Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - COLTS SQUAD SHOW: Colts now FAVORITES in AFC South? | Areas for improvement before trip to Tennessee

Episode Date: September 18, 2025

The Squad returns to talk about the Colts' newly found position as division favorites following their hot start. Also, the guys dive into their weekly under and overreactions, areas that need improvement before Sunday's tilt in Tennessee, and what to expect from the winless Titans. Find and follow Colts Squad Show and Locked On Colts on your favorite podcast platforms: 🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/podcasts/locked-on-colts/ 📺 https://www.youtube.com/@LockedOnColts Give the squad a follow on X/Twitter @Schultz975, @JakeArthurNFL, @ZachHicks2, @allenpinkett, @LockedOnColts, and @ColtsOn_SI, as well on TikTok and Instagram!Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!5-Hour ENERGYEnough with boring, flavorless caffeine, it’s time to give your caffeine a flavor upgrade with 5-hour ENERGY®️ shots. Get the favorites you love or be bold and try something new in-store and online at https://www.5hourENERGY.com or Amazon today. DoorDashWith DoorDash Streaks, you save every Saturday you order — stack it up all season and you could save up to $250. Order this Saturday. Keep the streak alive. Fuel your gameday — only with DoorDash. Terms apply. Promo period through 11/18.Monarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNFL at https://monarchmoney.com/lockedonnfl for 50% off your first year.UpsideDon’t let this offer drive on by, download the free Upside app now using my limited time promo code TOUCHDOWN for a limited time 25 cent per gallon bonus! Offers vary by user and location, Go to upside.com for terms and conditions.Click Here to download the app:https://getupside.onelink.me/zlLr?af_xp=custom&pid=barrington&c=barrington_lockedon25&deep_link_value=promo&deep_link_sub1=lockedon25&af_dp=upsideapp%3A%2F%2FSquareTo learn more, go support your favorite neighborhood spot and see what Square has been up to in your neck of the woods. And then if you have extra time, check out https://square.com/go/lockedonnfl.PrizePicksDownload the PrizePicks app today and use codeLOCKEDONNFL to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup.GametimeDownload 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.FanDuelRight now, new customers can bet just FIVE dollars and if your bet wins—you’ll get THREE HUNDRED dollars in bonus bets to use across the app.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)

Welcome in to another edition of the Colts Squad Show. I'm your host, Derek Schultz, and I just found out this week that playing tickets to Santa Clara are expensive. I'm Jake Arthur, and I don't overreact. And I'm Zach Hicks, and I'm just enjoying watching Daniel Jones lead the Colts to a top three offense. I'm outland. Pickett, former NFLer, wondering if the Colts can become Road Wars. Warriors. Coults 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 Squad Joe starts now. Welcome to the Colts Squad Show here on the Lockdown Colts Network. This episode brought you by Mazda. Like our players, we sweat every detail because when you make every move count. Pulling off the unexpected is only the beginning. Stay tuned later for highlights in this week's moving the game forward. Mazda, move and be moved. I'm Derek Schultz, any sports talker, sports columnist for the IBJ. I'm joined by legendary Notre Dame and Oilers running back Alan Pinkett.

And of course, you every dayers know Zach Hicks. And Jake Arthur, the dynamic duo from Locked on Colts, your first list in every day. Colts took care of business so far in their home field. Now they're looking to take care of business in the division as a road test in Nashville against the Tennessee Titans awaits. On tonight's show, we'll discuss if the Colts should be the division favorites at this point. Vegas says yes. We'll start with overreactions and underreactions as well.

We're going to do this weekly on the program. So overreacting, underreacting to what we just saw in the previous week. Regression areas. So areas that might be cooking right now, but maybe that's going to cool off a little bit. Also some areas where we think that there is some room for improvement. Because even with a 2-0 start, there are several of those. We'll talk about that with the entire squad. And our first look at Tennessee, a rivalry where, you know, historically it's been dominated

by the Colts and then there was that run from 19 to 22 or so where the Titans got the better of them and things have returned to normal over the past two years. And hopefully we'll stay that way coming up here on Sunday. But guys, Vegas had the Colts originally going into the season plus 375 to win the division. Those are the third odds. So they were behind Jacksonville, who was number two and Houston was number one. That's now flipped. They're now favored in Vegas right now.

Still plus money, but plus 125 in a few books. Zach, are we feeling good about that? I mean, with how they've played so far, not just the fact that they're a game up on everybody, but with how they played so far, I think that's warranted. Yeah, it's still really early. It's only been two games into this season. But when you're looking at them compared to the rest of the division,

the one area of the Colts really have an advantage over the rest is offensive line play. And we know that offensive line play correlates pretty well to making it into the playoffs, regardless of what else you were looking at on an offense. I mean, look at some of the best teams last year, the Detroit Lions with that outstanding offensive line, the Philadelphia Eagles, who won the Super Bowl, which is that dominant offensive line. Even the Kansas City Chiefs had a really good offensive line until their left tackle situation became a disaster in the playoffs, and it ultimately cost them that Super Bowl in a big way.

And I think that's really where you see the big advantage with this Colts team is they have three guys who are very established in Ryman, Smith, and Quentin Nelson, two young guys. that are playing well and we look at the rest of the division the tennessee titans offensive line has been a disaster for years and they're really banged up right now the houston texans offensive line somehow got worse over the last year here and it's not looking good at all jacksville jaguar's offensive line is probably the best of that trio and it's still probably in like more the middle realm of the of the league where the colts are probably in that like top half so i think when you look at just how the offense is playing where the talent is showing up for the colts but ultimately where

they're winning in the trenches up front with offensive line play. I understand why Vegas has kind of flipped a little bit here. And that win on Sunday was big over the Denver Broncos. A pretty good team that made the playoffs last year. Colts had them at their home and beat them early in the season. I think it's a good sign for this Colts team. So it's so early, a lot of things can change. But being at 2 and O right now and having a chance to go to 3 and 0 with a division win

this weekend, it says a lot about this Colts team. Yeah, I think so too. I think the Colts have the advantage in some of the biggest key areas that matter the most in sustaining good play throughout a season. Like Zach mentioned, offensive line. They're getting the best quarterback play right now. And it's not just the quarterback, like he's showing really good symmetry with the play caller and head coach and Shane Steichen. So that's going really well. The run game is going well.

Jonathan Taylor is leading the league and rushing. I think the big hang up is the defense, especially the defensive front. but you're not really looking around and outside of Houston that everyone else is kind of a question mark. So Houston has already dug themselves in an early hole, and they were the favorites. So the Colts have a two-game lead on them. The Jaguars look like they're ripe to implode at any moment.

You know, Brian Thomas Jr. has kind of gone into a shell for whatever reason. Trevor Lawrence has still almost at no point scratched the surface of what he's supposed to be. I mean, he's had like a standout season, but that's about it. So right now, the way the Colts are playing and the things about their roster that look legit, like offensive line playing quarterback play, I think that matters. And I think that's going to carry them a far way. I just, I think as long as they avoid injuries to spots, they absolutely cannot afford,

like left tackle, quarterback, Charverius Ward, anything further happening to him. As long as they avoid injuries like that, I think they will be able to carry some momentum and wind up on top in the AFC South. I think we look at this team, and I think we're all at least buying a little bit of this at the very minimum to the point where, you know, we talked a couple weeks ago about raising the floor and what their ceiling looks like. I mean, I'm raising the floor even further, and I've got to imagine they're going to be around at least nine, ten wins. I mean, in this division, that kind of crowns you king a little bit. Well, I echo, I think, the same sentiments as you guys, but I think they're the favorite by default because everybody else in a division really doesn't look that good right now.

But maybe it takes a few more games for these other teams, Jacksonville, the Titans, the Texans to find their rules. rhythm, find their personality. And I guess the question is the way the culture playing is this sustainable? Zach, I think you hit it right on the head. If your O-line can dominate, then you're going to continue to win. I mean, that's such a key, key part. I don't care how good your skill positions are. If your quarterback can't be protected, if holes aren't getting open, then you're not doing squat. So is this play sustainable? But I can tell you as a player, you don't look past anybody.

You know, you might fantasize while you're sitting in the locker room for maybe half a second about, wow, it would be nice if we could win a division. And, you know, I could invite all my boys down for the playoff game and, yeah, start checking out what the ticket cost is going to be a Santa Clara. What kind of hotels do they have out there? You know, but you just, in a situation like this where everybody was down on the Colts, now everybody's patting them on the back. And as a player, you've got to be real careful because these same folks that doubted you are praising you now. So a lot of times you can't believe the press clippings. What you have to believe is that the effort you put forth in practice and in the game is going to lead.

to victory. So as long as they focus on what they have to do on the field, also understanding that nothing is going to be given to them because as they continue to play better, they become more of a target. Now, every week you're a target in the NFL, but when you start playing good, teams start pointing to you on that schedule saying, okay, I'm going to have my best game against that team. We went through that at Notre Dame all the time. But I think that by default, they look like the favorites, but as a player, you're just looking at the next game. Yeah. And Alan, your day, I think they called it reading the press clippings, right? I don't know what today would be. It would be like spending too much time on the TikTok timeline. I don't

even know what they're watching now. But you're right about that, you know, not buying into your hype. But at the same time, you know, you mentioned, well, yeah, I think the Colts are the favorites by default. This is the default division in the NFL, right? I mean, Houston won the division last year by default. The last team to really kind of come and take the division, I think was the 22 Jags when they went on that winning streak at the end of the year. But even they, they were 9 and 8, Zach. I mean, to Jake's point, 9, 10 wins.

I mean, that's what you have to expect more times than not is going to be able to take this thing. Yeah, and every week we get more clarity when it comes to like what it takes to win this division and what these teams ultimately are. But if we're just looking at it right now for the Texans, let's say the line to win this division is 10 wins. this year, right? Texans have to win 10 of their last 15 games. The Colts have to win eight of their last 15. They have to basically go 500 the rest of the way. And I know it's a lot of season left

to start playing those games there. But the Colts, because they're able to steal that victory on Sunday in the fashion that they did, they increased their margin for error. Now they have a little bit more room to operate with. And you know, you don't obviously want to think that way as a player. But if we're just going by numbers and statistics here, they have more room here than these other teams, especially a team like Houston, who's already two games back. Now, all this can be for naught right now because we haven't played our division games. The division games are the most important games because you got to go four and two in this division, five and one, whatever it is, if you want to be a division champion. And this is where the Colts have struggled in the past,

going three and three or two and four typically around that range in recent seasons. And then when they've missed the playoffs by one game, it's like, man, we should have won one more of those division games, one or two more of those division games. So it's ultimately going to come down to that for the Colts. How do they perform in these divisional games? And they have a huge test on Sunday against the Tennessee Titans team that has a quarterback in his third career start who still doesn't really have his way yet in the NFL. They're pretty injured on their offensive line.

This is a game that if you want to win the division, you have to win this game. You can't take this one easy. This is a great first step to really show that, hey, this hot start we're on. It's for real. Like if we handle the Titans this weekend, then we can keep riding the, this 3-0 with 1-0 in the division even further and make those odds even better to win the division. And I'll say this, when you start winning, winning becomes contagious.

Sometimes you get a little superstitious. You know, it's like, what did I do before those two games? You know, I used to have this thing where the label on my jockstrap had to face out, you know, but if we lost, then I'd have to, you know, turn it around again. But you go through those type of things. But I think these are grown-ass men, and they also understand that if they can execute the way they did in the first two games, they're going to put themselves in a position to win. You know, they're not struggling to win right now. They're playing, I would say, up to their capability right now.

I don't think the guys in that locker room are surprised at all that they won these two games. So they don't have to do anything super special. They just have to be who they are and run that game plan as efficiently as they have been. Yeah, and to that point, you know, running their game plan and doing their thing, I think they need to establish their identity. And I think this is a good opportunity here in a very winnable matchup, obviously, to figure out who they are. Because obviously in week one, the way you won in week one was vastly different than the way you won in week two.

you know, very hard fought battle in week two. You know, the run game really powered this thing. Week three, I think you really establish at this point why you win the way you win. You know what I mean? Like the run game, you got to go through Jonathan Taylor, lots of play action stuff for Daniel Jones. The offensive line has to be at a premium like they have been these first couple weeks because we've talked so much about Daniel Jones and Jonathan Taylor over the last

couple weeks. None of this is possible without the offensive line playing at the level that it is in the great returns they've got from Tanner, Bordellini, and Matt in Zolbez. Because we knew Ryman would be fine. We knew Nelson would be fine. And we hoped that Braden Smith would be fine, which he has been. But those guys really stepping up and matching the veterans has been absolutely huge. Defensively is where I think we really got to find out what this team is. Zach and I just talked earlier, you know, Tennessee, they are really banged up on the offensive front, but one of the most areas we're skeptical of is the Colts pass rush. And so if the Colts, whether they have Latu or not, if they can't

establish that pass rush in this game against a team that's already given up 11 sacks and their entire right side of their offensive line is banged up right now, that's going to indicate some real problems. And it's going to require some immediate soul searching and figuring out how you fix this on the run. So I do think they have the benefit and they put themselves there being two and oh, but having a super winnable game where they can almost tinker with some things and figure out what they need to do. Yeah, it's almost unstoppable force versus movable object that the Titans front against

a potentially lot to less pass rush room for the Colts. And I'm interested to see who ends up winning that pillow fight coming up here in national. So a Daniel Jones contract extension, a Jonathan Taylor MVP candidacy. We're going to play our weekly underreaction, overreaction game when we come back next here on the Colts Squad Show. This portion of the Colts Squad Show brought you by Fanduel. The NFL season is here and Fandul is making sure you're ready for kickoff with a can't miss offer. Right now new customers can bet you's $5.

And if your bet wins, you'll get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. Fanduel lets me customize my betting experience, how I see fit. Maybe I'm feeling some props and scanning a few that piqued my interest before the game start. Or maybe I'm feeling like I want to let things play out a bit and then jump in on the live wagering once the ball has already been kicked. It's a beauty of Fandual. I can make every game more exciting whenever I feel like it and it's quick and easy with the app so you can do it too. So are you ready to play? Download the Fandual app now by visiting Fanduel.com to get started.

That's fanduel.com to place your first $5 bet. And if your bet wins, you'll get $300 in bonus bets to use. is across the app. Fanduil.com to get started, that's Fanduel.com to place your first $5 bet. And we're back on the Colts squad show. Thanks so much for joining us alongside Alan Pinkett, Notre Dame Legend,

and the Locked-on Colts duo of Zach Hicks and Jake Arthur. I'm Derek Schultz. Thanks so much for joining us. Let's talk about some overreactions and underreactions. So kind of like studs and duds when we do our live game recaps. by the way, we'll be with you live, and we are your post-game place to be after every Colts game this season, following this matchup with Tennessee coming up late Sunday evening. But overreaction, underreaction from week one.

I'll kind of start with mine. And I heard this talked about this week on Indianapolis Sports Talk Radio, and it's Sports Talk Radio, right? You're supposed to talk about these things. You're supposed to overreact. That's the whole preface of sports talk. It's time for a Daniel Jones contract extension. I'm chill everybody like let's relax I'm going to let this thing play out a little bit look we all know that this was always going to be a huge year for Jones to get a new lease on life a change of scenery let's see if there's something there like really kind of a last chance type thing for him in the league and he may turn that into a big payday we've seen other quarterbacks do that especially the reclamation project guys may look at sam darnald and his deal but it's going to take more than than two weeks for me to get there and I'm interested to you You know, the Colts have shown that they're not afraid to go the rent to QB year to year type thing with guys.

But if Jones, Jake, keeps playing to this level, this is going to be a conversation at the very least. And if you brought this up at a bar tonight in Marion County, you would not get laughed out of the bar. And I think that's the important thing to mention right now. That's how good he's playing. Oh, and we mentioned this at the bar that is locked on Colts earlier today. Actually, we did a little factor fiction. and I said, at this rate, Factor Fiction, you re-signed Daniel Jones in the off-season. And I think at this rate, like, we're all pleasantly surprised.

You can't abandon this. Like, this right now is a top five offense, you know, defensively, they are benefiting from how well the offense is playing because it was totally flipped last year. The defense wound up being on the field an entire game's worth more plays last year. The defense played like 18 games last year. on the field so much because how bad the offense was but now how good the offense is and they're putting together these eight nine 10 11 12 play drives the off the defense is fresh like at all times and so this is having such a good effect on the entire team we're we're seeing you know the efficiency

is there they're sustaining the drives and scoring on them they had points on their first 10 drives of the season and yeah i mean Shane stuyken seems to have found his muse It wasn't the guy we all wanted, but it's the guy that we have all now found after we have all rulingly weighted in the waters post Andrew Luck that we deserve this guy. So Daniel Jones has been awesome so far through these first two games. And yeah, I don't see it. We have talked about like play wise, he could probably maintain this.

But statistically, it will probably drop a little bit. But if you're getting this level of play where the guy's consistently getting his teammates and everything put in the right position to win, your scoring points, you're winning games, you can't bail on that. Now, that's not to say you can't still draft someone earlyish or, you know, you don't sign him to like a five-year deal or anything like that. You don't put all your eggs in that basket. But, I mean, you've got to bring him back for 2026 in that instance. yeah i mean to go to the overall thing that derrick mentioned at the top though is like do you extend him right now i think this would be the absolute worst time to extend him and i think daniel jones

would come to the table right now because he's never going to be more expensive than what he is at this exact moment he just is coming off the two best games of his career to start a season of course he's already sitting at the negotiation table he wants you to come he can ask for 70 million a year right now you're going to wait until the end of the season uh to have this conversation because he is a guy with the lengthy injury history. You want to see if he can make it through the whole season. And you want to see just what the overall play looks like with a whole year's worth of sample in your offense.

You know, because he's not going to throw 300 yards and have two total touchdowns with zero turnovers in every single week. If he does, we're talking MVP, and you happily pay him $70 million a year. But yeah, you're going to wait until the end of the season to see what this overall thing works. But I think if, you know, if he keeps up a pretty close level to this or even if it falls off of it.

And he ends up putting up like a 4,000-yard season, 25, 27 touchdowns, and like 6, 7, 8 picks, whatever it is. Yeah, you give him a good contract because he's played that way. So you wait until the end of the season for sure. But I think, you know, if he keeps it up like this, then it's certainly a conversation to be had. And you probably go that route and bring him back. Well, we've seen this before where a quarterback is struggling.

They get a change of scenery and all of a sudden they become, this dynamic quarterback. I guess that's what's happening with Baker Mayfield right now. And, you know, Sam Darnold, last year with the Vikings, was able to resurrect his career. I would say the overreaction is by the national media that are really praising Daniel Jones, and rightfully so they're praising him. But, oh, they dogged him so much when this trade happened. You know, but I think about the fact that he was the first round pick, you know, he did take the Giants to the playoffs one year. You know, I still, I'm sorry, I still think of him tripping on the five-yard line, you know, but that has nothing to do with, because I've tripped plenty of times on turf field. We call it the turf monster gets you sometimes.

But I think for Daniel Jones, you're right. Right, he would come to the table right now if you asked him to. But I think that he has to, you know, stay within himself. And the chip he can have on his shoulder is all you do's said I wasn't worth a damn. And that this other kid was going to start over me. So I've got something for you. So if he can keep that little chip on his shoulder, that little bit of motivation, He'll get paid, you know, so not worried about him.

Yeah, and one more overreaction I want to throw out here, just to move off Daniel Jones to other pieces of the team here real quick because we talk Daniel Jones all the time, rightfully so. He's playing some great football. But one other overreaction from this past game that I really want to talk about is I think people are overreacting to the past defense being bad in this past game, and we're underestimating just how big a drop-off it is from Charbarious War to anybody else in this quarterback group.

And anyone who's played football, anyone who knows football knows how vital it is to have that top to your corner on the outside, just from a play calling standpoint on defense, to have one side of the field just not worried about. The Broncos typically have that every week until the Colts just threw it at Pat Sertan every single play, it seemed like, in this past game. And that's why the Colts offense was successful, because they didn't allow the Broncos to close up one side of the field, and they forced Pat Sertan to be involved in every play. not every team's going to do that against your top corner. So just having Charverius Ward out there, just the threat of him, the presence of him, it just makes your defense better. So I think when we're looking at, you know,

this overall Colts past defense, maybe they're not as strong as what they showed against the dolphins because the dolphins might just be a mess. But I don't think they're as weak as how much they got burned by Bo Nix in that first half last week because it's just not going to be Xavier Howard on an island in a lot of situations. When Charverius Ward's out there,

Howard or Blackman, whoever that other corner is, is going to have so much more help on that side of the field. So I don't think this past defense is going to look nearly as bad as what it looked like in the first half on Sunday. And I think Charverius Ward is such a bigger piece than what people are kind of talking about. So it's kind of an overreaction and an underreaction in the same one there, Derek, to play your game here because Charveris Ward is just that important, man. I was looking forward to saying Charverius Island, you know, like Revis Island?

So I'm anxious to see him play this weekend this Sunday because, you know, as a defensive back, you know, you've got that challenge every single week. And you just can't wait for that matchup and to have to miss it because of the concussion. I know he's just itching to get back out there to prove that he can still play. with this nickname being Mooney maybe we can do marooned on Mooney Island I'm just I'm just workshopping

Yeah no keep spinning it over Keep spinning it over I agree those I mean It's a problem if Mooney's not out there of course Because like there's Like you said There's a drop off

You have to figure things out with Mackay Blackman and Xavier Howard And then ultimately Jonathan Edwards But I do so have faith and what Lou Anorumo can do schematically for guys to put them in the right spots. But you're also not going to face Sean Payton every week. Sean Payton bases what he's going to do based off what he sees the defense doing. Most people have a game plan, like a specific game plan they want to fit in.

But Sean Peyton is very much of a, I'm going off your vibes type play caller. So you're not going to run into that every week. And like Sean Payton sensed a weakness and some blood in the water and he attacked it like he should have. but the culture aren't going to run into that every week. And we kind of talked about this with Jalen Jones several weeks ago. You know, if you put Jalen Jones out at cornerback two instead of being the starter the last couple of years, it probably looks even better than it did. Well, Howard being the second corner opposite of Charbarious Ward is a lot more how it's

supposed to be. Now, there's still probably will be times where he gets picked on, but you're not relying on him to cover Jbar Chase and Justin Jefferson and Nico Collins every week. week. You know, like, that's why you have Traverius Ward. You have a guy that's going to wind up traveling. So, yeah, once Ward is back and they, like, Lou Aneromo is kind of able to call things the way he wants them, I think it's going to be fine. I'm not super worried about that. I'm more worried about the pass rush, not necessarily, you know, not forcing the quarterbacks to hurry up, and then the guys in the second are going to have to cover for too long. I'm a little more worried

about that. Yeah, and that's a fair concern as well as the Colts try to get healthy in that spot and figure everything else out in the interim. Let's fit in some underreactions. I know Zach kind of had an over slash underreaction, but for me, guys, I don't know if we are fully grasping how big of a season this could potentially be for Jonathan Taylor. If this past protection stuff is going to stick, if this involvement in the past game

in general is going to stick, I mean, he's already got 77 yards. He's always been elite as a runner, but really that's pretty much all he's brought to the table. He's not been known for contributing a whole heck of a lot in other areas. But I looked at it, and I understand that there was a big gainer in here. But at 77 yards, he's already about halfway to his 22, 23, and 24 receiving totals for those seasons. And we're expecting to get more involved there. But really, Zach, and you had a big write-up on it as well and a film study on it, too. The past protection is just night and day.

I mean, it's unbelievable to see this. We talk about Daniel Jones, never played at this level. We've never seen Jonathan Daylor block like this in the backfield. Yeah, no, I would argue this is the best we've seen of Jonathan Taylor in the NFL. And that's hard to say because he was a first team all pro in 2021. He was second for offensive player of the year that year, scored a ton of touchdowns at over 2,000 total yards. But what we're getting from him this year is just a different level where we are still getting the rushing output.

We are still getting just how good he is at finding, holes and creating the big play. I mean, he was a big part of the win on Sunday because of that 60-something yard run that he had, but we're also getting just the complete package from him. He's on pace to break his career high in receptions and receiving yards. He's on a great pace there. And then the pass blocking, he's been just phenomenal. I mean, PFF only has, I think, like 15 running backs with over 10 pass blocking reps this year, but he's so far the second highest rated guy. He's never been in their top half by the end of a season in his career. He has always been near the bottom of the NFL and pass blocking.

And when I went back and watched the film, I mean, it's not just that he's simply getting in the way, but he is asserting himself as a pass blocker. He is getting up there on the line of scrimmage, confidently reading which guy he needs to get. And he is playing with some physical just power behind his pads. And I just think he's playing some great football. So, yeah, I'm really just a big fan of everything we're seeing from Jonathan Taylor right now.

I do think that to a degree it's not sustainable for him to be playing as many snaps as he did in week two where he came off the field for like a play last week. I think he almost played 100% of the snaps. I think we can find a little bit of a middle ground there, get in the whole series here or there. But for the most part,

I mean, he is playing some outstanding football. And again, I would say this is the best overall version of Jonathan Taylor we've seen because we're not just getting it as a runner. Oh, and he leads the NFL in rushing yards right now, but we're getting it in pass blocking and pass receiving as well. This is a great version.

of Jonathan Taylor, and I hope we get this all season. I'll highlight that pass blocking because you talked about pro football focus, what Daniel Jones has been sacked, or not sacked, but blitzed more than anybody since what, over a decade. He's had over 50 pass attempts where there's been, you know, at least five people coming. And in order for, you know, the quarterback to have success, everybody has to to be on their keys blocking. And I tell you what happens is when you win,

it's because it's those little detail things that are happening. You know, and so if you want a good result, do your job. And so I think it's one of those Jonathan Taylor likes getting the ball. And, you know, what's happening is he's getting great blocking up front. Well, his opportunity to return to favor is to pick up the blitz. And what, this is what, he probably knows the system. better now. He's probably seen a number of different blitzes. And he put a little more lead in his ass for this year, didn't he? You know, so it's, it helps because I tell you, I was a hundred and

92 pounds trying to block a 250 pound lineback. Does not feel good. I had, I had, I did better when I was 196. But he's up like around, what, 230? Yeah, 220s, two 30s. Yeah, he's huge. Yeah. So, I mean, he can he can make it happen but it's it's a result of of winning he knows if he gets his block his quarterback's going to make a play you know and if his quarterback makes a play he's going to get a chance to run it more and if he gets a chance to run it more they're going to win now i agree allan you mentioned a good point we probably don't talk about enough is this year three in the system with shane stuyken for him yeah and he's a smart player like he's pretty much at a at a master's level in this system now and it probably doesn't hurt too much that the Colts were very

clear about adding to the backfield they brought in Khalil Herbert DJ Giddens they brought in these guys he's like I should probably make myself even more useful and master this past perfection this year so no Jonathan doing a great job I'm always going to say that he is underappreciated they've been trying to bury him for years behind Sequin Barclay and derrick Henry and now Jamir Gibbs and Bijon Robinson and Christian McCatt, like, this dude isn't still producing. Like, he is one of the best running backs in NFL history when it comes to rushing yards per game still among living or dead of guys, basically. So I actually threw this out there yesterday or the day before, to me, in terms of just Colts history, after Eddron James, I think you got to look at Jonathan. Taylor. And I know they've had Marshall Falk, they've had Eric Dickerson, but when you look at guys

specifically in their Colts career, I feel like Taylor is just criminally underrated. And it's almost like we've got this exhaustion from his excellence where him producing at a high level has just become a foregone conclusion and you almost don't appreciate it as much anymore because you're so used to it. We haven't seen a running back like this in a Colts uniform since Edron James. And then so you just be like, yep. That's what he does. He rushes for 150 yards a game. He busts off 40-yard runs all the time. And I mean, even locally, I do think he gets a little underrated at times. And again, nationally, they try and throw every other top fancy new running back out there over him.

And this guy consistently, when he's healthy, just produces. Yeah. And you know what? I think that perceptional change once he's doing it in January as opposed to in week one against Miami. Fairly or unfairly, you know, there's a lot of. of times that's what that's what ends up happening it's not jonathan taylor's fault that the team has been spinning its wheels for his entire career here but now if they're going to play winning football and then they're going to play games that really matter that's when i think people are really going to take notice and give him his just do but uh when we continue uh here on the colt squad show what's sure to crash down to earth and what areas are bound to bounce back

in week three we're going to talk about what's sustainable and what's not from the first two colts performances next when the squad show returns This episode is brought you by Mazda's moving the game forward. For those who believe it's not just about playing the game, it's about redefining it. There are moments that do more than puts points on the board. This week's moment that moved the game forward goes to Spencer Schrader after the pressure of the 60-yarders subsided following the Broncos penalty. Schrader calmly stepped up and nailed the game winner to remain perfect on the year

and give the Colts a thrilling 29-28 win over the Broncos. It's given the Colts some much-needed stability. in the kicking department. You know, Matt Gay had some problems with distance. Rodrigo Blankenship wheel. We all know how that one is as great as it was for the glasses and the Legos and the whole deal. It wasn't a very stable kicking situation.

Trader so far through two games has done that and brought some stability to that room. And he's already come through in the clutch, obviously with this huge game winning kick in the early season victory. When you follow what moves you, the unexpected is only at the beginning. And just like that, there's more to every highlight. There's more to a Mazda vehicle. Mazda. move and be moved.

And we're back on the Colts Squad Show. Thanks so much for joining us on this Hump Day Wednesday edition of the show alongside Alan Pinkett, the former Notre Dame all-time leading wrestler. He's still number two on that list, guys. And he's been gone for 40 years. You know, I don't want to date you or anything like that, Alan. But 40 years, still number two on that list. Jake Arthur, Zach Hicks as well, the Locked-on Colts duo,

as we get you set for Colts and Titans coming up here on Wednesday. And Jake and Zach talked earlier today. about the injury situation. So if you want to get some more in-depth there, be sure to go to our channel, YouTube, audio, whatever podcast platform that you like and check that show out as well. Let's get back into just kind of focusing on the Colts

before we get to Tennessee in the final segment. So some regression areas, some areas, and this isn't to be like, well, this is a fluke and whatever. But there are some things I think we would agree through the first two weeks like Daniel Jones probably isn't going to keep completing 70% of his passes and committing zero turnovers through 17 games, right? or even playing 17 games, maybe, given the fact that he's had his injury history,

but also some areas where we feel strongly that there is real hope for improvement. And that's not just with getting some healthy bodies back, like in the defensive secondary, but even in some cases the pass rush room, which didn't necessarily cloak itself in glory last week against Sunday. But I wanted to start with a regression area here. And I just think, Alan, this kind of comes with the territory. Daniel Jones at times is not going to be in third and two, third and three for the entire afternoon. And the Colts have done an unbelievable job.

I mean, Zach, you had mentioned that the number one team on first and second down in the entire NFL so far this year. As bullish as I am on that remaining or them remaining a top end level team, you know, eventually the Colts are going to come into some situations where it's third and eight, third and nine, they're facing a four point deficit. And they need Danny Dimes to come through. Yeah, no, for sure. I mean, it's just not absolutely sustainable to have the success rate that they're having right now. We can still say they can be top 10 in this metric by the other seats. Or even top five. Like, it's not crazy.

But as of right now, I think their offensive success rate is like three percentage points higher than the next closest team. And then their first down success is like by far in a way. Number one, they are the best team in the NFL on first down so far this season by like an ocean's length of success. So they are just dominating on early downs, and there's going to be more negative play. There's going to be more penalties coming in the future. This thing is not completely sustainable of just reaching the red zone on every single drive. So if we're trying to be like absolutely nickpicking this thing here, yeah, that's going to come back down to Earth a little bit. And they're going to have to pick up in other areas to supplement that.

I think honestly, one way that you can really talk about and kind of, again, just throw these two regression topics together is when the success rate drops a little bit to more of a normal number. we got to see the red zone numbers come up a little bit. You know, the red zone numbers, they're near the bottom of the NFL. And this is why they, you know, only scored 29 points last week, which is crazy to say only 29, but it really should have been closer to the 40s if you convert in the red zone a couple of times. The only reason that was a close game is because the Colts had to kick so many field goals in the Red Zone where the Broncos were scoring touchdowns in every single opportunity.

So for the first and second down success to come down, and the Colts still to have a really good offense, the Red Zone conversion chance to touchdowns has to come up. So I think when we're looking at like positive and negative regression, we can look at both of those areas as evening out. And this Colts production kind of staying the same as what it's been through two weeks, which is high 20s points per game with those things evening out. So you're not getting to the Red Zone as much,

but you're actually scoring touchdowns instead of kicking field goals as much as they have through two games. Well, the Red Zone. is definitely something that you have to consider in terms of you need improvement. But I think that, you know, beyond the red zone, that is sustainable because there's no one person that you just can key on. You know, he's got so many weapons he can go to. I'm sure for the defense, they're saying, well, there's, where are we going to double? You know, and I guess Shane Siking system has been able to expose

whosoever the weakness in that defense, but he's just got too many guys to throw to as long as they run a good route and they're sure-handed with the football, they're going to continue to make first downs. So when I think about regression, I kind of look at the rush defense just a little bit. You know, I'd like to see and, you know,

that be improved. 118 yards from the Broncos last week on the ground. You know, I think that a good defense, they always shoot for holding the team under 100 yards. If you can hold a team under 100 yards rushing, then you're a pretty stout defense. So that's where I look for improvement or an area where they can improve. Yeah, and to go back to the offense real quick, and then I'll kick it to you, Jake. I think one area that will really see this offense kind of regress, though, is just when it comes to, I don't want to say fluky, but just when it comes down to the random events that happen in an NFL game, which is a tip ball turned into an interception, a strip sack from behind that turns into a fumble.

Through two weeks, the Colts offense has not turned the football over. Their only times giving it back to the defense has been on two, fail, fourth down conversions. That's not sustainable. You know, we can, we can even give that the success rate might be sustainable. Maybe they just are going to be one of the best first down teams in football this year. Maybe that's going to happen, but they're not going to just not turn the football over this season. Things happen in the NFL. You turn the football over.

You could be top five in this metric by the end of the season, but you're still going to turn the ball over 10-ish times throughout the year. So I think, you know, again, the red zone offense needs to get better to supplement when this regression does happen, where, you know, again, there's going to be interceptions. There's going to be a time where receiver drops the ball into a defender's hands. there's going to be a time where the ball slips out of Daniel Jones's hand. Like these things just happen in the NFL. You can't count on, again, getting to the red zone on every single drive just to muster up your 20-something points.

You've got to start converting in the red zone. But yeah, that's probably the most obvious regression area is just there are going to be turnovers this year. It's not going to be the end of the world when it happens. But there will be some turnovers from the offense this year. They're not going to get the red zone every single time they touch the football. Yeah, the insane efficiency has got to stop at some point, obviously, because there are, what, 31 points a game, about 450 yards. There's going to be punts that happens. Spencer Schrader is occasionally going to miss a kick, you know, turnovers are going to happen, like you mentioned, but it is the red zone that can make up those things. Like, I think, you know, Daniel fitting it into tight quarters a little bit more, like the things he's doing in between the 20s, you're seeing.

it change when he gets into the red zone. And I don't know. There's just things I feel like we thought would be obvious about the red zone that aren't happening. Tyler Warren, Josh Downs, Alec Pierce has always been kind of deadly in the red zone as well. We're not really seeing those things yet. I feel like they're coming. But yeah, the insane offensive efficiency, that's unrealistic to continue happening.

But then defensively on the flip side with the run game, I do feel like that's a really good area for improvement. And it's one that hasn't really bit them yet because it hasn't had to. Miami had some success running the ball, but they could in no way, shape, or form continue to run game because they were down by so much. And then Denver, they were having too much fun and too much success with all those, you know, shallow routes and everything they were doing with Troy Franklin and everything. That was really working. And they didn't really need to run with consistency. But you could tell whether it was, whether it was Harvey or J.K. Dobbins, like they had some success running the ball. I'm seeing some issues with guys on the fronts, not getting off of

blocks. I'm not necessarily seeing like blatant miss tackles, but not getting off blocks and not being right there in the lanes where you're supposed to be is kind of an issue as well. So I think there's probably going to be a game or two where that really bites them when they, when they're up against a team that runs the ball really well and commits to it kind of as their identity i think that might be a problem for them which we've talked about like we came into this saying with the personnel the cults are going to have on defense on the field with all the extra dbs and everything and without the dline depth like they're going to get run over at least a game or two it's coming uh i don't really know what they could do to counter that in order to not sacrifice

what they want to do philosophically because lou aneruner wants to have extra dbs on the field they can't just go out and get a bunch of new backup defensive linemen. If there were good ones out there, they'd already be on rosters and everything. So this may just be, there may be a couple times where we just see them get punched in the mouth. I don't know. Well, the best way to defend against the run is just keeps scoring when you have the ball in offense

because that scares the other teams. That's working very well so far. Right. But honestly, as long as you, like, the Colts in both these games have won the coin toss and elected to receive in both games. They want to go down there and score points to start the game. get the other team into a pass-heavy approach to start games. So that way they're not running the ball.

So I do think the running defense is going to be a bit of an issue. But I think the Colts overall plan is we're going to get a lead early. We're going to establish the run on our end. And we're going to make you scared to where you have to throw the ball constantly against our secondary that we trust, against our defensive scheme that we trust in past coverage. And I think that's going to be their overall plan this season. But yeah, I think there is some regression, like positive regression to the mean coming and run defense. I don't think it's going to be like terrible.

all year. But I think that that could be one, like, positive regression area for the Colts. I did hear Jake say, get run over and punch you in the mouth. And I just had some PTSD from week two last year in Green Bay. Remember that game? I mean, what a difference of your makes. Remember the conversation? I know, Alan, you weren't here yet, but what a difference of your makes when it comes to the conversation from two and O to O and two. That's for sure. Do we remember that game? 200 yards in the first half. The Anthony Richardson conversations after that game were tough, too. It was a tough game.

But vibes are great right now, too, and no. Winning Cures all, as Alan says, all off season. And right now, winning is curing everything for this Colts team. We'll see if they can't make it. Three and O. We're going to take our first look at the Titans, a rivalry where the Colts have regained the upper hand in recent years when we wrap up the show next.

This portion of the Lockdown Colts Squad show brought to you by our friends at game time. NFL season is back. And honestly, there's nothing better than being in the stadium surrounded by fans and cheering on your team. But let's be honest, getting tickets can be sort of a hassle between the cues, login screens, prices jumping at checkout. It is frustrating. That's why I use Game time. The app that gives the advantage back to fans. Game time is fast, easy, and backed by the game time guarantee. You're always going to get 100% authentic tickets delivered on time and at the best price. Plus, all feeds are included. So the price you see is the price you pay. scoping out when I could take my eight-year-old son to Lucas Lois Stadium for an upcoming Colts game.

We went to the Lions game last year, and he thought that was a Lions home game. So I had to explain to him. No, no, no. Like, we're in Indianapolis still, and this is just downtown. And there are some Colts fans in here among all the Lions fans. Again, what a difference a year makes, right? I saw some great deals for seats. And even with Indi off to a tremendous start here, it looks like the prices have stayed

affordable. And the cool thing about the game time app is I can find what I'm looking for immediately. The right section, the right view, the right price. I don't have to go digging around for it. It's the easiest way to buy NFL tickets with the GameTime app. So go ahead and download the GameTime app, create an account, and use code locked on NFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply.

Again, that's promo code LOC, KED, O NFL for $20 off. Swipe, tap, ticket, go. Download the GameTime app today. And we're back for a final time here on the Locked On Cold Squad Show. Thanks so much for making us a part of your Wednesday. we will be here with you all season long, Wednesdays, 9 p.m. And obviously we are still your place for live Colts game recaps, post game. After every game this season, lock it in to Locked on Colts and the Squad Show.

So it'll be the Colts and Titans renewing their rivalry in Nashville, 4 o'clock on Sunday. And I mentioned this early in the show, guys, after losing 6 and 7 from 2019 to 2020, those weird years where Ryan Tannehill decided, hey, I'm actually a pretty good quarterback. And Derek Henry, I still Derek Henry. Colts have swept the Titans in back-to-back seasons, which is nice. And before then, they had won 27 of 33. I mean, outside of like Patriots and Jets or Stiegors and Browns, this has historically been one of the more one-sided division rivalries

in the entire NFL. Colts are four and a half point road favorites, but as you guys mentioned on Locked on Colts today, Josh Downs with the ankle issue, Tyler Warren with the toe, two to keep an eye on. but I did hear Latsu did return to practice today. Is that correct, Jake? Yeah, Latu was out there as a limited participant hamstring.

Charverius Ward full participant. No red contact jersey, no limited ramp up or anything yet. He is full participant. He's still in the protocol, has to get that clearance from the independent neurologist. But as far as those two critical, vital defensive players we talked about, they're turning in the right direction. And, you know, there's a lot of a lot of newness right now. now to what the Titans have, you know, second year of Brian Callahan, who, if I'm not mistaken,

was somebody that the Colts took a look at when they were, ended up hiring Shane Seichen, and then Cam Ward at quarterback as well, Nunes there with the rookie quarterback and the number one pick, too. You know, Alan, you were lucky in your NFL career in the sense that those Oilers teams, I mean, you guys expected to go to the playoffs every year. There wasn't really much of a rebuilding era, but you saw this happen with other teams and you have. have to face off against these other teams. And is there a danger against going up against the nothing-al-lose, quote-unquote, type team like Tennessee is where they're still trying to build forward,

I think realistically knowing that maybe 2025 isn't going to be the time that they suddenly emerge into Super Bowl contention? Oh, no doubt. Number one, they earn their way to selecting Cam Ward, you know, but getting beat. You know, so they still have to, when I look at the time, Titans, it's sort of blue collars. They're solid players, very good players, but there's no really dynamic superstar. There's no one person that really sticks out except for the quarterback. And he's first pick of the draft, you know, but I think he is showing that he is

fearless. But what, what I've seen in the first two games with the Titans is that they just, they somehow run out of gas in the second half. They can't keep up that. that energy level they need to go win a game, which is how they were able to pick Cam Ward in the first place. So, but here's the thing. That's a team of young men that are playing a division game against a first place team. You know, so, and they're going to be at home. So the motivation for them is going to be there.

They will be jacked up to play the Colts. just to try to show everybody that, you know, we're professionals over here, too. We're a legit football team, too. And like I tell you, there's no bad teams in the NFL. There's only teams with bad records. And there's a reason why people say on any given Sunday, because it can happen on any given Sunday, you know, which means that the Colts, this is going to be tougher than they think because it's on the road,

because the Titans are comfortable in that stadium and they're going to have the fans behind them, you know, and we haven't talked about how will the Colts react when they're trying to make checks and all the fans are yellow because they haven't had to deal with that yet because they've played at home. You know, so playing on the road is always tougher,

but this Titans team is going to be ready. Yeah, and that's a good point there, Alan, because the Colts offense this year has been a 60-plus percent motion offense, pre-snap motion offense. it's a lot harder to run that pre-snap motion and staying in first and 10, stay in second and five when you don't have the crowd behind you, when that crowd is loud and you're trying to get the cadence right, the dummy counts right, and get everything on cue, you can have more mistakes here, and that gets them off pace and that can hurt that success rate that we

were just talking about in the last segment. But I do like your point about them being a blue collar team. This Titans team, they do know how to fight. They come out the gates fighting every single game. They have some very physical good young players. Jeffrey Simmons, one of the best defensive tackles in football. Their secondary has consistently been pretty good, even with a Legerius Snead contract, not really working out for them.

They have a really good safety group, Roger McCreery in the slot. They have some good pieces on that defense. And on offense, they kind of remind me of the Chicago Bears last year when the Colts faced the Bears, where they have this young playmaking quarterback who hasn't really found out his limits yet in terms of what he can get away with in the backfield, in terms of scrambling, in terms of using that arm, like in that arm arrogance and testing tight windows,

he doesn't really know what he can get away with yet. And that's where we're seeing some of the ups and downs through two weeks with Ward. But I think this is a great time to get them. Get them early. Get them when they're a little bit down. O and two. Ward's taking a couple hits. The O lines a bit banged up.

This is a time where you can come out here. And I kind of want the Colts to do what they've done the last two weeks. Like take the ball early. If you win that coin toss, take the ball. Go down there, score a touchdown on them on that first drive. and establish, hey, we're the 2-0 team. You're the 0-2 team that had the first pick last year. And get that through their minds that they're already trailing

before their offense even touches the ball. And then you can really just pile-drive them from there because they are already, again, they're coming into this game where they're going to give you a quick punch early. But if they get knocked down, it's going to be tougher for them to get up because they're already 0-2 coming off a season where they had the number one pick. So if you're a team like the Colts where you're riding high, riding this hot streak, you're scoring early, you're scoring often on offense.

come out here from the beginning of this game first drive second drive get some points on the board and let the titans know like this is what you're going to expect all game long and i think that's going to be key for this colts team is getting off to a hot start and establishing like again we're the two and o team right now you're the oh and two team who just had to take someone first overall to be your new quarterback and you're still breaking them in like establish that right away and i and i think that the colts can have a good chance to just ride this to the to the finish line it's wild that we're talking about the Colts in this way after what we've gone through there. But no, I'm looking forward to us finding out a little bit about the Colts here

because this very much stacks up to me almost like the Giants game late last year. Like obviously the Colts were the more talented team. They had reasons to win that game, so on and so forth. And then it just was a complete no-show. Like not only do the Colts need to win this game, but there is just a difference. and talent. This Tennessee team does play hard and they have a pretty good defense, but they don't have as much talent as the Colts do. They have a quarterback who, just like you guys mentioned, he has that

arm arrogance and he doesn't really know his limits yet. And there are some things he did at Miami that he's still doing in the NFL, like just literally standing in the backfield, waiting for someone to break open because he knows he can get it to him. He could at Miami. And that's just not necessarily going to fly in the NFL until he gets that speed of the game down. And that's where I think the Colts secondary is really going to have to make him pay. And, I mean, so far, we have seen the Colts be able to do some positive things against non-elite quarterback so far. So I've got to imagine that Lou has got something up his sleeves for a rookie quarterback

that hasn't quite seen this yet. if you're going to go into a game where your pass rush isn't at its best, this is probably the one because it's a team that no matter what you throw at them, they're probably not going to have an answer for everything because, I mean, Lou is still going to blitz a little bit as well. And then, you know, offensively, yeah, Zach, we kind of talked about this against Miami in that similar style of play calling. And because those coordinators come from the same tree right yep yeah yeah shame that raven's tree yeah yeah shame has historically had problems with that but figured it out pretty damn well against miami uh with with uh daniel jones and they've

again they've got this really good partnership working so far i'm interested to see it's kind of again what's real and what has been kind of a mirage so far uh because this is this is somewhat similar matchup to miami i think overall um they don't necessarily have all the same strength, but in terms of talent level and what they're capable of, I do see this as kind of a similar test for the Colts. But yeah, they can't, they can not leave any doubt that they're the best, the better team in this one, if that makes sense. This is, I know it's a division matchup, but they have to come out of this one with a strong

showing. Yeah. And going back to last year, the last time this Colt team saw the Tennessee Titans, Jonathan Taylor ran for over 200 yards in that game in basically three quarters, because he He didn't really play much in the fourth quarter of that game. Even when the Titans were roaring back and almost made the craziest comeback ever, Jonathan Taylor ran for what, like 220 in that game, had two long touchdowns over 50 yards in that game.

And we saw what the Colts did was they moved their offensive linemen a lot on run plays. They were running power with their tackles pulling out in front. They're running their traps and their whams and their split zones on the inside, just making sure that this Titans defensive line that wants to get after you, wants to attack vertically, making their aggressiveness work against them, making their guys get upfield, and then hitting them with those traps and whams

and giving space for Jonathan Taylor. I think, again, go back to what Alan said about a blue collar type of game, I think this is one of those games where you just give the ball to Jonathan Taylor. You utilize those, again, those inside runs, like those traps and whams, and you just get that ball moving forward.

And yeah, you'll have time to get that ball out there, but this should be one of those games where, look, Jonathan Taylor's on a hot streak right now coming off a huge game against the Denver Broncos, feed your best player feed your best player get him going early especially if tavondre sweats out of this game if they're not going to have their 360 pound defensive tackle in there run it at them as much as possible get these guys moving get your offensive line excited early in this game offensive linemen love running the football they love their little power runs up the middle

early in the game their traps and wams just get up field and attack linebackers i think that just running the ball early and often in this game and establishing that that physical presence i think can go a long way in this blue collar type of showing. Zach, I think you got Alan ready to go already. How are you ready to suit up and get out there or what? That's your kind of game plan, right? Yeah, I don't want to get hit anymore. I don't want to get hit.

But, you know, I do have mixed emotions because, you know, after the Oilers, the Oilers became the Titans. And there was a time where I felt like an orphan because the Titans didn't necessarily claim the oilers, although they acknowledge the oilers history. And the Texans didn't want to have a thing to do with the old oilers. And so it wasn't until, I think, three years ago where Amy Crunk actually started to have a reunion weekend and invite us down to, you know, watch a game, put us all up in the box, meet the players, go over to the practice facility. So, you know, I didn't necessarily cheer for an NFL team, except when I was a kid. I cheer for Washington because

I grew up five minutes from, you know, where they practiced. So, you know, now I guess I understand how a coach feels where, you know, they were coaching for this one team. Now they're coaching for a different team that's playing that team where they were coaching. And so you have to put all your allegiance in the team that you're with now. So, you know, It's now I'd like to see the Coles beat to Titans, even though, you know, I still have feelings for the Titans because, you know, that's sort of my history, but it's my history because Amy Crunk is the one who sort of reunited the old Houston crowd with the Titan crowd. And she did it in spectacular fashion. She honored Bum Phillip and put him in the ring of honor. I want to say that that particular game, they were playing the Colts, if I'm not mistaken.

And everybody in Houston got pissed off because it's like, well, he won those names in Houston. And I was like, well, yeah, but y'all didn't want a thing to do with Houston. When they left, you said good riddance to Bud Adams when he decided to move to Tennessee. So we are claiming bum Phillips. So it was, you know, kind of good to, you know, not feel like an orphan anymore to feel like, yes, there's a team that I can say that I'm associated with. But now it's the Colts. Well, we'll get you a JT jersey. And next time you get invited to Nashville or Houston, we'll just have you wear that same sweatshirt there.

And once you get up into that luxury box, just pull that thing off and give the great reveal and let them know your two colors. now. I need Alan with a run the damn ball hat on now. Yeah, there we go. Perfect. Thanks for joining us here on the Colts squad show. Lock us in for our midweek show every Wednesday at 9 o'clock. But don't forget, we are your place for live game recaps following each and every Colts game this season. We'll be back with you on Sunday to recap that division opener in Nashville and hope to be with you shortly after the Colts Titans goes final right here on the Lockdown Network. Until then, keep it locked on Zach and Jake every day on Lockdown Colts. Check out our other awesome team and squad shows for more. more NFL insight on the locked on platform as well. And be sure to follow at Lockdown Colts on socials.

Check out our other great Lockdown Colts content on YouTube, TikTok. And we will see you next time right here on the squad show.