Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - COLTS SQUAD SHOW: NOW or NEVER - Colts' Slim Playoff Hopes | Also, Should Philip Rivers Remain QB1?

Episode Date: December 18, 2025

The Colts are rolling with Philip Rivers into a Monday Night showdown with San Francisco. The Squad gets together to talk about whether or not that's the right move, Anthony Richardon's future past th...is season, Lou Anarumo and Shane Steichen's decision-making, and more!Find and follow Locked On Colts on your favorite podcast platforms: 🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/podcasts/locked-on-colts/ 📺YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLdpxJspi1hMh5HL7ExpWOQ Give the squad a follow on X/Twitter @Schultz975, @JakeArthurNFL, @ZachHicks2, @allenpinkett, @LockedOnColts, and @ColtsOn_SI, as well on TikTok and Instagram! Locked On NFL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft & More 🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/podcasts/locked-on-nfl/Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Rocket MoneyTake control of your finances and cancel your unwanted subscriptions with Rocket Money.Go to https://RocketMoney.com/LOCKEDON today.Aura FramesFor a limited time, save on the perfect gift by visiting https://AuraFrames.com to get $35 off Aura’s best-selling Carver Mat frames - named #1 by Wirecutter - by using promo code LOCKEDON at checkout.FanDuelIf you want to be right in the middle of the action this season, visit FanDuel.com and place your NFL live bets all season long.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.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.

Transcript
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Starting point is 00:00:00 Welcome into the Colt Squad Show. I'm your host, Derek Schultz, and Uncle Fill It Up Again. And I'm Zach Hicks, and I'm ready to keep talking Uncle Phil for this week and the rest of the season. I'm Jake Arthur, and I just realized today that when both of my children were born, Philip Rivers was the starting quarterback. Two totally different times. Hi, I'm Alan Pinkett, former Euler. Making a big old chunk of yards is always.
Starting point is 00:00:30 going to help. Guess who said that? Colts Nation rise up. It's the Colt Squad, everything Indianapolis Colts every week. Covering all the big hits and game-changing plays from the Circle City, the way only the locked on podcast network can. It's time to squad up. The Colt Squadjo starts now. Thanks so much for joining us on the Colts Squad Show. Today's episode brought you by Fanduel, If you want to be right in the middle of the action this season, visit fandul.com and place your NFL live bets all season long. I'm Derek Schultz, any sports talker, columnist for the IBJ. I'm joined by a man who set rushing records at NordAim, had a great pro career as a Houston Oiler in running back Alan Pinkett.
Starting point is 00:01:13 And you every dayers know Zach Hicks. And we are absolutely thrilled to welcome back. Proud Papa, Jake Arthur from Locked on Colts as well. Colts making a rare Monday night football appearance as the home team this week as they welcome in the 49ers to Lucas Loyal Stadium as they look to make a final playoff. push on tonight's show. We'll take a look at those decreasing, let's say, playoff odds for the Colts. I don't think that's any secret to you guys in our listening audience. We'll talk about Phillip Rivers, if that's the best path forward and just the quarterback situation in general, because ever since the Daniel Jones injury in the wake of the Achilles, I think that's been
Starting point is 00:01:47 on a lot of Colts fans' minds. So we'll dive into that in segment number two. We'll play overreactions and underreactions from week 15. And then we'll take our first look at a Niners team that has survived a lot of injuries and really put together an impressive season, considering the circumstances. But guys, let's start with the playoff situation. And I understand when we concluded last show, and I know Jake, you were still on paternity leave, but I think we were getting some comments in the comment section. Playoffs play, you know, the Jim Mora thing, right? Because the Colts, of course, were coming off another loss, a heartbreaker there in Seattle. This game against San Francisco, honestly, you know, it matters far less than the final two in that.
Starting point is 00:02:26 it's not an eliminator. The Colts could conceivably lose this game and still make the playoffs. Whereas I was playing around with a simulator earlier today, guys, and losing to either Houston or Jacksonville pretty much takes them off of the grid outside of something crazy like Houston losing out or Jacksonville losing out, which doesn't seem likely with Jacksonville playing Tennessee. Houston's got a game against a horrible Raiders team coming up too. But you look at it here, Zach, I saw everything from 9% to 17% and considering where we sat four weeks ago, hell, considering where we sat two weeks ago. That's obviously a little bit depressing to see the numbers bear out those probabilities. Yeah, I mean, honestly, those might be a bit high when you look at what the Colts have the rest of the way. And again, it's just the nature of where they're at with the quarterback position. And it's not to say that Philip Rivers was the worst thing ever on Sunday, which we'll talk about more in this segment and the next segment.
Starting point is 00:03:17 But it's the nature of the situation. Like, I still firmly believe, and I'm going to hold this belief into my grave here, is that the Colts make the playoffs. if Daniel Jones never gets injured. If he never, I mean, one thing tears the Achilles, but also if the fibrillate doesn't fracture, I firmly believe they make the playoffs. We look back at the Houston and Kansas City losses. Those were essentially coin-fliped games.
Starting point is 00:03:39 One was a loss on the road to Kansas City in overtime by three points, a game where they held a lead in that one. In Houston, I mean, you can go to like 10 different moments in that game where the coin flipped against the Colts and they ended up losing it, from the pass interference in the red zone, to Josh Downs' drop late in that game. If anything goes a different way there,
Starting point is 00:03:59 I think they ultimately win that game. And I'm not saying that we should just live our lives by like ifs and ands and what could have happened. But typically in the nature of a whole season, the coin flip games eventually you get a couple of them to go your way. And I firmly believe they would have had a couple down the stretch go their way if Daniel Jones were healthy. But that's all in the past now because Daniel Jones is not healthy.
Starting point is 00:04:19 He is out for the season and maybe even for someone next season. and they're down to their emergency quarterback in Phillip Rivers. So I do think ultimately they are not going to make the playoffs this year. You know, you can keep putting the 17% in the 10% and all that. But honestly, I think that does do a little bit too high. I will say this. And I'm sure Alan will back me up on this just because Alan's the ever optimist on here, which I always love, if they come out with the same energy,
Starting point is 00:04:47 especially on defense and special teams that they did against the Seattle Seahawks, which again, I think we're down. playing how good the Seahawks team is. They are a very good football team. They're competing for the one seed in the league, in the NFC, like very, very good football team. And they took that team to the wire with a very cooked quarterback harm back there. I think if the defense and special teams come out and play the way they did this past
Starting point is 00:05:11 game, plus getting Buckner back, plus getting Soss Gardner back potentially for at least one or two of these games, I think they could have a chance if the game script goes their way. So I like the energy they show, but they just got to keep that up these last couple weeks. So I'm not going to say they have like no chance. As I said, going into the Seattle game because I didn't expect them to show that fight and that ability to keep that game close. But I do think it would take a lot of things bouncing their way. And recently we've seen a lot of bounces going against the Colts in terms of injuries and in terms of just bad luck and, you know, bounces within the game. So I think that they do need a lot of things to bounce their way that just haven't been
Starting point is 00:05:51 bouncing that way recently. Yeah, I think it's a little wild that just like six weeks ago, I was asking around to some colleagues about like, well, you know, when the Super Bowl comes around, if your team makes it, how do you, you know, like, how do you get the ball rolling on this whole thing? And now, like, they may not even make the playoffs. It's just insane how far they have fallen in that small amount of time. But I'm with you, Zach. Like, if Jones doesn't get injured, I think enough things go their way, especially in these
Starting point is 00:06:17 tight contests to where, like, they, they get they eke out one or two extra games here of course you know with with a few left they they could get one maybe two wins who knows um but yeah it's it's pretty tough now uh in the a fc playoff race they're behind houston and jacksonville and they have matchups against both of them and it's just like i don't know man and you look at these games even at seattle like i i rewatched it today they have found a way to be in control at some point and all of these games, whether it's an awful opponent, whether it's one of this year's highest end opponents. And they just keep finding new and improved ways to lose. And it's like that
Starting point is 00:07:02 tells you that they could win any game. But at the same time, it's like, well, what gives you the confidence that they're going to be able to put together 60 minutes and actually win? Because it's very corny and coach speaking and everything and the kind of language that kind of makes people roll their eyes when everyone's like, it's a 60 minute ball game, this and that. But with the holds it legitimately is. Because how many games have we seen where they've controlled it for 40 minutes, 45 minutes, 50? But it's that 5, 10 minutes that gets out of control that loses them the game. And I think Sunday was another example of it. Again, you know, to ping pong to Zach, I think the defense is going to kind of have to carry it. And they will have to get back to playing complementary football,
Starting point is 00:07:43 though, because the defense is definitely the side that is showing the most capability and the most life. And then I don't think they got any takeaways on Sunday, but if, you know, that's the first time this year, if they can make some of those big plays, give the offense a couple extra bonus opportunities. It's going to obviously be kind of methodical, slower developing drives under Phillip Rivers as it was early in the season when the Colts were actually putting together 10, 12 play drives, it seemed like, all the time, which will help kind of eat up the clock and put some points on the board, whether they're modest or not. But this iteration of the Colts team in this last few games is probably going to have to be one where 20 points
Starting point is 00:08:26 wins it. You know, just hold your opponent under 20 points and everything else is good. Because what was it? Six field goals for Seattle. And that's, I mean, that's with Jackson Smith and Jigba, who did really well in the game. But Sam Darnold, you got, you know, Kenneth Walker and Zach Charbonnet, like that's that's an offense you contained that could put 45 on anyone any week so yeah if they're going to do anything to salvage this and squeak in with you know the seven seed or whatever it may be they're they're going to have to be powered by that defense playing 60 minutes and then the offense just taking taking advantage of any bonus opportunities they're given and just at least a couple times making it seven instead of three, even though apparently Blake Groupie is just the best
Starting point is 00:09:15 kicker that could have come through that door a long time. Well, when I was with the Oilers, which was six years, my first year, we went four and 12, didn't have to worry about any playoff talk, but we went five straight years making the playoffs. And of those five years, we only won the division one time. So we only controlled our own. Destiny one time. But, you know, from a player's perspective, you do run through all those different scenarios. Like I was looking at the, the Colts website, and I mean, it must have been 12 paragraphs on the odds of the Colts getting in. And as a player, you look at that, and you do get caught up in it a little bit. You're a little mad at yourself that you put yourself in a
Starting point is 00:10:07 situation where you've got to depend on somebody else, but, you know, it is what it is. I just know that usually the coaches get to skinny on it so they can tell you, all right, if you win the next two games you're in, or all you need to do is just win one of two. The coaches usually know, I know Jerry Glanville, who we had, who to me felt like he was doing a tryout for a stand-up comedian act. Most of the time he was there. But he did have some good qualities. But he was always able to, I guess, create some calm in the building by letting us know,
Starting point is 00:10:49 okay, look, all you got to do is win the next two games and we're in. Or all you got to do is win this game and we've got home field. And I think having that type of, I guess, insight and assurance from the coach can sometimes be helpful. because really the only thing you can control is what you do on the field. And sometimes it's not enough to just say, we'll just win. Well, I'd like to, we understand that we got to go win, but we want there to be some hope, you know, for a good result if we win. Now, if, you know, they were told with all these different scenarios,
Starting point is 00:11:32 I saw 8% by the way, Derek, in terms of, their odds. All you want is some kind of favorable odds. You know, tell me there is a path to get there. And that might be enough motivation for us to go out and, you know, play for an entire 60 minutes, Jake, you know, because I've noticed the same thing that there are little lulls in the game where stuff didn't go your way. And that can happen. It's worse in college. because momentum is one of those things. You know, once you're off that momentum train, you can't stop it. You know, but in the NFL, these are grown-ass men,
Starting point is 00:12:14 and they usually can, you know, write the situation. But I think just knowing there's a chance and looking at some of the scenarios, you hate the fact that you put yourself in a situation where you have to depend on somebody else, but you still go out and just control what you can control. But if you know that, okay, if we win three in a row, we got a real good chance being in. And then that's how you set your mind.
Starting point is 00:12:48 Yeah, I mean, shout out to our comment here. It says win out and it's a 98% chance for the Colts. So technically they still mostly control their destiny, but you have to do the thing of winning these games when they're on a four-game losing streak right now. So they still have to actually. get a couple wins. Two of the three at home, though, and Philip Rivers has more time now to prepare for this game rather than just coming in on a Monday, like a red eye flight on Monday,
Starting point is 00:13:12 practicing for the first time in five years on Wednesday and then getting out there on Sunday. So it's kind of funny, though, I did look at it from both perspectives on the show earlier today, where it's like there's one argument where it's like Philip Rivers now a week removed from actually being in the facility again, you know, getting a little bit of workout and diet in for the first time in five years, you know, that could help him with the arm and maybe look a little bit more athletic, more physical. But what's the thing we know about it when you hit your 40s in life? The recovery is a lot tougher when you get older. So how was he feeling on Monday morning? You know, how is he feeling on Tuesday morning? So for every second that we talk about where it's
Starting point is 00:13:51 like, okay, like his arm could look better because he's back in the facility and doing things, there's still the recovery aspect of it. He took a couple of hits on Sunday. What is a 44-year-old man feeling. I know when he fell down on that one and stood up and tried to run forward, I could hear his knees cracking through the TV there. So there's going to be a lot of elements to this with Philip Rivers to talk about, which I'm sure we'll get to in the next segment here. Well, I just, I'll throw this in. I remember when I was at the Packers for a preseason. I used to always get in the ice tub after practice because that takes away a lot of the soreness, but there was a guy there named Sterling Shark.
Starting point is 00:14:31 and he would get in the ice tub before practice, and he would get in it after practice. But the one thing I noticed with him, he practiced like it was a game. I mean, he talked more smack. He used to talk more smack to Brett Farv. That's why nobody could really talk Brett Farv down because Sterling Sharp talked more stuff to him.
Starting point is 00:14:52 You know, he would say to Brett sometimes, Brett, do I have to throw it to myself, you know, for you to complete it, you know, and Holmgren had to get on him about, look, trying to build a kid's confidence. You can't be talking all that noise to him. But anyway, what I'm saying is I think Philip Rivers probably rediscovered that ice tub before practice and after practice because that will do wonders in terms of recovery
Starting point is 00:15:20 and making your body feel good. So Sterling was a big trash talker out. That's so surprising with the Sharp family. They seem to be very quiet, you know, kind of to themselves, guys. Wow, that's interesting. who was that way? No, those two guys, man, besides being legendary players, right? Legendary trash talkers, too, no doubt about it. We come back here on the Colts squad show. The Colts appear to be sticking with Philip Rivers. Shane Steichen confirmed that on Monday
Starting point is 00:15:44 and possibly the rest of the way. What does that mean for the team moving forward? What does it mean for Anthony Richardson? Not only now, but in 2026, we'll discuss that when the squad show returns. Don't go anywhere. This portion of the Colt Squad show brought to you by our friends at Rocket Money. Ever feel like money just disappears every month? It happens fast. A few subscriptions here and impulse by there. And suddenly the numbers in your bank account don't match the numbers in your head.
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Starting point is 00:16:43 Go to rocketmoney.com slash locked on today. That's rocketmoney.com slash locked on. RocketMoney.com slash locked on. and we're back on the cold squad show thanks so much for joining us not to fanboy out here i'm just i'm so excited to see jake back i know he's only gone like a week but it's just great you know he's got that new father glow i know this is a you know a new addition to the family you're not a first time father but great to have you back on the squad and it's been awesome to see in the comments you know you guys talking about hey it's great to have the the four guys back together
Starting point is 00:17:15 again this is a great show we appreciate you tuning in every single week not only to our Wednesday night show, but to our post-game recaps as well. I know I speak for everybody here when it's been a lot of fun for us. Alan Pinkett, Zach Hicks, Jake Arthur, and Derek Schultz, joining you. Philip Rivers, we did not bring him here to sit on the bench. That is a direct quote from Shane Stuyken on Monday, so we know that we're going to see Rivers again coming up here for Monday night football. You know, one thing that I'm a little bit concerned about, and Jake, I'll actually
Starting point is 00:17:40 start with you here. Rivers' longest pass on Sunday in Seattle was 16 yards. and while I don't think anybody questions that the brain is still sharp, right? Checking into plays, knowing where the ball needs to be, throwing anticipation and all of that. I mean, Rivers was elite at doing that. And is the reason that I think eventually he's going to be a Hall of Fame quarterback. But is there some concern on your end that, yeah, you can get away with that for a game and almost when in Seattle. Can you get away with that for a second game?
Starting point is 00:18:11 Can you get away with that with a third and fourth game? I gotta be honest my recollection of Phil back in 2020 is that his arm looked cooked at the time as well like it was very Chad Pennington-esque and one thing I've always kind of admired about him is he's very aware of what his arm doesn't give you anymore so I find with his deep ball it's all about timing and we saw a great example of it on the Josh downs play down the left side where downs I don't think was expecting it at that point. but that's because you know anthony richardson and daniel jones and those guys throw it at a normal pace of a deep ball rivers gets rid of it very very quickly downfield so that his receiver can run under it because he doesn't have the juice to just like launch the ball so i think with another week of practice and just like getting together and building that chemistry with however quickly you can do that i think stuff like that probably won't be as big of a deal you know like you guys said another week in the building that matters and knowing phil i'm
Starting point is 00:19:21 sure the off days have also been spent working with the guys as well because the reason you bring someone like this in is because you legitimately do have playoff aspirations otherwise you go with brett rippin and riley linter down the stretch essentially so you bring in philip rivers because you want to salvage something and so it's all hands on deck everybody working around the clock as much as possible to get you where you want to go. Now, at the same time, schematically, it did look to me still like a Shane Steichen offense, like trying to do a lot of things to create separation in space over the middle. Like, it's all going to be very short.
Starting point is 00:19:59 I don't want to make it seem like there is going to be bombs away at any point because even, again, in 2020, it was kind of few and far between. like T.Y. Hilton had some big plays occasionally downfield. I think Zach Pascall a few times as well. So they're not going to be painting the field like they were earlier in the season. But when those opportunities do arise, like I do think the Alec Pierce's of the world are going to have their opportunities downfield, maybe even Tyler Warren. But the missed opportunity to Josh Downs, when I watched that, I was like, man, you give them another like week or so to understand each other. those kind of plays that could have been the difference in the game because it was largely a field goal game
Starting point is 00:20:44 and so those little those little details could prove to be you know the the play that gives you four extra points and actually wins the game yeah i will say this uh philip rivers in 2020 his arm was not great for sure it really wasn't that great it's a lot worse now it's a lot it looked it looked tough at times it's a lot and the and the problem is he's just not even close to football shape at all like he is i mean dad bod times five right now is what he's cooking out there um he's a good 20 30 pounds overweight from where he'd want to be if he was in playing shape and it impacts his footwork it impacts his ability to drive the football and we're seeing him throw off his back foot a little bit you know he's just been away from the game for so long
Starting point is 00:21:29 and i i just outside of the occasional isolation throw to alec pierce on the back of the shoulder, which that was just a Hall of Famer making a Hall of Famer play, right? Was games on the line, third and seven, I got to make this throw to Alec Pierce and he threw a perfect back shoulder ball to Pierce. How often can he do that? I don't think he can do it very often. I think this offense is going to have to be very short with Rivers. And is that the right option going forward?
Starting point is 00:21:56 I'm not sure. You know, I talked about it. I actually made a video for it on my YouTube channel where comparing the two quarterbacks with Riley Leonard, for instance, if he's out there, you get this volatility, this high-end volatility where, you know, against the Jaguars and his three and a half quarters of play, Leonard had, I think, two big-time throws, but three turnover-worthy plays, where Philip Rivers, according to PFF, had one turnover-worthy play and zero big-time throws, because that's just the nature of how these two are playing the position right now.
Starting point is 00:22:25 Rivers will mitigate sacks because he will control the protection at the line of scrimmage. He will make sure everyone's on the same key and making sure that things are blocked up. pass protection was at a very high level, despite being down two starting tackles for most of that game. And a lot of that is River's impact out there. But again, if Leonard were out there, Leonard, you'd get more explosive play potential. We saw the deep touchdown to Michael Pittman, Jr. against Jacksonville that was taken off the board, but it was still a nice throw by Leonard. There was like a third and 16 rolling out to his right that Leonard threw down to Alec Pierce in that Jacksonville game that got wiped off because of a hold, but a very, very nice throw from him. The, the,
Starting point is 00:23:06 completion to Pierce in that Jacksonville game where he rolled out of the pocket. Look, Rivers is not doing that. And it also changes the dynamics of the offense, too, where Leonard can operate under center. Rivers can only operate out of the gun. He cannot go under center right now at all because his feet cannot get to five and seven step drops. Again, maybe another week in there. He can use his feet a little bit better. But as of right now, he can't work under center.
Starting point is 00:23:30 So it's about what you want right now with these two quarterbacks. And I think the Colts, by going with Rivers, they're opting for ball control. control, eating that clock, moving at three yards in a cloud of dust at a time, and then if we get stuffed, we're getting stuffed at the 50, and Rigo can punch them in inside the five-yard line, inside the 10-yard line, and we're going to dare other offenses to go 90 yards to score touchdowns on us. It's difficult to do that. We just saw the number one offense in football, or what, the number two offense in football, not put up a touchdown against the Colts who were without their top three defenders in this game because they had to go 90 yards on most of their
Starting point is 00:24:05 drives. It's a difficult thing to do for any offense in the league. So that's the Colts kind of main area of attack down the stretch. It's going to be ugly football. It's not going to be pretty whatsoever. For all of you like, what's the Jim Mersey quote? The Star Wars numbers, there's no Star Wars numbers the rest of the way. It's a grounded reality. We're in like fight club numbers or something. There's something like that. It's not going to be in the in the stars here. It's going to be more grounded and down earth because they just can't do that right now. their goal is to win like these field goal battle games essentially and it's on the defense to stand tall not allow touchdowns and the big thing that they were missing last week was take the football away
Starting point is 00:24:46 they have to get turnovers for this to work it's a big big onus on the defense and the margin for error is razor thin but if you can get the game plan and the game script to go your way you can win against anybody with this style of play honestly they were like one turnover away just one bounce away from beating, again, like the number two, number three team in football on the road in Seattle. So, yeah, they can certainly win this way. Just the margin for error is so thin. And I think Rivers just keeps them in positive momentum.
Starting point is 00:25:17 And we'll see if it looks a little bit better with a little bit more time and practice. So all this to say, I do think he is probably the better option to win these games. It's just I'm so nervous with the margin for error being so thin because like one turnover from the Colts offense could put this whole thing off track. and I don't know if they can recover with the style of play they're going for. Well, I do have to emphasize that him having another week of practice is only going to help. And yes, he does because of the, I guess, lack of ability to push it way down the field or to push it fast down the field.
Starting point is 00:25:56 We'll throw with anticipation. But, I mean, that's one of those things why training camp is so important because that those throws where you use anticipation, you got to get on the same page with the receivers and vice versa. And usually you build that type of camaraderie in training camp to where, and I'm glad you pointed out that past to Josh Dow's, Jake, because that was, you know, without a doubt, anticipation on this part. and Josh Downs being used to another quarterback where when he turns his head, the ball hadn't been thrown yet, but in this case, it was thrown. Now, he's going to be ready this week if that play comes, you know, because these guys, that's why they practice so they can, you know, be ready. You know, there are some throws where they know as a receiver that, okay,
Starting point is 00:26:53 when I turn around, the ball's halfway to me, so just be ready to catch it, you know. And then there's other quarterbacks that they work with where, you know, I'm going to be two to three steps in my turn before the ball's even thrown. So just be ready to, you know, shuffle my feet, especially if I'm near the sideline to make sure I can stay in bounds. But, I mean, you see what they're going to get. One thing you're not going to get is tempo. and I think that might be a good thing.
Starting point is 00:27:27 Number one, you're playing keep-away, keeping the offense off the field. But I think, you know, with Rivers in the backfield, he can put stress on the defense because at some point the defense has to declare, are we going to show the blitz or not show the blitz? You know, if they're going with tempo, then they just got to hurry up and line up.
Starting point is 00:27:49 But the defense sort of has to declare, and he's not afraid to wait for five seconds left to change the play and say, okay, I want this protection, we're going to run this play, and then get the ball snapped. You know, so it's the extra week I have to reiterate that you guys is going to help because he's going to build more chemistry with these receivers. And I still got to go back to, you know, both he and Philip Rivers Amin and Shane Steichen and Jim Bob Cooter, they sound so excited when they talk, you know, because like I said, his mind, his mind is still very, very sharp. Phyllis Rivers' mind is still very sharp, you know, but, you know, the body has something else the same.
Starting point is 00:28:42 You've got to get the body on the same page as the mind. But, I mean, he can talk to the coach. and they can strategize and everything. And I just got to say, you know, like I said, I was reading some stuff. And Jim Bob Cooter was saying, and I only took part of his quote, but making a big old chunk of yards is always going to help, you know, talk because you got to ask the question about, you know, the lack of explosive plays. Well, explosive plays can come from throwing it way downfield or can come from throwing
Starting point is 00:29:16 it two yards downfield and somebody making an explosive. but I sort of felt like I was watching an episode of Dukes of Hazard. Of course, a guy like Jim Bob Cooter is going to say making a big old chunk of yards always helps. But, you know, at the same time I was a little bit impressed because these guys understand, you know, if they can get the ball out quick to one of the weapons that they have, they can have the success, all the success in the world, just by, outsmarting a lot of teams.
Starting point is 00:29:51 Yeah, no, for sure. And real quick, before we got out of segment, because we've had a lot of comments about Anthony Richardson here. Guys, I don't anticipate Richardson to be cleared for football the rest of the season. He's been cleared for physical activity,
Starting point is 00:30:03 and it was kind of not a great report putting out there that he was only cleared physical activity so he can do weightlifting and do some, like, exercise. But as of right now, he's not been cleared for contact or for football. And I don't know if that's going to happen by the end of this season. That injury was a major injury,
Starting point is 00:30:19 a lot of doctors coming out and saying that's like a six month recovery typically I don't anticipate him playing this year so for anyone saying like why are they not putting Richardson out there Richardson should be out there if you were healthy I think he would have been the guy they wouldn't have called Rivers at all but I don't think he's going to be ready to play this year and that report that was put out and kind of amplified I think jumped the gun a little bit so that's why I mentioned Leonard versus Rivers because I don't think Richardson applies to this the rest of the year well the other thing is is you can't even flip burgers at McDonald's
Starting point is 00:30:51 if you only got one hour working. Yeah, it's a major. I mean, again, it's a fracture to his eyebone, guys. Like, it's going to take a long time for him to get out there. So I don't anticipate him playing this year. I think it's just, I just think he can do exercise right now. I don't think he's able to get back on the field yet. Hold that Richardson thought because when we come back,
Starting point is 00:31:13 Anthony Richardson will never take a starting snap as a cult again. The Colts collapse is all shame. Stuyken's fault. You know what we're doing next. Overreactions, underreactions. Coming back next here on the squad show. This portion of the cold squad show brought you by Fanduel. NFL Sundays move fast, one big play, and suddenly everything feels different. That's what makes live betting with Fanduil so exciting. You're not just watching the game. You're reacting to it in real time. With Fanduel, you can place bets as the action unfolds. Every drive, every momentum swing, every highlight moment. Live betting is the best
Starting point is 00:31:50 when the game starts to shift. A receiver gets hot. A defense tightens up. Momentum flips after a turnover. Fan duel lets you jump into the moment. Live spreads and money lines adjust instantly. Player props update as guys heat up. You can bet next touchdown scores. You could do drive results. You can do totals and more. It keeps you locked into every snap, every drive, and every possibility. I actually need to take a look here at the Colts and Niners. Luckily, I have an extra day with it being the Monday night football game.
Starting point is 00:32:18 but the line, Vegas and the better is respecting the Colts a little bit more this time around. I'll be it they are at home. They're not at Seattle, but the Colts only a six point dog to the 10 and four Niners. Maybe you want to go ahead and play that, 46 and a half for the over. If you're still thinking that Uncle Phil and the offense is going to have to cobble together, you know, 14, 15, 16, 17 points. Maybe you want to play the under on that. You can check out that line and all the other lines and play them on Fan Duel,
Starting point is 00:32:44 which is the best part about being involved in the action. You can jump right in whenever you feel like it. So if you want to be right in the middle of the NFL action this season, visit fandul.com and place your NFL live bets all season long. Fan duel, the game moves fast, and so can you. We're back on the Lockdown Colts Squad Show. Thanks so much for making us a part of your day alongside former NFLer Alan Pinkett and the Locked on Colts duo of Zach Hicks and Jake Arthur.
Starting point is 00:33:11 I'm Derek Schultz. Time for overreactions and underreactions, guys. I always kind of like, well, you know what, actually, I like starting with overreactions. Maybe this is an overreaction to some people. I'm going to start with what I think is maybe an underreaction because I'm taking it seriously. While we're piggybacking on the Anthony Richardson comment, you know, I had mentioned on ex-Twitter a couple of days ago that I would be surprised if Anthony Richardson takes another snap as a cold.
Starting point is 00:33:38 I just would. I feel like the decision that they made with Daniel Jones, I understand there's an injury involved that maybe that changes the arithmetic a little bit, but it, it, just appears to me that everything that they've done so far indicates that they are out on him. Now, the question is, Zach, this happens sometimes with NFL team. Sometimes your hand is forced, right? Sometimes you're forced to call a 44-year-old who's been retired for five years. So things can change, but how outlandish is that statement that maybe we've seen our last of Anthony Richardson taking a meaningful snap as an Indianapolis cult? I would probably agree with you if
Starting point is 00:34:11 Dana Jones didn't suffer an Achilles injury. If it were any other injury, maybe. You know, I think I'd probably agree with you because the likelihood of Jones being able to be good for week one and be back to his full capabilities, I think would be up there and pretty high. So I think he would get a longer extension. And I think he would be, you know, the guy going forward. But because it's an Achilles injury, because like, you know, the tag is on the table and maybe a short extension is on the table for Jones. And just the lack of quarterback options out there.
Starting point is 00:34:41 I mean, if it's not Richardson early next season, it's Riley Leonard, it's another day. three quarterback or it's Marcus Marriota, Malik Willis maybe, and then after those two guys, you're getting into the Zach Wilson's and Mitchell Trubiskees of the world, because that's what the free agent class looks like right now
Starting point is 00:35:01 and then people have brought up like trade stuff like, oh, trade for Tua, trade for Kyler, trade for Davis Mills, why would Houston do that? But you know, like you trade for all these guys, but they don't have that many picks and they have a lot of needs they have to fill up and they're not going to have much cap space,
Starting point is 00:35:16 especially if they're trading for Tua, they're not going to have any cap space. So yeah, I think he could potentially be the starter early next season. I understand where you're coming from with this, Derek, where it's like it does feel like a breakup is inevitable, but I just don't know what else the Colts really can do next season. You know, like what are the other options, you know, even if both sides want to break up, like you signed a lease at this point. You got to stick out, you got to ride out the lease. It's an unbreakable lease.
Starting point is 00:35:45 That's kind of what this feels like one of those. those roommate situations where the breakup can't be official until the end. So I would agree with you of Daniel Jones were completely healthy, Derek, that we wouldn't see Richardson again. But like, I just don't know what else they can do to start next season other than maybe give it to him or give him a chance to compete at least. Yeah, I do think the injury changes a lot because I would have said previous to the injury that, yeah, I just don't see any realm where Anthony becomes the starter again.
Starting point is 00:36:16 or perhaps even takes a snap, like you said, Derek. But it is a two-sided thing. Like, it's been pretty well reported that Derek Jackson, Anthony Richardson's agent and Chris Ballard discussed, you know, what would a trade look like? Or, you know, trades were discussed, you know, after the whole thing went down and, you know, leading up to the trade deadline, whatever. But, you know, that was obviously quelled because, Anthony is still here.
Starting point is 00:36:49 But I don't know. I mean, it does have to take both sides wanting to make this work. But how do you sell that to Anthony? Like, you're the starter until Daniel gets back and is ready. You know, that's kind of tough because I'm sure Anthony would like to have a chance somewhere else or anywhere, wherever it is. But yeah, it's the Colts have more reason to want to kind of remedy this situation. now um but i don't know it just depends how bad anthony wants to give it another chance and like
Starting point is 00:37:25 can that be rehabbed like can they make that work because like obviously it is better for the colts if he is still there next year and is a good fallback option to start whenever Daniel jones however long he's out but do you want a guy around who maybe would like to be elsewhere Like, there's just probably like a lot of stuff we don't quite know that factors into it. But I will say with Daniel Jones Achilles injury, it certainly behooves the Colts to try and make it work. So I kind of look at it like this. Anthony Richardson has had a front row seat to watch how this offense is supposed to be run. He's had an opportunity to see these are the decisions you have to make.
Starting point is 00:38:12 here's where you want to go with the ball. Here's where the blitz is coming from. Here's what you check. If anything, it's probably better for him to be able to be on the sidelines to see exactly what Shane Steichen wants out of this offense. It means that when you come back in, run it the way Daniel Jones did. You don't have to be a hero and throw it 80 yards downfield. You don't have to, you know, play all this.
Starting point is 00:38:42 I don't know, football that you're just trying to get style points, complete the pass, you know, is really what you need to do in this offense. And so I think he's had the best opportunity to learn what the Colts want at the quarterback position in a Shane Steichen offense. And if he can't learn from that, if he comes out next year, doing what he was doing this year in camp, then hell no, you don't keep him. You know, we just showed you how we won so many games in a row by making the decision like that,
Starting point is 00:39:24 going to this read, check into that. He should have a world of knowledge, a lot more knowledge about this offense to where he could come in and now be effective. Yeah, no, for sure. And I don't want to keep this whole segment on just Richardson because I have one overreaction that I really want to get. too because it's been frustrating me all week and I haven't had the avenue talk about it because
Starting point is 00:39:46 I have to talk Philip Rivers all the time. But I have seen so many comments about the end of the game, the way this game ended about how Louis and Rumo's defense sucks. He's just Gus Bradley again. They play soft prevent defense in overtime. Let me walk you through the three passing plays that happened. I know them from memory at this point because I watched them over and over again. First play where it was the long completion of Rashid Shaheed. They played a match zone coverage. Jonathan Edwards was running with Rashid Shaheed. Sheed put on the brakes on a 17-yard curl route, separated from Jonathan Edwards, got that catch, right?
Starting point is 00:40:20 He was on him, though. The call was tight coverage on him. No prevent coverage there. Next play, the Colts bring a blitz. They bring a blitz on the play. Edwards gets beat to the corner, and it's an eight-yard completion. Next play after that, they play press-man coverage across the board,
Starting point is 00:40:36 and Sam Darnel throws the ball on the ground because they just want to get tackled in bounds and have that running clock. So they played pretty aggressive in overtime. Their guys just got beat. So if you want to say like, oh, why was Jonathan Edwards out there? Go watch what Jalen Jones look like against the Jacksonville Jaguars. If you really want to see why Jonathan Edwards is on the field, go look Jalen Jones against the Jaguars because it was some dreadful cornerback play.
Starting point is 00:40:59 Like truly dreadful cornerback play. And then I guess if you want to say why was Cameron Mitchell not out there, then okay, Cameron Mitchell's mom, I guess you have a good point there with that. At the end of the day, sometimes your guys just get. beat by good players. And I think, like, they put out undrafted free agent corners because their top two corners are out and they got beat by Rashid Jihad, who's been a very good receiver in this league, you know? Like, they didn't play prevent defense.
Starting point is 00:41:27 They didn't sit back and let the Seahawks go down the field. They play tight man cover. It's just, they got beat. Like, this was not gust, they didn't just drop into cover three, three straight plays and let them get down the field. their guys got beat okay so i'm just i'm just tired of the louis and rumbo played prevent defense too soft too scared they held the seahawks to six field goals 18 points in seattle with philip rivers at quarterback like come on like i'm tired of seeing just blaming the defense for this loss
Starting point is 00:41:58 they did their best they're just shorthanded they're down to three best players and they did everything they could to hold down the seahawks offense it just wasn't enough at the end of the day but I mean to blame the defensive coordinator at this after this for anything like watch the film gosh the defensive coordinator blame the injuries at corner blame injuries at quarterback but the defensive coordinator held the Seahawks to 18 points in Seattle come on guys like it's the same thing am I right in saying it's the same thing with stikin where at some point it's an execution thing you know like the players have to execute what's out there too and you know every turnover or fail fourth down becomes a play calling process problem instead of, hey, this guy blew this assignment or this guy did this and they shouldn't have done this. X's and O's or Jimmy's and Joe's, but we only say that when we don't give it to Jonathan Taylor on fourth and what. We don't say that when the Jimbs and Joe's just don't make the coverage. Like that's just like that's what it is. Like for everything we want to credit X's and O's four and blame X's and O's
Starting point is 00:42:59 for, sometimes it's players, you know? Like sometimes you can credit. But like, it's so much easier to hate a coach than a player because players talk to us on Twitter and players are cool and they have these ads and we buy players jersey we don't like coaches jerseys so it's so much easier to to you know go after a coach than a player but look at the end of the day they just got beat like they just didn't have the got like to hold the sea hawks 18 points in general was fantastic by this defense they just just came up a little short and that goes back to my fourth down concern with stiking with that you know they should have gone for it on fourth and three uh to put the ball in their own hands. But all this is to say, it's such an overreaction to blame Louanderumo
Starting point is 00:43:38 for this loss. They did the best they possibly could in this game. I mean, they were one 50-plus yard kick away. Like from their guy missing a 50-plus yard kick, the guy made like, what, three 50-plus yarders in this game? If you just missed one of them, they win this game. Like, they had a great chance against a top team on the road. It's just unfortunate how it all went down. Yeah, there's, I think we are underappreciating how well that Colts defense did without their two best corners, without DeForest Buckner, you know, some undrafted free agents on the field. And I think you said it best held them to 18 points. They held that high powered offense. They held, well, they kept them out of the end zone. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:44:30 Yeah, also, and really can't emphasize enough how good the defense played. So, unfortunately, it's a bottom-line business. You either win or you lose, and to the victor goes to spoils. I think people are underreacting, you know, to the defense to Ayatuatu's development. Because he's another one of these guys that's been kind of a punching back. all year because he doesn't have 12 sacks he doesn't have this and that but i think each and every week you're seeing him get more comfortable you're seeing some of the stuff you saw at ucla where he was just so instinctive and the way he used his body to make plays and get into to weird
Starting point is 00:45:18 positions to make a play i i think you're beginning to see that like he had the the blown up play in the backfield i think it was on a screen or a toss in the second half uh he's He had one where he knew he wasn't going to be able to get to it because he was blocked. So he went low on the blocker and just took everybody's legs out. And then, of course, he had the sack. Like, Latu may not be the 10-sat guy yet, but, like, he is a difference maker on that side of the ball. At a, on a line that doesn't have a ton of them. Quitty pay is giving you none of what Latu is giving you.
Starting point is 00:45:53 I mean, he's a okay run defender. But, like, for a first-round pick, he's not giving you what. But anywhere near what Lattu's given you as a pass rusher, and he's kind of created some sort of lifeline with the Forrest Buckner not out there. It's still obviously not where you want it to be. But it frustrates me a bit to see Lattu continuously just kind of thrown down, you know, online and everything when he is making a lot of plays, I think. And it's not always the play in the box score.
Starting point is 00:46:29 he's influencing a lot of things as well. So I think he probably needs a bit more of his flowers than what he's been getting to this point. He's definitely playing faster, no doubt about that. Yeah, I'll be quick at this because we've got to get to our last segment. But he's been a really good auxiliary player this year. He's just not a superstar guy right now. But like the one last step he needs is just to be a little bit more consistent beating offensive tackles and true past sets.
Starting point is 00:46:54 Because if you leave him on an island with a running back or a tight end, he's killing it. if you leave him in an advantageous situation he's killing it run defense has gotten a lot better if he can just be a little bit more consistent in true pass sets then he's going to ascend into being like that top 10 top 20 pass rusher um but the problem is we needed more of him because buckner's been hurt but that's not fair to the player that hey because buckner's out you need to be buckner now um but yeah he's been fine like there's really no issues with him like yeah i want a little bit more juice from him but like i'm not saying he's a bust like by any chance right now Well, he would increase his sack total if more running backs had to block them.
Starting point is 00:47:34 If I was out there blocking him, what would happen? When he sees a running back coming on to him, he's like, oh, here comes my sack, baby. Like, he takes advantage. And I think, Jake, he's a victim of the frustration that the fans have where the Colts, this whole era, they have some good to very good players, right? Fans want these guys to be elite. And if the expectation was Latsu, who was the best defensive player in the draft, he's going to be elite, you know, fans want to see that.
Starting point is 00:48:00 And I think that's where that comes from. But I agree. That's fair. The 49ers come calling on Monday night. We'll take our first look at San Francisco and a gigantic flaw that may play in the Colts favor. That's next on the Colts squad show. Back for a final time here on the Colts squad show. Alan Pinkett is here.
Starting point is 00:48:22 So is the locked on Colts duo of Zach Hicks and Jake Arthur. I'm Derek Schultz. Thanks for joining us. Colts and Niners. Um, first Colts Monday night game since the 2022 season, for some reason, they got two of them in that season. Remember that, remember that Chargers game like right after Christmas? Jake, were you there? God, that was a depressing. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:48:39 Like, everybody was checked out at that point. I think it was like 28 to 3 or something. That was a penis game all the way around. Yes. Yes. Yeah. And we talk about cooked arms. Like, that was a cooked arm in that game for sure.
Starting point is 00:48:53 If I remember, right, the other Monday night game that season was a hotly contested one. against the Steelers, and that might have been Jeff Saturday's second or third game, and there was still thought, oh, maybe this is salvageable, and then I think Jeff Saturday decided not to take a timeout in a crucial juncture or something. And I don't know, we don't want to really live 2022, right? New season, this is a new Colts collapse in 2025 that we can enjoy now. Only the fifth home Monday night football game in the last 15 seasons for the Colts. But, yeah, I mentioned that flaw for San Francisco. Look, this is a good team. They're 10 and 4 for a reason, right? They're top 10 scoring and yardage offense.
Starting point is 00:49:28 Um, dead last and sacks, which I thought was, was interesting as well. Like, like, like off the grid dead last, like not just like 30 second, like 30 second with a bullet. Like there is a gap between them and the rest of the teams. And maybe Zach, you know, when you're thinking about Philip Rivers after facing what was a very good, uh, pressure worthy and sack worthy defense last week in Seattle, um, maybe, you know, not that they can take it easy, but, uh, not have as much of a concern as they did last week with a 44, four year old quarterback behind center. Yeah, if you guys want to know how bad they are getting sacks this year and San Fran, quidipa, according to pro football focus, last season had 10 sacks with the Colts. The 49ers as a team right now, I believe we're at like 15 sacks according to pro football focus as a team.
Starting point is 00:50:13 So if you want to complain about the Colts pass rush, this 49ers pass rush has been dreadful. I think their pressure rate right now is like 15.2%, which is like bottom, bottom, bottom. And part of this is because every single player on their front is just hurt right now. You can even extend that to the front seven because Fred Warner's out. of the year as well. Easily the best linebacker in football. Nick Bosa is out for the season. And also,
Starting point is 00:50:35 McKell Walker, their top 15 pick off the edge, has been dinged up as well. He's not playing this week. So the 49ers are like the weirdest team the Colts play left because they are so bad in the trenches on both sides of the ball. Like they don't run the ball well whatsoever on offense. Christian McCaffrey is about to break a thousand yards on the season,
Starting point is 00:50:55 but he's averaging like 3.6 yards. carry pretty much all his production this year has been as a pass catcher where he's basically been the best slot receiver at football this year but he's a running back and then on defense they don't rush the passer well they gang tackle and and they are a physical unit on that side of the ball but they're just they're just a goofy team man they keep finding ways to win games and a lot of it's on the back of shanahan just being a maestro when it comes to drawing up passing plays but even then in the passing game like their weapons aren't creating a ton for them right now. And Brandon Ayyuk is in a weird standoff with the team and he's not going to report.
Starting point is 00:51:33 He's not playing this year. Kittle has been a tough player, but he's not creating a ton like after the catch. And McCaffrey hasn't created much after the catch this year either. So they're a really weird team. They keep gutting out these wins and finding ways to win. I mean, look, they're really banged up right now and they have been all season. So to be 10 and 4, you don't want to take away anything from that. But if the Colts strategy of ball control win with defense and winning with special teams is going to beat any of these final three teams. I think it could come this week at home against the San Francisco 49ers team that's probably playing a little bit above their station as of right now.
Starting point is 00:52:08 But for the Colts, you have to come into this game with the same energy that they showed against Seattle because we saw, I mean, not to go back to 2022 here, Derek, but the first Jeff Saturday game, right? The first Jeff Saturday game, they come out with all this energy. Matt Ryan has like a 45-yard run in that game. It was so much like. Dead cat bounce. yeah so much life there and they were able to win that game against the Raiders right after that
Starting point is 00:52:32 they just completely crumbled all of the energy fell out of the team and they used it up in that one game so as long as the Colts didn't use up all of their energy and their dying throws in this past game against Seattle I think they can have a good chance of winning this game against the 49ers it's just they have to bring that same energy they brought to Seattle which is the big if for this team I do feel good in this one. And, you know, obviously there aren't a lot of opportunities for us to feel good about the Colts going into a game. But I do actually ultimately think I'm going to have them winning. Jonathan Taylor, I think, had a good performance in Seattle for, like, however much he could be used.
Starting point is 00:53:13 They did sniff him out a few times and get to him for some negative plays. But this seems like a big bounce back opportunity for him. And we know the last few weeks of the year, every year, he's always due for some massive. of 150 to 200-yard performance, and it feels like this is it. San Fran for what they are, you know, and their DNA is toughness. You know, I think Robert Sala is back there and everything. So, like, they have the toughness. That's still their identity, but you can only play above your talent level for so long.
Starting point is 00:53:47 And all the injuries that Zach mentioned, that's also with the caveat that they no longer had Drey Greenlaw or Tolanoa Hufanga or Mooney Ward. Like, they lost so much, not only in the offseason, but also throughout this year. So on the offensive side of the ball, it's like Ricky Pearsall and Joanne Jennings at receiver, and Pearsall gets hurt a lot. So it's gear up to stop Mack Jones, Christian McCaffrey, and George Kittle, essentially. Not Mac Jones. Brock Purdy's back.
Starting point is 00:54:20 Oh, that's right. That's right. That's the big X factor in this game. Brock Purdy is a very good quarterback, and I think people have not given him enough credit. And my biggest thing I'll say for the Colts defense, keep him in the pocket. If he gets out of the pocket, because what's the one thing that's always made Brock Purdy the best Shanahan quarterback that Shatnahan's ever had is the fact that he can do stuff other than the system.
Starting point is 00:54:41 He can get out of the pocket. He can make throws on the run. I mean, he had like a 30-yard scramble this past week where he did a ball fake in the face of a defender. He was really feeling himself in that one. he's a darn good quarterback and people don't get him enough credit. So that's the X factor in this game is keep him in the pocket. Don't let him get outside there and create because if he can create,
Starting point is 00:55:01 then your whole game plan of holding a team to a field goal every time can really break down. Yeah, I've always thought of Brock Purdy as, you know, get him off schedule and then maybe you can make a play. But he's actually progressed to be a pretty good. quarterback. And I look at Shane Steichen and Shanahan as similar in terms of how they want to attack a defense, you know, so I think for the, the Colts defense, this will be pretty easy preparation because this is what they see all week long when they're going against their own team, you know, so I, and I think the Colts should get, the injury report wasn't complete. I guess because it's a long week.
Starting point is 00:55:52 But I'm anxious to see who's going to come back and help the Colts out. But the 49ers, you know, blessed their heart. They've been gutting out. They're a third place in their division with 10 wins. You know, so. It's good division. Yeah. So they've been, they've been, you know, really putting it all on the field.
Starting point is 00:56:18 And I've always looked at San Francisco. they've always had one or two stars. Well, because of the injuries, they really, they're reduced to what? Kittle? I mean, that's really from a name recognition. All you can think of is Kittal. So a great opportunity for the Colts, especially having the one extra day to practice. I know one extra day for Phillip Rivers to have some more recognition.
Starting point is 00:56:46 And the lack of pressure, yes, San Francisco is putting on a quarterback may benefit Philip Rivers even more. He won't have to be in a rush. But he's still going to make that defense declare. I'm waiting until two seconds, he snapped the ball. You're going to let me know if you're in Man or zone. But you can't ignore Vegas because the line I saw was five and a half, but you saw six. You know, and we'll just have to see if, but the way the Colts played last week, if they can duplicate that and put more points on the board, then they may be talking
Starting point is 00:57:29 playoffs at the end of the year. We'll see for sure. But I think my biggest X factor 100% for this game is do we see either of Buckner or Soss in this one? Because like we saw at the end of this past game against Seattle, there are limits to what you can do with this defense. And the end of the day, star players are star players for a reason. And you get beat when you have your backups on the field.
Starting point is 00:57:51 Injuries play a huge factor in who wins games in this league. San Fran might be sitting at the top of that division, the top of the whole NFC, if they just didn't have as many injuries early in the season. So if one of Saucer Buck can get out there this week, it would greatly influence my choice for who wins this game because the impact that those guys make, especially if it's Buckner, getting out there, you know, on the interior that evens a blind. Colts run defense has been the second best in football
Starting point is 00:58:18 since the by week, which is crazy to say. And that's without DeForest Buckner. So you put Buckner in there and against an already struggling rush offense with 49ers. And if you can hold them to third and eight, third and nine, third and ten, third and eleven, and really tee off and keep herty in the pocket, you have a good chance to hold them down and keep them off the scoreboard. And from a communication aspect, the offense is going to be a lot easier than it was. in Seattle. Seattle, you can't even hear yourself think, you know, where now they come home and the fans, I've got to say, the Indianapolis fans are smart. They don't cheer when the culture on offense so the quarterback can communicate with everybody, but they definitely
Starting point is 00:59:01 played their part when the culture on defense by making some noise. I'm a Purdy fan, but I'm still salty how that went down where they made a huge swing and a miss and just fell into Brock Purdy after the Trey Lance thing. They never really paid for that crime there. And, you know, we talk about things with luck and how much that plays a factor in sports. I think sometimes it's better to be lucky than good. And certainly I think the Niners got lucky
Starting point is 00:59:27 with Mr. Irrelevant there with Purdy. But it turned out to work out. Work out pretty well for them. Thanks so much for joining us here on the Colts Squad Show. Lock us in for your midweek show every Wednesday night at 9 o'clock. And we are, of course, your place for live game recapping each and every Colts game of the season. So we'll be back with you late Monday night, maybe even early Tuesday morning.
Starting point is 00:59:46 I don't know, following Colts 9 or so. Grab a coffee, energy drink. Stay up late with us to recap that one. We'll be on shortly after that game goes final right here on the Lockdown Colts Network. Until then, keep it locked on Jake and Zach the rest of the week on Lockdown Colts. Be sure to follow at Lockdown Colts on socials and check out our other great content on YouTube and TikTok. And we will see you next time right here on the squad show. Thank you.
Starting point is 01:00:14 Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

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