Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - COLTS SQUAD SHOW: Is This MUST WIN for Colts ? | Indianapolis Looks To Hold Off Houston in AFC South

Episode Date: November 27, 2025

Reeling from two losses in their last three games, the Squad debate whether or not Sunday's game against Houston is a must-win for the Colts. Plus, areas that need fixing during Indianapolis' critical homestretch, under and overreactions from Week 12 and the guys take their first look at the Texans.Find and follow Locked On Colts on your favorite podcast platforms: 🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/podcasts/locked-on-colts/ 📺YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLdpxJspi1hMh5HL7ExpWOQGive 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!PelotonLet yourself run, lift, flex, and push forward. Explore the new Peloton Cross Training Tread+ today at https://www.onepeloton.com.PrizePicksDownload the PrizePicks app today and use code LOCKEDONNFL to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup.Click Here: https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONNFLGametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.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) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Welcome to the Colts Squad Show. I'm your host Derek Schultz, and I've already got my stretchy Thanksgiving pants on. And I'm Zach Hicks, and I'm thankful to be talking about, like, legit Colts football this Thanksgiving. I'm Jake Arthur. We just got here, but can we wrap it up soon? I have stranger things to watch. And I'm Alan Pinkett, former Euler, and I'm thankful to be on this particular podcast, but this is a must win coming up. rise up. It's the Colt Squad, everything Indianapolis Colts every week. Covering all the big hits

and game-changing plays from the Circle City, the way only the Locked-on podcast network can. It's time to squad up. The Colt Squado starts now. Happy Thanksgiving and welcome in to the Colt Squad Show. Today's episode brought you by Fandul. Right now, new customers can bet just $5. If your bet wins, you'll get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. I'm Derek Schultz, a sports talker, commonist for the Indianapolis Business Journal. I'm joined by a man who set the rushing record at Notre Dame and had a great pro career as a Houston oiler in Alan Pinkett.

And you every dayers know that kicks in Jake Arthur, that dynamic duo from Locked on Colts, your first listen every day. Besides the sweet potato pie, we got Colts football on the brain, guys. Indianapolis facing a critical AFC South matchup with Houston coming up Sunday. At the very least, returned home for the first time.

in a month to the friendly confines of Lucas Loyal Stadium. Alan mentioned it. Is it a must win against Houston? We're going to dive right into that in the first segment of the show. We'll talk about some things to fix during the home stretch here for the Colts to be successful. We all know the gauntlet that they're about to face here with Houston twice, Jacksonville twice, San Francisco, at Seattle. It's a very tough finishing slog here for the Colts. Overreactions and underreactions, as we always do on the Wednesday squad show from week 12,

and then we'll take our first look at the Houston, Texas, which is weird to think. that, you know, it's Thanksgiving week, and they haven't even played Jacksonville yet, and they're finally playing Houston for the first time here. But, Zach, let's start there. You know, Colts, as I mentioned, still have two-thirds of their division games remaining. Here's Houston with brand new life. They have that crazy rally against Jacksonville a couple of weeks ago in the fourth quarter, and they've rattled off three straight wins since then. We know that the defense has been good, and that's really been the one consistent thing with Houston, the C.J. Stroud injury, the revolving door at quarterback. You know,

not a lot else has gone right for them, but, you know, must win, okay, I hate that term because the Colts keep playing. They still have a chance at the playoff, right? Nothing ends if they lose this game against Houston, but man, sure feels like an important one on Sunday. Yeah, maybe must win might be going too far, but certainly an important game. Because if you look at all the Colts losses so far, and even their recent stretch of one and two in the last month of play, you can kind of hand wave away a lot of stuff, right? Where it's like, okay, they played Pittsburgh and Kansas City on the road, desperate teams with a winning culture. Those are just coin flip games that they ended up losing and then lost an early season game

to a very good Los Angeles Rans team that appears to be the best team in football. But the thing that you really can't overlook is if they lose this game this weekend. It's a home game, a divisional game with the division gap closing and closing each and every week with the Jaguars and the Texans continually winning football games. Texans have put together a couple impressive. wins with that big comeback over the, or the Texans come back against the Jaguars and their big win on Thursday night against the Buffalo Bills. So these teams are coming. So it might not be a must win game for the Colts, but it's a game that you feel like you need to win. You know,

like maybe that's a contradiction there, but like it's a home game. Like they need to take care of business at home. The Colts offense has been exponentially better at home than on the road this season. And Jake and I were kind of speculating about that earlier today on the regular show. But Yeah, the Colts offense has been much better at home, even when they play top defenses like the Denver Broncos early in the season when they put up 29 points. So they need to come out and play desperate and play like their playoff lives are on the line because if they lose this home game, where are the kind of gimmies the rest of the way? You know, you play a lot of teams that are in that playoff hunt or in the playoffs currently, and you're running short on home games the rest of the season as well. So defend your home turf, show what you've been showing all year, let your defense go to work. against a Houston offense that's been very hot and cold this season and get out of here

with a win. I don't care if it's a two to nothing win or a 70 to 63 win, whatever it has to be, get out of here with a win. It doesn't have to look pretty, but they do need this win on Sunday. I stop just short of saying in the grand scheme that this is a must win, but if I'm the Colts, I'm viewing it as it is. Because like Zach and I were talking again earlier, if the Colts lose this one and Jacksonville wins, I think they're tied atop the AFC South standings.

And then from there, like Zach said, where are the gimmies on the schedules? You still have Seattle, San Francisco's is tough out. You have to go to Houston. You have to go to Jacksonville. Like, it doesn't get any. You could go from a strong lead in the division to perhaps missing the playoffs. Because there's, everyone in the AFC is so close. Like one through 10, they're all within like a few games of each other, really.

so you're like you're not eliminated by any means and like there's still so much to play but again if I'm the Colts I'm viewing it already as the playoffs have started because you want to control your own destiny and the more games you lose the more help you need and guess what they haven't got an ounce of help from any team that they've needed help from in the last month I mean remember what we were talking about during the by week here's all the teams that need to win and lose. None of them went their way. None of them have gone their way since they returned from the buy. So you just got to kind of keep assuming that you are the only one that can help yourself. And this is probably the second easiest game left on their schedule. And again,

you've got to take advantage of these home games because your final game of the season probably becomes the most pivotal. And it's in Houston. And that's again, a Houston team that we're saying could beat you right now this week. It becomes an incredibly tough out. Like in the grand scheme, not a must win, but kind of is.

Well, last Sunday was a missed opportunity, not just you know, for the one loss record, but for their psyche, because they thought they were good coming into the season and then they proved that they were good.

And so now you had this belief that, yeah, we can take on all comers. So this was a measuring stick game, you know, playing this team that had gone to, what, the last three Super Bowls to make your mark. But you end up

losing the game. Now everybody around the country starting to doubt you. You got to be careful that you don't doubt yourself. And so I say a must win because you got to return back to that psyche that you had where you were

world beaters and you were just a machine and methodically just taking teams down. So it's like we fell off of that damn horse. We got to get back on the horse since appropriate since it's cult. But so I think that it's everybody's got to be locked in and you're playing a team that what has they've won three straight against you, won four out of the last five. You know, so, you know, they're going to be coming in with confidence. They're probably sitting there in Houston saying, same old sorry-ass Colts, you know. So you're going to get a game, and they're surging.

But you were surging. So to get that belief back that you are who you think you are, you got to win this game. Yeah, and one thing I want to say about those past showings against Houston is a lot of the, pretty much all those games actually have been. coin flip games. You know, it's never been Houston just taking you to, it's not like the Colts versus Titans in the Andrew Luck era, you know, where Andrew Luck was winning by like 30 in every single game against the Titans, right? This is like coin flip games where the Colts have just come up short. We go back to the Gardner-Minchu starting season, that final game of the year to get into the playoffs. Colts come up just a yard short of that first down that could have put them over the top

and won that game. You go to last season, two very clear missed opportunities. I remember one where, like, Dio Dango had like a return fumble touchdown that got called back late in the game, and that's what flipped that game. We had Richardson having his best game of the season to start that year, and the Colts just came up short. So they have been right there with this Houston Texans team that has been atop the division in the last couple years. It's just getting those couple bounces, those couple coin flips. The Colts are finally coming into a game against Houston with essentially their full arsenal, not having to force Buckner is big, but their offense is still the best it's been in the last two. seasons under Shane Steichen, and obviously their defense is as locked and loaded as I can be without DeForest Buckner having who they have at corner, having who they have in the secondary

in general. So, I mean, there's just no excuse really this time, you know? The Colts are almost, what, like five point favorites on a lot of sites as well, like for and hook. Yeah, but you got to take care of business at home. And I was looking at this earlier with Jake. There's been a really big discrepancy around the league and home and away records more so than I even expected. Like the Colts this season 6 and 0 at home, two and three on the road. The Texans, I believe, are two and three and two at home. You look at some of the other best teams that Lions have a really big home and away stretch. So it has been a really big thing this year, home and away. And for the Colts to be away from their home stadium for, again, like a month of play now,

you know, you start longing for getting back on Lucas Oil and defending your home turf where you've been so good, averaging well over 30 points per game this season and just been like lethal on offense so get back home take care of business get back to what you've been doing i don't need 40 points against this texans defense you know this texans defense is a very good defense but show some life you know if you have a chance to put a team away don't go four straight series with three and outs like they did against the can't say chiefs like move the ball give some breaks to your defense and come away with a win by any means necessary yeah i mean i'd like to see them get back to what you guys are saying like the the things we know they do

right like get jonathan taylor rolling again now again that's that's not something where we're like establish him early and off and run him 30 times whatever but like within the flow of the game just don't give up on it like obviously you know every team now is going to try and take him away and then put as much pressure on daniel jones as possible but just taking those quick easy completions on first and second down to get ahead of the sticks make it third manageable get jonathan going there like the bootlegs and all the like the shorter stuff to like tyler warren and all that has been working really well like don't overcomplicate it um we the the chief's game it was a huge letdown because of how the fourth quarter went but when i was rewatching it

going all the way through the third quarter vibes were very high like daniel jones i thought had an awesome game through three quarters uh jonathan taylor were starting to to turn it up a little bit and the way they were doing it you know that 12 and 13 personnel keeping everything kind of boxed in a bit the chiefs just didn't have much answer for that because I think that's kind of when the Colts blockers are at their best but when they spread it out a little bit and the blitzes came flying and the Colts weren't able to address those things as quickly that's when kind of Jones started to go into his shell a little bit so I think it's fairly obvious we've seen it against the Steelers, the Falcons, and now the Chiefs, like, you know how teams are

going to attack you because it's working for them almost every time, except that you have some faults there and find a way to get around it because you're not going to be able to do a magic fix to it. Like, that's not realistic because if you could, you would have. Just find a way to counter it and get around it. And then I think they'll be all right. Well, if there was any lack of motivation, which I know there's not going to be because it's a division game, and it's frankly the next game. But this is the number one total defense in the NFL. And I would be, as a player, I would be excited because I want to know where I stand. You know, I want to go up against the best. It's a measuring stick for me.

How the hell am I going to know if I'm any good unless I play against the best? and if they stop me, hey, more props to you, but I want to see what I can do against the best defense. So to me, that would excite me even more going into this matchup. Yeah, and I think, sorry, real quick, Derek, I think it's a big game for the Colts defense as well because it's one thing to, like, yeah, they gave up over 500 yards to the Chiefs, but they kept them off the scoreboard, they got their turnovers, they got their sacks. Like, I think it was a good game plan for the Chiefs against Houston, though,

an offense that's like outside the top 20, like the chiefs are top two offense in football, top three offense in football in terms of efficiency and they're even better at home. The Texans have not been that this year, even with C.J. Stroud. So this is a big statement game for the Colts defense to come out here and showcase their new shiny toys

against an offense that has been up and down this season. I know the Texans offense has been better of late, but it's a big opportunity for the Colts defense to show that they can be a part of winning football games because we saw the Colts offense early in season being that. Let's see if the Colts defense can be a big part of it now. Yeah, I know this is a three-team race, but I mean, I fear, and they actually have a, they're a game further back, right?

Because Houston's two back than Houston. I fear the Texans a lot more than I fear the Jaguars. Because the defense, yeah. Yeah, and look, I understand the Colts have to go to Jacksonville, which has been hell on earth for them for the past decade, but just team versus team comparison, you know, I think this game against Houston is maybe even more important just because I wouldn't like to not be around them anymore this season

than you are required to be for the two games in the AFC South. But when we come back here on the Colts squad show, the play calling, the offensive line protection, more pass rush production. You know, some of these themes we've hit on a lot this season, but what needs to be fixed for the Colts to be successful down the home stretch? We'll talk about it next. Today's show is brought to you by friends over there at Peloton.

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Welcome back to the Colts Squad Show. Thanks so much for joining us on this Thanksgiving Eve alongside former NFL and Notre Dame legend Alan Pinkett. And Zach Hicks and Jake Arthur have locked on Colts. I'm Derek Schultz. So fixing things for the Colts. I want to be careful here because, you know, particularly when we talk about play calling, a lot of the reason that the Colts are in this position in first place,

yes, they're still in first place at eight and three this season, which all of you would have signed up for back in August, is because of the play calling, is because Shane Steichen is actually really good at his job. But just like anything else, his decision making and his play calling are not infallible. There are times where we question them on the show. And I think there are fair criticisms and then there are some unfair criticisms when it comes to that. But guys, let's face it. I mean, offensively, they've dried up a little bit in the last couple of weeks, right? 20, 25 points when we're just talking regulation before the touchdown in overtime against the Falcons and 20, which doesn't sound that bad. But when you consider what they

were doing beforehand in the first seven, eight weeks of the season, it's a little bit of a dip. Zach, can you, I mean, first and foremost, I think you have to incorporate Jonathan Taylor more, particularly in the fourth quarter, but can you find additional ways to counteract pressures? They've gotten pretty funky with Tyler Warren. Do they need to get even funkier with Tyler Warren? And like, what are some solutions here offensively to kind of give them a little bit of a jolt because they've played well in stretches, but they've not really taken over games like we saw in the first half of the season? Yeah, I will say when it comes to criticizing offensive play calling, I think we get to results

based in terms of our analysis of it because so much of it, like, if a team comes out and throws the ball 20 straight times and it's not super effective, it's like, oh my gosh, why are you going away from the run game? But then if it works, it's like, oh my gosh, this genius head coach is throwing 20 times. and not running the football and you could say it the same vice versa or like if the late game where the Colts came out throwing that whole fourth quarter and they were getting first downs then nobody would be talking about Jonathan Taylor's lack of carries because they it worked they got first downs and I think that's a big issue with analyzing play calling but I think the

biggest concern and we talked about this during the regular show today a little bit so I won't go too crazy with it but Shane Steigness had an issue for most of his career with blitz pickups. It's been a big concern with his system. It's why a lot of like the Raven system guys have kind of given him trouble in the past because of their ability to disguise and bring blitzes. And a lot of his answers for the blitz game is option routes, is using option routes that can be kind of slow developing, that can be very based on, you know, synergy between the quarterback and that receiver.

And it just leaves so much up to chance and so much, it's just, it's a tough thing to hit, unless your quarterback is kind of standing in there kind of oblivious to the pressure. And when your quarterback is feeling the heat a little bit, like Jones was late in this past game, it's hard for him to get into those option routes and get into those routes that can be winners. So whether it's incorporating more screenplays to counteract the blitzes, whether it's bringing more seven-man protection concepts in there just so Jones feels a little bit more comfortable, whether it's going to just straight up scat protection and having five-man protection and say, hey, if you want to bring seven guys, we'll get Jonathan Taylor out of the back field with nobody covering him.

You know, there are answers to these things. They just got to find those answers because as of right now, what's going on is something's not working with Jones and this offense overall with how they're protecting and how they're picking up against these blitzes. So there needs to be some kind of answers figured out because if there isn't everyone's just going to blitz them like crazy and they're going to stack the box of seven, eight guys and say, you know, what, we dare you to throw against this, you know? And the thing is, the Colts have good receivers. Like, you need to have that trust to get the ball out to them. It's all about just getting that ball out to them. So, yeah, even a team like the Texans who rushes four a ton, if they see the Colts are weak against seven-man rushes,

they're just going to bring seven up to the box and blitz because it's what's been working. I hope the Texans only bring four. It would be great because the Colts have been good blocking four this year because they'll keep an extra two guys in and block those four guys and get a lot of double teams. the issues have been against the like six, seven man rush concepts that we've seen in recent weeks. So, yeah, teams are going to keep doing it until the Colts can show that they can stop it. And that's going to be the big concern going forward. Yeah, Derek, you had mentioned getting funkier with Tyler Warren, which I think they could do.

Like, I feel like a lot of what Warren has gotten lately has been shorter yak opportunities. We haven't seen a lot of him downfield. not a lot up the hash like i think there's more things they could do with him that you see with like some of the other tight ends that have been classically used vertically um i i don't want to say they're not being imaginative with him but i just think they're limiting him a little bit to the shorter react stuff which is somewhat working he's made some bigger plays and each of these last several contests it seems but he he can affect the use downfield as well it doesn't have to just be alec pierce and we've kind of seen that with josh downs

can you guys remember the last time josh downs called a pass downfield really not since it's really only with anthony richardson ever back there but he can uh so i think they could probably open up the game vertically a little more and zach you could probably if if i'm wrong on that if it's not like within the structure what they what sichen does you could probably answer that but it's something i've noticed it's like if it's not Alec Pierce beating a guy deep, then there's no vertical threat. And even on Sunday, I mean, they only threw the ball downfield 20 plus yards once, and it hit. It was a shot to Pierce. And I think there was only a few plays beyond 10 yards.

So they weren't really trying to push the ball very much. And it's not like they were running it much either. So they're playing a lot of half court basketball against the chiefs. And part of it was working. I do think I would like to see them maybe test things a little vertically, but the problem with that, that stuff takes longer. And if you're having issues, picking up blitzes and dealing with pass rush, well, then that's hard to do.

And if that's the instance, I probably would like to see Jonathan Taylor with more screen opportunities. I think that's another, you know, he's on pace. Actually, he probably already has it to break his single season. in receiving mark. But, I mean, that's part of their offense that I think could be tapped even further. Yeah, one quick response to the throwing the ball deep is there are limitations at the quarterback position to throw on the ball deep with this team.

I think three of Jones's interceptions this year of him have been him trying to test tighter windows down the field on whole shots. And he just doesn't have the arm for that. That's just not the kind of quarterback he is. He is more of a game manager type guy, more of an underneath like a two-pointers. type of player you know if we're comparing it to basketball and yeah a big thing with that he's just not a guy who's going to like drive like you know if you run a vertical route from the slot he's not going to be able to drive it into that window it's just not how it is so a lot of their deep shots come

when they do seven or eight man protections and they just have pierce on an island versus an outside corner and you give him like a two way go and it's like okay we dare you to to cover him on that two way go you know because that's that's why it's mostly pierce because he's the guy you can win with his speed and sell it. So it is going to be tougher with the quarterback situation, with the protection, of course, as well to really get those, like, other vertical options. Like, Pierce kind of has to be the only vertical guy, unless you're doing like a two-man concept, like a sale combination with Warren running the deep out or the deep corner route

underneath a vertical from Pierce. So they can use Pierce more as a decoy maybe to get some more vertical shots. But for the most part, you are a little bit limited where with Richardson, the Colts are running four-verts a lot because Richardson can just read the four-verts, read the leverage of someone over the middle and rip it into a tight window that nobody can get to. Jones doesn't have that kind of arm velocity or arm talent to really rip those kind of four-virt's concepts. So, Zach, I appreciate the basketball reference. Remember, early in the year, I said Daniel Jones was like the John Stockton of this team, a distributor. And so I agree with that. And you

guys have watched enough football to know that the NFL is a copycat league. And when you lose that messes on film, and you are guaranteed to see it again the following week if you don't correct it. And so I'm sure they've spent some time in the film room looking at those blitzes again from Kansas City. Usually you get your obligatory. We'll watch the game one time after we played and then we'll just throw it into trash can. No, they need to watch this film a few more times because they're going to see these exact same blitzes again. And in the NFL, if you don't correct that mess,

you're going to keep seeing it until you correct it. Now, the good thing is all you got to do is burn them on the blitz one time and you'll make them back their ass out of there. you know so whatever play that is whatever you know secret it is to be unlocked to getting that one play go ahead and do it and you know i never discount the fact that when they blitz sometimes you can run now it's it's one thing to dedicate yourself to stopping the run from an excess and those perspective, but I don't know if the Texans have the personnel to just completely sell

out against the run. I know they got some hellified pass rushers, you know, but, you know, if you run a draw on them, are all those pass rushers just running right by the running back? You know, so you got some free runs. And I don't know how Daniel Jones' legs are, but a quarterback draw doesn't hurt every now and then. As long as you can create a lane or a crease somewhere for them, but yeah, you hit that blitz one time and that'll make them stop coming. Yeah, and while we're speaking on the blitz, you know, I want to shift things over to the Colts defense where I think one big thing

they can do going forward to just be more disruptive is bringing more pressure, bringing more blitzes. Trust the guys. I mean, gosh, you gave two first round picks for sauce. you gave Mooney Ward a giant contract, Kenny Moore as a giant contract, both safeties. I mean, one safety has a big contract. The other one's going to get a big contract. Trust these guys in man coverage.

Trust these guys in more coverage and bring the pressure. Because without DeForest Buckner, they don't have their quick winner. They don't have that guy who can get there in an instant. So bring five, bring six, show a lot of pressure on passing downs. And I know Louana Rumo likes to do a lot of simulated pressure to get the ball out, but I want to see more like true pressures from them. I want to see that blitz right more in like the 30-ish percentile range going forward because DeForest Buckner's out. You just can't win with four.

Now, I'm going to save this for the next segment because I think it's an important distinction to make. I'm not too concerned with how the pass rush looked this past week because so much of the game planning against Mahomes was we got to just keep him in the pocket. And it's just better to get more guys in coverage because he's going to create his own pressure for himself. That's his one fatal flaw is if you bring one guy pressuring Mahomes, he's going to run into that one guy somehow. back there, and he'll make things tougher for him. So I understand it from last week, but I think going forward against C.J. Stroud, against Trevor Lawrence, against Brock Purdy, they have to really bring the heat against these guys,

speed up their process, get the ball out of their hands. And maybe you don't get, like, massive turnovers because in man coverage, it's harder to get interceptions because, you know, you're playing man, not quarterback. But you can get off the field on third downs and make it so teams can't just hold the ball forever like the Chiefs did in this past game. So I think just bringing more pressure on those downs to mitigate the lack of Buckner, I think could be huge for this team going forward. Anything else that any of you guys see, you know, kind of final minutes and 90 seconds of this segment that is something that needs an immediate fix, if you will, or something that is fixable, I guess, at this point in the season? Your throat, Derek.

I know, I'm sorry. I know what? I tried to get through it without clearing, and I probably should have just cleared. That's the most glaring thing that needs corrected right now. Man, I don't, defensively, we've seen a couple times now where offenses are wanting to protect their receivers from sauce and or Mooney and shifting them inside and dragging them across the middle, and it's very fruitful for them. So if there's any counter that the Colts can have for that, whether that's Cam Bynum being support in the back end, whatever. But there's been some success, whether it's Drake London or Rishie Rice,

Xavier Worthy, like, that seems to be a little vulnerable point that is happening in the back seven. So I think that's probably something that needs a little attention. Well, I think their confidence got dinged with this game against Kansas City. So, you know, they've got a bill. back that belief that they are a premier football team. And so that's going to come through execution, but it's also going to come from being confident in what they do. So I think this week is one of those where you're a little more detail oriented, you know, some of the little

things that you have to do to make sure a play is run effectively. I think there's probably more focused needed on that so that they can get the result that they want. When we come back here on the Colt Squad Show, overreactions are going to be easy this week because folks are acting like all our pet's heads are falling off right now after that lost to Kansas City. But we do have a few that we're buying into and we'll discuss them when we return.

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did people still go out to the bars the night before? That was a big thing in like the millennial generation. I know, probably in your generation too, Alan. I'm not so sure now. Like Gen Z, they don't really, I don't know if they go and do that right now. But regardless, thanks for making us a part of your Wednesday night. Maybe you're about to pregame and so you're hanging with four dudes talking Colts football beforehand. We appreciate it.

Let's talk over and underreactions. I think there are plenty of overreactions to get to, but I actually kind of wanted to start with what I think is an underreaction. And I understand that shows like this, right, like you're kind of feeding off the fans and we're feeding off the YouTube comments and things like that. And you want to like come out and be hot takey and be brash. My underreaction is that I think the Colts are going to be fine. They're unbeaten at home. I know they've lost two of the last three games, but they've been a different offense on their home field.

The three home games they have left, yes, are all good opponents, but they're likely going to be favored in all three. You win those three. And right there, worst case scenario, you're 11 and 6. I know the top seat is probably out at this point, regardless of what they do from here.

But to me, the goal remains, guys, to win the division, guarantee yourself the home game and just kind of let everything else fall as it may. And I know that's kind of a boring take, Zach, but that's sort of where I am with this team. Yeah, I think the biggest thing for me right now is I'm saving any massive reaction until after

this upcoming game because losing on the road to the chiefs, yes, the way they lost is demoralizing and it's frustrating and it's not what you want to see. But again, if you told me going into the game, they lost by three in overtime like on the road to the chiefs. It's a nothing burger for me, right? Like it's not like it was a big wasted opportunity for them, but it's not the end of the world. You lose at home to a divisional opponent. You have to win that game. Like you have to win the game. So I'm going to save any overreaction or anything until after this upcoming game because nothing that they've done this year has told me like this team is not good. This team stinks.

This team is going to collapse down the stretch here. But if they lose on Sunday, then I have a little bit of that tells me that that could happen because this would be their worst loss of the season and it would be the only loss at home. Then we start getting into like, oh my gosh, like what's happening with this team. But I'm going to save those reactions until something like that. actually happens. Because again, like for as much as we can complain about like, oh, the Colts lost to the Chiefs or whatever, like they had an 11 point lead in like an 85% win percentage of that game halfway through the fourth quarter. You know, like, yeah, they didn't close it out, but it's not like they got like steamrolled by the Chiefs in this game. They lost a coin flip

game to a good team that's probably going to be in the playoffs. Like it happens. But I'm going to save the freak out and the overreaction until after this upcoming game. If they lose, this week, then we'll complain. But for right now, I don't have any, like, massive overreaction to the Colts are frauds, the Colts are fire everybody. Ballard is he's going to be fired when they missed the play? I don't have any of those from this past game because, like, it starts now. Like, the clock starts ticking now. It happens. It starts this week. And then we can, we can get into those conversations if they drop this one here. But until it happens, I'm not going to be overreacting. Yeah, I, I'm not ready to scream fraud alert.

with them yet. I actually came away from re-watching the game very encouraged. I was telling Zach earlier, you know, through the third quarter, they really had an opportunity to blow the game wide open. Like they had a two-score lead going into the fourth with possession after Zeyer Franklin's force fumble. But how close they got to scoring touchdowns instead of field goals in the two drives in the third quarter, huge. They were in the red zone, third and four. It's kind of a hurried play. Jones throws it outside while Josh Downs cuts inside. Now, if it's complete, it's easily a first down. You have a new set of downs, I think, within the 10-yard line. You perhaps score a touchdown there. And then they have the next drive where Jones hits Pierce in the hands in the end zone.

I mean, it would have been a tough catch, but it was incomplete. And then Michael Pittman, Jr. gets OPI on the next play. and you kick field goals in both instances either of those is a touchdown or both you're looking at 28 to 9 instead of 20 to 9 you know what I mean so and then of course just the fact that nothing broke your way offensively in the third or in the fourth quarter and you could not sustain a single drive fast three plays um I don't think it's going to look that bad each week And, like, the officiating took over the game on both sides. Like we mentioned after the game, I think both team fan bases have reason to be irritated with the role that officiating played. It's just hard to get into a rhythm.

Like the Colts had those three offensive line penalties on the opening drive of the game. This just does not seem like a game that they're going to encounter a bunch. Plus, with all the breaks that didn't go the Colts way, you're not going to have Patrick Mahomes on the other side to take advantage. of you each week. So I'm encouraged. I'm very disappointed and irritated that they lost against the Chiefs because it should have never gone down that way, but I think they'll be fine. You know, being back at Lucas Oil for the first time and forever might be just what the doctor ordered. They operate so much cleaner there offensively. So I'm eager to see if, I mean, it's a tough test because Houston's number one in scoring and yardage.

So I don't think they're going to be the 400, 500-yard team necessarily. But just to see like smooth operation of the offense again would be nice. Well, I think it's perfectly natural for us to overreact. I think that's our right to be able to overreact. I just hope the team doesn't overreact. And this is one of those weeks where you got to try to block out all the noise. you know, and going to this game with blinders on, you know, because you just don't want any doubt creeping in, you know.

And you do have to remind yourself that you want eight games already. You know, so I keep beating this dead horse about their confidence and details. And, you know, being a machine, they have to especially do that. this week because it's easy for doubt to creep in just a little bit. It's easy when you don't convert on third down to think, oh, well, here we go again. We can't convert on third down. No, you got to just, you got to just really hone in and, you know, focus yourself on winning on third down and having that success so you can get that belief back. I've got a lot of horse analogies from you tonight.

you know a lot of teams go through these lulls and you know we're talking about like the texans like they're this like super bowl perennial super bowl contender and super bowl winner and they've already lost five games this year you know they've lost three on the road so everyone goes through these lulls like that's not me trying to downplay the texans it's just saying that teams lose you know like it's it's just what happens and every time a team loses everyone wants to proclaim that their team is like the worst and we got to fire everybody but it's only been one undefeated season the history of the league. And that team had the easiest schedule in the history of the league as well, that team that went undefeated to even add an asterisk to it. But yeah, you know, it's tough

to win in the NFL. And there's going to be games where breaks go against you and you don't execute at a high level. The key is how you respond. The Colts this year have average 35 points per game following a loss, you know, and one of them was going on the road against one of the best passing defenses in the Falcons, you know, following a loss. And they were able to get that win. So Yeah, the key for them is just how they respond to it. If they continue to respond to it like they have, I'm not going to be too concerned. You know, losses can happen in the regular season. It's just how you bounce back from it.

And getting back home, I think, is going to be big. Honestly, we can add that to, I think people are underreacting to how good this Colts team has been at home this year. And I think a big part of a lot of the Colts struggles, I mean, look at these road games. Look at the jump some of these defensive linemen are getting. That's something the Colts really do need to figure out down the stretch here is, Like Chris Jones, for instance, was in the backfield, like, before some of the Colts offensive linemen in a lot of these snaps. So is there something about their road snap counts that are just teeing off Defender? We saw this in the Rams game early in the year as well.

The Steelers game, the Colts tackles are getting beat around the edge constantly because of the jump on the edge. But we haven't seen that issue at home as frequently because they're not going to the silent count. They can go to more hard counts and make these guys have to work for it. And I think that'll be a big part of what we see on Sunday. So I think this Colts offense can put up enough points on Sunday, even against the Texans, because they're back home. And that can hopefully build up some confidence for them. Any other overreactions? We started with an underreaction.

Is there an overreaction from this week? I would say there have been some people dumping on the defense because, you know, they gave up some really timely plays. The defense was on the field for every day. constantly put in the worst possible position by their offense. You know, defense can only go as far as their own team's offense will let them. If they're constantly being put in short fields, if they're constantly only on the sideline for a minute at a time, the Colts only possessed the ball for three minutes and 15 seconds in the fourth quarter.

So they just set up their defense for failure in the back half of the game. the offense did and again i correct like from the jump like all week the chiefs crafted a game plan different from what they had been doing because they were worried about uh sauce and mooney like we had talked about they don't run the ball like their their fans had been screaming for them to run the ball we did a crossover episode with the chiefs uh with the chiefs show last week they were like yeah they're not running the ball at all they haven't been and then boom the the corpse of kareem hunt gets a career high 30 carries even though it's just three and a half yards so they totally tried to avoid sauce and mooney at all costs when they wanted rice or they

wanted worthy to get a big play they shifted them inside or they had them cut inside and and make kenny more turn and burn or like cause a switch and coverage and i mean there's something that the colts defense is doing right and poses a threat because we've now seen against the Falcons and against the Chiefs, they are doing things to, they're having to be proactive to get their guys the ball because otherwise if they just sit them there and let them go, it's probably not going to happen. So I'm actually pretty interested to see what Houston does with Nico Collins on Sunday.

Well, a big misconception about how NFL defenses find success in the NFL nowadays, I think comes from everyone. Again, you look at the 85 bears and the 90s. Washington team and like all these like old great throwback defenses where they're holding teams to like 10 yards on offense and everyone's like oh okay like this is how great defense looks where there's maybe one to two defenses a year in the NFL that can do that Houston probably being one of them Denver maybe being the other but so much of successful defensive play in the NFL nowadays is just getting turnovers and having timely stops and holding the field goals I mean offenses are starting with the ball like the 35 you know it's hard to not allow points in the NFL nowadays because that field position has become so much more important. So to me, like the biggest factor when I look at, when I look at defense is our third down conversion rate, turnovers, and red zone rate. And for the Colts, like third down was a little hit or miss at times, but for the most part, they held them under, I think it was around 40%

in that game. Chiefs were one of five in the red zone and they had two takeaways. That should get you the win nine times out of nine and a half times out of ten in the modern NFL. I don't care how long the Chiefs hold the ball. If they're getting three instead of seven in the red zone, your offense on the other side is getting enough opportunities to win you the game. Colts defense was very good on Sunday. If they play like that the rest of the way, the Colts should be able to win out.

If you get that kind of performance, then they should have a chance to win out the rest of the way. So I don't care what if a 500 yard, you can put up 500 yards. If you're putting up 23 points through five quarters and going one of five in the red zone, then I'm successful. Yeah, the yards don't matter.

Yeah, the yards don't matter. Like, Ben don't break, sure. But, like, if you're holding the three instead of seven, you're giving your offense on the other side of the ball enough chances to win the game. So at that point, it comes down to the Colts offense. It was interesting. I just go back to my favorite Alan Pinkettism.

And there are many Alan Pinkettisms that I enjoy it, but the whole, you know, stats lie. All the people, the Monday morning quarterback saying, oh, geez, the chiefs dominated that. game the Colts were really lucky to be in it it's like no guys you probably should have watched the game and then that pissed me up so much I wrote about it I wrote about I was like win or lose the national media does not know how to talk about the Colts whatsoever they just don't they don't most times if you win the turnover battle and you know they had the better special teams in the game

and they had the better red zone defense typically that means a win but it's hard to account for four straight three and outs from your office you know you don't really expect that when you when you factor that in but yeah the colds defense played winning football on sunday three straight wins a top shell defense and oh yeah their franchise quarterback is a full participant in practice again we'll talk about the challenge that houston presents next when the cold squad show returns for a final time welcome back final time here on the colt squad show thanks so much for joining us alongside all in pink and zach kicks jake arthur i am Derek Schultz with a locked-on cold squad.

Houston, the next opponent, and not to scare anybody, I'm going to rattle off some statistics here. Again, I was just talking about how stats lie, and then I thought, hey, why not transition to where stats are not lying? Number one, total defense, they're tied with the Rams at 16 points per game. Also, the fewest

yards allowed, which isn't always tied together. You know, sometimes you could be the team that limits to those points, but not necessarily most yards. How about this first stat? And I know quarterback rating is a little bit of an archaic stat, but still, you know, for whatever It's worth here. Their opponent passer rating this season, guys, 72.2. That's the lowest in the NFL since the 2021 season. They are second in the league and takeaways. Their third in sacks, their third and

past defense and their fourth and run defense. You know, other than that, Ms. Lincoln, I was the play. You know, it's going to be a really tough team to face, but I'm fascinated to see Zach what the offense looks like. I'm not a Ewing theory guy. And I saw some comments this week of, well, maybe they should stick with Mills and rise on hand. I'm kind of like, I don't buy into that, but I am interested to see. I'm pushing that narrative. I am interested to see what Straub brings to the table, though, for them to kind of jump in here after things kind of started to turn with him being out of the lineup. Yeah, I think one thing, too, that we have to talk about with the Texans is it's not like during this three-game win streak. It's been super pretty for them. Like, their defense is

playing good football, but they had to come back from down like 20-something points against Jacksonville, which, you know, you have a one and a million chance of doing that. They just hit the one chance. A defensive slug fest against a great Tennessee Titans team in that one. And then a Buffalo game where their defense was so utterly dominant in that Buffalo game. For the fact that Buffalo had a chance late in that game is almost embarrassing for the Texans offense. Now they are getting their starting quarterback back, which does change things a bit. But, yeah, Texans are not this perfect team.

They have some ups and downs. and I will say part of their defensive impressiveness because, you know, again, everything's complimentary football and sometimes ineptitude on one side of the ball leads to better stats for your other side. So early in the season, for instance, the Rams putting up 14 points against them, they didn't really have to go above 14 points.

So you don't have to play, go all for it because the Texans' offense was so dreadful. So you can always see how good a true top defense is when their offense on the other side of the ball starts scoring a little bit. and teams that they're playing against have to be a little bit more desperate and push the ball down the field. I think the Texans are a very good defense. They have two probably like top five to six pass rushers in football off the edge. They just tackle well. Their physical up front,

really well coached unit. And their secondaries, young and just explosive and fast, very, very good defense overall. There are ways to move the ball on them and score on them. You know, I think a big thing is just using their aggressiveness against them with misdirection and going against the grain a little bit. The Colts are uniquely positioned where they're one of the few teams in the NFL that has a higher EPA per play running the ball than passing the ball. And it's not because their pass offense has been rough. It's because their rush offense has been so darn efficient. So the Colts can lean on that run game a little bit. And then honestly, again, the thing is, like, you've got to take advantage of the Texans offense on the other side

of the ball because that has not been their strength this year. Again, we talk about how the Colts defense looked against the cheese. Chiefs are the number two offense in football this year in EPA per play and they're even better at home. They're like right up there with the Colts at home in terms of how efficient and effective their offenses. The Texans are outside the top 20. And honestly, their stuff has gone up with their backup quarterback in there because they had a really, really rough start to the year with C.J. Stroud. They did start to figure things out a little bit right before Stroud got hurt, but they had some issues with Stroud out there early in the year. So the big thing for this game is I think this is going to be a bit of a slugfest.

Like, you're going to have to get points on the board early and often, take advantage of turnovers and make sure those turn into points. But I think the biggest thing is just keep that red zone defense going, you know? Because the chief's gotten to the red zone, what, five, six times against the Colts this past week and only got one touchdown out of it. The Texans, even if you're on and off, they are not going to get to the red zone that often with their offense. It's not the chief's offense in terms of efficiency and quarterback play.

So the big thing is, when they do get to the red zone, keep them out of the end. the end zone, you know, keep them to three, force turnovers if, you know, that'd be amazing as well, and make sure you mitigate, like, them, their potential to get points on the board, and you should be able to give your offense enough chances to take advantage of that. Now, it didn't work out for Buffalo because they got just manhandled, but Buffalo had a chance because they were able to force three at times in that game. So that's going to be the big key. It's just making sure that you don't turn mistakes into touchdowns for them, because if you

can keep holding them the three, you always have a chance to win. the game. And I think this is going to be like a low 20s type scoring game for both sides. And those couple key bounces, turnovers, and holds to three are going to be vital in this game. Yeah. I think this is the Jonathan Taylor game for sure. I mean, I think you just got to keep trying it. He is your most creative playmaker on the offensive side of the ball, even if it's not working, you have to stick with it. Because we've seen him turn negative plays or run stuff into 80 yard gains, you know, 30, 40, 50 yard gains. He's just your most creative player and the guy who was able to just make something out of nothing. And, you know, I think those delayed handoffs are

a good way to go. You know, like you mentioned, use the edge, the edge guys aggressiveness against them. We used to see that against Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis all the time. They had that great pass rush, but they were awful at defending the run because that's how you countered those guys they were so good at getting in the backfield so quickly that room here comes your running back you know right in between him so do that screens with uh screens with tyler warren and uh taylor again like kind of all on the same thinking is that i think works i'm very curious about pushing the ball down field this probably isn't the secondary to do it against uh because unless you're going a deep shot with alec peers i know i mentioned it's something

something I'd like to see more, but I look at deep crossers. I look at like the corner routes and stuff. I think this is the kind of young opportunistic secondary that takes advantage of stuff like that. And so I think I would probably just try and make it a slug fest. In terms of the defense versus the offense, though, throw the arsenal at Houston. You know their offense and their protection sucks. Take advantage of it. Throw the kitchen sink. Bring Zire Franklin, and bring germane proud a bunch of times those those safety blitzes with like nick cross and you know kenny more from the nickel those seem to work pretty well do not leave any doubt like smother them and and just try and ground and pound them to death you know yeah one thing i want

to add in here what do you guys think in eight games against the texans how many rushing yards do we have for jonathan taylor what do you guys got i guess is wise real quick man he has some really average he's had yeah eight games against the Texans 972 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns including a 200 plus performance game in that playoff game

essential playoff game in 2023 with Minchu at the helm if Minchu could have given them anything they would have won that game wasn't he heard in that game too wasn't he like playing through some stuff yeah I was going to say in the late in the third quarter so almost a thousand

yards in eight games against uh wow against the Texans in his career. And it's not just before D'emico Ryan's got there. Again, in 2023, he had well over 200 yards in that game, some big performances last year as well. So I think I'm with Jake on this. Maybe we should just feed Jonathan Taylor.

You know, he is MVP candidate for a reason. Yeah, and I think that goes to, we highlighted the statistical dominance that the Texans defense posed. But, you know, the cults are equally dominant. on offense. They come in as the number two total offense. The number four rushing offense, that's got to mean something. And if we talk about the Texans offense, okay, so they get eight sacks on Josh Allen,

and they only win about four. Usually, you get eight sacks on a team, you've blown them out. So, you know, the office may not be all its, it's, you know, thought to be. But the Colts can definitely do damage with their style of offense. And I think it's going to have to be balanced, both run and pass. But I'm still looking for them to make that one play when they blitz everybody to back them off. Yeah, and I think a big thing when it comes to the running game with Taylor is you've got to mix in a lot of traps and whams and misdirections kind of in the backfield. Like you don't want slow developing runs because, again, the Texans, they fly downhill. They fill with aggression back there.

But you want to take advantage of that with those traps and those whams. You know, get those defensive tackles flying upfield and then have them running past their guard and running right into a left tackle pulling across the middle or a tight end coming across the middle to just run them out of the play. that's where Taylor really killed them in 2023. If you look back at that game, most of those explosive runs came on a lot of Wham and Trap concepts of the middle where they were utilizing the Texans' aggression

against them. You know, when you have a defense like this, like yes, you want a defense that flies to the ball, flies up downhill, and hits with aggression, but you want to be like, I guess like passive in that in terms of like you want to be able to account for

misdirection and things going back. So as an offense, you want to just test that as much as possible, you know, test them on play action, test them on, on hiding things on the back end of plays and doing a lot of window dressing. That's going to be the biggest thing for this Colts team. And I think, like, those trap and wang concepts can be, like, the running plays at work. We saw some of those work for the bills this past week on Thursday as well. I kind of like it when they pulled Quentin Nelson and just get behind. Yeah, you know, you want to be aggressive.

See who wants to fit against Quentin Nelson on the edge. You know, test those slot corners and safeties. I know they have some dogs on that team. Jalen Petrie is likely to be back in this game. Katelyn Bullock is going to be out there. And Lasseter fits like crazy from that cornerback position. But see how they want to fit against Quentin Nelson pulling out there for sure. Well, I'm going to take you back just a little bit because Will Anderson reminds me of,

and I can't think of his name, but played for the Titans. And when he first burst on the scene, real tall, lanky guy. Javon Curse. There you go. He just reminds me of Javon Curse because all he did was just he's five yards in the backfield. Everybody else is already 10 yards downfield. Yeah, he's a good, really, really good player. Will Anderson Jr. has been absolutely, I mean, as good as advertised and fantastic. And they were aggressive and went up and got him, right? And it's paid off for them. Final two minutes here, and I know this is cheeseball, but it is a talk show, right?

in tomorrow's Thanksgiving. Let's go around the room and favorite Thanksgiving side dish or food item. I'm going to start here real quick and I'm kind of embarrassed to say that it's not, even though my mom always does Thanksgiving,

my favorite Thanksgiving food item ever was I went to a buddy's family's house one time. I was out of town and they were nice enough to have me in Italian. They did lasagna and it's to this day it's the best lasagna I've ever had in my entire life.

So I'm sorry, Mom. I know my mom doesn't watch Locked on Colts, but I'm sorry. But yeah, Nick's lasagna was my favorite. What about you, Zach? Well, that's the biggest thing you've got to apologize for. She's not watching lockdown Colts. I don't know what's going on with that.

But, yeah, it's always been stuffing. Stuffing's been my favorite for sure. I will say, though, I've never been a mashed potatoes fan ever in my life. My wife made it last year, though. It was really good. So we are doing that again this year because it was probably the best match potatoes ever had. But stuffing, for sure, has always been my favorite.

We do some fun things with it. And it's people who say stuffing's not great. you're just not making it well like that's the problem there you just don't know how to make it because if you make it if it's good like if you know how to make it it it's peak it's the best thing you can have so for me i'm a big food mixer and so i think you have to have mashed potatoes involved whatever else you could put in there that's fine like uh you know obviously turkey and everything i have found that not a lot of people do uh mac and cheese as a Thanksgiving food, but like in my life, mac of cheese is an every occasion thing.

But yeah, I like, I think the biggest staple for me is your plate's got to have mashed potatoes. You know, you can scoop it with a roll. You can put, if you do like chicken and noodles in there, turkey, ham, whatever, anything can mix in there. That's the most critical piece for me. But overall, I mean, for those of you who know me in real life or know what I look like in your life. I don't chew away many foods from Thanksgiving. But yeah, mashed potatoes is kind of a critical piece. Well, I'm, I'm pretty modest, I think, when it, you know, comes to talking about

myself. But I am a professional when it comes to deep fried a turkey. Okay. I know how to inject it. I know how long to cook it. Let's go. How to make it melt in your mouth. It is my favorite. I guess it's not even a side. It's the main course. I could just eat my deep fried turkey. I'm not doing one this year because I'm going to the in-laws. But last year I deep-fried two for the family when I was in Connecticut. And there were no leftovers.

So I know what I'm doing when it comes to deep-friying the turkey. I was going to say. I always thought turkey was pretty good growing up. but then when my wife and I started living together and she started making the turkey and I was like, oh, wow, like this actually has a lot more flavor. You find someone who actually can do turkey really well. It makes all other turkeys like, oh, this is not good. Whenever you hear people say like, oh, I hate turkey, it's so dry.

It's like you were not making it right now because turkey when it's well made, so flavorful. It's so good. I should have known, Alan, with those southern roots, man. You would know your way around when it came to deep frying turkey. That's really good. Thanks for sharing, guys. Have a happy Thanksgiving, and we wish you guys happy Thanksgiving as well. Thanks so much for joining us on the Colts Squad show. Lock us in for this midweek show every Wednesday at 9.

But of course, we are your place for live Colts game recaps, following each every Colts game, including this Sunday against the Texans. Most critical game of the season to date, and we'll be here to talk all about it right afterwards. That'll be shortly after the game goes final from Lucas Loyal Stadium. Until then, keep it locked on Zach and Jake every day on Lockdown Colts. Be sure to follow at Lockdown Colts on socials. Check out our other great content on YouTube and tick. and we'll see you next time right here on the squad show