Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - COLTS SQUAD SHOW: HEARTBREAK in Seattle | Colts, Philip Rivers Lose at the Buzzer to the Seahawks

Episode Date: December 15, 2025

The banged-up Colts and 44-year old Philip Rivers took back the lead in the final minute but ultimately fell short in an 18-16 defeat to the Seahawks. The Squad gets together to recap the Colts' fourth straight loss, how the end-game situation was handled by Shane Steichen, how Uncle Phil performed in his first NFL game in five years, and what another setback means for Indianapolis moving forward. Find and follow Locked On Colts on your favorite podcast platforms: 🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/podcasts/locked-on-colts/ 📺YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLdpxJspi1hMh5HL7ExpWOQ Give the squad a follow on X/Twitter @Schultz975, @JakeArthurNFL, @ZachHicks2, @allenpinkett, @LockedOnColts, and @ColtsOn_SI, as well on TikTok and Instagram! Locked On NFL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft & More 🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/podcasts/locked-on-nfl/ Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Rocket MoneyTake control of your finances and cancel your unwanted subscriptions with Rocket Money.Go to https://RocketMoney.com/LOCKEDONtoday.Aura FramesFor a limited time, save on the perfect gift by visiting https://AuraFrames.com to get $35 off Aura’s best-selling Carver Mat frames - named #1 by Wirecutter - by using promo code LOCKEDON at checkout.FanDuelIf you want to be right in the middle of the action this season, visit FanDuel.com and place your NFL livebets all season long.PrizePicksDownload the PrizePicks app today and use codeLOCKEDONNFL to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup.Click Here: https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONNFLGametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFLfor $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Welcome into the Colts Squad Show. I'm your host, Derek Shultz, and an improbable win becomes a heartbreaking loss. And I'm Zach Hicks, and that was an ugly, ugly kickers duel, so you know it was torture for me to watch. I'm Alan Pinkett, former Houston Oiler, and I guess all I can say is close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. Holtz 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 Colch Squajo starts now.

Thanks so much for joining us on the Locked-on Colts Network. Today's episode brought you by Fanduel. If you want to be right in the middle of the action this season, visit Fanduel.com and place your NFL live bets all season long. I'm Derek Schultz, Indie Sports Talker, sports columnist for the Indianapolis Business Journal. I'm joined by Nerd. legend and former NFL running back Alan Pinkett and you every dayers, of course, know Zach Hicks from the wildly popular locked on Colts duo, Jake Arthur still with the new addition to the family. We wish him well and congratulate him once again. He'll return here shortly. Look, guys, the Colts executed a strong game plan today in Seattle. They led for 95%

of that game, which just concluded, but ultimately fell short in a heartbreaking loss of the Seahawks on tonight's show. We're going to discuss the end of game decision making from Shane Steichen and Lou Anerumo because a lot of you seem to have a real problem with it. And we'll talk about whether we share some of those same gripes or not. Philip Rivers' performance off the couch after five years. Of course, we're going to dive into that as well. And just the game plan overall, which lent to a lot of cold success today. You know, Ben, but don't break defensively. And the offense, you know, wasn't the 2007 Patriots or anything. But for the most part, I think was pretty effective with the cards that they

were dealt. We'll play week 15 studs and duds some good and some bad from that loss in Seattle and what this result ultimately means going forward. I understand that, and there are people in the YouTube comments right now that are this way, no moral victories and failure and fire everybody, I thought there was an awful lot to like about this performance. I understand that it's a loss. I understand it's a critical loss. I understand that the Colts have essentially reached the point of no return right now

this season, especially with the way that you look at how Jacksonville and Houston are playing. That said, Zach, we had talked about this at 8 and 2. this could have, and very well should have, been a who cares game. This could have been a game that we got here on the lockdown Colts squad show afterwards and we said, yeah, it would have been nice to win in Seattle, but whatever, who cares? You know, the Colts are 11 and 4 right now and everything's fine. But instead, the Colts needed this win because they blew it against Jacksonville.

They blew it against Houston. They blew a double-digit lead to the worst chiefs team in 10 years. And so they were in a position where they had to get a result today and ultimately they didn't get it. I think that's where the frustration comes in more so than how this game played out as a heavy, heavy underdog against a good Seattle team. Yeah, I mean, look, in the context of the whole season, the context of the Chris Ballard era, in the context of even the Shane Stuyken era, like, it's another frustrating loss, right?

Another one score loss to a playoff caliber team where the Colts just didn't get it done at the end of the day. So if you want to be mad about those other losses still, fine. You know, you want to be lost, you want to be mad about everything in the Chris Ballard era. Sure, 100%. you know like be mad about all that stuff but man today if you run the simulation on this game between these two teams with who was out for both these teams in this game if you run it a thousand times the colts lose 999 times like they just didn't have the better quarterback they didn't have

the better offense they're down all their top players on both sides well they lost that both their offensive tackles the only way the colds had a chance to win this game was dragging it down to be the ugliest game of all time and that's why we're not. what this was. You know, so I had my disagreements for sure with, with Shane Steichen and with what he did at the end of the game. We'll talk about that for sure. I have big time disagree with how they handled the very end of the game, but there was, look, if they would have won this game, it would have been one of the biggest upsets in NFL history with how the point spread was and what the Colts were going into this game with. And I put my respect out there to the players.

You know, I had a show earlier this week where I did a solo episode, and the whole last segment of the show was me saying, look, I've seen this team lay down and quit constantly in the Chris Ballard era from Frank Reich being the head coach, Jeff Saturday being the head coach, Shane Steichen being the head coach late last season. I saw this team quit constantly down the stretch, whether it's against good teams, bad teams, whatever. And respect to the players for showing up in this game and fighting their butts off for the entire day. They came up short just because I don't know, like, I really don't know what you're going to do in this game. Like, I'm sorry, If you blitz on that final drive against San Darnold,

you're leaving Mackay Blackman and Jonathan Edwards on an island versus Jackson Smith and Jigba and Rashid Shahit. You sit back in zone coverage. You are not going to get any pressure because they don't have their top pass rusher. I don't know what they're doing to get off the field there on that final drive with the Seattle Seahawks. And when it comes to the offense, like, again, their quarterback couldn't throw the ball, but the options were a quarterback who can fix the protections,

get the ball out quick, and at least win the field position battle and not turn it over. until, I guess, desperation at the end, or a rookie quarterback who's going against the best defense in football and probably going to turn the ball over a ton and take a lot of sacks. There was no good options here, guys. They're not winning a game down the stretch here. The fact that they came out here and took this to the end of the game, I think, is respectable. So, yeah, I'm not even going to call moral victory for this

because we should still be mad about the last three weeks. You know, the last three weeks are where they really blew it. But the second that Daniel Jones went down, the season was over. Like, come on. Like, there's a reason why they, Philip, I mean, Philip Rivers is in here just to make it commendable. It's not actually to win games because they're not going to win gains down the stretch. So, yeah, if you want to be mad, look, guys, I'm not trying to take away your anger here. Be mad, you know, especially the last couple weeks for sure.

The way that the, the way that the Chiefs game ended, the way that the Texans game went, be mad about those games for sure. But the rest of these games are just, I mean, they're down to the retirement home quarterback. What are you expecting here? They took this to the wire against a top-tier team in the league. You know, again, it's not a moral victory, but like I was entertained all day, and that's probably the best I can probably do the rest of the way with this team because they just don't have a chance.

Well, I guess I'll agree that there are no moral victories, and a loss hurts no matter how you lose. But, you know, the reality of the matter is, yeah, Seattle was a much stronger team in terms of town. because of all the injuries, but I really have a lot of admiration for how the Colts play this game and really respect the fight that they put into it with, you know, a mass unit basically out there. And, you know, it's just one of those that's unfortunate because, look, they were 13 and a half point underdogs. And Vegas usually doesn't make them a mistake.

fake. And it was just a matter of time before Seattle was going to explode on them. But, you know, give credit to the defense because the defense did a good job of holding them. And I'm sorry, in today's NFL, if you hold a team to 18 points, you should win that game. All right. So the Colts need to figure out a way to get in the end zone more. But I think that their effort today was great. You know, I was questioning the Seattle coach calling time us near the end of the game. And then, you know, I was able to put my football head on and realize, oh, he's going to let them go ahead and kick the field goal so he can have some time left. And, you know, he's got all the advantages with 40-some seconds left. It's like you said, Zach, if they blitz, then you leave me one-on-one, you know, arguably.

two of the best receivers in the league, or at least one of the best in the league. If you sit back and play zone, then I'll take all the underneath stuff, and we've got enough time to get down the field. So I think smart on Seattle's part, but I just come away from this one, really respecting the fight that the players put into this. And, you know, left me wondering, can this Cinderella story really? happen but it's it's going to be tough from here on out but if they continue to fight and scratch and claw the way they did today they could pull out one or two more games yeah and you know

i think because our next segment we're going to talk about the overall game plan and how rivers played and all that so i don't think this like just goes over that or anything but my biggest disagreement with how the colts handled this game was i actually like the run on third and seven i know kill me for it. I like the run on third and seven to get to fourth and three, but only if you're going to go for it on the fourth and three that the Colts had. Because with that time, it was fourth and three with 47 seconds left. Seahawks had no timeouts left. And this is not like a hindsight thing.

You guys could ask my wife all you want. She heard me screaming at the TV. Please do not kick it here. Please do not kick it. Go for it. Go for it. Because if you go for it, you control your own destiny the rest of the way. You know, if you get it, great.

You'd kneel it out and you kick the longfield goal. And that's the end of the game. If you don't get it, games over there. But that's how you control your own destiny, right? You are putting the ball in your team's hand to win it. If you kick it and make it there, like the Colts did, you're giving, again, the top offense 40 seconds to get that, to get to, again, this is the kicker of the year, basically, Myers or whatever,

been one of the best kickers in football this year. You're giving them just too much time to get back into that position to beat you. So if I had any big complaint, it really was how they handled that. And to a larger degree, this has been a Shane's second problem for a while. We've seen this in the past, like at the end of halves, the end of games as well. The Denver game in particular earlier this year, he handled it kind of similarly. We're just putting too much faith in your defense. And again, a defense that didn't have Buckner, didn't have Soss Gardner, didn't have Moody Ward.

They're not stopping Seattle's defense there, especially when Groupie kicks it short, and they only have to go like 25 yards, like 30 yards to get in the field goal range. You know, so I don't even blame the defense for giving up that field goal because I just don't know how they were going to prevent that when you gave them that much time. So if I had any big complaint in this game, because I think that did everything really well. Again, they dragged this game down to an ugly, ugly game. They won the field position battle,

and they got some points on the board when they had no business getting points on the board in this one. But I just don't like taking the ball out of your own control there with that fourth and three with 47 seconds left, especially if Seattle burned all their timeouts before the third down, and then you run it forward and kick it, and there's only like five seconds left after that, then I think that's fine.

But because there was 47 seconds left on that fourth and three, I just don't like the decision to kick it there. A groupie made a great kick, credit to him for making that great kick and having that great moment there. But I don't like taking, I don't like putting everything onto a kicker and your defense when you can take the control of the outcome in your own hands there.

Yeah, and look, the Denver game, I think the Denver game is different in the sense that they move the ball against Denver all day. and they were moving the ball on that drive against Denver before Stuyken pulled up the e-break, essentially, and said, we're playing for the 60-yard field goal here. And that's where I had a problem. The Colts could have marched right in and scored a touchdown.

Screw the field goal. I mean, the way that they were moving the ball, they could have just landed the TKO blow right there. They had Denver on the ropes. I think this was just a completely different situation because, you know, like you said, Zach, you were trying to muddle it together here. And look, I'm usually somebody that leans aggressive.

I hate playing safe. I hate playing for field goals. do. But, but I'll defend it just because I think the chances of converting that, you know, you still have to get the fourth and three. You can go for the fourth and three and not get it. You still have to get it. And then you have to make the field goal, right? So you still have to do those two things in order for that process to ultimately get the result that you wanted. And I thought it was probably about the same shot. I mean, I don't have the analytics in front of me of the, the probability of getting the fourth and goal and then, fourth and goal, fourth down. And then,

of course running it all the way down and then kicking a game expiring field goal and making it to me has almost the same of probability as making the 60 yard field goal and then preventing them with no timeouts from getting all the way down the field. I think the kickoff return really put them in a tough spot and just the fact that, you know, you mentioned the corner situation and all of that. Look, I know it's the result that we don't want. I just think it was damned if you do, damned if you don't. Because you guys all know in the YouTube comments what you'd be saying if Philip Rivers, they go for it on fourth down with Stuyken and Philip Rivers takes a sack on that play you guys would go ballistic if that ended up happening yeah also i mean to the defense's credit a little bit

more here and i know for some reason the comments are going crazy on the defense i mean gosh the defense held the seahawks to 18 points today we're going crazy yeah they still forced a 56 yard kick i mean seattle just happens to have the best kicker in football right now and he's just on an insane heater um he was like the special teams player of the week or the month i think for this last month so yeah i mean they still held him to a long kick you know and it's just like i made it like i don't They held them to 49 yards rushing also. So defense came to play. Look, the defense is not going to shut out an opponent without Buckner, Ward, and Soss Gardner.

They weren't doing that with those three guys. To hold, again, Seattle's averaging 30 points a game this year. They are killing teams. And just whatever way you play against them, you play man coverage and Jigba's beating you over the top, you play zone coverage, they're running all over you. Like, they are killing teens left and right with their offense. and Luan Rumo somehow got this defense with, I mean, they were putting Mackay Blackman and Jonathan Edwards out there at corner.

Like, they held them to 18 points today, guys. Like, we can be upset about that final drive. But again, with 40 seconds left, and Smith and Jigba and Rashid Shaheed on the outside and Sam Darnold, I don't think they're preventing 30 yards. Like, that's a tough thing to do, you know? And they did it. They tried to blitz.

They didn't work. They tried a zone coverage. It didn't work. What's the solution now, guys? Like, I thought the defense played well. It just wasn't enough, you know, and unfortunately, that's part of it in the NFL. And the last thing I'll say about this is since I've played, the way teams handle time management with the clock is so much more efficient than back when I played. I know that if I was on an Euler team that had 47 seconds left, we say games over, you know, forget it.

You know, it'd take us five seconds just to take a knee. You know, so just the way teams manage these final few seconds, whether it be at the end of the half or at the end of the game, I'm so impressed just throughout the league how teams now can make the most out of the least amount of time. So, you know, kudos to the Colts for what they did when they got down within two minutes. And really got to take my hat off to Seattle. battle, you know, being bold enough to take those timeouts and save themselves some time and

know that they had the firepower and the people to take it back down the field with just 42 seconds left. The most fascinating individual in the NFL was probably Philip Rivers this Sunday. And I mean from a national standpoint, we're going to discuss whether uncle slash grandpa Phil's performance met our expectations next when the cold squad show returns. This portion of the cold squad show brought you by our friends in Aura Frames. The holidays are officially here, which means gift hunting season is on. And if you want something meaningful, personal and guaranteed to get a reaction,

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Terms and conditions apply. And we're back on the Lockdown Colt Squad Show. Thanks so much for joining us following a gut-wrenching 18 to 16. lost to Seattle. Obviously some good things, some bad things. We'll get into studs and duds coming up here in the third segment of the show. But guys, all eyes were on Phil Rivers, 44 years old. What was it, 1800 days? I think since he had played. I mean, I'm just laughing when I read out the stats because it's just so ridiculous and so, you know, unheard of for something like this to happen. Yeah, in a strange way, I think if you asked most Colts fans this week when they

found out that they were signing Philip Rivers, they were like, yeah, I mean, that makes sense that you give him a call. There was just something about that 20-20 season and the connection that he made with fans here. And we all know that his connection with Shane Stuyken, obviously that, you know, that was the Frank Reich era. So that predates all that. That was his days with the Chargers

and those two talk every week. And he runs the same offense for his high school team. It was a neat story. That didn't mean that it wasn't going to be a horror show, but Zaghan, I didn't think it was a horror show at all. I think he saw some of the elite accuracy that you always saw with Philip Rivers. The problem is, is that,

man, that ball was taking an awful long time to get over there. And it's almost shocking that he didn't throw an interception just because a couple of the bang, bang plays. I thought some tough catches from Michael Pittman Jr. as well. But I think all in all, if I'm grading him based on my expectations, I thought he did a decent job today considering what my baseline was. What about for you? I mean, he did what he could with the limitations that are on him at this point. He's a 44-year-old dad.

the arm is shot to hell. Like, it is, it is not an NFL arm at all right now. Honestly, I don't think it's much worse than the other options they have on the quarterbacks, probably better than their emergency quarterback's arm on the roster, which, you know, if you guys were to see him throw even in college, like, yeah, probably better than that arm. But, yeah, it's just, it's not a, it was not an NFL caliber arm out there today. But, again, their only game plan that they came into this game, and, you know, you really

can't say it because it just seems so ugly to say it. but like it was ball control, win the field position battle, and have a quarterback that can move the ball forward. You know, like they've avoided a lot of negative plays today in the passing game. I think they're only two sacks or one where he slipped on the logo at midfield, which those logos are very slippery. Honestly, we've seen quarterbacks fall in them all the time. And the other one where snap was over his head.

Those were the only like negative passing plays they really had. And that was their only way to, they really thought they could win this game against Seattle. Again, they almost did. So it's, it is. what it is like if you have riley leonard out there you probably get a more diverse passing attack you push the ball down the field but you get a lot of sacks with that you get a lot of turnovers with that that's probably what's going to happen with a rookie quarterback out there against a very good defense with rivers you mitigate the sacks you mitigate the turnovers you move the ball forward

but you're probably not scoring many points so you're kind of damned if you do damned if you don't here with their quarterback decision i thought rivers did the best he could with the limitations but Yeah, he's extremely limited at this point. The arm is just not there. It's honestly like Matt Ryan levels arm, I think, out there. Maybe worse, honestly. Like, because Matt Ryan, at least before the leg injury could push it a little bit that year, but I don't know if Rivers can get this ball 20 yards down the field at this.

I guess at the end there, he got it like 20 yards, right? On the interception, he got it like 20 yards down the field. He made a nice throw to Alec Pierce down the sideline. Now the back shoulder, I don't know why you're playing anything but the back shoulder on a vertical ball with Philip Rivers arm out there, but a really nice throw that got them into the field goal range. So yeah, I don't think Phil was like horrendous. Like gosh, I mean, if you see a six-round rookie quarterback out there or an undrafted rookie quarterback out there, like look at what Brasmer did against this defense a couple weeks ago where he had like, what,

five interceptions and like two pick sixes in that game against Seattle. Like that was the alternative. So yeah, he helped them win their field position battle. He got them some points. It's probably the best you can expect out of your retirement home emergency quarterback at this point in the year. I mean, again, any team that's down to their third or fourth quarterback is going to look like this, guys. I mean, honestly, this is better than most teams look down to their third quarterback because, again, look what Max Rosbert looked like against this exact same defense a couple weeks ago. Look what Brady Cook looked like against the Jaguars today until garbage time. Like, they would throw a lot of interceptions and they make a lot of mistakes.

Rivers at least kept them in this game. It's ugly football. It's not what you want to see, but I don't you're not going to get much better when you're down your top two quarterbacks in the NFL well uh me personally I was totally impressed by his performance just because he's been gone for so long hell sometimes if you're injured and you and you're out for a week uh it takes you a while to get acclimated again just with the speed of the game he's been out five years you know so to to be able to make some plays After being out five years, I want to give them, you know, 25 out of boys, you know, because just the, and then the physicality part, he got hit a few times and he popped right back up.

You know, I think he's too proud to let anybody know that they hurt him because, you know, he does like to talk his smack, which I don't mind. But he doesn't cuss anybody, so you can't really get mad at him, you know, because he's just talking all his noise. but I was totally impressed with what he did because of the amount of time he's been out. And I'll tell you this, he's going to be better next week, you know, because now he's had a chance to be in there at full speed, see another team at full speed, to where now he can go ahead and change a few things.

He may not have to change his anticipation much. But, I mean, I think about that play that he overthrew Josh Downs, you know, because he thought he just let the ball go early. Oh, if he had just waited just a second, you know, we might be talking about a different outcome with this particular game. But after five years and coming to play this particular team and only lose by a field goal at the end, I think people should be encouraged. but what he did. Yeah, and one thing I do want to make point of before we get out of talking about Phil here is the Colts passing game the last, I mean, honestly since Pittsburgh has been allowing a ton of sacks, a lot of QB hits, a quarterback has just been getting dirty and muddy the last

few weeks, just, I mean, against good past defenses and good pass rushes, but the offensive line was struggling with, with blitz pickup. What do we see with Philip Rivers out there? Yes, the ball was out in like 2.2 seconds, 2.25 seconds. So it is hard to get that pressure. But because of his work at the line of scrimmage, they were able to pick up a lot more of these blitzes, pick up a lot more of these pass rushes.

And even down two offensive tackles, I thought the past protection was pretty good for the most part. They only allowed, I think, two QB hits. And again, the two sacks were more so just rivers falling down and then the ball going over his head. So, again, that's the tradeoff you get with Rivers versus Riley Leonard. Leonard's going to take more sacks and he's out there. I mean, the safety he took last week was a dreadful play from him.

And that's just what happens when you have a rookie quarterback out there. When you have a player like Rivers, all the limitations you have with the arm and just the physicality, you make up for it with the mind and the ability to get the ball out and get the linemen where they need to be and picking up. Because again, we forget they have a second year center who's only what, 23 years old, 22 years old of the middle. Like it's easy to see that a lot of these like past protection issues the last couple weeks, even when Jones was out there was because they have a young center who's just not used to, the mug looks that he's seeing in the NFL. It's a lot of different this NFL.

Credit to Rivers for even being able to pick up a lot of these blitzes because blitzes now looks so much different than what they did five years ago when he was in the NFL even with the influence of Pat Narduzzi and Brian Flores around the league. So, you know, that's a trade-off you get with Rivers. I'm not going to say it was a good day from him, but it's commendable for what he is, you know, and I still think it's probably the best option for the Colts going forward. If he still wants to play after, I don't know. We'll see.

Well, I mean, who knows what he feels like tomorrow when he wakes up? Because at 44, I can't imagine the pain that he's going to wake up with tomorrow. But, yeah, it's still probably the cold's best option. It's not even a good one. But, like, again, ask any team around the league what their best option would be if they lost their top two quarterbacks. And they probably say, yeah, we probably call Phil too. Like, that's how it is. Zach, did they, in your opinion, you know, obviously they were handcuffed.

But did they choose to handcuff themselves even more? more than they needed to be if that makes sense you know they had to play it safe for the most part you know people are complaining about run run pass or you know draws and screen and things like that you know you kind of have to do some of that I understand but did they do in your opinion too much of it was there more out there that they they could have gained not really again I just I don't know what you're doing in this situation we can all complain about like oh get Riley Leonard out there but we saw what it looked like last week against Jacksonville a worse defense than this and it was very up and down very very up and down

for Riley Leonard and honestly with a week to prepare I think it probably would have been even worse for him against Seattle here so yeah they pick the lesser of two evils I guess again you get the volatility probably with a rookie quarterback with Leonard you could probably do more of your playbook but you're just not going to really get the type of offense that you want but if you think you can survive against a team like Seattle you've got to drag the game down to being like the ugliest game possible and rivers look a big part of why the defense didn't give up any touchdowns is because rivers and the colts offense got to around the 50 and then pin them inside the five inside the 10 over and over again no matter what defense you're going against it's hard

to drive 90 yards in the NFL that's why we're seeing so much more scoring this year in the NFL because teams are starting at the 35 starting at the 40 on a lot of these new kickoff rules so they just you know it's kind of the way that they wanted to approach this game and game was like we're going to drag it down to its ugliest form. Rely on the defense to get off the field when Seattle starts within their own 10. And that's going to be it. Do I agree with it? Would I rather gone with the rookie quarterback just to be like this volatile mess and just

see what you got? I don't know. Like it depends on what you're really trying to get out of these last four games of the season. I think Rivers probably gives you a slightly better chance to win. Well, Leonard probably ups the fun factor a little bit just because it's going to be a little bit more all over the place, but I don't think there's much a difference either way. I don't think they're winning these games regardless, guys. I'm not trying to be complete dumer here, but like,

look at what they, I mean, again, I have to keep saying this. No team in the NFL is winning down to their third quarterback. Like, we can argue second quarterback, but third quarterback, I mean, come on. Like, it's just, like, Riley Leonard was not drafted to play games this year. You know, like he was drafted to be everyone's best friend for four years and then go to another team for two years and then go be a coach of a high school. Like, that was what he was drafted to be. Like, he's not drafted of playing games. Like, there's no, there's no plan for QB3. And this was probably the best you possible you were going to get to lose by two with your QB3 out there, let alone the other injuries. I mean, come on, guys. Like, let's be mad about the games before this one. Every other

game, the rest of the way, like, it's, we're not winning them. Like, if you, if you want to be mad about Ballard and psychics, like, we're going to have, guys, we're going to have plenty of time to dissect all of that, okay, in these frozen months. that are coming up here ahead. I'm not bringing up this Seattle Seahawks game where they were a 13.5 point underdog that they lost late. I'm not bringing that game up

as my argument against Stike and about. I guess that's kind of my only point here, Alan. You all, and look, I did like the fact that they committed to running the football because to me, running the football is a mindset. It's not a strategy. You know, it's you trying to be the bully on the field and, you know, showing your physical

prowess. So I'm glad they made that decision to go ahead and run the ball. I guess they ran at a total of 30 times with JT running at 25. I mean, that is going to have to be a formula for winning. Now, they were running during the season, but to me it was more of a part of let's keep it balanced and everything. To me, they came out this game and said, no, we're going to punch you in the mouth. We're going to run the football. You try and stop us. And then we're going to mix in some paths. So they're going to need more of that, too, down the stretch. But like I said, I was happy that they realize that running the ball is actually something pretty good to do in a game. There were some good performances out in Seattle, and there were some bad, too, as there always are.

We're going to play studs and duds next when the cold squad show returns. This portion of the Colt Squad Show brought you by Fandul. NFL Sundays move fast, one big play, and suddenly everything feels different. That's what makes live betting with FanDuel so exciting. You're not just watching the game. You're reacting to it in real time. With FanDuel, you can place bets as the action unfolds. Every drive, every momentum swing, every highlight moment.

Live betting is the best when the game starts to shift and you guys can sense. And I think we saw, you know, even today, the context of today's game, with the way the Colts were able to slow it down, muck it up there in the first half, where they were a huge underdog. I think you could tell pretty early on maybe that the Colts weren't going to to win the game or be as close as they got, but certainly Seattle wasn't going to be able to cover the 13 and a half points. Live spreads and money lines adjusts instantly giving you the chance to play when the time is right for you. And hopefully you jumped in and took the Colts in that line.

Maybe you did so even before the game on Fandul. So if you want to be right in the middle of the action this season, visit Fandul.com and place your NFL live bets all season long. That's Fandul.com to place those NFL live bets all season long. Fan duel, the game moves fast and so can you. about halfway through this post game edition locked on colt squad show thanks so much for joining us colts fall again what is this now one two three four losses in a row i'm starting to lose unfortunately as they fall in seattle 18 to 16 time to play studs and duds and i i don't usually go down this road because i feel like we're usually leading like a cornerback a quarterback you know one of the real impact positions i i know punter isn't necessarily an impact position

but I think I saw six times in this game that the Colts had Seattle inside their own 20 yard line. You know, in order to play the field position game, that all sounds well and good. You have to have a punter that's able to execute that. I do remember one Sanchez ball kicking into the end zone, but for the most part, I thought he did a really nice job. I mean, just the Colts special teams in general, really outside of the kickoff coverage or the kickoff in general after taking that lead in the final minute. I thought did a nice job today.

And then how about, you know, Blake Groupie as well? Let's just, Zach, for you, let's just put them all in together. Kicker, punter, I don't want to individualize them, but I thought it was a good day for the Colts special teams overall. Yeah, I mean, Alan and I talked on Friday when we're previewing this game, that the biggest way to win as an upset in the NFL is winning the turnover battle by a large margin and winning on special teams all day long. And outside of Seattle's kicker, just being on this crazy heater and not missing a single kick,

I thought the Colts did win the special teams battle for most of the day. I thought they're punting game, like again, their ability to just pin them deep and forcing this really good Seattle offense to have to drive the length of the field over and over again was perfect for what the Colts needed to do to stay in this one. Groupie made his kicks and the kick coverage aside from that final kick, which is unfortunately the most important one in this darn game. I thought the kick coverage was very good. They forced two holding or blocking the back penalties, I think, on Seattle on returns in this

game that knocked them back like within the 20 yard line twice. So I thought the special teams did enough to win this. I just wish they would have got a turn over or two, and they probably win this game. The margin for error when you lose by two in the NFL is just like so many small details. You know, Josh Downs turning around a little bit earlier to catch that ball, converting on that third and seven somehow if Taylor runs for, like the margin for error is just so, so slim.

But yeah, I think the special team showed up, especially after a couple weeks where they didn't. Again, I don't want, this is going to sound so moral victory, but I think another stud was just the effort from the whole team today. And it's not just like, maybe it's a stud here because it's been a dud in years past, but they have quit so many times. I mean, the Giants game last year was an entire team quitting. The whole Jeff Saturday season, or last half of that season, was the entire team quitting. Even in times like last year and years before that, like we saw moments where they just laid down and quit. But today, it's all fire that I haven't seen from them in a lot of years like this.

I mean, think about how the Jacoia reset season ended, Derek, where I think Drew, Breeze had like a 92% completion percentage on a game and and they score 50 something when the Colts were still technically in the playoff race, you know, because they just quit down the stretch. So maybe I'm giving too much credit because they didn't do like the thing of quitting like they usually do. But like I thought from the first second of this game, the way they were defending the run on defense, just driving downhill and punishing these running backs. A couple hits they had on Sam Darnold in that first half too. Like they were really playing their butts off. I just, I wish it would have translated to a win.

at some point you're just out-coached and out-maned on both sides, and that's kind of what happened today. But I do think the players showed up and gave it their all, despite being kind of the lesser-talented team in this one. You know, one of the realizations of playing this sport is sometimes you're going to lose. I mean, the last team that went undefeated was in 1972, so he's just going to lose sometimes, and the guys on the other side of the ball are going to make plays because they're getting paid, too. And as a player, sometimes we've got to remind coaches of that. You know, coaches will be on you on the sidelines saying, you're not executing.

You're not executing. Like, damn, coach, that dude gets paid over there, too. He's going to make some plays. I'm going to make some, but, you know, they're going to make some plays, too. And a couple of the guys I wanted to put in the stud category, I think both linebackers for the Colts played a very good game. Zaire Franklin and Jermaine Pratt, both had 10 tackles. I thought that they did a great job just swarming the football.

I mean, they're not in there to really, you know, do a lot of pass coverage, but just support the effort. And I think Laatu Latu, to me, just had a different gear, especially early in the game. I know he ended up getting the only sack, but he just seemed like he was playing a lot faster this particular game. And I just just wish that that pressure that they got in the first half could have carried on in the second half. But, you know, Seattle did, like a good team does, made the adjustments they needed to make so they could have more explosive plays. But I think, you know, those two, those three, Zaire Franklin, Jermaine Pratt, and Leia Toulat, too, belong in the stud category for this particular game.

Yeah, getting to the duds, though, first duds is all these spam accounts in the, in the live. Yeah, sorry, I'm, I've got an itchy band finger here. Yeah, Derek's on top of it. But outside of that, I think a big dud, like, Latu did his thing in the first half and made some plays in the running game. And nice sack when he was blocked by a running back. He's really good at getting by running backs for sure. But, man, the pass rush is just, it's so bad. And look, no de Forrest Bulkner, for sure.

I get it, but layout Tulaatu is a 15th overall pick. Like, there needs to be more consistent pressure from him. They hit Donald a couple times on play action rollouts, but like if it was a standard dropback pass, there was nothing. Quipay is just nothing as a pass rusher right now. JT2 Maloa, I think was one of the few guys who I saw get pressure a couple times,

but he still doesn't know how to completely disengage from offensive linemen. Like he's getting some penetration, but he's not disengaging. I think by this time, like next year we'll see it there. But yeah, the pass rush is. just dreadful. The outside corners, I thought they had some decent moments. Mackay Blackman and Jonathan Edwards, a couple of potential passenger appearances that they got away with in this one. Thank you, Rashid, for not going for that football and just putting your hands up

instead of going for the ball to draw that penalty. But, you know, I think the corner play could be better overall. It's just, I'm not going to have super high expectations for those two guys out there. And then on offense, one thing I do want to talk about, and this happens to a lot of rookies but it's certainly something that's been marinating the last couple weeks but i think tyler warrens really hit that rookie wall the last few weeks yeah uh and given he came off a very very long college football schedule came right into nfl training camp because i think he played like 17 games last year right where he was getting every single ball there at penn state came into nfl training camp had to keep going carried that momentum early this season was getting a lot of targets

and we're seeing that wall these last couple weeks like he he's looked a lot slower the blocking has kind of regressed a little bit. There have been some 50-50 balls. He's not winning. It is the nature of playing as a rookie in the NFL. We saw this with Michael Pittman Jr. His rookie season. Alec Pierce, his rookie season.

Even Josh Downs to a degree in his rookie year, like all those guys hit those rookie walls and stagnated by the end of the year. But it does appear that Tyler Warren's kind of hitting that rookie wall. He looks kind of exhausted out there on Sundays. From what I've noticed the last couple weeks, like he is never like this top gear, like super fast, tight end. but the last few weeks in particular, he's looked a little bit gassed out there.

So hopefully, you know, he can just get through the final bits of this season, find another year just to finish this year, and then get over that rookie wall by having his first full offseason off in a couple years this upcoming off season. That rookie wall is a real thing. You know, it is because, you know, and you realize your first year when you're playing, and you've been conditioned to play 11 or 12 games. I guess the most you can play in college now is 14, maybe 15 games.

Well, what happens is your condition that way, and it's like, damn, I still got a month more to play. Right. And again, the rookie season in particular, you're coming from, he's coming off the playoff to working out for teams pre-draft. Yeah, there was no break. Right into training camp and then coming into the season. This is why it's called the rookie wall.

to every single play it's a it's a real thing and you just got to play your way through it and he'll be better next year for it because you know it's in your mind too that damn i still got another game to play i still got a month of this mess left you know so uh that that was sort of noticeable um but you know losing sort of makes you hit that wall too you know when when you start losing more, it's like, okay, I'm ready for the off-season. It's a horrible mindset, but these guys are people, too, you know? Like, you never want to openly admit, that's what it is, but it's kind of part of it. And that's how losing streaks go from two games to four games, go to five games, go to six.

I mean, look, they're realistically going to finish eight and nine this year. But, yeah, it is kind of how they compound a little bit in the NFL. Can I toss just one more? I don't know if he qualifies in the stud category, but it's not quite 2020. but I don't think Luke Tanuda had played a snap in an NFL game since 22. And maybe it's just because my eight-year-old kept going, hey, dad, who's six-seven, six-seven? And I'm like, oh, my gosh.

How about some flowers? Luke Tanuda, all right, he got in there. And the only reason I noticed him is because of the whole six-seven garbage. And I didn't notice him for any of the bad reasons. But, you know, what a tough situation to be put in. You're protecting for a 44-year-old in the toughest road environment in the league. And I think he did okay. I mean, Zach, you'll have a chance to look at the film and really see.

But, you know, just from what I saw, it seemed to do. And Jaywin Travis as well. I mean, that's the guy. You talk about a big three weeks for somebody. This is a huge finishing stretch for him this season to prove that, you know, he can be the heir apparent at that spot with Brayden Smith being done for the year and his contract being up after the season's over. Yeah, I'm curious to see what they do with tackle going forward because it looks like

Ryman might miss the rest of the season with that injury. It looked like a dislocated elbow. I'm not a doctor, so I'm not diagnosing him by any means. but I'm curious to see if they put our boy 6-7 Tanuda out there at left tackle the rest of the year or if they move Travis or Gonzalez out there and then have like Dalton Tucker come in at guard if Gonzalez has moved out to tackle the rest of the year. So I'm very curious to see what they do with that the rest of the year. But yeah, I think the two tackles played well, the two backup tackles.

Now, again, this is mitigated because the ball's out in 2.2 seconds with Philip Rivers. Like you don't have to block very well. So all you have to do is just jump set, get on your guy in a hurry, and then just hold it there for a second. look, for backup offensive tackles in the NFL, that's a hard task. As someone who is a huge, huge fan of offensive line play, and I watch offensive line play around the league, and I do the indie draft guide watching offensive line play, the drop off from a starter to a backup is probably outside of quarterback, it's probably the biggest drop off in the NFL is from offensive line starters to offensive line backups.

And for those guys to come in and not clearly get beaten by, again, a pass rush that gets a ton of sacks, the Seahawks pass rush, I think was a big. win for the Colts, especially with Jalen Travis, a guy that could potentially be a starter next season for a rookie to get out there and play some good football. I think that was a good thing. But yeah, I think the offensive line was fine today. Again, your game plan is run, run, pass, so you're not going to get these huge running lanes when the defense knows that your run, run passing. But I think they played fairly well. Got some points on the board, blocked well for Rivers. So yeah, it's just a disappointing loss, man, because I think they did a lot

of things fine today and they dragged this game down to the ugly game it needed to be to potentially pull off the upset they just didn't get it done at the end so um i mean if we again if we're calling does i still think stike and not going for on that fourth and three is probably a dud for me because i just i just want the control in my team's hand you know i don't i don't i know darry you said that you're fine with kicking it allan did you say which side you would be on with that one i was fine with him kicking it because i'm old school and i was thinking that with 42 seconds left they didn't have enough time to get back down the field until I saw them with the kickoff

and end up with it at the 37-yard line and then throw it for 28 yards when the very next play, it was like, uh-oh. Yeah, it's just, in the modern NFL now with the new kickoff rules, you're starting, like, it's a below average return if you only get to the 30, you know? Right.

And that's already within like 30, 40 yards of getting in field goal range. So, like, it's just so, it's so tough in the modern NFL to give the ball back to an opponent when you're not up by like when you're only up by one score you know even if it's only 40-something seconds left it's just difficult in that situation i like having the full control and you guys know me too i hate leaving it up to a kicker and leaving it to another team's skigger like i hate

when the kickers have to get involved uh but if i do have to get involved i only wanted it to be down on my kicker i don't want the other team's kicker to have to get involved either so i just wanted all that control in my team's hands but you guys can let us know in the comment section that's i think that's a good debate i've seen kind of people both sides on it with that one Yeah, you could talk me into either there, but I think if there was a situation we're playing for a 60-yard field goal made sense, this afternoon was that situation. I didn't think it made a lot of sense in the Denver game, but it ended up working out thanks to that penalty that ended up bailing them out.

Well, guys, the Colts fell two games behind Jacksonville and the division. Are we still even talking about division? I don't know mathematically, right? That's three, given the current tiebreaker. There are a game behind Houston now for the last wild card, and that's two with the tiebreaker. We'll talk about what this all means next on the Colts squad show. Back for a final time here on the Locked on Colts squad show alongside former NFLer Alan Pinkett and Locked on Colts host and film buff Zach Hicks.

I'm Derek Schultz. Thanks so much for joining us. So I guess I have to mention this just because technically you still have to, you know, when CBS or Fox or whichever outlet is having the game, they put that little graphic in the hunt, right? And the Colts are still in the hunt. So I feel like I have to mention it. But look, I think if you were still holding out hope that there was a chance

that the Colts could get back in the division race, I think that's officially gone now today with Jacksonville winning again. The Colts losing now are two games out, really three with the tiebreaker. And obviously you still get Jacksonville at home. But now even, you know, Houston keeps winning two. and it just looks like even the wild card is just eight and six for the most part in prior years, you'd feel pretty good about your chance of still getting in. And now, you know, God, Zach, even if they got to 10, I'm not so sure that they would get in.

And, you know, getting the 10 feels like a bridge too far right now for this team. But, you know, they did play well in Seattle. They do have a, you know, a home game against the Niners, Monday night football prime time. And I don't know, maybe the crowd could will them to a win. I'm reaching for positives here, but it's really tough to see anything other than this season staying off the rails as it is right now with this four-game losing skit and, you know,

a one-and-five mark here since that eight-and-two start. I really appreciate the comment section, putting all the playoffs, playoffs. You know, I love the doubt out there because it does feel like that, right? And I don't know. To me, basically, the second I saw the way that Jones's foot stepped last week against Jaguars, like playoffs were out of the question for me, I just, like, maybe they can squeeze a win out here

because they have two home games down the stretch, but, I mean, look, they're not making the playoffs. Like, if they bring the same fight they had today, maybe you can get a winner two down the stretch. But when you're down, I mean, again, you're down to your third quarterback. I have to keep repeating this on here, but it's such a steep hill to climb. I mean, quarterback is the most important position in all of sports.

It's the position that matters the most when it comes to winning and losing in any sport. You know, you can survive and, you know, if you're starting goalie goes down hockey, you can still get a couple wins here and there. If your ace pitcher goes down in baseball, you can still get, you know, four other pitchers in your rotation. You can get a win, you know, like, but when your quarterback goes down, that control so much of your offense is why the MVP only goes to quarterbacks.

It's the most important position in sports. So to being down like those guys, and honestly, I'm not even saying that the Colts wouldn't be in the same situation with Jones out there. It wasn't trending well. You know, they had lost, what, three of their four, three of their last four games with Jones out there, you know? So I'm not saying that this was trending in the perfect way there, but the second that he took that step and I saw the pop in his Achilles,

I mean, any hope of playoffs here is out the window. I think the bigger question, honestly, going forward, is just what this means for Stuyken and Ballard after this year. Because in a way, they kind of solidified themselves potentially coming back by trading next year's first rounder because you don't want to straddle a new head coach and a new GM with the lack of a first round pick. You know, so you almost just want to have them ride out

of another bad season and then you just cleanse the roster of everything. But like for like Ballard, it's been 10 years and they've made the playoffs twice, you know? And again, this would be the second time in those 10 years, or 9 years, 10 years, whatever it is, where they had like a 95 plus percent chance of baking the playoffs and didn't make it. You know, like that's hard to,

overcome and same with like same with stuyken like again they've been so close but just not there yet with stuyken it's like is this just a him thing or is it the quarterback there or what is it with stuyken like you know this is potentially going to be their third straight year of eight nine or nine and eight you know like of just being the same middle of the road team the jeffisher uh thing that we always laugh at but yeah i think the bigger question going forward is more so like what is the the future with all these guys because like look they're not making the playoffs like especially with all how hot all these teams are around, I mean, Jacksonville and Houston are red hot.

They look like two of the best teams in football. The Chargers keep squeaking out ugly wins. You know, they can't lose either. Like, they're not making the playoffs. Even if they were to win most of these games, I don't think they'd be making the playoffs. But, yeah, it's tough. It's tough.

We'll see what they do after the year. Trading the two first round picks, though, it's just aging so rough because I just don't know what you do after the year. Like, you probably need to make the change, but straddling the new GM and new head coach with no first round pick and then a roster of guys that they will probably keep for the future after that is difficult, you know, but you don't want to have a lame duck season. So it's like, I know I'm just kind of talking off top my head here, but like the Colts future

went so bleak the second that Jones took that step and the Achilles popped. Like it just changed so much in the future. We have these in all sports, you know, where one injury or one moment can change drastically the outlook of a franchise. I think the biggest one with the Pacers, right? Derek, well, multiple ones of the Pacers, actually, is the malice at the palace, changed the whole trajectory of the Pacers. You have the Paul George injury, changed the entire trajectory of the Pacers.

Heck, the Halliburton injury, right? They'd be competing for something real if it wasn't for him and all the injuries. So you guys see it in other sports. With the Colts, though, I think just that one step with Jones changed everything going forward. And I just don't know where you really go from here because you're not making the playoffs this year. And, I mean, even with Jones, like, you can bring him back. I don't know how effective he's going to be next year either.

and do you want to run all this back when they just kind of collide? I don't know. I'm just kind of speaking all the head. What are your guys' thoughts on all this going forward? Well, I'm just glad I'm not the Kansas City Chiefs, you know, where you were eliminated today. I don't know. They've been to a lot of Super Bowls recently.

Yeah, yeah. But they were eliminated today. At least there's still a chance for these Colts. And that's all you want to have is a chance. and you want to keep, that's great motivation to know that if, if, and it's a big if, if you can squeeze out a couple, you're participating in the postseason. So that's the thing that can, I guess, keep their spirits up knowing that even though they're undermanned, they've put themselves in a position where, unfortunately, they don't control

their own destiny. but if they can win, then they're sort of, you know, sticking their foot in the door and not letting the door shut totally on them. So the last four games are always the most important every single year. So they just have to gear themselves up. And I think this team has the culture and I think they have the mentality to at least go out there and play hard, you know, winning is going to be a different deal because you still need talent to win. You need a little bit of luck to win. But from a mentality standpoint, you know, I think this team, you know, will give it a run for the money and try to put themselves in the best place possible to make the playoffs.

Yeah, and the frustrating thing, Alan, is that like, you know, there's no, unlike the Chiefs, right, there's no, there's no track record. There's nothing to lean back on. And you know what? as much as we talk about Ballard and Seichen, again, this, this is going to sound harsh, but Jonathan Taylor hasn't won anything, Quentin Nelson hasn't won anything, Zaire Franklin hasn't won anything. Kenny Moore has not won anything. DeForest Buckner, at least here, has not won anything. Like the core of this team, they're not winners. They don't win. They don't, they don't win anything. Nobody's done anything. I mean, when the high water mark

of this era is a wildcard weekend win in Houston, like really? Like, that's the best, that's the best the Colts have done in this era? Like you can understand the frustration with all that. So while Zach, I think you're right, I, you know, gun to my head. If you're asking me what I think Carly and the daughters are going to do, I think everybody's going to be back. You know, everybody's relative, right? Because some players are going to leave and, you know, Brain Smith and things like that, right? But like the core of the team who are still under contract, a lot of those guys. And I think Stuyken and Bauer will both be back this year. But I can understand the fatigue. like we're seeing it in the YouTube comments like fans are just so tired of this garbage

of this over and over again and just you know this sort of being you know it may be harsh to call it a loser franchise because they aren't the jets and they aren't the giants but if you're going eight and nine nine and eight at the end of the day you're not winning anything either just like if you're going four and 13 yeah it's difficult because you want to like it's like you want to be two different conversations evaluating the end of this season compared to like in a vacuum you know where you look at the end of the season it's like yeah they collapsed obviously from that great start but it's hard to overcome again losing your top two quarterbacks all your star players on

defense now your two tackles on the outside like that is a difficult thing to overcome but when you lump it into the whole narrative that has been what it has been for the cult you know how many times this just have to keep happening for the cults to like again Carson went struggling down the stretch in that one year and then losing those last two games and missing the playoffs you know last year giving up against the Giants and just looking overwhelmed in that game, losing to Houston in 2023, 2019 giving up down the stretch. You know, like how many times does this stuff need to happen, you know, to where like we just have to hand wave it away, you know, where it's like, oh, you know, ah, shoot, like injuries

happened this year. This guy was injured this year. This, oh, this just had a really bad moment from from this quarterback here, but don't worry, we're changing that quarterback, but everybody else is fine to come back, you know. Even after, like the 2022 season still annoys me the most. but they had that 2022 season where they were like one of the worst teams in football and everybody gave up and they brought every single person back except for the quarterback. You know, like that was the only change you made.

And to their credit, they almost made the playoffs, but almost made the playoffs is always the thing with this team. They just got back to where they were, which is the almost playoffs. And they're just not getting over the hump, you know? So yes, I think we can look at this season in a nutshell and say like, yeah, I still think they probably make the playoffs if Jones never gets hurt. And you can go back to the Achilles. injury. You can even go back to the fibula. If the fibula injury never happens, if the Achilles

injury never happens, they probably squeak into the playoffs. Now, do they win in the playoffs? I don't know. They were trending down a little bit these last couple weeks. So I don't know if they win in the playoffs. But when you lump it into the big picture of everything like the Chris Ballard era is what we call it, the nine years here of just two playoff appearances, a lot of collapses, a lot of just bad moments in December. It is kind of hard to defend this going forward. And yeah, like you want to just chunk like you want to chalk up some of this stuff to like bad luck and bad moments but like you make your own luck you know and we just keep getting so much of it where it's like you eventually just need to make that big change you know that that big change across the board

but it's tough though because of the next season we don't have a first round pick it's hard to make that big change you know so it's it's it's a crappy place to be i i just i don't know we'll see what carly does i don't know if there's much of a wrong or right answer really going forward because it's such a horrible spot to be right now for this team. But we'll see. Like Alan says, they still have a couple games left to come out hard and fight their way into the playoffs. So see what they can do.

They still have a couple games to win back the graces of some fans to a degree, but I'm not holding my breath for it. I like the fight they had today for the first time in years in December, but you got to go a little bit further than fight to make the playoffs, you know? So I appreciate the fight today, but let's get over the hump and win some of these games down the stretch and get in the playoffs. It's not, you know, just chalk it up to moral victories. I'll tell you this. I do like the visual of Carly on the sideline, taking notes. I wish I would see more owners do what she's doing. And I know this is her first time, you know,

running the total show. But she looks like she's totally immersed in it. And she's, you know, looks like she's ended to win it and is fully supportive of what the Colts are doing. But it's another deal when you got your boss down on the field looking at what you're doing as opposed to being up in the box having a martini. So I think she's invested. So it's better to play for an owner like that than, you know, somebody who likes to wind. and dying all his friends up in the box. This was down on the field with you, then, you know, it kind of symbolizes that she's in the

fight with you. So, yeah, when you've got a good owner, I mean, everything really comes from the top. But when you've got a good owner, it's just a more pleasurable experience, you know, whether you're winning or losing. Yeah, and I just want to see, I want to see the result, I guess, all that work she's putting. You know, like she, unlike Ballard, And even to a degree unlike Stuyken, she deserves the benefit of a doubt because she's really just taking over for the first time here. So let's just see what she could do here.

But I don't want, I can't get the benefit of doubt to the Chris Ballard anymore. You know, it's just been too long, man. Like, it's been so long of the same old, same old. And even if, again, even if injuries piled up this year, we can't excuse everything. You know, like maybe this is just me holding on to the same frustrations from 2022 or same frustrations from 2021. But you need to win back, I guess, the grace of fans. the grace of people when you had those bad years and just another kind of you know thing that happened like another oh shucks we couldn't make the playoffs again this year it's just that's not

how you're going to win back anybody as you could tell from the comments here you're not winning back anybody right now uh so we'll we'll see um yeah well i guess we'll just see going forward yeah yeah legitimate or not uh people don't want to hear excuses anymore right we've had 10 years of excuses and people are tired of it and I guess we can leave it at that. Thanks for joining us in the Colts Squad Show. We are your place for live game recaps selling each and every Colts game this season

but we have a Wednesday show 2 at 9 o'clock so we'll be back with you then. Midweek, looking forward to Week 16 as the Colts head home to take on the 49ers and their only Monday night football appearance of the season. Until then, follow us on socials at Locked on Colts and check out our other great content on YouTube and TikTok and we'll see you next time right here on the squad show.

Thank you.