Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - COLTS SQUAD SHOW: Colts win THRILLER over Broncos | Indianapolis Colts-Denver Broncos postgame recap

Episode Date: September 15, 2025

The Colts found a way to shock the Denver Broncos 29-28 in a Week 2 thriller! We're talking all about their heart-stopping win on the Squad Show, another strong Daniel Jones performance, some reservations about the shorthanded defense, studs & duds, and more! Find and follow Colts Squad Show and Locked On Colts on your favorite podcast platforms: 🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/podcasts/locked-on-colts/📺 https://youtube.com/@lockedoncoltsGive 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 code LOCKEDONNFL to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup.GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.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 to the Colts Squad Show. I'm your host, Derek Schultz, and hey, playing for the 60-yard field goal, technically worked. And I'm Zach Hicks. And look, the cardiac cults are making me lose my voice before the end of the night. We'll see how long it lasts on this show. And I'm Alan Pinkett, former Euler. At least somebody from Notre Dame can say they won today. Colts Nation rise up.

It's the Colts 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 Squajo starts now. Welcome to the Colts Squad Show, and thanks as always for making us your first listen to the day here on the Locked-on Colts Network. What a game. I'm your host, Derek Shultz.

I've been to sports soccer in Indianapolis for many years, current sports columnist with the Indianapolis Business Journal. I'm joined by Nerdame Legend and former. Houston Oilers running back, Alan Pinkin and you every dayers know Zach Hicks from locked on Colts. Jake, Jake Arthur is in Lucas Oil Stadium, undoubtedly in a celebratory locker room right now, getting some postgame interviews for his content. And hopefully he will be able to join us today, but I'm not so sure because we are going right after kickoff, sorry, right after final gun, I should say, after the Colts thrilling 29, 28 win over the Denver Broncos. We'll talk all about it here on the Lockdown Colts squad show. What a win.

for the Colts, what it means. Another strong performance from Daniel Jones in this offense, I guess outside of the Red Zone. We'll get into that. Defensively short-handed, and it was not the prettiest encore for Lou Anorumo's unit. Studs and duds and just

soaking, basking in the glow, I guess, of a Colts win. Two and O guys for the first time since 2009. And Zach, just that feels significant to me. Yes, style points, and we're going to nitpick and we'll have far more things to nitpick than we did after the week one performance against the dolphins. But at the end of the day, two and oh is two and oh. Yeah, just get wins early in the

season. We talked about it going into this weekend here where September, you know, according to Bill Belichick that it's like the extended preseason, well, these games still count even if it is the extended preseason. So it's nice to come away with victories in this early part of the season where you're still figuring yourself out as a team. So you could say whatever you want about this game with the Colts versus Broncos. Oh, they got bailed out by the penalty. Oh, you know, got lucky with their conservative play calling bailing out, had a couple penalties go their way on that last Broncos drive. But at the end of the day, a win is a win. It winning cures everything like Alan has been saying since late July. And right now, just stack

the wins. I don't care how it looked. You could win one nothing every year. I know it's not possible, but you could go out there and win one nothing. It doesn't matter. Stack your wins early and then do the soul searching that you have to do throughout the year while you're stacking those wins. So like you said, Derek, 2009 was the last time the Colts started two and no they went to the super bowl that year so maybe maybe you know no i'm just kidding but i will say to add proper context that i am nearly 30 years old living in my house with my wife i've been married to for five years in 2009 i was 12 years old i was trying to get through middle school i was struggling to find my classroom with all the how big the middle school was going through

lockers for the first time that is how long it has been since the colts have been to no so look We have all week and all year to talk about, you know, the process of things and, oh, you know, statistically things like this don't hold up over time and yada, yada, yada. But at the other day, right now, tonight, this team is 2 and O. They played a good, hard fought football game against a playoff team from last year, and they're able to come out on top. So I'm not going to sit here and argue the process in a post game show. I'm going to be excited. The goals are 2 and 0, and they deserve 2 and 0. They have fought hard through 2 weeks, and this is some good football we've seen from this team.

well 2 and 0 is a superlative so many teams split the first two games and i know as a player i don't know how many times i went 2 and o it may have been a couple but the confidence level you get from winning your first two games just carries over into the rest of the season now 2 and o won't mean anything if they end up losing the next 4 or 5 but right now right now that's confidence level is sky high. And with the talent level being pretty much the same across the league, that one thing, that one extra thing you need is confidence. And now the cult's habit. Yeah. And, you know, when you look at, like I said, there are things to nitpick here. But when you just like look at the box score and sometimes numbers don't tell the whole picture.

And Alan, I know you know that as a former player. But this offense generated 473 yards. It doesn't feel that way because they settled for. a lot of short field goals, but almost 500 yards of offense, Zach, against this defense against Denver, like this is, this is no slouch, this is no warm up game, this is no Miami, this is the real deal. Yeah, I think we are seeing through these two games, you know, maybe we don't have enough information to clearly say what we know Daniel Jones is going to be this year or what this Colts offense is going to be, but I think we can safely say while looking at what they've done through these couple, these first two weeks is, look, a quarterback that's very accurate.

in the short to intermediate game and has control over the offense is going to get this team a good amount of points and yards because the talent is so immense on offense and they have a play caller that can get guys open. So when you have a quarterback back there who again has full command of the offense, has a team that believes in him and he's accurate in that short to intermediate game. And then you're throwing the ball to Pierce, Pittman, Downs, Warren now, the missing piece that we've talked about all offseason looking like the missing piece. And then Shane Steig. Oh, by the way, Jonathan Taylor running for 160 yards as well in his redemption game against the Broncos. There is so much talent on this offense. And we are seeing what this

offense can do when you have an accurate quarterback who's confident getting the ball out and has command of the offense. So look, we'll get into the nitty gritty of Daniel Jones and what he's shown through two weeks. I do still think there are some limitations to this offense. But the floor I feel like is so high when you have these skill position players, you have this guy calling plays. And then you have a quarterback who, despite some physical limitations, again, he knows how to get that ball out. He knows where the ball has to go, and guys are getting open. So, yeah, I'm feeling great about where this offense is right now, and I think it's going to be in a good place by the end of the year. I'm ready to, I guess, give a pat on the back to Shane Seichen. I think what we are seeing

is that his system works. And Zach, you explained incredibly all the pieces that you need for it to work. And I think that his system is so good. And remember now, the Denver Broncos were the darlings of the national media. Every national pundit I know was talking about how great their defense was. and, you know, Sean Peyton being the coach. And I tell you, on offense, they systematically broke their ass down, you know, and they balanced it with run and pass.

And the one thing that you can say about this offense is they finish the job because they're going to score some kind of way, whether it be three points or a touchdown. They're going to score. And, yeah, I know that they missed on fourth down, you know, but, you know, let's praise them for going for it on fourth down. They've got that confidence level now where they know that if they make that fork down, they're going to add some points to the board. So he might be Shane Stike, it might be your early coach of the year.

Yeah, and one thing we have to say too about this offense is they have, what, only two drives this year now where they haven't scored points. And on those two drives, they got past the 50 and just didn't convert on fourth and short. And guys were open on the fourth downs. It was just, you know, a slight off with the timing. So even on the drives where they have been shut out from points, they're still moving the ball. Like, this is a hyper-efficient offense that is moving the ball at will. The running game hasn't been the most successful, but they keep grinding it out on the ground until they pop that big one like Jonathan Taylor did.

One of the best individual running plays I've seen in a while from anyone. Like, that was such an incredible play from your superstar player. but yeah this offense just keeps moving forward very few backwards plays and when they get those backwards plays immediately afterwards they're able to move that ball forward again and get into you know the ability to turn first and 15 into second and two second and three has been fantastic for this team this year so look again it's it's two it's just two games at this point but i'm loving what i'm seeing on this offense like there are things we're going to nitpick on this show don't get me wrong like i have issues with the offense but

But for what they've done through two weeks, like you said, Derek, nearly 500 yards against, what, a consensus, top five defense and football. I mean, and they went after Pat Sertan constantly today, constantly. Something that we would say going into the game, do not do, do not go after Pat Sartan whatsoever. They were targeting him left and right. And I know he was a little bit banged up early in the game, but even early in the game before the injury, they were still going after him. So, yeah, I think this Colts offense has such a good floor. they move the ball forward they avoid negative plays the offensive line has been fantastic and pass pro outside of a couple blitz pickups which every o line is going to struggle with so

yeah i think that the offense is in a really good place going forward yeah i think they're maximizing what they have right allan where you look at it we talked about the fact that well the receiver room doesn't have a game breaker well you look around at the box score right here uh four catches for tyler warren four for alec pearson he had a couple of big third down conversions uh six for Josh Downs, four for Pittman. 80 Mitchell contributed with two as well. Hell, Moe, Ali Cox got one. I think this is, we knew kind of going in that if Shane Steichen was going to do this with Daniel Jones, the Colts were going to have to just maximize what they are. And so far, through two weeks, they've been doing that. Well, he spread the ball out between seven

receivers. So you can't identify who is the top receiver? You know, who is the guy that the defense is going to double because all of them are good and they all complement each other. And I want to say one more thing in regards to the running game, a lot of coaches sometimes or play callers don't have the discipline to stick with the run because you'll get three, four, five yards. And if you stick with it, eventually one is going to pop. And it was amazing on the broadcast. They were talking about you know the importance of the running game and you know with j t you know he'll if he gets the right crease he'll bust it sure enough he busted one for 68 right after the the announcer on the telecast said it so you know i think you you have to have belief in that running game that you got it you can't just

put it on the shelf you got to stick with the number of runs you want to put in because eventually one is going to break yeah and derrick you said the the cold storm have any game breakers on offense when it comes to their skill position players, which I completely agree. Like Jonathan Taylor is a game breaker, but you mean like in the receiving game. They don't have any game breakers. But I think they have situational game breakers. Like when it comes to third and under six, Josh Downs is a game breaker because who's covering him from the slot? Tyler Warren on early down plays, he is a game breaker because you can use him in so many ways and sneak him out. And then he has the ability to turn a two-yard catch into a 15-yard game. Like he did yet again

turning the ball up field on a play action pass to the flats. Michael Pittman Jr. is a gamebreaker over the middle of the field. And we don't even have to say what Alec Pierce is a game breaker at. We know what Alec Pierce is a complete game breaker at. So to your point, Derek, like they don't have this Jamar Chase, Justin Jefferson guy. But with the skill position players, they do have, they have game breakers for every situation. So they can be in first and 10. And you know, Warren and Pittman Jr. are your game breakers.

When you get to, you know, again, just a random shot play, we know howling Pierce is your game breaker. When it gets to third downs, our game breakers are Josh Downs and even Tyler Warren there too. And Shane Steichen knows how to get guys open too. He's a great play caller. He is. Again, we can get into the conservativeness of that last drive. I'm sure we have a lot to talk about.

But Brian Large, I mean, how many guys are scheming up an offense that generates this many open looks against the Denver Broncos, a team that just shuts down everybody with a great pass rush, great interior defensive line, and a really good secondary. the Colts had them reeling for the entirety of this game. So, yeah, they don't have that superstar player or anything like that, but they have a good coach who knows how to get guys open and so many complimentary players. And as Chas is saying here, Warren's a superstar.

I can't go that Warren's a superstar yet, but, oh, man, Tyler Warren was the missing piece of this offense. I know I said it after week one. I was like, look, guys, we're underselling how good a game he had. And he comes out here and has yet another really good game. He, they have a lot of good things. on offense. It's a fun offense. He looks like he's been in the league 10 years, Alan. I mean, he looks like he's been there forever. And the most impressive play to me that entire game

is when they line Tyler Warren in the backfield and they snuck him out. And, you know, the defense didn't see him. Next thing, you know, he catches a pass and goes for 41 yards. So, you know, big ups to Shane Steichen for, you know, putting him in a spot where the defense was going to have a hard time locating him. And good job by. Daniel Jones getting the ball to him right away to let him be the runner, an athlete that he is. So can't say enough about Tyler Warren. But again, that goes back to play calling and putting together a formation that can ultimately stump the defense. You know, you would think that most of the time when you see Tyler Warren on the other side of the field,

you're going to have eyes on them. But you put them in the backfield and you're thinking, okay, well, maybe they'll just use them as a lead blocker and he slips out and catches a pass to me that was the best play of the game oh man that full yeah i know the full back play from him where they squeaked him through the line to run a corner route a corner route from the full back position that was an insane play call one of the best play calls from shane stock i'm excited to talk about that play this week because that was truly one of my favorite play calls i've seen in a long time like i saw right when warren caught that i was like he was a fullback oh man that was such a great play design

Yeah, stiking in his bag, as you said on X earlier this afternoon. We'll keep talking about the 29-28 Colts win. But for you folks that had been waiting for the other shoe to drop when it came to Daniel Jones after last week, sorry, if anything, he doubled down on that performance against Miami. We'll talk about another big showing from Dimes. All right, next on the Colts Squad Show when we return. This portion of the locked-on Colts Squad.

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As they go to 2 and 0 with a 29, 28 victory alongside Alan Pinkett and Zach Hicks. I'm Derek Schultz. Guys, let's talk about Danny Dimes. I mean, are we going to have to start calling him that? Apparently all his teammates call him Danny Dimes. Dimes did a great job throwing some dimes out there, 23 of 34, 316 yards. I saw from our friend Mike Chappell, Zach, that it's only the second time. in his career that he's had back-to-back 300-yard games.

And you have to actually go all the way back to, I think, his rookie season at the very end of the year, which you're assuming you have to go back to look at the context of those games, I guess. But this is not something that's normal from Daniel Jones to be throwing for 300 yards. Also had a rush TD. I wanted to point out to one plan.

I understand that you and Jake will get into the film and you guys know that far better than I do. And Alan, of course, you play. You know that far better than I do. I'm very much a noob when it comes to that. But one of the plays that impressed me the most was a pass that he never completed and maybe didn't even have much of a chance to complete.

I think it was in the third quarter, and Jones just uncorks a ball. They're at midfield to 80 Mitchell. It didn't feel like it had much of a chance. But the fact that Shane Stuyken entrust him to make that throw and Jones himself trust himself to just kind of make that throw,

to me that shows that, hey, maybe things really are going to be different for him this year than in New York. And maybe, you know, that very low ceiling that we talk about, which I don't want to say is like the highest ceiling in the world, but maybe it's a little bit higher, just because if Jones is confident and if he's feeling himself with the underneath stuff and the intermediary stuff, and we've seen him on cork a couple of long balls this year

that have worked. He had a long one to Alec Pierce again in this game. Maybe that's going to be the game change or the difference maker for Daniel Jones in this, quote unquote, rebirth with a new team. Yeah, I will say, I mean, 100% prior to the year, I was not high on Daniel Jones. And he has surpassed a lot of my expectations. and I have really come around on what he is doing with this Colts team. And I did mention some limitations that I still have with him in this offense,

but I want to preface all this by saying he's playing some really good football. Like, I do not want to slight him in any way. Like, he is playing some really good football. He is commanding this offense. And the way that the offense is designed, he's operating it at a very high level. There were some nitpicks here and there. There were a couple times where he should have got the ball out hot and he didn't. The fourth down, they didn't convert.

still i think he should have laid that one out for for jonathan taylor on the wheel route against the defensive end but again if we're going to just nitpick we can do that with any quarterback at the end of the day he is moving this offense up and down the field they've crossed the 50 every single possession this season i don't think any other team the NFL has done that and they have they have touchdowns on all or they have scores on all but two possessions on the year so he is commanding this offense in a lot of ways and whatever Shane stuyken is telling him to do he's doing it at a high level. So I do not want to take any of this away from him. When it comes to some of the limitations, I think there are, though. I think when you get him on the move and you get him

out of the pocket, we have seen that there's just nothing that's really being created there. And I think that's the difference being the high, high level quarterbacks and the next tier of guys who are kind of more of, this has become a negative word for some reason, but like the system quarterbacks, it's not a negative thing to be a system quarterback. He's operating the system at a really high level. I just think that's what separates you from like the Josh Shalans and Lamar Jackson's. And then my other kind of concern here will bleed into our red zone offense talk where what we're seeing from Jones is, again, when guys are open and the play call is drawn

up well, he is delivering some big, big time throws. But we haven't seen many tight window throws. And there will be some times this year where Shane Steikin's not on top of whatever the defense is doing. And there will be some more tight window throws where he has to rip a ball over the middle into a really tight zone instead of a tight man coverage window. And we haven't really seen that. this year because that and that's kind of why they are struggling in the red zone is he's not

you know there are some throws there where it's like this maybe has a 40% chance of being completed in the red zone but you need your quarterback to step into those and drive those into those tight windows because all windows are tight in the red zone so i want to see him maybe be a little bit more aggressive and have a little bit more arm arrogance no turnovers is great through two games but i think it can plague you at times like in the red zone where it's like look sometimes you got take some risk as a quarterback, but overall, again, overall, he's staying on process with this offense. He is moving the ball forward almost at all times. Two sacks through two games. When has Daniel Jones ever done that? That's an indictment on mostly the Giants and a little bit on

him because quarterbacks always share some blame there. But for the most part, it's on the Giants at this point because look, he is getting the ball out of his hands really well. They're moving the ball effectively. He is hitting the big plays when they are there. The big throw to Alec Pierce, the big throws to Tyler Warren. Like when they are getting those chances to hit down the field, he is hitting them. So, yeah, he might not have the armed talent of Josh Allen. He might not have the creativity of Mahomes or Lamar Jackson. That might limit the ceiling a little bit.

But I think we, you know, I think just through two games, I am being a lot more optimistic about what his ceiling could be because right now he is looking closer to that Alex Smith Chiefs level that we talked about in the offseason, that Jimmy Garoppolo, San Francisco 49ers. and those were really good football teams. Like, people think that is a negative thing, but those are really good football teams, and those quarterbacks were operating so well in those offenses.

So if we're saying that he could maybe be like those now after two games, that's a great compliment for Daniel Jones. And I think he's doing a lot of things great right now. He is feeling he is just on a heater right now in this offense. And I think we can all see why Shane Steichen picked him because he just has full control of the offense right now. Well, you can't make plays. until you get away from the Giants, just as Sequin Barclan.

Right. Anyway, you know, you look at the stats, and sometimes stats are accurate, and sometimes stats will be, will lie. But 23 or 34 for 316 yards, the stats say he did good. And then the average pass or average gain was like nine, nine yards, you know, so it makes you think he's dinkin and dunking. But he does take shots over the top. And that's so important.

And I think Shane Steichen does a good job with the timing of those throws going over the top because that's the one that puts the defensive coordinators in the meeting room for an extra 15 minutes because they can't just say, oh, we'll do this bend, but don't break. They're not going to go over the top because they will go over the top. And I was extremely impressed with the catch that Alec Pierce made because dude was all over him. He was mugging him. You know, he would have been arrested in New York for as much as that D.B. was on him, and he still made the catch. But the throw was excellent. And, you know, anytime you can throw the ball past A.D. Mitchell, you probably got a good arm.

But beyond that, there were some subtle things that I noticed that, you know, impressed me about Daniel Jones. His ball placement. There may have been one play where it ended up being incomplete to Pittman. going across the middle, that the ball was just a little bit low. But other than that, ball placement was excellent. He puts the ball in a place where the receiver can not have to stutter steps or adjust themselves. They can catch it and run. They can catch it and make a move.

And then some other subtle things that Daniel Jones did that just shows me, he's a vet, maybe just a little slide to the right or slide to the left so he can. make sure he can make that throw and be accurate with it, you know, instead of being a statue in the background. And then the last thing I'll say is body language tells me a lot from a quarterback. And when you see Daniel Jones, he, he just resonates calmness. And I think that calmness is like a, it's like a, I guess, a quiet aggressiveness that he has, that he, he, he passes on to the entire offense, and that is, I'm going to get the ball to you, do your job and get some extra yards. That calmness, when you can be calm and not super hyped up when

you're out there on the field, if you can be calm and just execute, you're going to have a lot more success. And right now, that calmness he has, I think, rubs off on that entire offense that he's going to make the play. Therefore, me as the receiver, I need to make the play to you know keep this thing going yeah and one big thing i want to give danio jones credit for because again maybe it doesn't sound like giving enough credit because again i want to put it out there he's playing great football but so much of analysis like on tv and you know highlight real analysis is what quarterbacks are doing post snap you know post snap like running around the back field like a chicken with their head cut off and making defenders and doing these really pretty things but quarterbacking is one

with what they do pre-snap with what they recognize pre-snap with what they recognize pre-snap with what they recognize where to attack pre-snap, and Daniel Jones right now is winning pre-snap. That is the most effective thing he is doing. I saw it when I watched the film of last week's game where everything that he's doing is so methodical pre-snap in terms of I'm recognizing what coverage is coming. I know who I need to go to. And he's not really looking off of many guys because he's identifying who he needs to go through quickly right when the ball is snapped.

And maybe he's staring down his guy, but that's the guy who's going to be open. You know, like we saw on on the corner route to Tyler Warren against Pat Sertan. Why would anyone ever throw that ball to Pat Sertan, right? But he saw that he had his tight end against a corner running that corner route and he knew it was going to be man coverage with no help coming over the top because it was going to be single high. So what does he do? He throws the ball up and behind and gives Warren a chance to go up and get that ball. He is winning pre-snap and he's a smart quarterback.

You can tell just from these first two games how smart of a quarterback he is. So again, maybe it's not the Josh Allen. an arm where he's throwing it off his back foot and throwing it 70 yards down the field on a dime. But when you're able to win pre-snap, you're able to keep that ball moving forward. And when you have, again, the play caller that the Colts have and you have the skill position players that they have, that's good enough to be effective in this league. So Daniel Jones is playing really good football. And I'm excited watching him right now because of what he's doing pre-snap and how quick he is deciphering where he needs to get that ball out. And that's what you traded the

traits for, right? That's why the Colts made the decision that they made because they felt confident that even though Jones might not have had the traits and the, you know, athletic abilities that the backup quarterback and Anthony Richardson has, they felt confident that he could do this, not only the pre-snap stuff, but just taking command it and being comfortable in the offense, Alan, which is what you've pointed out. I mean, I have forgotten that he's only been with this team this off season because he looks like he's been here for five or six years with the way that he's out there commanding the offense. Well, he is making system quarterback

a positive connotation. He is playing well within himself under control. And that's the biggest thing to me. He's under control. Nothing is above him, it seems like. The intellect level he has

with this offense of knowing where to go all the time. And look, a guy like Brock Purdy took somebody to the Super Bowl, being a system quarterback. So I think playing within this system and being decisive in the system is benefiting Daniel Jones. Yeah, like, again, system quarterback gets such a negative rap where it's like, look, there are

three unicorns in the NFL, two or three true unicorn quarterbacks who are going to be first ballot Hall of Famers that are like these absolute superstar, like perfect players and every, I mean, they have their bad games, but you know, your true difference makers. after that the next best thing you want is a system quarterback that knows your system like the back of his hand and can diagnose things pre and post snaps so again we go way too hard on system quarterback being negative if the system's working then system's great like what's the problem with being a system quarterback if you're performing like you have a mastery of that system we'll change his name from we'll change his name from danny dimes to daddy wins yeah yeah yeah If you're winning games, who cares of your assistant quarterback? I don't care. At this point, yeah, you just take them where you get them, right? The Colts got the win, and that's what matters.

But there was definitely some bad mixed in with the good. Not only some bad, but some, huh, mixed in with the good. We're going to hit all of that with studs and duds when we come back on the Colts squad show. This portion of the Colt Squad show brought you by BetterHelp. We all turn to some funny places for advice, your barista, your barber, maybe even a random stranger or somewhere in the bathroom, but not everyone is the right one when it comes to getting real support. That's why BetterHelp is here with over 30,000 licensed therapists and more than 10 years of experience. BetterHelp helps you find your right match, somebody clinically trained and credential to guide you through life challenges. It's not that your friends can't be a great support system or your family as well.

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Our listeners to the Locked On Colts Squad show get 10% off their first month at BetterHelp.com slash locked on. That's BetterHelp, H-E-L-P-com slash locked-on. 10% off your first month, betterhelp.com slash locked on. And we're back on the Colts squad show recapping a 2928 victory for the good guys over the Broncos as the Colts moved to 2-0

for the first time since 2009 alongside Zach Hicks, who you every dayers know from the Locked on Colts duo along with Jake Arthur, who's currently preoccupied at Lupus Oil Stadium right now. And Alan Pinkett who left Notre Dame as the all-time leading Russia in fighting Irish history and had a great NFL career with the Houston Oilers.

I'm Derek Schultz. Stutts and Duds is what we're essentially going to do with segment three moving forward with this show. And while I do want to do some individuals, like, when you think Studs and Dudge, you think, oh, we're going to talk players like, hey, you know, Jonathan Taylor was really good. And, hey, you know, Zavon Howard wasn't so good. I actually wanted to start with a Dudd, which ended up working out. But really, it kind of goes back to, Zach, there's this thing called process and results. And bad process can yield a good result, whereas good process could lead a bad result.

Some of it is just kind of luck-based. I have no idea what Shane Stuyka was doing at the end of that game. This is a man who goes for forked down all the time. He is a very aggressive play caller, which I love. I think it's a great attribute to be an aggressive play caller. I think 2025 success in the NFL relies on being aggressive. but the Colts got the ball at the 4243 yard line of Denver and they started acting like they had this in the back.

I mean, they might as well have taken a knee three times. I don't care how good Jonathan Taylor is you're running into a stat. I think the Broncos had 19. I know that's illegal. It felt like they had 19 guys in the box, just ready to go. And of course, Spencer Schrader misses the field goal. They get the, you know,

the penalties similar to harking back to the 03 Monday night throwler against Tampa Bay, right, where the Colts got another chance at it for the game winning kick, Shrader thankfully nailed, but I just, I hated it. Don't get me wrong. I wanted to see the Colts win. I don't like when bad process yields a good result. And I hope that Shane Stike and rethinks that next time because I think it was a problem with him on past teams too, where he would suddenly get conservative and play for long

Matt Gay field goals that Matt Gay would miss. Yeah, I will put one, I guess one thing of good for him, even though, again, it would have been bad. But this year, again, kicking in a dome, bigger leg kicker than what they had last year in Matt Gay, and kickers can control the usage of their footballs before the week starts, and so they can actually pre-prepulls. So kickers statistically should be better this year than they've ever been. Again, it's still a kicker.

You guys know I'll never defend a kicker ever in my life, even the one who kicks our game-winning kick. But I'm with you, Derek. I think you needed one more first down before you got into that mode. I'm fine with settling for a high-40s kick. I'm fine with a low-40s. Even if you're settling for a low-50s kick in a dome, fine. You know, fine, but settling for a 60s kick when the guy's career long was in the 50s, yeah, that's insane.

That's complete insanity. I'm happy the Colts got the win on that, but they certainly didn't deserve it with that one play right there is what I mean. Like they didn't deserve to come out on top with that moment because they did fudge that moment. And honestly, I don't even hate running the ball there the three times. But personally, I'm a big fan of, look, you've got to get the box open there. You cannot have them stacking nine guys in the box. So I would prefer my chances with a seven-man stack box with Taylor and my five linemen, maybe one tight end in there, and spreading out everyone else.

So they have to at least keep corners over top of those guys on the outside. So make the box a little bit lighter because we saw Taylor can make three guys miss. He's not going to make five guys miss the box. So even if you want to run the ball like on that third down, like I would have just had Jones Taylor and the five linemen, maybe one tight end. and then I would have run the ball up the gut on that if you wanted to there to get to center that ball a little bit but yeah I think everything was kind of wrong and how they operated there and they got failed out from the

from the penalty but you know that's that's life man we got we got screwed in that Browns game a couple years ago so this is this is our carmic payback here that we get but yeah I don't even hate running it three times just this Colts team is not really built for like that power run game They're more of a zone running team. So lining up with your jumbo set and trying to push this Broncos D line off the ball there that has Zach Allen and DJ Jones and Nick Bonito. Like it's a really good defensive line.

It's really hard to get them off the ball when they have nine guys in the box all shooting forward. Like I would have wanted maybe one play action pass in there or just spreading it and running up the middle. I know we can all say this from sitting at our couch and analyzing the game from afar. But I don't hate running the clock out. It's just one more first down, please. One more first down. Get me into like the 30s type range. Not at the 45.

Don't start taking a kneel down basically like you said, Derek. Well, bottom line is he has ultimate confidence in his kicker because his kicker has never missed. Even though he's been here a short time, he's never missed. And yes, he did go conservative. I thought so too. But you got to remember, I come from a world where 48 yards was a long field goal. Dudes nowadays, there's nothing for him to hit from 60. And I thought it was odd to, you know, set yourself up for a 60-yard field goal.

But it happened today. What, Cowboys kick the 64-yard? It did. So I don't know what's happening with these kickers. If it's a new technique or, Zach, I guess you talked about, they can use their own balls. Yeah. And can prep the balls. So that can, you know, not.

to say that the ball is doctored, but it can be weathered to a point where it can go a little bit farther, you know, but it, I don't think that Shane Sikin did anything necessarily wrong. Yes, I would have preferred to see him be more aggressive, but he just has that confidence in his kicker. And until dude misses a kick, he's going to, he's going to go and be conservative. And next thing, you know, we're going to have a kicker. that kicks it from 70. Yeah. We did in the preseason.

We did in the preseason, right? So once he gets a chance here in the regular season, he'll break it. But yeah, overall, like, I think this was one of the best game, Shane Steckons ever called. It's just if he would have gone for 10 more yards at the end of the game, then I think, like, everything, like, everything, like, I keep seeing comments here on the side where it's like, Shane Steckon's play calling needs to be, like, as bad and wasn't that great. And I'm like, look, he had one little bad moment of play calling that, like, if the guy drains the kick, maybe we're not talking as much. about it, but because he missed it, and then they got the beneficial penalty there at the end. Then we are talking about it. But, yeah, it was a fantastic game from Shane Steichen.

It's just, like you said, Derek, he does get a little conservative when he counts, like, kickers as way too automatic. He's not like me who's just so negative kickers where I count them as the opposite of automatic. So I'm like, I need to make this a 20-yard kick so he can't miss it where Shane Steikin's like, he'll make it from 60. I think there's a middle ground that we can get there. Like, let's get to like high 40s. and feel confident there. And by the way, I don't think that penalty existed when I played leverage on the kicker.

And because of that, some of your snappers, they play for like 20 years. If they can snap, you know, they end up becoming multimillionaires because the only thing they got to do is snap. But how important are they when it comes to snapping that ball? So, like I say, I come from a different world where I didn't even know what that penalty was. I didn't know that penalty existed. And I try to keep up with the rules. Yeah, I mean, it is, and it's interesting that in two different thrilling Colts games this century,

that that sort of penalty has played a factor in giving basically a molligan, which is what the Colts and Shane Stuyken got because all the conversation, Zach, would have been about if Schrader missed and there was no penalty. to oh my god psych and blew it and the whole deal but again like the process throughout the game was good even if the result ended up being bad and that's kind of where you're going to hear me talk about that I'm a big process guy even when the results don't matter but I'll take the result I'll take the two and oh let's talk some other studs and duds um I think we you know Tyler Warren is an obvious stud to me it was hard for me to find anybody defensively that earned stud status but I wanted to see Zach if if you had one I didn't know if we'd have to wait for

the film review to find one. It felt like Nick Cross did okay, but I was like, yeah, the secondary, the guys were running open and I, you know, I don't know without rewatching it. Yeah, my whole, my whole positives on defense come down just one position group, and that is the safety play. I thought the safety play was really good on the back end. Cross coming in the box made several big time plays, run stuff, tackles for a loss, a couple past breakups as well. I thought Nick Cross was easily the best defender in this game for the Colts. And then Cameron Biden, getting that interception, getting his hands under that football. That is a playmaker making a play there for the Colts. I thought those guys were

great. But if we wanted to get to Duds, kind of everyone else on the defense, the outside cornerback play, look, I know people want to get on Louana Rumo for this. And I did kind of pump the brakes on Anna Rimo a little bit this week because I had a feeling Trivarious Ward is going to be out. Xavier Howard coming off of a gap year, plus a player who wasn't good enough to make the Vikings roster when they were getting like street corners to come in and start for them this year it was going to be a rough time at outside corner in this game so like you're not just going from an adequate playing corner to a bad corner you're going from charvarius ward your big money free agent top 10 cornerback in football to gap year xavian howard being your number one and

blackman being your number two that's like like coming into camp these guys were not even in your top four or five corners they weren't on the team coming into camp you know so it was going to be a tough time at corner. And for a defense where they are more about stopping the past than stopping the run, you know, the run defense is going to be rough this year regardless, I think. Like, it's not going to be the best run defense of football, but where they're going to make their money is being a good pass defense. Now when you take Charverius Ward out of the equation, who just locks down one side of the field and you can roll coverage to the other side of the field, not having him just changes everything there. So they tried to roll coverage away from Xavier

Howard early in the game, and he just could not cover his guy. he's just not that guy anymore so then they had to go back more to like coverage cells and sitting back and then the communication got bad in the red zone so it was just kind of tough but i don't really know if there was any true answers because then you even look at the defensive line missing layout to latu you're one probably difference maker at the edge room when it comes to rushing the pastor not having him as well meant the edge rush was kind of stagnant all game against two really good offensive tackles so i just i don't know if there was really going to be much way to find success on defense in this game, like outside of going like the Gus Bradley route and just

sitting back and cover four all game and just hoping for mistakes. But they try to be aggressive with it. They try to change some things up. And it turned into, you know, a lot of points there from the Broncos. But I will say this, you know, if we want to be positive about the defense, they stepped up late, you know, getting, getting that field goal that obviously they missed the field goal, but forcing that field goal to still give the offense a chance. And then obviously getting that interception Cameron Biden and making that big time play. Nick Cross getting them off the field a couple times with some plays like they stepped up late when they needed to and they were able to get the wins. So tough, tough game for the defense against Sean Payton, who when he smells blood in the water,

he knows where he's going to attack. So when he smelled that blood in the water of, hey, they're rolling coverage away from Xavier and Howard and trusting him on an island against whoever he's covering, I know I can attack him. And oh my gosh, they attacked him in that first half of the game. It just was be tough so i guess you can say the whole like the dud is basically the whole defense but the studs i do do think those two safeties played some excellent football uh nick cross i think is really coming together as like one of the better strong safeties in the league and cameron bindum two picks through two games this is what you paid him to be and he's having fun out there too he energized the whole crowd with that celebration like i think that really did turn a lot of things around when he got that

interception well i guess if we have to name a dud um we would have to name zavian high Howard, I actually felt sorry for him. Me too. Felt bad because there were four penalties in a row. And I was thinking, are the refs picking on him? Did he say something to the ref? Because sometimes, you know, you can say stuff to the refs. Guys do talk to the refs.

And there are a few key words that make you cross the line with the ref. And I was thinking, did he cross that line? But when you watched it in slow motion, then, yeah, he committed those penalties. Hell, yeah, he was holding on to the guy. Hell yeah, he was restricting the guy from trying to make the play. But overall, I felt good about the defense because one of the things I look at when I look at stats is, you know, who's the leading tackler? You had three guys that had seven tackles. But I also look at the distribution of tackles.

you know, what position group is getting the most tackles? If I see safeties, getting the, being a leading tackler, I'm like, oh, you guys aren't worth a damn when it comes to stopping the run. It's the safeties getting a bunch of tackles. But what was interesting were the leading tacklers that, you know, three guys had seven tackles, and it was on all three levels of the defense where those seven tackles came from. So that makes me think, that's a pretty solid performance from your,

defense when your defensive lineman can have seven tackles. You expect your linebacker to have multiple tackles. But you don't want your safeties having more tackles than your linebackers because if that's happening, then you're not stuffing the run. And I think by virtue of the fact that there were 118 rushing yards, defense did its job against the run. Yeah. And in the second half, they did hold the points down a little bit more.

Like they had that early touchdown to start the second half and then three points the rest of the way after that. So again, not perfect. Like we're not going to say, actually, no, it wasn't three points. They held them to a field goal late in the game, but they didn't allow any points after that first touchdown to start the second half. So, yeah, it could have been much worse. I think they rebounded well late in the second half and I'm excited to look back on the film. But Derek, I will say, just you and I who have been covering this team for a while, does the Xavier Howard game today remind you of that Rockieson performance a couple years ago against the Broncos? against the Broncos.

Maybe it's just something with the Colts Corners versus the Broncos where you're going to get four or five penalties in the game against them. Yeah, and you know what? I think it was Shane Steichen's gripe, I think some fans were like, see, he's mad because these are Phantom Falls. I think Stuyken was mad because he felt like the Broncos

were grabby too and they weren't flagging that. I think he knew deep down. I mean, Alan, you said it on replay. I mean, these were all penalties. Howard was holding on for dear life. you know it's like when you take you know i'm a dad i know Alan you are too you take your eight year old out on the lake on an inner tube and they're holding on you're you're in the boat speed up that that's what Howard looked like out there like he's just hanging on to the inner tube and trying

not to fall into the wake um so that was a that was a real struggle there but i thought before scoring drives they looked awful all the other drives the defense looked okay you know especially all things considered you know adding up the context of the cornerback room and and all of those other things. But I think the defensive performance felt worse because the four touchdown drives for the Broncos were so easy. Yeah. Get Cam Ward back next week.

Charverius Ward back. I'm already looking ahead to Titans. Get Charvarius Ward back next week. And we'll feel a lot better about this defense. They will, like, the processes will look a little bit better. But I will say regarding those penalties, because we had a couple comments talking about them being phantom calls. The ones in the end zone were clear penalties on him.

The third down one was probably the closest because that was more of a sell job by the receiver than anything by the corner. But he wasn't in good position. So I understand why they threw the flag there. He was in bad position. The receiver didn't even make an effort for the ball. So it was kind of a weak call. And that's the one that Stuyken really blew up on. But, you know, it's part of football.

There are some bad penalties. And, like, you have to survive the bad penalties. And you usually don't see them pile up like that. But the ones in the end zone were clear penalties on him. So it's hard to really argue the ones that were in the end. end zone. Well, the Emmys are tonight. So maybe some people were trying to, you know, put their spot in there. And, you know, that is part of it. If you want to get a penalty called, you do have to act a little bit. I remember one holding call on, on Raymond, where the defensive end, I mean,

he really went over and above to say, hey, this guy's holding me. Yelling to the rep is not enough. I've got to be very boisterous and, you know, I've got to throw my hands up in there like I'm Fred Sanford having a heart attack type of thing, you know, and I'm dating you there. You probably don't know who Fred Sanford is, Zach. But, you know, guys have to sell it sometimes in order to get the call.

But, you know, I could talk about the officiating. I know that's not one of our topics tonight, but it was it was questionable and it it's just i think the cults are fortunate that in the end it worked out for him because early in the game it sort of looked like are you guys really trying to help Denver win this game Alan uh you need to save this for a different show maybe but donovan heinish last night should have flailed right on that fourth down play against Texas A&M and i think because he didn't even though that was the most blatant hold in the world and ended up throwing the flag.

But I digress. The last time the Colts went 2 and O, they started 14 and O and went all the way to the Super Bowl. And while I don't know if we're ready to say that yet, they put themselves in an awesome spot to start the season. We're going to tell you why when we wrap up the Colts Squad Show next.

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Upside app now using our limited promo time promo code touchdown for a limited time 25 cent per gallon bonus. That's promo code touchdown. Offers vary by user and location. Go to upside.com for terms and conditions. Back for a final time on the locked on Colts squad show alongside Alan Pinkin and Zach Hicks. I'm Derek Schultz. Thanks so much for joining us as the Colts knockoff Denver to go to 2 and 0 at 29, 28. And it's hard for me to believe that it's been since 2009. It wasn't that long ago.

And, Zach, you weren't really, you were still rooting for Washington, I think, at that time. But you were used to the Colts going through September and October undefeated. They did so in 2005. They started 7 or 8 in 0 in 0.06. I think I started 8 in 0 in 0 in 0.7. Oh, 8, they had the Peyton Manning Bursasack meat issue, and they started three and four that year, but they ripped off nine straight after that.

And then, of course, 2009, they started 14-0 before everybody remembers the laydown game against the Jets. But this is a happy show. The Colts just won. Happy thoughts, happy memories. We were not going to get into that. But you look at how the schedule sets up here, and now you go at Nashville.

And this is a really weird thing to say, but I think Colts fans might actually agree with me here. I actually sometimes feel more comfortable with them playing in Nashville, historically than I have playing them in Indianapolis. I don't know why I feel that way. The Colts for a long time just owned the Titans regardless of where they played. But a real big opportunity here, Zach, to go to three and O.

And you don't want to destroy the goodwill of this start by losing to, let's face it, the Titans team is just not very good and probably not going to be very good. I think we can say that with some confidence, even early in this season. Not writing them off, but it would be a surprise if they ended up being a good football team. And yet that's your week three game. So, you know, you start off protecting your home field and now it's jumping into the division. Yeah, the best time to face a rookie quarterback is early in his career, very early in his season because he's still trying to get his footing. Like, we look at what what Cam Ward did today against the Rams.

And it wasn't a great overall performance. Like, there is still a little bit too much mustard on some of his passes. And I think he's a tick slow on some of his reads. But we saw some of the special playmaking ability that he has when he was able to rip that that touchdown pass. on the scramble drill for to bring the game within like a point or something like that in the second quarter. So we can see the ability that he has and he might get there with some time this year. But to face him in his third career game, that's the time where you want to get some pressure after him. You want to really mix and match your coverages.

And hopefully you have our ward back to our various ward back for this upcoming game. So you can really be as dynamic as you want to be. But yeah, this is a good opportunity for this Colts team. They're riding a high against an O&2 Titans team that is still trying to find their path, find their footing, and a rookie quarterback that's still trying to figure out what he's doing. So this is a time to really just establish yourself as, hey, we want to be a team that can make the playoffs this year.

And a team that makes the playoffs this year is not going to lose to the Titans this week. So I think it's a good statement game for them, especially their first game against the AFC South. They haven't, you know, I don't think they've boasted a winning record in the AFC South in now. I think they usually go three and three or two and four in the AFC South. So this is a good opportunity for them to get out, one and O in the AFC South. continue that division lead here in September and just keep riding this hot street.

So we talked about the, I guess, chronology of how you want to win. You want to win your first game. You want to win your home games. You want to win your division games. All right. So now they go on the road. And to me, you're not really a good team unless you can take that show on the road and win. in a way game, win a game on the road.

And I personally, I personally preferred going on the road to play than playing at home. At home, you get everybody patting you on the back and everybody's cheering for you. It's hard to win on the road because now when you're on offense, you got all the fans, if they're smart, you got all the fans yelling. You can't hear what the hell the quarterback is saying, you know, and you're an unfamiliar, in an unfamiliar setting. you don't know that maybe at 1255 the sun comes into the stadium at this certain angle that if you try to catch a pass at that angle the sun's going to be in your eye that kind of

stuff but to truly become a great or very good football team you have to win on the road and it's a different concentration level and you almost have to be a bully when you go It's like going into somebody's house and laying on the couch and putting your foot, your feet on the couch with your shoes on. It's that type of mentality you've got to take on the road because the odds are always against you. But you've got to come in with a confidence level and concentration level because the opponent doesn't matter. It really doesn't matter. It's, again, level of execution. but that level of execution is harder because the surroundings aren't as familiar as they

were in these first two games. But if you are up to the challenge to be this great football team, then you will relish the opportunity to go on the road and play. Yeah, and a little bit of maybe back to the drawing board a bit for Lou Anerumo, who I know was not exactly playing with a stack deck this afternoon, but trying to make some defensive tweaks. But I think even for Shane Stuyken, Zach, where now you have two games where teams can see, okay, so this is what they're going to try to do with Daniel Jones and trying to, you know,

the chess match within the chess match, if you will, when it comes to, you know, always trying to add those tweaks in and keep opponents on their heels on both sides of the ball. Yeah, I think it's a big time for the Colts because we just saw what they did against the Broncos, one of the best defenses of football, one of the best past defenses in football. Now they get another big test coming up this week where the Tennessee Titans, what is their one calling car, the one thing they could lean on the last two years, it's their past defense.

They have Jeffrey Simmons up front. They have a really good secondary, and they have one of those Ravens Tree defensive coaches who knows what he's doing back there, a coach that Shane Stuyken has traditionally struggled with calling pass plays. Now, we saw him get over that demon in week one against the Miami Dolphins. We saw him beat up on a good pass defense in week two. Now we go into week three, and it's like how long can this sustain?

Because again, we talk about this Colts offense, the tenets of this Colts offense are move forward at all times, keep the ball as positive as possible, and move forward. And I think that this is going to be put to the test in some of these matchups. Some teams are going to go more man coverage. Some teams are going to go more blitz-heavy to try to get you into those negative plays early. So how do the Colts throw their counter punches when those teams come at them? But I think when we're looking at, you know, this Tennessee Titans defense,

I think it's a great matchup for Stuyken, great matchup for the Colts. And I'm excited to see what they do here on this weekend, this weekend's game. Well, if I'm the Titans, you know, and I've watched the Colts these past two games, I'm looking at the fact that we can do a bend but don't break because as soon as they get in the red zone, they're going to collapse. And if we can just hold them to field goals, then we're going to be fine. But that strategy also requires that when you have the football, you score touchdowns. I think that, you know, the cults are going to cure those red zone woes.

And a lot of it is just being able to run the ball when you get in the red zone. That opens up everything when you can run the ball. But that is right now the little Achilles heel that the Colts face right now because they can move that ball up and down the field. But when you get in the red zone, you know, now those are the money downs. Those are the money plays. How can they improve there? And, you know, I like them throwing the swing pass to JT.

I like them, you know, trying to isolate on the tight end. But they need to be able to run the ball. But again, if I'm a defense, I'm like, okay, we'll give up some stats. You know, we'll let you, you know, make it look like you threw for 400 yards. But how many touchdowns did you score against us? Because when you get in the red zone, we know. how to tighten up because the feel is compressed, you don't have those windows, those same windows and the windows that you do have are very, very small.

Yeah, and I think that's a great point there, Alan, because when we look at the cold struggles in the red zone this year, it's mostly been in the low red when they're in that 10 to 20 range rather than inside the 10, because once they get inside the 10, they just play bully ball and they punch their way in with these quarterback sneaks and run the ball in there. But I think they have been getting a little bit too cute in terms of throwing the football in the red zone. We got to get to the run game a little bit more. I think this is when you really pull out your traps and your wham runs

and make the defense aggressively attack downhill, use their momentum against them. And as long as you can get within the five yard line, this Colts team has been money within the five yard line scoring touchdowns. So their goal right now should be, let's not try to throw the ball in from the 15. Let's make our goal punching our way down within the five. Because once we get in there, we have Taylor, we have Warren,

and we have Daniel Jones as QB sneaking. That's, I think, one big way to sure up this red zone issue that they have right now. But that's a great point, Alan. I think that's one thing to really watch going forward is how much better can they get in the red zone? Because it's awesome to be an offense that can put up 500 plus yards on a weekend and get points on every drive. But if you're getting three on every drive, like let's say you get in the red zone five straight times and you kick a field goal all five times. That's 15 points. Another team only has to get to the red zone twice.

And if they score touchdowns and then get a two-point conversion, they're tied right there. So it makes your margin of error so much, like, slimmer there if you are not able to punch it in for six. So I want to see them run the ball a little bit more. I want to see them get within that five. And then you can get into your bully ball that you want to play. Guys, I just don't want to see them attempt anything less than 60-yard field goals the rest of the way. That's just how I feel about it right now. Touchdowns or 60-yard field goals, that's it.

No in-between. Thanks so much for joining us on the Colt Squad Show. we are your place for live game recap, just like today. We really appreciate everybody tuning in following each and every Colts game this season. We're going to do the same exact thing. We'll have a Wednesday squad show, 2, 9 o'clock, so set your watches and calendars. Thank you for making Locked-on Colts squad show, your first listen of the day. The NFL season is finally here.

So for your second listen, get a double dose of the locked-on NFL podcast. Tower of the Madman Roland gives you a shot of espresso to start your football day while Tony Wiggins takes you into the barbershop for the smoothest breakdowns to end the day. find Locked-on NFL on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts. We'll be back with you on Wednesday to recap the injury report and first practice of the week and get you set for the AFC South Opener against Tennessee. But until then, follow us on socials and at Locked-on Colts. Check out our other great Locked-on Colts content as well on YouTube and TikTok.

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