Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - COLTS SQUAD SHOW: Jonathan Taylor RUNS OVER Titans | Colts Shake Off Rusty First Half in Easy Win

Episode Date: October 27, 2025

The Squad recaps another blowout win over the Titans behind Jonathan Taylor's three-touchdown performance. They talk about Indianapolis kicking it into gear after a flat first half, Taylor forcing his way into the MVP discussion, and why the upcoming stretch of tougher opponents away from home could define the Colts' regular season.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! Follow Jake and Zach's written work on HorseshoeHuddle.com, and give them a follow on Twitter @JakeArthurNFL, @ZachHicks2, @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 codeLOCKEDONNFL to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup.Click Here: https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONNFLRugietReady to level up your confidence ? Head to https://rugiet.comand use promo code LOCKEDONNFLfor 15% off your first order.GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFLfor $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.FanDuelRight now, new customers can bet just FIVE dollars and if your bet wins—you’ll get THREE HUNDRED dollars in bonus bets to use across the app.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)

Well, the Colts Squad Show. I'm your host, Derek Shultz, and guys, I just did the math, and I think Jonathan Taylor can score 40 touchdowns this season. And I'm Zach Hicks, and what a snooze fest. The Colts can sleepwalk their way to 38 points against the Tennessee Titans. I'm Alan Pickett, former Euler, and just another average performance by the Colts offense. Colts Nation rise up. It's the Colts Squad.

Everything Indianapolis Colts. week covering all the big hits and game changing plays from the Circle City the way only the locked on podcast network can it's time to squad up the colt squajo starts now welcome to the colt squad show i'm your host derrick shultz thanks so much for joining us on the locked on colts network today's episode brought you by game time download the game time app create an account and use code locked on NFL for $20 off your first purchase i'm joined by the legendary Notre Dame and former NFL running back Alan Pinkett and you every dayers of course know Zach Hicks. Half of the dynamic duo of Locked on Colts, everybody's favorite

listen every day. And unfortunately, Jake will be unable to join us right now. He is at once again a very celebratory and happy Lucas Loyal Stadium as the Colts route the Titans 38 to 14 to grab another win and move to 7 and 1, a game that really turned into a laffer in the third quarter. Today on the Colts Squad Show will be talking about how Indy over became a slow start to look again like their usual selves. Speaking of his usual self, Jonathan Taylor, three more touchdowns, forcing a running back

into the MVP conversation for the first time at a long time. I know Alan's going to be happy about that. Week 8, studs and duds, that's what we do after every post game show, talking about some of the good and bad individual performances. And the schedule getting considerably tougher in the coming weeks. I'd say

things starting to get real, Zach, but you know, the charges are really good. The Broncos are really good. Like, I, I don't want to hop into the national fray here and start down in the Colts. You're not supposed to win half your games by 20 plus points. You're just not. And what the Colts keep doing, even after, like you said, sort of, you know, a very sleepy first half, a very flat first half still coming out and laying the wood on the Titans. I just think it shows where this team is right now.

Yeah. Again, it speaks volumes to this team. I know they went against tennis Titans today, a team that can't get out of their own way. But, I mean, again, they were sleep walking through that first half. I thought it was like a C performance from them in that first half. And they were still up by double digits at halftime. And then to turn it up a notch when they got to that second half in the third quarter, Jonathan Taylor with the big statement run to start the quarter,

Daniel Jones got back into form, I think, that rest of that third quarter as well. And the Colts were able to just a steam roll to another big victory. This team's just good, man. Like, again, we're running out of things to talk about on this show every single week because it's kind of becoming the same old, same old every single week where it's like, the Colts offense is good for 30 plus points even if even if the processes aren't as perfect each week or they're winning in different ways they're going to score their 30 plus points and the defense is going to get up some explosive plays but they're going to make some timely sacks some timely stops and get off the field and the Colts are going to win football games that way so yeah man it's it's it's insane what we're seeing like I don't think that I don't think that anyone expected this coming into the year even the most optimistic Colts fan if I told you were going to be seven and one after the first eight games with one of the best offenses in the NFL history through this, this period. It's crazy, man.

And I just want to give the biggest shout out in the world, though, to all the Colts skill players in this game. Most notably, obviously, Jonathan Taylor, with what his 12 carries for like 150 yards in this one, but also just looking at the wide receiver trio, Josh Downs, Alec Pierce, and Michael Pittman Jr., you know, it's tough being a wide receiver in the NFL with that, that ego that you have to play wide receiver, right? None of these guys have a 100-yard game this year. The Colts have zero 100-yard gains from the receiving core this season.

But in this offense, man, everybody eats. All those wide receivers were big-time performers. All of them, I think, above 50, I mean, Pierce had above 50 on the one catch. But I think all those guys are well over 50 yards in this game. Pittman, just under 100. Downs got a touchdown catch. Pierce, obviously, again, made those big-time catches. So, yeah, man, these guys are just clicking.

Michael Pittman Jr. made some great catches on that second touch. touchdown drive to. These skill position players are playing out of their minds right now. And again, you're not going to say any of these guys are the next Jamar Chase or Justin Jefferson or anything like that. But what they're doing on their individual levels in their offense and when they are called upon, they are stepping up and making big time plays. Every single wide receiver on this team, every tight end on this team, every running back on this team, the skill position players are going crazy for the Colts this year. And we saw it today in big fashion.

Well, what I'll add is, you know, I do preach that on any given Sunday a team can beat you and that you have to be mature and understand that these are pros and there's no bad teams in the NFL. There's only teams with bad records, but I'm guilty as charged too when it comes to playing a team that's only won one game this year. It's like, you know you're going to beat their ass. Yes, so the human factor does enter in, and I think that contributed to maybe a little bit of the sloppiness. You know, I credit to Tennessee because they did fight throughout the game. They were outmanned. They did have a few more people injured than they usually do, but they were outmanned. I do think one of the things that contributed to the sluggishness was, I think the cults sometimes on offense get bored to do their basic stuff.

And it works. And so on that first series, when they tried the little screen pass, which was cute and everything, it put them behind the sticks, got them off schedule. You know, those are the football terms we use nowadays. And that contributes to them kicking a field goal on their first drive instead of scoring a touchdown. And I think that probably put them out of sync. But they, like I said, are a mature team and we're able to get back in. sync. And, you know, as far as the running game today, how good is it to have a team and have talent where if one phase isn't working up to par, another phase can be super. And I know

we're going to get into JT a lot later. But sometimes as a running back, you walk into a game and you're just feeling it. And, you know, you're making the reads quicker. You're a little bit faster. To me, Jonathan Taylor just seemed a little bit faster today, a little bit quicker. And, you know, when the offensive line did get in sync, they were making holes. You could drive an 18 wheeler through. So, you know, credit to them for realizing, okay, yes, this team is one and six.

but if we want to prove we want to win another game, then we got to step on the gas and play our game and get the outcome that we want. Yeah, and look, when you look around the league at some of the other teams that we're viewing as, you know, let's say, AFC contenders, Zach, you made a great point on Twitter. Just about everybody else has a much closer scrape

than what the Colts have. I mean, I guess you could say the Cardinals game, even though I don't put the Cardinals in the same categories, like the Raiders and the Dolphins and Tennessee, the Colts are just leaving no doubt. They're not even putting themselves in a position to possibly lose the game. Whereas we've seen other teams in the NFL put themselves, you know, even even good, great teams,

even teams that won the Super Bowl, we saw them put themselves repeatedly in situations where they could lose to inferior opponents. And the Colts, they're just not doing that, Zach. no they're taking care of business against the bad teams and again we said that early in the year when they were beating the dolphins and the raiders and the titans early in the season we were saying that like the good teams in this league they put away the bad teams and then they fight and they scrape with all the good teams now coming up the rest of the year outside of a couple of games here like the falcons maybe not as good as what we thought they were going to be we'll see them in a couple weeks but the colts have a lot of good teams left on their schedule so we're going to see them fight and claw in those games and and really fight for everything but they can't the games that were, again, not gimmies because the NFL is not like college football. There's no gimmies in the NFL, especially divisional games. It's hard to beat down the same team twice in the NFL because pride comes in because

these guys are paid millions of dollars to scheme against you and make adjustments. So it is hard to beat down the same team twice. We saw the Eagles beat up on the Giants today, but the first time they played, they lost to the Giants in that game. But I think it's a testament to how good this Colts team is that when they got a lot of these, you know, below average to poor teams that they played, they left no, like, no doubt whatsoever. They were sitting their starters going to the fourth quarter in pretty much every single one of these games. And Derek, you mentioned the Cardinals. I think the Cardinals might be

the best two and five team in football. I mean, gosh, they, no matter who they play against, they will be in a one score game late in the fourth quarter. It could be the 85 Bears or it could be the a eights from back in the day. They would take that team to one score in the fourth quarter because that's how they are. But yeah, no, this Colts team, man, they just, they play some good football and they take care of business. And look, I'm not even going to rule it out that some of these teams down the stretch, the Colts aren't going to win by two scores, two or three scores as well, because who's stopping this offense right now? Jonathan Taylor averaged like over 10 yards of carry today. Who's stopping this offense? Daniel Jones, I think, by all accounts,

this was like a C plus game from Daniel Jones on the year, right? And that was still what, like two 70 and three touchdowns. Like, if you told me before the year, this was going to be a C or C plus game from Daniel Jones, I would have told you you're crazy. This would have been a career performance from him, but it's kind of just what our expectations are for him on Sundays now and our expectations for this offense. So I think that Alan said a great point earlier where it's like, we have this offense now where like the phases can pick each other up.

If one area of the offense is struggling, you have all these other areas that can pick them up the passing game takes some bad sacks early misses a deep ball to alec pierce has some struggles don't worry jonathan taylor average 15 yards to carry 10 plus yards of carry whatever it is like they had these ways to pick themselves up and get points regardless um they had one of the best short yard offenses in football as well it's just a machine on that side of the ball and again i think people are looking at these upcoming defenses down the stretch we'll we'll talk about in the final second but i think it's more so those defenses are looking at the colts saying oh crap we have to go against this offense it's not really i mean you can look at it for the colts too but

this colts offense is just a machine and i'm scared for any defense that has to try the game plan against them well i was it was interested interesting excuse me to see you know some different names on the defensive side of the ball uh but uh i think your your main players are still holding up the defense and it's it's a to me bend but don't break but you know know, I think they got good pressure on Cam Ward. I think that we got a chance to see that Cam Ward in a couple of years is going to be a dynamic quarterback, just seeing how cool under pressure he is. But the Colts were still able to affect him and make some balls come out sooner than they needed to, and they were able to reach him a couple of times. But I think the Colts are

We're definitely fortunate to face him right now. Before he gets good, it sort of reminds me when Cam Newton came in the league. And Cam Newton was really torching people in the first few games before teams figured out what they were going to do to them. But I think the defense really did a great job, especially holding them to seven points, you know, all the way until, I don't know, the fourth quarter. Garbage time. Yeah.

Yeah, it was garbage time. And it's, I think, probably one of the most satisfying things to see an offense take a chunk of time off the clock and not get any points for it. You know, that means the defense is doing their job. But, you know, like you said, Zach, the offense, I mean, when they're humming, it's just a joy to watch. And that's why I said it was another average game because, you know, 38 points is pretty close to their. average and they can find a lot of ways to beat you and don't want to shower them with too many superlatives because they are going to go into a portion of their schedule where we've talked about the fact that the only people that can beat the Colts are the Colts. But we also are

fortunate that the Colts Health is in a position now where they are 100% in full stride to face some of these teams and so you hope that they can keep everybody healthy because that gives them the best chance to have success for the rest of the year. But so far, very, very impressed with what they're doing and no reason to think that they can't keep it up against other talent in the NFL. Yeah. And one quick thing I want to say about the defense too is I do think they do a lot of bend don't break things well just in terms of taking the football away finishing on sacks and getting some some good pressures here and there and forcing the quarterback to speed up but i do think the two things that we really need to see this defense to spring down a little bit

more to be like a good a really good bend don't break third down defense needs to be a little bit better a little bit of leaky on third down especially third and long and i want to see those explosive plays on in the passing game just come down a little bit more even if that means you're giving up the flats a little bit more to offenses, I'm fine with that if we can take away the deep end breakers and digs. But overall, I think the defense is still getting where it needs to be. It's tough when you're throwing out guys like Cameron, Mitchell, and Dorell, and Chami for a ton of snaps in this game. Buddy Johnson at linebacker was out there for a good chunk as well. So I'm not trying to say anything bad about these players. I actually thought

they played commendably well considering, you know, where it was in this one. I mean, heck, they held the Titans of seven points and forced interception in the fourth quarter with their backup defense. But I do want to see just a little bit more of things clean up. But I think the defense is getting where it needs to be. Just keep forcing turnovers, getting sacks, and please improve the third down defense a little bit more. And we'll be good on that side of the ball.

Yeah. And I think some of their struggles are magnified by the fact the offense is so good, right? Like I think the defense overall is fine. It's not, you know, it's not a great unit, obviously. I don't think it's a bad one either, especially considering the injury situation. you know, it's like me, I'm a triplet and I had two sisters that made honor roll. So my report card compared to theirs always looked comparatively worse. I was the Colts defense of my family, guys.

You want me to make the worst analogy ever? We come back on the show. When we talk about the MVP award, a lot of people view it as a quarterback one. But will a running back force voters to reconsider, we're going to discuss that as the Colts squad show keeps on rolling. Stay with us. This portion of the Colts Squad show brought to you by Price Picks. You and I make decisions every day, but on prize picks being right can get you paid.

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God, it's so nice that they're beating the Titans again. Remember that stretch when they lost five in a row and it was like the sky was falling because the Colts have dominated this series for so long. And now it feels like everything is right. Again, India has now won six straight since that five game losing skid. But guys, I had mentioned MVP and I think everybody knows the running back I'm talking about. and it's not Bijon Robinson. It's Jonathan Taylor.

Three more touchdowns for Taylor, 174 total yards and three tuds on 14 touches. And that's what's so crazy to me, Zach. The efficiency here has been insane. You know, our mutual friend, Jill A. Erickson of the Indy Star, tweeted out something. I think he was doing Ask Joel at halftime. And I just saw it in passing,

so I'm not sure exactly what point. It was after one of Taylor's touchdowns, obviously. And he was comparing it to the 2020. 21 season. And he said, you know, it was a big difference here. You know, I know you have a character limit so you can't kind of get into all the context. But remember in 2021, it was handed to him 50 times and pray that he was going to save you, right? Because that's all they had, especially late in the season when Carson Wentz was really kind of crumbling in the past offense just wasn't where it needed to be. Now it's almost like he's the guy that you just, you have him come in and

just throw uppercuts. Like he's there to land the K.O. blow. That's how it feels. Like you soften them up, soften them up, soften them up. And then bang, when you get close or in the red zone and it's a formula that's really worked for the Colts here through eight games. Yeah, Derek, I think honestly the best way to describe Jonathan Taylor this year. And I know we get a little bit mixed in the first half, so it's not the perfect comparison. But it's like in baseball you have Daniel Jones is like your starting pitcher. You know, he comes out there. He kind of gets you a secure lead early.

And then Jonathan Taylor's like your entire bullpen. You know, he's all your relief pitchers. And he's also your closer as well, where if you're going to hand a lead to him, the Colts are going to win these games. You know, and I said it at a half time where, you know, some people were like, oh, why is he only have eight carries in the first half? And I'm like, look, the Colts have a 10 point lead going to the second half. We know what the second half is going to be. It's going to be the Jonathan Taylor show. And honestly, it wasn't too many in the second half because he just kept taking them for touchdown.

So we didn't even really get the John Taylor show today in the second half. But, yeah, he's like having this like perfect bullpen and closer in baseball where if you can give any kind of lead to him, in that second half it's over man like you can't you're not going to stop this guy in the third and fourth quarter and to get to the overall point here about MVP you know i'm a big proponent of look voters are just not going to vote for running back anymore it's just never going to happen in the modern analytic based NFL where quarterbacks are just so immensely valuable and the biggest argument against daniel or against uh jonathan taylor is how many wins were these colts teams getting when it was jonathan taylor and any other quarterback but

but you get Daniel Jones in here and all of a sudden they're the best team in football. That's going to be the hardest argument to make for Jonathan Taylor. But at some point, the counting stats are going to be so incredible. It's hard to really deny it. Like he almost, like as long as he stays healthy the rest of the season, he's a lock for offensive player of the year, I think, for sure. And he's going to get MVP votes at this point. I mean, again, he's averaging almost six yards of carry right now.

He's getting three touchdowns a week, it feels like. He's a big contributor in the passing game. He's been an outstanding past blocker as well. It's going to be hard to make the argument just because, again, MVP's not given to the running backs anymore, but he's going to have some of the craziest counting stats we've seen if he stays healthy this entire season. And one thing we're not talking about enough here, guys, is historically,

Jonathan Taylor is way better in December than he is to start the year. He has always been a, this, I mean, think about last December, he ran for almost 700 yards in the four games in December last year. Like, he is traditionally much better in the closing couple games. Most of his 200-yard games in his career have come in those final couple weeks of the season. So if we're thinking he's great right now, if he stays healthy to the final month of the season, he might get over to that 2,000 yards that Barclay hit last year because he's going to go crazy in December. So, yeah, it's going to be hard to make the case, but like the counting stats are going to be so insane,

where especially if you compare him to like past running back to have won MVP's like he's on a better pace than Adrian Peterson was in Peterson's MVP year, especially the touchdowns. He's already got more touchdowns this year than Peterson had in his MVP season. You know, like he's he's making a case for like a Sean Alexander, Priest Holmes, Larry Johnson type touchdown season this year. And he's not getting a quarter of the carries that those guys were getting. Those guys were getting like 400 carries in the season. So yeah, it's crazy, man. He is playing some outstanding football. I never would have expected to see a player with his experience in the NFL make this kind of

jump. You know, this is what, year six for him? Yeah, you're five, you're six for him. Never thought I'd see a player in year six who was already this like all world player making the jump he has this year, not only as a pass blocker and a pass catcher, but even has a runner this year. Like his contact balance has been better than it's ever been this year. Somehow he's gotten faster this season than he has looked the last.

two years somehow. I thought that he lost his speed when he got those ankle injuries the last two years. But all of a sudden, he's hitting 22 miles per hour on the regular basis this season. And then he never gets tackled for negative yards. It's like a 6% rate, 7% rate getting tackled for negative yards. He is the best running back in football by a large margin. And that's in the NFL with Shamir Gibbs and Bejohn Robinson, who are fantastic rushers. Joptha Taylor is the best running back in football. So I think, I mean, he's going to get MVP vote. it's for sure by the end of the year, if he keeps this awesome. And Zach, you point out something that I had to remember.

He's in his sixth year. Usually the shelf life of a full-time running back, I mean, your main horse is about six years. After six years, you start to digress a little bit. But this guy keeps getting stronger and stronger. And look, I agree also with you that it's going to be hard for our running back to get MVP if Sequin Barclay couldn't get the MVP last year going over 2,000 yards. Now, I realize that when you compare to Eric Dickerson and Adrian Peterson, they played one less

game, all right? But one thing you can look at, though, is with the number of touchdowns he has, compare them to La Danian Tomlinson, who in 2006 got to. the MVP. Now, he had 28 rushing touchdowns, and we're at the halfway point of the season, where Jonathan Taylor has 14, maybe it's the touchdowns and not the yards that get him more MVP votes. But it's contemporary professional football has gone to the quarterback. But I did want to speak on one more thing, on this 80-yard run. All right. And this is, I'm going to give you a little running back insight because it looks like he just ran straight to the sideline

and then outran everybody. But, you know, one of the things he did is he, when he broke out into the open field, he sort of climbed on the defensive back. That means you sort of straighten out your run to make that defensive back. I think it was Xavier Woods was the first one who had a shot at him. He just went straight at him. All it takes is a couple of steps to make that defensive back reroute himself because if he just went straight

to the sideline, then Xavier was what I caught him. But he not only affected Xavier was, he affected Monty Hooker because of that. It was very subtle just let's me straighten up, climb on the defensive back, then break

it outside. And then his speed, he has legitimate of speed because you're not supposed to be able to outrun a DB. These DBs are former track stars. They can run. They got to run with these fast-ass wide receiver. So a running back is not supposed to be able to outrun them. But, I mean, when he hit that corner, oh, my God.

But, yeah, just wanted to give you a teeny bit of how you run when you get out in the open. How do some backs break more big runs than other backs? because you've got to do a couple little things, little subtle things that allow you to create more space so you can outrun them. So I just wanted to point that out. And that's the kind of stuff that an MVP would do. Yeah, and the balance on the sideline. I mean, Andrew Catalan, who was on the call for CBS today, I think he said, I'm paraphrasing here, but it was like, and he's still going, and he's still going.

And I have this exact direction at home. I'm like, I just assumed that he had stepped out of bounce because I'm like, there's no way that he tightrope that while running 22 miles an hour. And he tightroped it while running 22 miles. I mean, there was no doubt. There was no white on his shoes whatsoever. And it really is incredible. And I do wonder, Zach, like both of you guys.

I mean, I understand that the NFL has changed in the sense that, and probably rightfully so, right, that running back is much more a fungible position than what quarterback is. I think we all get that. That's not just an analytics thing. That's just reality. That said, if things, you know, if this is an historic level offense for 17 games and the Colts go 15 and 2 and Taylor is their best player and he scores 25, 27, whatever, something, touchdowns, I mean, you know, like, is he really going to finish behind Baker Mayfield

if that happened? You know what I mean? Like, come on. I do, I know that I'm drinking the Kool-Aid a little bit here, but I do think that there is a scenario now it's it's a far-fetched one maybe that he could really really push for it and get some voters to maybe reconsider well i mean at at the current rate we're about halfway through the season so we can basically project out the way this year is going to go right so as of right now taylor continues this historic pace in the second half he's going to have right

around 2 000 total yards a little over that and what like 30 total touchdowns this season but the biggest issue here is his quarterback's going to finish with what 4,000 yards almost 30 touchdowns total in like four turnovers if we project this out over the course of the year and they're going to steal votes from each other that's going to be the biggest problem if they you know if this copies over to the second half the year obviously you know i hope it does but we'll see exactly what happens there but yeah i think the only way he would win it is if he gets over 2,000 total yards nearly 30 total touchdowns and pat mohomes josh allen and i guess Lamar Jackson's out of it. Josh Allen and Pat Mahomes both just are average the rest of the

season. Because even if he hits those crazy numbers, if those guys are even close in the conversation, the default votes are going to go to them. I mean, Josh Allen won a default MVP last year. I love Josh Allen, but like he shouldn't have won the MVP last year. That's just how it is. So yeah, it's just how it's a narrative award. And I guess if they, I mean, look, a lot of the narrative award with it comes down to those like premier. wins and stuff. So if they go to Kansas City in a couple weeks and Taylor runs for 200 and they win that game,

that helps. You know, that's a big part of it. But the standard is just so insanely hard for running backs in the modern football, but man, he is playing some great football. Like, I don't even care about the MVP conversation with it. I just want to acknowledge that this is like one of the

greatest running back seasons I've ever seen. And I watch 2021. Every single week of Taylor in 2021, I watch And defenses knew the run was coming because it's the only thing the Colts could do on offense for the second half of that year, and they couldn't stop it. This is more impressive, in my opinion, because this is a complete running back. In every phase, every facet, he's your elite closer. You get little sprinkles of him in the first half as well. He's doing everything for this team.

And he's a piece of the greatness of this offense, but he's the biggest piece of that greatness. Yeah, and the offensive line, let's give them their flowers too. I know we're going to talk about some of them, Sudge and Dutch. wise but man you know some of the running lanes in in the early portion of the game were just insane uh i'm not saying that i could run through them but i think i would have at least had positive yardage i mean that's that's how much the seas kind of parted too far too far for me i would fumble that ball in the back field i think what they're calling look the fabulous five uh because they were pushing people out of the way and it's just you know when and look having a back like

Jonathan Taylor actually puts the offensive line in an advantageous position because if they can be a flatback and go smack somebody in the mouth, that's what they would prefer to do as opposed to dropping back, catch, punch, put this hand here, step this way, be mechanical. No, just go and run over the dude right in front of you. That's what they would rather do. Yeah, and the best thing is they run so much play action that they're run blocking on passing plays in most of these opportunities as well. So they're just getting, this offensive line is run blocking on like 70% of their plays this year. If you count play action RPO's, and they're having a lot of fun out there. And they're doing some great things.

Yeah, they're mowing dudes for sure. A lot more studs than duds after a blowout win, including one veteran Colt who actually matched a career high already. And it's only week eight. We'll tell you who that is when we come back here on the Colt Squad Show. This portion of the Gold Squad Show brought to you by our friends at Game Time. NFL season is back. And honestly, there's nothing better than being in the stadium surrounded by fans and cheering on your team like many of you did at Lucas Loyal Stadium. But let's be honest.

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Again, that's promo code L-O-C-E-D-O-N-N-N-N-F for $20 hours off. swipe tap ticket go download game time today and we're back once again on the locked on colt squad show really appreciate you joining us all of our live viewers right now and we always have an active youtube comment community which we really appreciate but if you guys are watching this or listening to this after the fact either video version audio version we really appreciate it and be sure to make locked on colts your first listen every day of course jake and zack do the heavy lifting. Alan and I just kind of fly in here middle of the week on Wednesdays and to come back

after games. And our job's real easy, Alan, because we just keep talking about wins every single week for the 71 Colts here. Best record in the NFL. Guys, we always play studs and duds and I actually wanted to lead. This is the first time in a while that maybe we weren't going to lead Jonathan Taylor because we just spent an entire segment on him or we're talking about

Daniel Jones because even though he was certainly fine today, I don't know if he'd put him in the stud category. Michael Pittman Jr. matched a career high now with his six touchdown catch of the season. That already passes all but, yeah, one of his seasons. I mean, this is a guy that I think had three, three and four touchdowns. The last three, you know, this is a guy that has not really been getting in the end zone during

his career, yet he's been a constant end zone threat this year with Daniel Jones and this offense. And, and Zach, that drive, I mean, he makes like the off the helmet juggling catch and then the one-hander as well. You know, you talk about all the guys on this team that have found a new gear that are veterans. It's year six for MPJ too. And here he is, year six playing the best football of his career. It's so crazy with this offense, though, because each guy's, each guy had their own drive today.

You know, the first drive of the game was Josh Downs drive, had almost 50 yards on that first drive receiving, right? Then you go to the Michael Pittman drive on the second drive, which was absolutely insane. The way that he was able to come away with those two catches were just out of this world. Then later in the game, you had the Pierce drive where he had the 60-yard catch or whatever up the right sideline. You have all the other Jonathan Taylor drives in there. The skill group that they have on offense, like they can just cycle whoever they want to go to, you know, just depending on what you're doing. So, yeah, when Michael Pittman Jr. was called upon today, especially to make a couple tough catches that he had to make, he made them. He did some

great stuff. He is a pros pro. He has always been, what's the terminology, a lunch pail guy, you know, one of those guys who he catches all the ball. He catches all the ball. over the middle of the field. He takes the big hits. He catches them in traffic. He is a coach's dream at wide receiver. You know, every coach would love with Josh Downs and Alec Pierce as well and Tyler Warren, of course. But a Michael Pittman Jr. is like the guy that when they take their teach tapes to the high school coaches or the college coaches and like, oh, this is what we do in the NFL. It's all Michael Pittman Jr. film because this is what you want every player in the NFL to be. You know, you want them to be tough like this guy, putting his body on the line. And last year was a

a tough season for Michael Pittman Jr. Had that back injury all season, was hardly able to move on Sundays, but he still gutted it out and played in all those games for the Colts. This year, he's healthy. He's in a good, just machine-like offense, and he's showcasing what he can do at a high level. So, I mean, studs are just all the skill position players for the Colts, but Michael Pittman, Jr. on that drive was absolutely insane.

Well, I would just say he's a wonderful teammate because if you look around the league at a majority of number one receivers, they are divas. And I know that, you know, from my playing days, the guys that talked to most smack were the farthest away from contact most of the time. Now, the defensive backs and the wide receivers, you know, if they were an interior line in that mesh,

they wouldn't talk as much because they'd be getting hit more. But, you know, I just appreciate. the work ethic that Michael Pittman shows, you know, it's just a quiet, calm, aggressiveness, do your job mentality. And I guess an appreciation for, you know, when I do have an opportunity, I'm going to step on the gas, but I'm going to help my teammates. And can't say enough about the touchdown catch that he made, because that really shows. showed that this is a top flight receiver, how he was able to maneuver his body, make the catch, and stay in bounds. I don't know if folks ever try to simulate making a catch and

keeping your feet in bounds running full speed with a DB all over your back. You know, but they get paid a lot of money to do it, but it's still a beautiful thing to see when a receiver can execute it. And I tell you that the good play is sort of a contagious thing when you're on a team that makes good plays. And it makes Mondays a lot more fun because you have to watch the film the day after the game. And it's so much more pleasurable to watch in a win. But then to also watch some of the special plays. And, you know, sometimes, sometimes. you gain an appreciation for yourself when you see a play that you made. And when you see yourself make a play like that, you gain more confidence. And you gain more confidence in the fact that

whenever the ball is in the air, you know that ball is mine. If it's anywhere near my wingspan or my reach. And that's sort of how you have to operate as a receiver is you have to lock in and know that that ball is mine when it's coming in the air. And that's a tough thing to do. It's sort of like I would compare it to sitting in a batter's box and staring down a 90-mile-an-hour fastball. When I know if I see a 50-mile-an-hour fastball, I'm going to jump out of the box.

But there's just a mentality you've got to lock in to know that, okay, this ball's coming at 90, and I'm going to hit the SOB. And so it's a tough job, but, you know, I think these receivers make it look, I wouldn't say easy, but they just do such a great job at their, what they're paid to do. Yeah, no, for sure. And to get some more studs here, obviously the offensive line, we have to talk about just for a second here. Yeah. This offensive line's been blocking out of their mind, especially the left side of the offensive line,

Boralini, Quentin Nelson, Berenhard Riemann. We sound like a broken record talking about them at this point, and we've given a lot of love to the offense here. So with that, just, again, you guys know how hard this is for me to move on from offensive line real quick, but I want to say the interior defensive line as well for the Colts. I thought played some outstanding football.

Their run defense, I would say, like the last month of play has been so much better than what it was earlier in the season. They're getting a lot better in success rate. And a lot of their issues too and run defense now are just on those outside runs. Like that big 50-yard run in the first quarter was outside the tackles. If these teams are running inside the tackle, though. The Colts have this wealth of players, these four defensive tackles that are playing

out of their mind. DeForest Buckner has really come alive these last two weeks. That's some great pressures, including that huge fourth down sack. And this one, Rower Stewart, a couple run stuff and another pass batted down at the line of scrimmage. He keeps doing that every single week. And then the two reserve guys, Neville Gallimore with a big time hustle sack late in the game there on the sideline to Cam Ward. Atatomiwa had a sack today as well. Like this interior defensive line, room is really, really good for the Colts. So, like, when we talk about, like, hanging your hat on some things on defense, at least

this interior defensive line room is playing some really great football, getting better in the run game, and we're starting to see a lot of pressure generated from that interior. And just to elaborate on your point, DeForest Buckner, this is year 10, and Grover Stewart, year nine, and it really feels like they're getting better. Like, how long can they play at that level, you know, when you're knocking heads every single play? But imposing size, it makes me feel glad I'm not in the league anymore to have to dodge one of those guys or get hit by one of those guys. But, I mean, at nine and ten years in the league, there as athletic as any rookie I've seen play interior line.

yeah i mean there's a reason why it's one of the best duos in the entire NFL i mean they just keep doing it a year after year after year guys we're going to talk duds um i had trouble coming up with something i mean i guess like the edge pass rush again was not great i i don't know if there was any like standout dud performance uh but either of you have any that came to mind yeah can we do duds for the other team because uh cowardly coaching by a one in six team is laughable how not even just the one punt multiple punts multiple punts I'm like fourth and three on the colts side of the field I think obviously the biggest one is the punt that ended up being a touchback and then jonathan taylor runs

for a touchdown the next play and it's like what do you do and this is where you like i'm going to lump it back around to a studs for the colts where i love that we never had this issue with the Colts coaching staff. Like love them or hate them, the best moments, worst moments, whatever it's going to be. This coaching staff on for the Colts, it goes for the jugular, man. They are cutthroat in everything they do. And you'll, if I ever saw this Colts team punting on a fourth and under five on the opponent side of the field, I would lose them.

I would think Shane Steichen got pulled off the field and somebody else was calling plays. They would never do that. And that kind of cowardly coaching in the modern NFL is losing you games. And I think the Titans honestly lost this game. I mean, obviously the Colts were probably going to win this game regardless because they were winning the penalty margin and they won the turnover game by the end of it. But if this Colts team wasn't turned the ball over,

they were going to win this game. But I think the biggest reason this became a blowout is because of the cowardly coaching on the other side of the ball. So duds for the Titans, but studs for the Colts that we never have to worry about that. This Colts team will go for it in a lot of those situations and they're one of the best short-yardage offenses in the league. Like they have that confidence because they know when they get the fourth and short, they're going to go.

I just hate cowardly football, cowardly coach, especially when you're in such a bad team. Like, show some fight. Show some. Yeah, what do you have to lose? Yeah,

exactly. Right. You know, the Colts have everything to lose, right, every week because they're this really good team right now. So you could maybe, you can't even understand if the Colts would do something like that,

but like, you know, if you're a good team, if you're a bad team, you have nothing to go for it on your own 20 on fourth and one. Like, whatever. Who cares? You're bad team.

You know? So, yeah, that cowardly. coaching made me appreciate the Colts coaching a little bit more because regardless of whether they were last year level bad or this year level great, they've never been cowards on offense like that. They go for it. And I think that's what you need in the modern NFL to win games. And the players especially appreciated when you. Cam Ward, how upset Cam Ward was when they hunted it on that one, you know? Players appreciate when you trust them. A great point,

Alan. Yeah, that's it. And so you build sort of a great repertoire, you know, because in the NFL, in college, the head coach is the dictator. He's the leader, all right? But in the NFL, it's a partnership. In fact, you don't even call the coach, coach. You call him by his first name because usually the player is making more money than the coach. But it is a partnership. Well, how much better could that partnership be if y'all are on the same?

same page and show that I am truly a partner because I'm going to give you guys a shot at, you know, proven that what I believe is what you also believe. And so, yeah, don't be out there playing not to lose. Let's play to win. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, even go back to like the Broncos game, the Colts went forward on fourth and one around the 50 and they got stopped. And they still ended up winning that game. But like, I don't like, even if you get stopped a couple times, like, like showing that faith in your offense, you know, even when it was last year's offense with Joe Flacco out there at times and Anthony Richardson struggles or Minchu's off. Like, show the faith in your offense, man. They will reward you and move the ball. And if they don't, then you

readjust. But I love just the confidence that the Colts have in their offense. And that's, I mean, it wasn't a big prevalent in this game, obviously, but in other, a lot of other games we'll see, especially down the stretch when they play some better teams. And just to mention, you know, you look at the Detroit Lions, that Dan Campbell coached team, they expect to go for it on fourth down now. You know, I mean, he's pretty much established a culture. We go for it on fourth down. Don't even question it. You know, this is who we are. And has that team been pretty successful the last couple of years? Colts are very similar. I think the Colts explosion this year is very similar to what the Lions explosion was like two years ago. I think it's very similar.

and it comes from that confident, aggressive coaching style that we see from both these guys. Yeah, and you can say that about the previous regime, too. Like, we really haven't dealt with those conservative calls since the Pagano era. And in Pagano's defense, 10 years ago, coaches called a different game than what they do now, right? You know, you're kind of the be judged on the era that you're in. But in the, in 2025, you know, Mike McCoy should not be punting on the plus side of the field, fourth and three. Down 10 points. What?

And you're one in six. Yeah. Twice, man. I was, I mean, I was happy he did it, but I was. I was mad, and I'm rooting for the other, you know, I'm kind of pulling for the other team, right? I mean, that shows how bad the call was. That's why he's a former coach in an interim.

That's right. We come back on the Colts squad show. We'll talk about the schedule. Tighten it up here over the next couple of weeks, including Pittsburgh, who the Colts don't have the prettiest history against. Take our first look at the Stewart as we return on the Colts squad show. This portion of the show brought you by our friends at Fanduel. The NBA is back, and there's no better place to get down on the action than Fandul,

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So hand at Fandul.com and sign up and play your game with Fandul. New customers, $300 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. Only at Fandul, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Back for a final time here on the Colts Squad show. Really appreciate you joining us alongside former NFLer and Notre Dame legend Alan Pinkett and Zach Hicks of Locked on Colts. I'm Derek Schultz. Jake Arthur will rejoin us for Wednesday show. Don't want you guys to forget. Wednesday night at 9 p.m. We've got a midweek show. We'd love for you to tune into that when we reconvenient the squad and we'll look forward to Pittsburgh.

And guys, a lot of people talking about, you know, stretches of the schedule. And I think this kind of happens when they release the schedule, right? You talk about, okay, wow, this four game stretch, this five game stretch, whatever it is. You look at this stretch here that kind of takes you up until Christmas, in particular the road games at Pittsburgh, at Arrowhead, at Jacksonville, God, at Seattle, which is always a tough trip. I don't care how good or bad or the Seahawks are. That's a difficult place to play. It always has been. It's, you know, you have the buy week in there as well. And you got the trip to Germany, right? So you lose a home game out of that stretch. So you're talking about essentially, you're only going to be in front of your home crowd once, right, in the next couple of weeks.

That's going to be difficult to do. But you know what, Zach, with the way that they're playing right now. I'm trying not to be overconfident, but at the same time, they've given me no reason that this thing is not sustainable and this thing can't travel. I said it the other day on the regular show, you know, it's like that scene from Watchman, you know, and I don't know how many people get the reference here, but like when Rorschach or whatever is arrested and all the criminals are closing in on him and it's like, oh, you're stuck in here with us. Like, no, you guys are stuck in here with me, you know? I'm one, you know, like, that's what it is. Like, for all the people thinking, like, all the schedules getting tough for the Colts,

it's getting tough for the teams that have to play the Colts, you know? Like, you have to go against the Colts. And yeah, there's some tough road ones in there. And I'm actually really happy the Colts are getting this opportunity because nothing gets you better for playoff football than going to Pittsburgh, going to Kansas City, going across the country to Seattle. Like, those games will get you ready for playoff football. And that's what the Colts need, you know?

I think they're a mature, experienced team, but it's time to get some battle-tested experience in here. I think their experience against the Broncos, their experience against the Chargers and the Rams really did help them early this season, but now let's just keep accumulating more experience here against a Steelers team that you'll see in the playoffs, against a Kansas City team that you know you'll see in the playoffs.

They will be in the playoffs. They're always in the playoffs. Against the Seattle team that will make the playoffs out in the NFC, just gain that experience and keep doing what you're doing. But yeah, I think for anyone looking at this and saying, like oh man like this we're going to see the real colts team and like yeah i think we are too i think we're also going to see the real cults team i think they're going to exchange some blows with these teams and and you're going to see how good they are but one thing i wanted to talk about with your

point here derrick about the colts history with the steelers yes the colts recent history not recent history but the colts history with the steelers always been rough but shane stuyken's history against the steelers with the colts has been pretty nice he smacks the steelers around that Steelers' defense with their spot-dropping zone defense that they run, Shane Steichen loves to play against that defense. We'll see if it changes when he plays them in Pittsburgh, but I will say from my understanding of Shane Steichen in his time with the Chargers, the Eagles, and especially with the Colts, I mean, he's dropped 30 plus points or around 30 points on the Steelers every time he plays them with the Colts. Again, I think for anyone thinking that this offense is going to take a step back,

as long as they're healthy on that side of the ball, you could throw the Steelers, you could throw the chiefs you could throw the 85 bear maybe that's the 85 bears but you know other teams against them i think this offense is still going to score points so bring it on is kind of what i'm saying not to be a big homer here but like at this point bring it on you know if what they did to the broncos defense in week two where they dropped almost 30 points against the defense that just suffocates everyone didn't convince you then sure bring up more opponents and let's see what excuses you make after that you know well i kind of look at it like this the players aren't going to overvalue or be impressed at another team when they're sitting here at seven and one all right and at this point there is enough

film out there that by game eight of the season if there was a defense that was going to stop this offense we would have already seen it so what it comes down to is it doesn't matter who you play or where you play. If you maintain your level of execution, then you should be all right. It doesn't matter what the level of competition is. Now, I'm not discounting that you're going to play some great teams. And Lord knows, they've got players on them that can make plays. We used to have to tell our assistant coaches sometimes, you know,

they say, well, you're not executing. I'm like, hey, coach, they're getting paid on the other side of the ball, too. They're going to make some plays. You know, so other teams are going to make some plays, too. But at this point, if no one has come up with an answer to how to slow this offense down, it's not going to be slowed down. And that's why we say the only way the Colts for the Colts to not have success is if they beat themselves. Yeah.

No, I mean, look, there is one way to slow down this offense. They have struggled in fourth quarters when they have a three or four score. lead we have seen in the fourth quarter their offensive productivity drops a little bit you know they haven't they haven't put up 50 in some of these games it's kind of crazy but no i mean yeah they they answer the bell and in most of the times and pretty much every time that someone's questioned them this year and i'm not saying they're going to be perfect down the stretch i'm not saying they're going to go 16 and one this year because that's just not realistic injuries will happen uh there will be mistakes they'll have more than just the three turnovers they've had in these first eight games like

it's just part of football, but they're not going to, like, revert back to last year's Colts. This is a new team. This is a good football team. Throw anyone you want at them. I think they're going to be able to exchange punches. And, yeah, there will be a couple that lose to the coin flip at the end of the game, but they're going to be right there in all these games. They are just too good of a football team.

And keep in mind the success that they've had this far. They welcome the competition. They want the challenge. They want to be able to go. out and prove that there is this badass team that can, you know, take on anybody. So all they're going to do is get better because they keep having success. Yeah, and I'm a margin for error guy. And I think, Zach, you said this last week. They've really put themselves by beating the Titans here, of course, which we were assuming anyway. At 7 and 1, they've put themselves in a

great position because even if, you know, you split these games, which feels like, you know, like a real, like drastic overstatement with the way that they're playing right now, you're 10 and 4 at Christmas, you're certainly taking the division, I think, at 10 and 4 at Christmas, right, with three games left. I mean, I think the Colts have just put themselves in a wonderful position here where even if things do get Rocky, oh, well, like I think it's not going to be like the sky is falling. Whereas you've seen past Colts teams, you know, last year and a couple of years where every single game in December felt like life or death because you're trying to get to nine and eight or you're trying to get to 10 and seven and sneak your way in,

this does not look like a team that is going to be any doing any sneaking. They're smashing their way into the postseason. Yeah, no, I said it right before the Cardinals game when I was looking at the five games prior to the by, I was like, if the Colts can go four and one at least in that stretch, they're going to be setting themselves up for, you know, a lot of margin for error and and just the ability to really help themselves down the stretch. So if they went four and one in those five games before the buy, they'd be at eight and two. Well, right now, they're sitting at 7-1 with two of those games left. They have a very real chance that's sitting at 9-1

going into the buy week. You know, they put themselves in such a great position this year. And I think the key is, and I know this is what Alan's rearing to say over here, is don't be satisfied with 8 and 2 or 9-1. You know, keep going. You know, who says we can't be 10-1, 11-1, 12-1? And look, again, things happen in the NFL and you can't win them all. But, like, I think that this team is just ready for the moment, man.

they're mature they pick each other up and today's game was a great example where when you weren't getting the best defense in the beginning of the game where they were allowing a lot of explosive plays and allowed that touchdown early uh when jones took a couple sacks that are really uncharacteristic the skill position players picked them up the o line in the running game picked them up jonathan taylor picked them up the defense picked it up in the second half and they were able to do some great things so yeah i think this team is just ready for the moment man they are ready for them. They're a mature team that is just ready for anything in front of them. And I'm excited to see what happens down the stretch with these with these better teams coming up

against them. Well, you remember in the beginning of the year, we, we talked about some goals that that player said, you know, win your first game, all right? And then win your home games. Okay. And then win your division, you know. Undefeated in all those so far, Halland, by the way. Yeah. Yeah. So then, you know, that motivates you now to instead of just, you know, hoping to make it to the playoffs, knowing you're going to be in the playoffs, hell, let's go win our damn division and get not only a week off, which, let me tell you something, having a week off at that point in the season before the playoff run really starts, you can't imagine how healthy.

a team can get by just having one week to let some of those little nix and bruises and things heal up. You feel so much fresher. So it's a motivating thing to say, you know, we've done these things. We've set out and accomplished these goals. Let's get that week off. Let's get that buy week. Oh, my God. Because that's what intensifies your ability to get to the Super Bowl is getting that week up. So, yeah, you still go one at a time, you know, but you still keep the stretch goal of, okay, now it looks like we can win the division. That looks like a doable thing. Shoot, let's have the best record in the AFC. And let's have home field advantage. Has home field been any good to the Colts this year so far? Why wouldn't we want to take

advantage of that in a playoff format so that when we are on offense, everybody shuts up in the crowd, and then when we're on defense, we got one of the loudest stadiums in the country. So those are the attainable things that sit out there. Yeah, and one final point I want to add to this is, look, at the end of the day, I know a lot of people are sitting there thinking, like, in the back of their mind the way I do, where it's hard to kind of grasp how good this team is, you know? And part of you were like, oh, Alan and Zach talking about winning the division and winning the AFC and stuff in the regular season. Like, it's such a foreign concept, especially if you're like a younger fan who didn't grow up in the Peyton Manick days

and stuff like that. This probably feels so foreign, but I mean, I get, I've been a pessimistic fan or pessimistic analyst since I've covered this. I've always told you to you guys to your face, like what I thought last year's team I thought was way worse than what their record said. I thought a lot of these teams that the Colts have had have been way worse than what their record have said. This year I'm telling you guys, this is a different football team. They are ready to go. They take care of business on Sundays. And every single thing from the analytics to the eye test to just how they're winning these games tells me this is a very good football team. So yeah, for a lot of people, I still see the comments here where it's like a brutal schedule,

tough schedule down the stretch. You're right. You're right. It's tough for those other teams to have to play against the Colts down the stretch. You know who else takes care of business on Sundays? Us right here on the Colts Squad show. Thanks so much for joining us for your place. For live game recaps, following each and every Colts game this season, but we'll have a Wednesday show too every Wednesday at 9 p.m. tune us back in and, of course, listen to Jake and Zach every day right here

on the Lockdown Colts network. We'll be back with you on Wednesday night to recap the injury report and first practice of the week and get you set for the Steelers. But until then, follow us on socials at Lockdown Colts and check out our other great content on YouTube and TikTok. We'll see you next time right here on the Colts squad show.