in terms of keeping fan interest and fan support and fill in your stadium, but then not having to bear the expense of going to the playoffs. So you make money in that particular model, you know, but when I looked at, this is my first experience with Chris Ballard, and I thought this dude's, you know, pretty, pretty aggressive. He brought in Daniel Jones. And I thought he, you know, that was a brilliant move because it would push Anthony Richardson and make them better.

But, you know, we saw what happened there. Daniel Jones actually ended up being better for this particular offense. And then when I saw him trade away to two picks, two first round picks to get sauce gardener, I mean, it was like all. And I'm like, this dude is being aggressive. And you know who really appreciates that is the players. You know, the players like it when you bring better talent in Because better talent means you're going to win And when you win, those players are kept around more.

You know, when I was in Houston, my first year, we went four and 12. And, you know, that revolving door would spin Because they're looking for that right combination of players Because it's easier a lot of times to replace the player or blame it on a player. But then we figured out we liked each other. So we made the decision if we want to stay around each other, we got to start winning.

And then we could develop some good relationships, lifelong relationships with guys because we were winning. All right? So I just thought the players would appreciate what he was doing. But I think sometimes what has to happen is a culture change. And what I mean by a culture change is you've got some of the same guys that have been here for nine years and have had the same result.

You need guys that refuse to lose, guys that know how to win. And sometimes that goes up to the top. an organizational structure that refuses to lose or puts it in place, you know, a way for you to win. And the example that I've given you before was when I went to Green Bay, I think they had solid players, you know, but you could see that they were skimping on certain positions and just saving money by getting adequate players. But then they brought in Reggie White and everything changed, you know, and the whole attitude on that team changed. And I thought it was going to be that way when you got Mooney Ward, you know, because he's been at that places. He could be the one that could help change the culture.

But three concussions later, it is hard for him to do anything from the sidelines. So I guess we're left with this question. do we need to go get the guy at the top? And you have to look at what happens when you tear it all down. Are you willing to suffer for the next two or three years trying to build it back up? Or could you get lucky like a New England? New England was down for what?

One, maybe two years. Matt are getting ready to win their division? Yeah, but you still got to commit to the tearing it down part to get there. Yeah, yeah. Part of it's just getting that quarterback, right? Right. And I don't know. Like, I don't know. And Derek, I'll, I'll throw it to you here because you obviously have a big saying this, too, as someone who's covered through all this. Yeah. Yeah. I've got little experience in this. There has to be stakes to this thing. Right. There have to be stakes, right? Like, that's the problem here.

Yeah. What I would say is you have to show a direction that gives people hope that there could be something beyond. Like, even if everything clicks with some of these Colts teams, a lot of times the best case scenario is, hey, maybe they could get to. divisional weekend. You know what I mean? Maybe they could win the league's crappiest division. I know that's not the case this year. The AFC South's actually quite good this year, but like a normal system in the Bowerd era, that has certainly been the case. And you know, it reminds me a lot. I know we have a lot of people in the YouTube commenters that are also Pacers fans. It just reminds me a lot of what the Pacers went through with the Oladipo Sabonist teams. And then they kind of tore that down. And then it was like Brogden and T.J. Warren. And it became very clear that, hey, it ain't happening okay i know that you've had some bad luck i know you've had some injuries it's not happening

and so kevin pritcher just kept kind of retooling and rebuilding and finally look i i know heliburton and everybody got hurt after what happened last year but finally it hit and it hit big and the pacer's arrow shut up and i and i think that's what fans want to see here like there's no worse place to be than where the colts had been these past couple years i understand that it sucks to be the Browns. It sucks to be the Raiders, right? To me, the worst thing in sports is the T's, where you're just good enough to give your fans a little bit of hope. And the whole problem with the Colts is that they're not bad. They're just not good. And that's just, it's a tough place to be when, when you just can't, you can't matter like that. I mean, they have a roster

full of pretty good to good players, right, that, that are good guys and all of that. But they, they aren't game breakers. They don't win. And I think that, you know, I don't want to let the players off the hook here either because these guys like Taylor and Buckner and Kenny Moore and, you know, all these guys that have been Zaire Franklin, it goes without saying even though he's got to become public enemy number one. Like these guys, they talk and they say, okay, they say the right things.

And then it never results in anything. Like when the chips are down, this team loses in December in these critical games over and over and over again. I think that's where the frustration bleeds in. Right. And that's exactly right where there have to be stakes to these things, right? There has to be stakes for losing. There has to be stakes for not not being productive, right?

Whether it's the general manager to players, right? Everyone's comfortable. And that's the thing. The problem with these nine years have been, there haven't been stakes, you know? If you're a player, you know, these constant failures and these constant not getting it done, right? Have led to people getting rewarded

with big contracts. You know, have have led to them being rewarded with captaincies, you know, and constantly coming back, no matter what. For a general manager, whether he's passive, whether he's aggressive, whether he burns two first round picks, whether he whiffs on a top five quarterback. These are things that general managers get fired for easily, quickly, right? How many general managers survive whiffing the quarterback pick, right? How many, how many general managers survive whiffing? I guess it twice, technically, right? They trade a first for Carson Wentz. Like, they trade it first for Carson Wentz as well. Like, they, he's spent two first round picks on quarterbacks in his time

here. And he's whiffed on both of them. Like, how many general managers survive that? And that's the thing. There haven't been stakes to this thing since he's been here. You know, there's not been, like, we haven't even seen his front office change outside of people going to get other jobs. Like, all of his buddies in the front office are still there. We haven't seen anything outside of Frank Wright got held accountable, I guess. Like, that was the one. guy who got held accountable and it took uh general or took uh jim ursay coming down here and making some crazy uh thing about it you know to to to finally make that change so like we just haven't seen accountability we haven't seen the stakes here and this is supposed like this is a multi

billion dollar industry there have to be stakes to this thing and to keep running it back constantly with the same players same general manager same all this stuff like I don't know to me all like all jobs need to have stakes, but especially this one, man, like when there's so much involved with it. And we just haven't had that with any of this. Okay, I feel you. If you were a CEO running a major business and you were running at 500, your ass would be fired after three years. Right. And this is nine years. And again, like, you have something crazy like Andrew Luck that happens. I understand you get a couple of things of leeway here. But like, the leeway runs out eventually. You have to eventually take off or crash the plane. Right.

you don't get to run on the runway forever, you know, you either have to get off the ground or you run into the dirt and flip over. Like, there has to be something, you know, you just can't keep running on that runway forever. And that's where we're at right now at this Colts team. And this year felt different to start the year. Admittedly, it felt different, but it ended up in the same place. And there have to be repercussions for that. There has to be consequences for these things happening.

And that's the problem with the Colts. There have never been consequences, ever. When they went in 20, I know we're running past the runtime here, but this is just how I am. In 2022, they went for an old veteran quarterback and Matt Ryan to keep going all in with this roster. Who was held accountable after that season? Matt Ryan. That's it. They ran everybody else back.

Yeah. They brought 20 starters back on a team that won four games. Who does that? There was no consequences for being a terrible football team. Like, this is something that just can't continue. This can't continue. There have to be consequences for this type of performance that's happened for nine straight years. Yeah, and you can't wait for the perfect time to fire somebody because then you're never going to fire them, right?

If they keep going 8, 9, 9, and 8 every year and well, we don't have our first round picks and we can't fire them. Well, the Corps is under contract, so we can't fire them. Top 10 DVOA, don't worry, don't worry, we'll be. At some point, you just have to. Well, the process is pretty good. Well, I don't care if the process never spits out a result. Right. Right.

We can sit back and say, like, there was some ingredients that could have worked with Ballard. But there still have to be constant. Like, you can say, like, this employee has the potential to be great. but if he keeps dropping stuff and breaking stuff and costing us money, then we'd have to let him go. You know, there have to be consequences to things. Well, we'll have plenty more to talk about when it comes to that because we're going to be back with you on Christmas Eve.

So as you're putting together that giant Barbie dream house for your daughter or furiously rapping presents at the very last second, pop on some headphones and listen to us, talk about the Colts as they finish the season with a pair of division games. Thanks so much for joining us on this edition of the Colts Squad Show. We're your place for live game recaps, at least two more of those. every Colts game this season.

But we'll be back with you on Wednesday night at 9 o'clock. Until then, follow us on socials at Locked on Colts and check out our other great content on YouTube and TikTok. And we'll see you next time right here on the squad show.