Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - COLTS SQUAD SHOW: Chris Ballard, Shane Steichen BACK | Colts Lose to Texans in Riley Leonard's Start

Episode Date: January 5, 2026

The Indianapolis Colts are retaining Chris Ballard and Shane Steichen, as Carlie Irsay-Gordon is set to speak to the media on Monday. What does this mean going forward?The Colts also lost their season finale on the road to the Houston Texans, 38-30. Riley Leonard was anything but an issue in the loss. EVERYDAYER CLUBIf you never miss an episode, it’s time to make it official. Join the Locked On Everydayer Club and get ad-free audio, access to our members-only Discord, and more — all built for our most loyal fans.Click here to learn more and join your team’s community: https://lockedonpodcasts.com/everydayerclub Find and follow Locked On Colts on your favorite podcast platforms:🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/podcasts/locked-on-colts/📺YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLdpxJspi1hMh5HL7ExpWOQLocked On NFL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft & More🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/podcasts/locked-on-nfl/ Follow Jake's written work on roundtable.io/sports/nfl/colts/ and Zach's on si.com/nfl/colts/, and give them a follow on Twitter @JakeArthurNFL, @ZachHicks2, and @LockedOnColts! Today's episode is sponsored by PrizePicks. Download the PrizePicks app today and use code LOCKEDONNFL to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup. Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Rocket MoneyLet Rocket Money help you reach your financial goals faster. Join at http://RocketMoney.com/LOCKEDONBetterhelpThis episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. BetterHelp makes it easy to get matched online with a qualified therapist.  Sign up and get 10% off at http://BetterHelp.com/LOCKEDON. DripDropRight now, DripDrop is offering podcast listeners 20% off your first order. Go to http://dripdrop.com and use promo code lockedonnfl.Ultimate QBUltimate QB is totally free to play, has no ads, and works 100% offline — perfect for when you want to sneak in a quick game or two on the go. Just head over to http://ULTIMATE-QB.COM. FanDuelToday's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. So before tip-off, check the FanDuel app and see what’s dropping during NBA Happy Hour — every Friday from 6 to 7:30 PM Eastern. A little basketball, a little action, and a whole lot of Friday energy.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as non-withdrawable free bets that expire 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)PrizePicksDownload the PrizePicks app today and use codeLOCKEDONNFL 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 LOCKEDONNFLfor $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.ZocdocStop putting off your doctor’s appointments and get the care you need.Go to http://Zocdoc.com/lockedonnfl to find and instantly book a top-rated doctor today. 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 Locked-on Colts Squad Show. I'm Jake Arthur, and I think at this point, we all might have the same percent chance to be fired as Colts GM. And I'm Zach Hicks, and the Colts are electing to run it back, despite having the third longest playoff drought in the NFL right now. I'm Alan Pickett, former Oiler, new to all this Colts misery, but they did make history today. Colts Nation rise up. It's the Colt Squad, everything Indianapolis Colts every week, covering all the big hits and game-changing plays from the Circle City, the way only the locked-on podcast network can. It's time to squad up. The Colt Squado starts now. All right, good evening. Hello, everyone. I am Jake Arthur, Indianapolis Colts beat writer for Roundtable Sports, joined by the legendary Notre Dame Fighting Irish Running Back and former.

Houston Euler Alan Pinkett, as well as my partner in crime on the Locked on Colts daily show, Zach Hicks. And welcome to Locked on Colts, part of the Locked on podcast network. Now the number one sports podcast network out there. And today's show is sponsored by Price Picks. Download the Price Pix app today and use code Locked on NFL to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup. Well, not sure what we're talking about today, guys.

I don't know. Riley Leonard's first career start. wound up being like the least notable thing, you know, coming out of the last few hours. So, yes, the Colts did finish their season today on the road against the Houston Texans, a 38 to 30 loss. It was Riley Leonard's first career start. But then, as has become commonplace, we get the vote of confidence from ownership in Chris Ballard and Shane Steichen. The Colts will be running it back with both of them going into 2026. Now, we will speak to Carly or say Gordon tomorrow afternoon.

She'll speak to media following, you know, the season wrap-up. We'll also speak to Shane Stuyken and the players for kind of just the normal locker clean-out day. And then sometime this week we'll talk to Chris Ballard, not quite sure when. But Zach, why don't you take us through this first? Let's get to the game because that's kind of the part we're going to wind up, just supersonic and past at some point. Riley Lunar's first group. start against the number one defense in the league in points and yards.

One of the best defenses that we've seen in the last few years, at least, and he was far from the issue. Yeah, I mean, there is a little bit of a stipulation here, right, where the Texans did have two of their top four defenders in the secondary, not in this game. Bullock was out and saved both Kamari Lasseter, and they also rested all their players at halftime. But all that, yeah, all that aside, though, I thought Riley Leonard still played a pretty good game. We saw a little bit of the volatility. We saw some of the turnovers, and that was kind of

probably why the Colts went with Phillip Rivers these last couple games. But he took some shots down the field. He was fun out there. He was running around. He was doing his thing. And I think when you're a young player that gets that first chance, like that first chance that he got today, this is how you want to take advantage of it, right? Like, even if it leads to some mistakes and some issues, like, go out there and sling it. Put your best foot forward and just like rip it out there. of the confidence that he showed out there. And look, when it comes to, when it comes to a lot of, like, young players getting this opportunity, you know, a lot of these, like, six-round pick quarterbacks, they never

even get a chance like this, let alone get out there on an NFL game. I thought he played exceptionally well. So he's already looking better than, like, 99% of six-round quarterback picks than, you know, in the history of football because that you generally don't find a good quarterback there. So him coming out there, just stepping into it and playing with confidence. Like I really liked what I saw from him today and showing that, hey, maybe he can be a long-term backup. Maybe he can be a guy that can spot start in this league. Like, I really liked what I saw from the young quarterback out there and the connection that he had with Alec Pierce.

Now, they took advantage of a couple coverage busts down the field, but that's part of playing quarterback, you know, is taking advantage there. He did everything he could and, you know, gave the Colts a good chance to win this game. So there are some stipulations with this, obviously, with the, I mean, the coverage bus all came from those backup players. for the Texans. Like, I think it was their backup safety and their backup corner on the side of the field where Pierce caught his first touchdown that maybe doesn't happen

with Kamari Lasseter out there, but you got to take advantage of that as a quarterback. Leonard did everything he could today, had some really good moments. And I had a lot of fun watching him play in what was essentially a meaningless football game for the Colts. Well, I guess I'll say this. I was not nervous for Riley, Leonard,

because having played for Notre Dame, The lights were not going to be too bright. The stage was not going to be too big because you play at that school with all the national attention. And couple in the fact that he did play for a national championship, he was not going to come into the game scared. But overall, I was impressed at how he threw. And, Zach, I have to agree with you that he just slung it. And was having fun, saw him laughing a few times, had his mentor on the sideline, Philip Rivers, and really was impressed with the offense on a day where I thought, you know, it would be great to just, you know, throw it all in the bag because season's over, nothing to play for. But I remember my first start and how excited I was and just happy for the game to start to just get in the flow.

of the game and Riley got in the flow and reminded me why they that Notre Dame went after him in the portal and made him their starting quarterback because he could handle the pressure now as far as all the talent he still has some some room to grow he was drafted in the sixth round he I'm not going to say he's a Tom Brady six round but he's a a six-rounder, but, you know, he showed competence out there playing. He showed confidence. But I will say this, the Texans defense just made up their mind that if they were going to lose, they were going to lose against Riley Leonard.

They were not going to let Jonathan Taylor gain a yard. So they really packed the box and they were willing to make a mistake. on defense as long as they didn't make it with Jonathan Taylor having the ball in his hands. So that helped him too. Yeah, Zach, I think we're going to have to dive into the Jonathan Taylor stuff sometime later this week because it's fascinating the fall off that we've seen. But that's such a small footnote in this one. We don't want to rain on the parade that is this larger program today.

But Alec Pierce was another big bright spot up until he got tossed for the softest infraction of all time. We're going to talk about that in a moment. But yeah, he, he went over his yardage marker that he needed to hit a thousand yards for the first time. I believe wound up going to lead the league in receiving yards per catch again. Is that correct? It's going to be two years over 20. Yeah, and not even higher than what he had last year either. So it's actually, he's going down from last year, but it's still number one in the NFL. Unbelievable. Not even 50 catches, I don't think either. So yeah, just an unreal season from Pierce. He was one of the guys who, unfortunately, I hate to say this about the team, but it feels

like when moments matter the most, there are some high profile players that disappear or flat out just have gaps. Pierce is not one of those guys. He rises to the occasion. And again, this was a meaningless game in terms of the standings. But the Colts didn't roll over. And when you know it, they should have won and didn't. But yeah, Pierce was a really big. big part of this game. Yeah, Alec Pierce is great. I mean, look, the second touchdown he had, he cooked one of the best corners in football, and Derek Stingham was on a route. A beautiful route to get that. And then later in the game, yeah, he'd get tossed for one of the most aggressive things I've ever seen a wide receiver do. That was just outrageous to spend him for all of next

season after something like that. I can't believe his shoulder touched an official. Yeah, officials get on these power trips sometimes, and that's kind of what happened there, very much a power trip. But yeah, Alec Pierce hitting a thousand yards. I think he's firmly put himself in that similar tier as a like a T. Higgins, D.K. Metcalf type of player. He's just been stuck in an offense that hasn't had a high amount of passing volume the last couple years. But I think he's very much that caliber of player. And he's going to get paid like that caliber of player this off season. And this will be more of a conversation for later in the show and later for this off season but the Colts won't have a ton of money to play with after they spend on Daniel

Jones and Alec Pierce if they want to keep those two guys in town and they'll have to have some tough decisions on the rest of the roster to keep those guys. But I think if you're the Colts and you want to run this back and you want to try to find the good that happened in the early part of this season, you can't do it without Alex Pierce. Alec Pierce is one of the best things that happened to the team this year. He's getting better and better every year. He's still only what, 26 years old, like he's just been an outstanding football player. And this is the type player you want to reward more so than some of the guys that have been rewarded in the last couple years. So ascending player who's just getting better and better. And like you said, Jake,

he steps up when the moment calls for it. He was phenomenal today. And it didn't matter who was covering him. Cornerback four or Derek Stingley, he was still making his plays out there. So Alec Pierce, well-deserved 1,000-yard season. And if things go right for him, whether it's an Indy or somewhere else, this should be the first of many 1,000 yards seasons for him. Well, I'm just happy. I get to say it one more time. Yeah. The Labrador receiver.

Yes, sir. I'm just so impressed with how he can go up and a lot of times climb the ladder or contort his body. But he always has a way of coming down with the catch. And it was just beautiful to see the chemistry he developed with, with Riley Leonard because, you know, a lot of times with the quarterback, once they find that guy that they are comfortable with, a guy that's going to reward their pass by catching it, they will lock in on that receiver as much as they can. And, you know, the stats probably say more. There's a lot of time when the stats don't say a damn thing. But the stats said more today.

four catches, 132 yards. And not to mention that, he did it in three quarters. You know, so if they had had him in the fourth quarter, then the coach probably would have won. And, you know, the thing with the official, which was so unfortunate, because I don't think there was any intent to bang into the official right there. And as a player, you know, there's a few. There's some things you can get away with saying to the official and they always have a line that they cross.

I remember some of the things I've said to officials and I guess, well, I don't know if I can say it on our broadcast. Yeah, let's tone it down a little bit, Alan. Let's be great. It's careful here. The worst thing I ever said, the worst thing I ever said to an official, he looked at me and he touched his flag and then he didn't do anything else. But as far as making contact, I mean, there's got to be, I think that's something that has to be reviewed because there has to be context there. You know, he was, and the refs are used to guys yelling at him. And I know the ref wasn't looking at him, so maybe he felt that the bump was intentional. But maybe what will happen is they will not only replay a certain play. They'll replay players talking to the referees to see who was intentional on the night that he bumped into the guy.

But that was just unfortunate. But, you know, it was good to see, like I said, the chemistry between Riley Leonard and Alec Pierce. And I've got to tell you, there's nothing like playing in a contract year because you are so focused and so intent on securing your future. and it's not something that scares you. It kind of reminds me of that movie Jerry Maguire where he had the one-year deal. And, you know, that's kind of a sentimental movie to me because I remember the one-year contract

where I gambled everything and it paid off. So I'm just happy for Alec Pierce to see him have success on a team where he didn't get that many balls. but he made the most out of every reception that he got. And if the Colst don't pay him, somebody else is going to pay him. Yeah, greatest stat that we have on him this year, according to ESPN stats and infos, he has more ejections this year than he has drops. So fantastic season for a wide receiver.

I don't think we have much more to talk about with this game, though. Defense was dreadful in a lot of ways. A lot of banged up corners, obviously. They just all got beat. the defensive line what two pressures all game I think against whatever quarterback was in there you know

just the typical colds Blake Groupie made a bunch of his kicks again had the funniest tackle attempt of the season as well on that return look like me trying to tackle an NFL player so I think that covers most of this game it was pretty fun

it was a fun final game I will say that for a meaningless game it was at least it wasn't like that that what the Vikings and Packers game where it was like 16 to 3. Like the game was a fun final game at least. No, tons of points scored in that one. About as good as you could hope for other than the Colts just, of course,

not finishing it off and getting the win. But you know what? Like Zach said, that's about all we have to talk about the game. Now we're getting to the real stuff. Shane Steichen, Chris Ballard. What comes next? This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. The new year doesn't require a new you.

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after you play your first $5 lineup. That's code locked on NFL to get $50 in lineups after your first $5. lineup prize picks. It's good to be right. All right, welcome back, everybody. We are talking Indianapolis Colts football. The game is done. They lose 30 to 30. Another losing season, five straight seasons without the playoffs, which leads us to the biggest topic here. We have received the vote of confidence in head coach Shane Steichen and GM Chris Ballard. They will be back in 26. We will talk with Carly Gersay Gordon tomorrow afternoon for her to kind of explain what's up with that. We'll talk to Shane Steichen tomorrow morning along with the players for Locker Cleanout

Day. And then at some point this week, we'll talk to Chris Ballard. So all that's going to be must-see TV that will have fully covered free here at Locked on Colts. But let's start with general vibes on the news since it's kind of a package deal, Zach. And then we'll get into individually Shane Steichen, individually Ballard, and just kind of what this all means moving forward. So I guess what was your reaction initially, Zach? Not great. Obviously, I handled it like a champ, I think. You know, I was very very mature about it. But no, like, it's the expected result, right? The expected result was then coming back. It just makes more sense financially for them. Obviously, you don't have to hire a new general manager while you're

dealing with estate tax and inheritance tax and all that stuff. It's a lot cheaper, obviously, to bring him back. Also, you have the out on Chris Ballard's contract after the season, 2026 is when his contract expires. You don't have to fire him now because you can just give it the one more season without the first round pick, then you can reset potentially after this next year. But for me, all this just kind of builds into the bigger issue of just the stagnation of this franchise for the last five, six, seven years. You know, I don't even want to give it the whole Ballard era has been like this, because I really think there was this entire change after the 2020 season, you know, where it's just been so much of just the same, the middling,

the missing playoffs, the being a bottom feeder in 2022, and then building up to be a middling team again, and just being this same organization. Again, they have the third longest playoff drought in the NFL right now. Like, the team they're tied with is a New Orleans Saints who have also had the same general manager throughout their playoff drought, but their general manager has won a Super Bowl, you know, Mickey Loomis has won a Super Bowl. Chris Ballard has won two, has been to the playoffs twice, has won one playoff game in 10 years, you know. So like, I understand from the Saints perspective, you're keeping Mickey Loomis because he's the guy who helped you win a Super Bowl. You know, you look at the other longest playoff droughts

in the NFL, though. All those teams have changed general managers multiple times, you know, all over the place. It's just, the Colts just keep running it back with the same exact person in charge. And one of my biggest takeaways was when you look at everything that's happened since 2020, right? All the people that have been held accountable for their losing seasons for missing playoffs, from Carson Wentz to Matt Ryan to Frank Reich to Jeff Saturday kind of in there as well. Anthony Richardson, you know, Gus Bradley can be another one that you want to hold accountable Morocco Brown, who's out the window out the door right now as well. All these people have been held accountable for mistakes of this franchise and people and teams missing the playoffs over and

over you know who hasn't been held accountable for any of this though the guy who brought all of those people here the person in charge of the whole thing has not been held accountable so you keep making all these changes underneath chris ball and i'm sure they'll do it too like their deal fans of line coach is already gone i'm sure they'll make some roster changes as well and and painted as like okay we made our couple changes we're going to run this thing back but it's like it's like again continually fixing up a car that's just not running anymore like eventually you got to replace the car, you know, get a new car at some point. I know it's expensive. And I know that there's a chance that you might not like this car as much as the old, old beat up one you got. But instead of using

duct tape to fix this car over and over again, let's get a new one in here. So it's just, it's just the same thing over and over again. I just think this Colts team is going to be, like again, in a nutshell, and I understand where Carly is coming from, Carla Ursa is coming from, where in a nutshell, the 2025 season probably shouldn't get everyone fired by itself, right? But when you factor in this is year three for Shane Steichen and year nine for Chris Ballard. That's what should get somebody fired. That's what should lead to changes with his organization. So like, again, Alan gives us a perspective of someone who's really just looked at this thing this one year and it's like, okay, it's like I understand bringing it back. But when it has been

this long, you've got to make some changes. You got to have a standard for your organization and the cult are just telling everyone they don't have that standard. Look at the Atlanta Falcons right today. They just fired their general manager. They fired their head coach of two years, who did make the playoffs in two years, and they said, you know what, this is not good enough. We need to set this standard for organization. Fontenot, their general manager, I think, hasn't made the playoffs in four years with the team, and they made that change. That is setting the standard for your organization. The Colt are not doing that with Chris Ballard. And for everyone saying, like, oh, like, 2026 is the make or break season. We've been saying that for four years with

Chris Ballard. I'm not going to believe that there's a make or break season with him. I feel like he's always going to be back. So I don't buy the make or break season next year because we have no bit of data that tells us we should think that. Well, you know, in the beginning of the show, I did mention that that all was bad because the Colts made NFL history. Well, the history they made is what? They're the first team to be six games over 500. And ultimately, end up with a losing record. And this is multiple things that they've made history on, too. They have the largest blown lead in the history of football under his management in

2022 that happened, 33 points in that game. They've also had two playoff times, two times where they had a 95 plus percent chance of making the playoffs where they didn't make the playoffs. So they just love setting records here. And he just not for the right reasons, Alan. Well, and you had mentioned, you know, my perspective is different because this is my first year, I guess, living the cult's life in terms of being around 500. And I will see, from a business standpoint, 500 is pretty much where a lot of owners want to be.

I'm not insinuating that Carly wants to be there, this being her first year. I think there's a handful of owners. I think all owners want to win, but some owners want to win more than others. But the model that shows the most profit is being around that 500 where you keep the fan interest and you sell out your stadium and you max out the gate. But you don't make the playoffs so you don't have to bear the expense of going to the playoffs. You know, I know all the teams share all the Super Bowl money and they share all the NFL properties money, you know, so not much to be disappointed with unless you're an owner that really, really wants to have bragging rights. you know, I look at, well, I used to say a guy like Jerry Jones who would bend every rule and do everything possible to try to win.

But he fell into that trap too of just, hey, let's, this is the entertainment business. It looks like is what he's done. So there's that perspective. And I don't know if all owners, you know, try to have. have that model. I don't think any owner is happy losing. But there is, to me, it seems, with certain organizations, more of a will to win. And the main reason I mentioned that the fact that they made history today is usually when something like that happens, somebody's held accountable and so um not here in indy not here in indy we don't do that whole accountability thing

which which also leads to when the announcement was made just uh shortly after the game about everyone coming back i was like damn that was fast yeah you know um made this decision months ago i'm guessing yeah yeah but i but i also understand uh this is you know carly's first year, my first year with you guys. So we sort of share that, well, we want to see more of this. But when I hear you guys talk about, you know, some of the monotony and the same old thing, and then you look at other teams that have been down and then built it back up. what is the recipe to break out of this, you know, 500 thing? And usually it's unfortunately burning it all down or hopefully tweaking it with new players

or new coaches and managers. So you don't want to stay stagnant, but I guess John, Jonathan Taylor made the comment after the game, it just can't stay the same. You know, we just got to find a way, find a way to win. But, you know, you have a group in there that is accustomed to finishing 500. So how do you get them to do better? I mean, I look at another perennial loser, the Bears, since I live so close to them, and they've been like for the last decade you know in the doldrums and it's like okay what does

we have to do to change and their change was the coach you know they finally they finally got someone to change the culture so i guess that's what the answer is somehow the culture has to be changed where losing is not okay yeah and and so that's uh i I think, you know, bringing everybody back because, you know, the first half of the year was successful. It was a model franchise in the first half of the year, you know, so you don't want to penalize folks for what potentially could be a team that could go to the Super Bowl. You know, so I kind of understand giving another chance because there were some things that were not foreseen. the injuries. Injuries happened to everybody, but the injuries that the Colts sustained, you know, were far exceeded what normal teams usually get when injuries occur. So to have another

opportunity to run it back to see if this team maybe with a little more depth, you know, because that's probably what they're going to have to show up is the depth. And then starters in place, to see what they could do healthy. I understand not tearing everything down. We'll see. I mean, they're going to be another year older across the roster, though. Their quarterback's coming off a major, major injury. And you have to pay him big money now.

So it lessens the money that you have for the rest of the roster. So I don't think a lot of this is going to be easy. If you want to run it back, you'll have to actually probably have more subtractions than additions on this roster because of the guys they have to pay and because of how the roster is going to look. And then if you want to open up that money to bring in new players, you have to push more money to the future,

which again, if this is a one year thing, one more time to run this thing back, the last thing you want to do is push money to the future. So I think they're in a very tough spot. And I just don't know, I don't know, like, what the right answer is now going forward after having this be established. Yeah. And that leads us beautifully in the next segment because what we're going to do is

we know these guys are here. There's, like, it's, it's not worth arguing over anymore. They're here for 2026. So what can they do to get back on the right track? We're going to talk about that in just a moment. Kicking off the year, feeling good is the goal, right? And honestly, hydration is the easiest win. When I stay on top of it, my energy, focus, and mood all level up.

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So go to dripdrop.com and use promo code locked on NFL. That's dripdrop.com promo code locked on NFL for 20% off. Stock up now at dripdrop.com and use promo code locked on NFL. All right, welcome back everybody. We are talking the Colts running it back as they love to do so well. We're going into year 10 with Chris Ballard, going into year what is it for for Shane Steichen. So let's start with Ballard, Zach, because he's the one that's got to stock the cupboard. The offseason plan starts with him.

He's the one that's got to go do everything and set the table for Shane Steichen to go, you know, run this thing throughout the 2026 season. So what I was going to say in that last segment, but it fits really well here, I understand the injuries were a problem, right? and you justify bringing everybody back because everyone's going to be back healthy and everything, right? Great. Charverius Ward, three concussions, two of them you would probably consider major, I would assume. That's a guy who already is like thinking off the field. He's already expressed that that's something, you know, in the back of his mind. DeForest Buckner, 32 years old next year.

So arguably you're two most important. defenders going into this last season, their future is a bit iffy. And then at best, they have not the greatest health. You get sauce gardener, which is great. We're going to say that the calf injury is good going into next year because there's no reason to think otherwise. Daniel Jones, we've seen what quarterbacks look like that first year coming back from an Achilles. So it's like you're banking on all these guys who you want to rely on, but there's nothing to say that they're going to be looking better than they were before. So it's like all that considered, you don't have a first round pick.

You're probably not really flush with cash because your salary cap is allocated in places already. So what can Chris Ballard do? Like, is it really just as poor of an answer of these guys are back and we're relying on them to get healthy and lead us again? Yeah, ultimately, he's got to get lucky in the draft, which he hasn't been. 2018, really, 2020, I guess you want to say some of those early picks. And then on top of that, he's got to make the decisions that he's never made in his time with the Colts, which is

cutting some players and freeing up some cap space and opening up the ability to bring in more players or extending other players. Like again, Michael Pittman Jr. needs to be a cap casualty or a trade candidate this offseason. But we've never really seen Chris Ballard do that outside of a guy requesting his release or requesting a trade. He's never been one to cut, especially a guy who was homegrown, like Michael Pittman Jr., but you have an opportunity, he can save you $24 million against the cap if you cut them, only $5 million in dead cap. And here's the thing with that, too, even though it's probably a move you have to make, especially if you want to bring back Alex Pierce, that's still a subtraction to your team, right? Like, that's still a subtraction to

your overall offense. So it kind of works again to your point there, Jake, where it's like, you can't really run this thing back exactly and expect the same results. And I think that's one of the biggest fallacies we get into with the NFL too. And it's where Chris Ballers, an issue the last couple years is not every season's the same thing you know whatever perspective we have going into one season the result can be drastically different than what we're expecting you know players hit that wall players hit that that age where their body doesn't work anymore is like the way it used to you have injuries that pop but you've always things so just banking on a repeat success that you had early in the season when what out of their 10 games that when they were 8 and 2 they

played what three winning teams in there it's it's going to be hard to repeat that You know, it's going to be very hard to repeat that, especially with their roster. Again, an already pretty old roster, like your top players are already pretty old being another year older. So, yeah, they don't have a ton of stuff to work with here, especially, again, when you sign Daniel Jones to the contract to bring him back, whether it's a one-year deal, whether it's a three-year deal because Minnesota comes after him very hard as well. Like, you're going to have to get him back under a pretty big contract when you get, if you bring Alec Pierce back, that's going to be 20. $25 million per year, maybe? Like, it's going to be a huge contract. So unless you do make those tough decisions that he's never made in the past,

looking at you, Samson-Dubcom's contract this past off season, then there's no way to really have the extra space to go out there and get a pass rusher or go out there and get an upgrade at linebacker that everybody wants, outside of hitting on day two and day three of the draft, which how many of Chris Ballard's, like, rookies have had big seasons in recent years? Tyler Warren had a good year. Top 15 pick, though. they don't have a top 15 pick in this draft.

You look at guys that were outside the first round. None of those guys had an impact this year outside of what, Jalen Travis late in the year, JT2M. I was more of a special teamer. Like, it's going to be tough to upgrade this roster in any meaningful way. And I think really the best case you can hope for is running this thing back and probably being without like a Nick Cross and maybe a Michael Pittman Jr. As well in there to make sure to make everybody else fit.

So I don't know. any way that this is better next season outside of just, again, your quarterback's healthy and that is potentially better, but I don't know. It's a tough outlook for this team next season, especially too because it's another year on Jonathan Taylor's legs. And we know with running backs, the more the time goes by, unless you're Derek Henry, the more that time goes by, it wears on the body. And this was what Jonathan Taylor's healthiest season since 2021 as well. So we're going to bank on him being completely healthy and playing a full season again next year and then what's it look like without Jonathan Taylor so I just I don't think next year looks super positive as of right

now I think there's a lot of big moves they have to make and and even if they're able to move some money around and get like a Trey Hendrickson in here for instance a guy that everyone's talking about I know Lou loves his former Bengals players you're late he just played what seven games this year for the Bengals and wasn't healthy and he's over 30 we're going to bring in another one of those guys to the team, you know, like just the finish on IR. So I just, it's going to be so much doubling down on this window that wasn't really open. Like, I loved how the season started and I really did believe in a lot of it. And, and I think it could have worked, but I don't know if the window was really that open, you know, especially with how the season ended. Like, we say that these

injuries were big for the Colts, right? And they were, for sure, like, absolutely huge for the Colts. And I'm not going to say that, you know, like they weren't. But the 49. Niners won more games than they lost with their backup quarterback and all of their all pros out on their roster. The Houston Texans had multiple guys missed games and C.J. Stroud missed a month of play and they won all of those games without C.J. Stroud, you know, so it's not like the Colts were facing like a unique situation that nobody else has ever faced and they lost seven straight. And as Jonathan Taylor said, as other players have said, it almost takes skill to lose seven straight in the NFL. It almost takes a different level of,

you know, it's not just a one player thing or just a two or three player thing. like if you're losing seven straight games, there's something wrong there, regardless of who's on the field. So I don't know. I don't love the outlook for next season. I think they're going to be a worst team on paper. The depth is already a major issue.

I mean, look, Louana Rumo came in here from Cincinnati, and Ballard had this cornerback room all ready for him, had this lineback room all ready for him, and basically going into the season, he was like, these guys all stink. I can't have half the cornerback room cut, including Juju Brent,

a former second round pick. Jalen Jones was, should have been cut probably because Lou clearly is not a big fan of him. Sam Womack is not even on an NFL team right now. And then you look at the linebacker room, how many guys he had to rotate in there before Jermaine Pratt happened to get released for him. Clearly the talent on this defense was not good enough, and you're not going to have the money to fix it.

So I know I'm rambling here and I'm going on forever, but like I just don't know how much better you can make this team. And especially again, with your quarterback now coming off an Achilles injury, like I just, I think they had a lot of good things going from early season. It all fell apart, obviously, in the second half, but doubling down on all that and hoping for better results next year, I just don't think that's going to be, I don't think

it's going to lead to anything next year. I don't think they're going to be anything special. We're going to be facing this same question mark at the end of the 2026 season. All good points, Zach, and from a player perspective, that salary cap is mean. Yeah. because you know that sometimes you can get cut, and it's not because of a lack of talent, it's because your number doesn't fit in the books. And I guess the way that the culture going to have to do it

is they're going to have to trade their way to prosperity, or they're really going to have to be on the scouts to find that second round talent in the sixth round. which is hard to find. Some teams spend a lot of time in that, but also being a player and seeing how the room turned over, the defensive backfield room, the lineback room, how it turned over.

As a player, if I was on that team, I would be appreciative of that because I've been on those teams where they tried to be cheap and pay for marginal talent. And we all knew on the team, these dudes can't make a play. And so I was really impressed by Chris Bauer with some of the moves he made, even going out and picking up some guys off the street, but at least they were guys that had great talent. The teammates appreciate that mess because it sends a message saying,

we're trying to provide you with all the resources possible for you to win. Now, it's only going to get harder because, Zach, you said it. You get a year older. Your athletic ability doesn't increase. Your knowledge does. You become a smarter player. And becoming a smarter player can keep you around for a little while. You know, but athletically, you do diminish a little bit.

And, you know, especially after running back position, unfortunately. but I was so impressed with Jonathan Taylor this year. I mean, he just looked strong throughout the year. But, again, a lot of his success had come about because of the balance that they had on the offense. You know, Barry Sanders could have done any better this year, done more than Jonathan Taylor did, because they had the balance. And so I think the first thing you've got to feel. fix is that the quarterback, you know, and I know it's going to take a while for Daniel Jones

to get back, but somehow you got to fix that quarterback. It seems like when you have that guy at quarterback or you have someone competent at quarterback that can make plays, solves a lot of problems. You know, so I think that's, you know, talking about all the different salaries and things like that. Fix that position. And, you know, everything can it can basically fall into place yeah ultimately i will say and it's such a bleak thing to say but ultimately i think next season the only way for success is obviously they stay healthier than they've been in the last 50 years that they've ever been you know is staying healthy for the first time ever yeah but also they got to find some of these bargain being contracts and free agency

and have them hit their pro scouts had to be better than they've ever been under ballad which they've never been particularly great um but they got to be able to find you know know again there's guys out there to be Zach Vaughn when he was found by the Eagles was a very cheap contract came in there and became an all pro in their system divine Diablo going to the linebacker went to the Falcons this year had a fantastic season was signed latent free agency to a to a very cheap contract like there are these guys to be found out there coming off these deals but the problem is the Colts signed for free agents in off season and they call it a day like they have to be wary of adding talent to this roster it can't just be Austin a

and Cameron, Mitchell, I think Mitchell played well down the stretch. Don't get me wrong. I'm just thinking of names. Osna Jake, Cameron Mitchell, like, all these bottom of the barrel got Chris warmly coming in here in the middle of the season. Like, you know, like find guys in free agency that fit what you want to do on defense, fit what Lou Anuromo wants, because going into training camp with these corners, like Sam Womack, Juju Brent, Jalen Jones, Austin, a GK at linebacker.

And Anirumo just basically being like, these guys don't fit my system. Why are they here? they stink like get them out of here that should never be the case to make those moves before training camp starts you know and it leads to this issue where they had to keep bringing guys off the street every single week to come in here and start games because they fit the system better so i think they just need to be on the same page and look if you want this thing to work everybody has to be on the same page on what they want who they want and how to get them and having an offseason like they just had where again i think that the top end guys at the

bynum was a good fit more when he played was a good fit but the The back end of this defensive roster was so awful that they couldn't sustain themselves with injuries. And I'm looking at the 49ers who don't have a good defense right now because everyone's hurt. But they're able to stay alive because those guys are bought into a system. They play fast. They tackle. They play some good football. And they are bought into what they need to do in that system.

They're not talented right now because everyone's hurt. But they were able to survive. The Colts defense wasn't able to survive their injuries because I have a lot of guys that Anirumo just didn't want and are just not good enough for his system. So they got to be on the same page. another issue I have with this general manager that why he needed to go, you know? Well, we've talked Ballard, and although I have very few gripes about what he did this offseason, obviously there is a much bigger picture here. So we're going to finish talking up about Shane Steichen and the coaching staff and kind of the role they've played and what

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and Shane Stuyken, at least for 2026. We just talked about kind of the Chris Ballard of it all and what he's going to need to do to make this work this offseason. But obviously with the big caveat of whatever Chris Ballard is going to give him, Zach, and we're going to lump the coaching staff in this too. Lou Anorumo was part of this as well. So the Colts did, so they finished a game under 500, but there were four games this year where they had leads in the fourth quarter.

and they lost. Like, this team lost a lot of games it should have won and basically had one up until the last several minutes. So coaching was a big part of this as well, and you can only coach the players that are out there. Players fail to execute a lot of the time. Coaches got out of coach a lot of the time. And then Chris Ballard obviously failed to get certain levels of players out there.

But when you look at the coaching, whether it's offense, defense, or both, what really bugs you as to what needs to change next year. I mean, the talent on the roster is a big thing. I mean, I think one thing in particular with, like, the defense, and there's a lot of comments here about the defense late in these games and how they gave up, like, game-winning field goals and stuff. I went back and watched all of those drives, and it's not like they're not trying on defense in terms of the coaching, what he's trying to do out there.

The end of the Seattle game, for instance, they're playing a match zone coverage concept. The corner is sticking on the outside of the receiver. receiver just beats the corner because the corner is a practice squad level corner and then they do an all-out blitz the next play and they beat them again on the next play there they go into this game here and we saw what louina wrote they play man coverage jalen jones gets bodied by the receiver allows that big catch in the very next play they bring an all-out blitz trying to get pressure on the quarterback and nick cross is covering nobody out there at the second level and it leads to a big time get so that's just just the talent on the back end is just

really bad right now the really the talent on the whole roster i think does defensively without those top players is just in a really bad level. And I just don't know, like, again, I'm not looking at a defensive coordinator where with Gus Bradley, they're going to run cover three on every single play, you know, and you know what you're going to do with that. I'm seeing a guy who's trying to mix and match out there. He's trying to do as much as he can, but these guys are just getting beat. They ran a ton of man this year.

They blitzed a ton. They did a lot of sin pressure in a lot of these games. They were trying to be, like the last thing they wanted to be was Ben Don't Break as a defense this year, especially when the game was on the line. late in games, and guys just got beat because they're not good enough. And that's ultimately what it was in a lot of the situations. It didn't matter if it was Mackay-Blackman, Jalen Jones, if it was, you know, Cameron Mitchell, Jonathan Edwards, it didn't matter.

Zaire Franklin, Austin Ajika, Jalen Carlis, like all these guys were just getting beat left and right. And I just, again, man zone blitz, no blitz. It just happened constantly. So I think at the end of the day, especially with the defense is giving up these field goals late in the game. I think a lot of it's just talent there. I think when you look at the coaching, though,

I think the biggest qualm I have, especially with Shane Steichen, is he gets so concerned with the clock in late-in-half situations and late-in-game situations, so concerned with making sure the other team takes all their timeouts, making sure that we're getting the clock to where we want it, even if it means that we're forcing ourselves into a 60-yard field goal or, you know, a 58-yard field goal and all these things.

and it's just like I hate leaving it to a kicker especially in a very, very long kick situation. Like even if you're going to get those timeouts gone, having your kicker kick like a 60-yard kick and still giving the other team 40, you know, like 40 seconds when they're getting the ball at the 35, like that's not a,

that's not indicative of winning football anymore. Like it's a different game now. You have to play the clock with like, we have to have the last possession. It can't be like, we'll take all your timeouts and believe in our defense. Our defense was banged up all year.

They can't stop anybody with Jonathan Edwards and Cameron Mitchell out there at Corner with Jalen Jones and McCann Blackman at Corner. So I just think you've got to play to the talent on your roster. You have to play with that in mind. And I think the biggest ones were obviously like the Seattle game. Just they coach that game so well. But that fourth and two situation, instead of kicking the longest kick in franchise history with your kicker you just got off of free agency, maybe go for that. take the clock. If you get the conversion, great. You can take the clock all the way down to zero and kick the game winning field goal, or you don't get it there and the game's over regardless. You know, like I don't like taking that super long kick with a free agent ticker that you just got in there. So yeah, I think there were better game management situations they could have had on both sides of the ball. And I think neither coach is perfect, obviously. But ultimately, I think just getting the back end of the talent on this roster better is just the most important thing right now. It's just you can't have your whole team be dictated by injury. you know and when they have so much on defense where like they were so razor thin on defense

it just made a difficult to even perform on that side of the ball and I'm shocked they even held like Seattle to 16 points whatever it was because that's crazy yeah it's just they didn't have any talent out there like in a lot of ways and some and a lot of that's on the general manager in my opinion so I know I'm looping this back to the general manager but it's just it's just frustrating to see you know with a lot of guys who just didn't fit what they wanted to do on that side of the ball. Well, I guess another way of saying it is it's not X's and O's. It's Jimmy's and Joe's. They don't have enough jimmies and Joe's. And that's where the scouting department is going to have to step up at the game. Because look, you can scheme your ass as much as you want. If you

don't have a dude to execute the system, you're just wasting everybody's time. You know, and so I think the top line talent that the cults have can execute. They can get the job done. The hard part, and this is with every team, the hard part is finding that person that backs them up, who's maybe just a fraction less than them, but paid way less than them. You know, and that's been, you know, the issue in the NFL for a long time, especially when they came out with free agency. It used to be that you had a nice middle class in the NFL. You had your superstars, and you had your middle class, and then you had, you know, the hangar-ons or just the really cheap players.

But when free agency came about, you know, the starters are going to get the lion's share to pay, and then you're looking for your best. minimum wage player you can at every other position, you know, and that's unfortunate. That's how it is, but you just got to go get better dues, you know, so that falls on the scouting department. And, you know, I know guys are hungry and want to play, but there has to be, there has to be some type of culture change to make it. so that finishing 500 is not acceptable. Yeah, that's without question. I mean, Carly, when she was introduced as the owner,

talked about not only not accepting this as the standard, but raising it to where they're like they're the hunted again. And it's like, honestly, like, look, if the Colts hadn't finished above, or if the Colts hadn't been finishing around 500, they're getting the same results year after year, It was like the teams I grew up seeing like the lions, the Bengals, the Browns, the Raiders, all these teams were dormats when I was growing up.

They've all kind of grown up since. But like, that's essentially what the Colts are just with a better record. They're getting the same results as those other teams. It's like something has got to change. Like it's not going to change by just keeping everything the same all the time. Yeah. And again, we talked to this era of just stagnance with with the, with the, with the Colts, right, where everything is like no stakes, nobody's job is on the line ever.

And I think that plays into how this game performs down the stretch, how this team performs in December and January. I posted today that in the Shane Steck and era, the Colts are what, six and ten in December and January with like, I think it's like a negative 74 point differential and six losses of 10 plus points in that time, right? And most of those times they were trying to fight for a playoff spot. They were in the playoff hunt going into December and January, missed in all three. of them and they had six losses of 10 plus points you know in there that's that's embarrassing and I think

it comes down to again when we get to these like end game situations like if guys aren't predicent of like everything I know in the NFL like guys are always predicent of like their jobs on the line but that's maybe that's the difference between guys making the play and not making the play is not knowing that their job is on the line not knowing that this actually matters and stuff I don't want to accuse players of that stuff but again when you build this culture from top down, maybe that's the difference. Maybe that's why they keep falling short in December and January every single December in January. This goes before Shane's second. This goes all the way to Frank Reich. This goes all the way to the early days of Chris Ballard. It's just something that's

constantly been an issue with this team. So maybe that's what it is. You don't have the fear of God in you that like, hey, I might not be back or hey, I might be costing my chance at money here because maybe that's a difference between guys making these plays and not making them at the end of the day when it really matters to make the playoffs and a lot of times that happens when you cut a prominent player you do that so you can send a message saying that uh you know this guy did really good and he messed up a little bit and that's not our standard and if you can't meet our standard don't care how long you've been here don't care how many plays you made for me in the past. It's a, what have you done for me lately league? And if you can't get the job done,

they'll get, we'll get somebody else in here to get it done. It's not, I've always, you know, told people it's a, it's a good business to be in. It's not a nice business to be in, because it is bottom line. It is cutthroat, you know, but, you know, that's what makes it exciting, too, is everything is on the line. And I like that, you know, so. So it's, something definitely has to change. And I think it's just going to have to be players finally deciding. They're tired of losing. Yeah.

And at the end of the day, like, look, I love players as much the next guy. I know a lot of people have shirts and jerseys and love these players, love how they are to the community. And I think they're all, I root for all of these players, right? I want them to all have success. But the end of the day, this is a business. It's a cutthroat business, too. And for the cults, it hasn't been cut through.

for cut through or cut throat for the last five six years it just hasn't been and outside of holding some quarterbacks accountable nobody's being held accountable for these these lackluster seasons so it has to be more of a business now instead of this this family-owned company to everyone's buddy buddies and we all love each other we're all like brothers and sisters like at the end of the day has to be a business if you want to have any success in this league i will say when it comes to player acquisition, the young ones through the draft primarily, I think they have always had such an eye towards development in the future that it's like they forget to acquire anyone that can help them win right now.

And no matter where their window has been, like, there's been times where they think they're in a championship window or like, it's a foregone conclusion, we'll be in the playoffs, or like, we're not rebuilding, but we're retooling. It doesn't, every single step of the way, they hardly ever go for players that are like win now players it's always the risky guys you have to develop and they almost never develop them to the level that they're supposed to uh so that's definitely one area i would kind of clean up moving forward uh looking at this off season obviously we're going to have way more on this uh on the daily show zach and i are now in off season mode which honestly let us cook

now because that's what we've got to wait for for several weeks at this point i hope the Colts allow us to help with drafting players because that would be that would work out really well for us I think because there's been quite a few misses on their part of players we really liked we never missed we always get everything 100% right sitting on our couches no misses yeah well well which one of y'all said Tyler Warren because that's one where they hit that every every fan in Indy said Tyler Warren the that was that was about as easy as suggesting Andrew Luck back in 2012. Actually, we said to Hod Campbell, Jake.

Remember, that's who we wanted? It was been awesome for the Eagles. Anyway, that's all been redacted. Yeah, that's a good place to end this on now. All right, guys, thank you for hanging with us later tonight. If you don't already follow Lockdown Colts on all social media. Also, be sure to subscribe on YouTube and wherever you listen to podcasts. We would love your ratings and reviews as well.

With that, you guys have a great night. And again, Zach and I will see. see you guys tomorrow for the daily show