Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - COLTS SQUAD SHOW: QB CONUNDRUM- Philip Rivers or Riley Leonard? Can Colts Overcome Injury Situation?

Episode Date: December 11, 2025

After signing 44-year old Philip Rivers, will the Colts tab him as their next starter or let Riley Leonard play through a leg injury? The Squad discusses Indy's important QB call, how to overcome a banged-up defense, and take their first look at the loaded Seattle Seahawks.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!Aura FramesFor a limited time, save on the perfect gift by visiting https://AuraFrames.com to get $35 off Aura’s best-selling Carver Mat frames - named #1 by Wirecutter - by using promo code LOCKEDON at checkout.FanDuelIf you want to be right in the middle of the action this season, visit FanDuel.com and place your NFL livebets all season long.PrizePicksDownload the PrizePicks app today and use codeLOCKEDONNFL to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup.Click Here: https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONNFLGametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFLfor $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.Mint MobileTurn your expensive wireless present into a huge wireless savings future by switching to Mint.Shop Mint Unlimited Plans at http://MINTMOBILE.com/LOCKEDONNFL.Disclaimer: Limited time offer. Upfront payment of: $45 for 3-mo., $90 for 6-mo., or $180 for 12-mo. plan required($15/mo. equivalent). Taxes & feesInitial plan term only. >35GB may slow when network is busy. Capable device required. Availability, speed, & coverage varies. See mintmobile.com.ZocdocStop putting off your doctor’s appointments and get the care you need.Go to Zocdoc.com/lockedonnfl to find and instantly book a top-rated doctortoday.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Welcome to the Colts Squad Show. I'm your host, Derek Schultz, and guys, I'm only 42 and open to play in the NFL. And I'm Zach Hicks, and I'm so excited to see a 44-year-old quarterback in a monsoon this weekend. And I'm Alan Pickett, former Euler, The Signing of Rivers. Is it brilliance or is it desperation? Colts Nation rise up. It's the Colts Squad, everything Indianapolis Colts every week. 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 in to 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 bets all season long. I'm Derek Shultz, Indie Sports Talker, and confidence for the Indianapolis Business Journal. I'm joined by a man who set rushing records at Notre Dame and also did not play to Pop Tarts Bull

in Alan Pinkett. And you every day there's no Zach Hicks from Locked on Culture, first listen every day. I wanted to say congratulations to our pal Jake Arthur. He just welcomed in the latest member to the Arthur clan just the other day. He's taking some special time to be with his family, understandably. So right now he'll return to the show at some point here in the future.

But speaking of reburst, guys, Philip Rivers, he's back after five years away from the NFL. And we're talking about whether it'll be him, whether it'll be Riley Leonard, who will see as the quarterback starter for the Colts? Yes, they still have games to play. They have a couple of, they have four games left this season, including a critical one coming up here in Seattle. So we'll lead the show with talking about what Shane Steichen might do. He has been playing this quarterback situation close to the vests so far, even though we're getting little breadcrumbs of info of what could possibly happen here coming up here on Sunday. We'll also just talk about overall, and this includes the quarterback room, the significant.

an injury situation facing the Colts right now, which I know is nothing new this year. It's something that they've been dealing with all year, but how it impacts them entering this game. We'll play overreactions, underreactions from week 14, as we always do on our midweek Wednesday squad show. And then we'll take our first look at the Seattle Seahawks, who despite being 10 and 3 and being tied atop the NFC, technically they're the five seed right now in the conference. Who wants to see them in the playoffs with the way that they have been playing here lately but guys let's start here you know philip rivers just turned 44 years old the other day he's five years removed from taking his last NFL snap even made the joke when he went to the press

conference today hey it's great to not see on zoom and you forget oh yeah that was the covid year like that's how long ago it was that philip rivers was an NFL quarterback but apparently he talks to Shane stike in every week apparently he runs the colts offense in high school football apparently he's not going to have any trouble mentally uh assimilating back to the NFL but I know we usually start with Zach, Alan, I actually wanted to start with you here. You're the former player. What about physically getting back to it here? Can you even imagine trying to do something like this five years removed from your last snap?

Hell no. I couldn't imagine this. You know, mostly because of the speed of the game, you know, he may have all the knowledge in the world. But, I mean, when those guys are flying at you, you know, you're. you have instincts to try and, okay, this guy's coming right at me. We've got this type of protection. Ball needs to go here. But until you have some reps practicing that, you know,

I would say that that's going to be the biggest thing he would have to overcome is the speed of the game. You know, you can play it all in your head as much as you want. But when you get out there and I know how you like to say exactly, when the bullets are flying. It's a totally different deal. And let's also face the facts that he hadn't been hit in five years. So sometimes it's one of those deals where you get hit that first time and it just awakens you.

You feel alive now that you got smacked in the face. But sometimes you get hit and it's like, ooh, now I remember why I left this damn game. You know, so I think as an emergency type situation, he would be good, but to throw him in there now to start. And this is, I guess, one of my first experiences with a club that loves to pull people off the street to play. At first I was just going to say it was Ana Rumo doing it. But now the whole Colts organization is doing it. I guess as good as he is, if there was somebody that could pull it off, you know, maybe it could be Philip Rivers because he does have a quick release. You know, he does have different arm angles he can throw at, you know, but unless he's been throwing the ball for five years, you know, actively, you know, you think about the number of balls these guys throw in the off season.

and now he's been coaching so he's probably throwing it what one 25th of the times an NFL quarterback has thrown it in the off season you know so it's I'm surprised I'm sure he's got a lot of Ben Gay or icy hot right there on the practice field you know so he can loob up you know during practice so it's it's interesting to me. But in some sense, I think he would be excellent for Riley Leonard in terms of his experience. You know, it's one thing to coach it, but it's another thing to see it and be in there live. The amount of insight he can give a Riley Leonard to me is invaluable. So I like the move for that reason. It's sort of like you've got to get Riley Leonard in there because you've got to

figure out if he's going to be your backup for the next five or six years. And like I say, backup quarterback is the best position in football. You can play a lot of years. You're the closest thing to being the most important person on the team. And you don't have to necessarily flash. You have to maintain. And I think Riley Leonard has the ability to maintain. but with the backing of a Philip Rivers, can he flash?

Yeah, well, let's be upfront about this real quick. As long as Philip Rivers doesn't fall in his face in practice every time he tries to move, which is on the table. He's 44 years old. Who knows what he's looking like in practice. But as long as he can physically move at like a snail's pace, he is starting on Sunday. Philip Rivers is not, he's not coming out of retirement to be a backup. you know like if like i understand what you're saying on like he has his close relationship with

riley leonard and i i do think there is some value in mentorship but philip rivers is not resetting his hall of fame clock he's not coming all the way up here flying on a red-eye flight on monday night to come up here to work out just to be backup or just to be like another son he could have signed on to be a coach if you wanted to do all that stuff he's starting on sunday as long as he's good to go against a top three defense in football the best run defense in the league one of the best defenses in football at taking the football away, he's going out there and playing on Sunday. So it's going to be fascinating.

It's a beautiful storyline. We love the clicks that are generated from it, obviously. Will it work? Probably not. I mean, look, it would be so unlikely. We're talking about a guy five years removed from his last time playing in the league, and he gets a couple of days to gear up for, I think there are three defenses in the NFL this year that are, like,

maybe not historically great, but like close to it because of how good they've been in Seattle is one of them where they have this perfect like just melding of like superstar talent plus great coaching and you're throwing rivers at them you know but like Alan said and like I've heard a lot of people say if anyone can do this it is someone like Rivers Rivers has never been predicated on having this like super big arm and super mobility he's always been this pocket pastor that wins with his mind over his physical traits especially later in his career when he was very successful with the Colts in 2020.

And, you know, to play in the NFL, you have to have a screw or two loose, I think, is what I always hear people say. Philip Rivers has always had multiple screws loose his entire life. That's why he was in talks as early as 2021 to come back to the Colts, why he had talks with the 49ers when all their quarterbacks went down to potentially come back for them and why he's doing this right now and coming back because he's always, like, I wouldn't be shocked if we're looking at this 10 years from now, and some team is calling him up because he wants to be.

wants to come back and play at 54. You know, that's just how he is wired as a person. I think the Colts are probably cooked this weekend for lack of a better term. But I think he probably does give them a better chance than Riley Leonard would. I love Leonard, but there's a reason why he's a day three pick. There's a reason why he fell so far in the draft. We could see it on Sunday against the Jaguars where the offense was so limited with him out there. That Shane Steichen was not calling the full offense.

The armed talent is just not there with Leonard. And I understand wanting to go to a guy like Rivers and saying, you know what? If Rivers can just be super accurate and precise and quick on these routes under 10 yards, maybe we can manufacture some offense and move the ball more so than the ups and downs of a young quarterback. So I get it. It does kind of speak to the sorry state of, I guess, development in the NFL where a 44-year-old coming out of retirement is probably a better option than a rookie. just because we don't have time to develop these kids in year one. Like all their development has to be in the offseason or on their own time.

So we can't trust putting a six-round rookie out there at this important position. We have to go get a 44-year-old guy who hasn't thrown the football in five years. So I think that's the big conversation here. But yeah, I fully believe Philip Rivers is going to start on Sunday. As long as his body checks up and practice, which, I mean, Philip Rivers was on nobody's radar just a week ago. and look how far this team has fallen in terms of like we go from Daniel Jones leading the Colts to a seven and two seven and one record out the gate here to now we're down to I call it the ebug quarterback is what I keep calling it the emergency backup quarterback that's the situation the Colts are in right now he was great when it came to ball placement you know again I'm harketing back to the 2020 season which feels like a hundred years ago but I remember there being real issues with him pushing the ball down the field even at 39 Is there still that concern, Zach? I guess that kind of goes without saying that a 44-year-old quarterback would have trouble pushing the ball down the field.

Yeah, outside of Tom Brady, I've never seen a quarterback's arm get better and better as they get older. And I don't know what that TB12 method has. So maybe Philip Rivers found that TB12 method and was putting nutrient water in his arms or something to get it better. I will say the throwing clips that were out there today, it looked like a better arm than what I saw in 2020. It looked, you know, he got the ball down the field. a little bit now it's different like i always say when the bullets are flying but um he didn't look like he was throwing noodles out there in practice today so we'll see um but yeah like you're not like when you're signing a 44 year old quarterback to come in here and be your emergency quarterback you're not

expecting him to come out here and throw these these fading away josh allen 70 yard passes or anything like that um they're gonna ask him to operate i'm assuming it's going to be a very like ken whizz and hunt, maybe even like 2021, like Eagles passing style attack where it's going to be like a lot of empty personnel, a lot of just in shotgun so he doesn't have to move his feet very often.

One step drops, plant and deliver on your one or two like step reads basically. They're not going to ask him to move much. They're not going to ask him to do too much. It's going to be sit back there and be like a true point guard. Like we're talking like 40 year old Rajon Rondo level point guard where we know the shot

has no chance of going up and we know he's not going to drive the paint, but he's just there to distribute the ball. That's basically what it's going to be at this point. Like, I, I'm very, I will say this. I am so intrigued to see what the undercenter usage looks like, because can you run like an outside stretch run with a 44-year-old quarterback who just came off the couch? Can he hit those steps to get the ball out to the running back on? Because so much of the NFL is based on timing, like Allen obviously knows this, like the difference between a stretch run being a 50-yard touchdown and being a negative. to five-yard run can literally be how fast quarterback gets the ball out of the center's

butt and gets it to the running back like as every step matters in terms of timing so do they run from under center or is everything out of the gun like Steichen was when he was with philly and like he was with that that gardener minchew season i think that's going to be absolutely fascinating from like a nerd perspective of watching like do they do anything under center when under center's been a pretty big part of the offense this year especially like those heavy personnel sets do they just turn back the clock to like the 2023 Colts with Minchu and just run all RPO stuff like all quick hitters all like again like Ken Wisenhunt five wide type of set stuff just to get the ball out of his hands quickly I'm so fascinated from a schematic standpoint because I have no expectations for this week I have no clue what I'm going to see like like you know if Rivers came out here just chucking it across the yard and looking like again like 45 year old Tom Brady it wouldn't shock me because he's crazy like that he maybe he got maybe he found the you know the fountain of youth in the offseason, but also he came out here and he's just throwing screen passes for 20 times a game, and that's it. It wouldn't shock me either. I have nothing to base this on,

but I think it's going to be a really interesting showing, say the least. Do you know who else has no clue? The Seattle Seahawks. Yeah, right. Can you imagine the defensive coordinator's like, what film do we watch? Do we watch a film of him with the Chargers? Do we watch film on him when he was with the Colts? And just a teeny bit of history, I actually, you know, I just, I just, did radio broadcasting for 20 years, but one of the games I did was actually in San Diego when Drew Breeze was the quarterback, and he reached his arm out, blew up his shoulder. Guess who came in for him? Philip Rivers, who was, I guess, wasn't he a second round draft pick?

Or was he at first round? He was a first rounder. He was the first round. Yeah, he was traded for Eli Manning. But Drew Breeze was still there and was still playing, and he injured his shoulder. or so I got to see Philip Rivers play for his first game. Now I'm going to watch him, you know, playing again. I would say you almost said his last game.

We don't know if this is the last couple of games. He might be back next year now. I don't think he, but I think this is a one thing. But like, it's just crazy that we're in. Like, I don't think anyone knows what to expect. And I agree with you, Alan, we're like, if you're the Seahawks, how do you prep for this game? Like, you watch the Colts offense, but I truly think they might come out in like the

20203 Colts offense because, like, you can't run this year's offense. with Philip Rivers. He can't do the undercenter stuff. So I am fascinated. I don't even know how to prep for this game. I don't know how the Seahawks are prepping for this game. More so just like we're going to do what we do and see and base it off that. But very, very interesting game for sure. Well, Vegas is prepping by making the Colts a 13 and a half point underdog. Honestly, that's generous. That's so generous for the Colts. They seem to feel like they know what's coming here, even if we don't.

Colts could be down three quarterbacks, two cornerbacks, and a part in a pear tree. We're going to discuss their awful injury situation heading to Seattle when the squad show returns next. This portion of the cold squad show brought you by Mint Mobile. You know there's no reason to let big wireless drain your wallet, especially during the holidays. Right now Mint Mobile is running their best deal of the year. All of their unlimited plans are 50% off. That means you can lock in at 3, 6, or even 12 months of unlimited premium wireless for just $15 a month. It's the easiest way to take your overpriced phone bill and give it the full

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only. Greater than 35 gigabytes may slow when network is busy. Capable device required. Availability, speed, and coverage varies. See mintmobile.com. And we're back on the Locked-on Colts Squad Show. Thanks so much for joining us alongside former NFL or a nerd name legend Alan Pinkett. And Zach Hicks, part of the locked-on Colts duo. I'm Derek Schultz talking Uncle Phil, talking Riley Leonard and talking about the Colts injury situation. Guys, obviously the quarterback room factors in and that. We know Daniel Jones out for the year with the blown Achilles, Anthony Richardson is still on IR with the eye issue.

And then Leonard dealing with that knee issue as well, which is part of the impetus for calling up a 44-year-old who's been out of the league for five years. But, you know, going down the rest of this list, Zach, you know, DeForest Buckner, eligible return this week, but he was a limited participant today, Braden Smith dealing with a concussion, JT2Molowl dealing with a concussion, Alec Pierce with the rib injury, Anthony Gould, who recently came back, has got a foot. You've got sauce with the calf who missed last week. You've got Tramette Moody Ward now on IR. It's just a mess, man. And I don't think I even read everybody's name there.

Yeah. No, I would say when it comes to winning in. the NFL, there are three factors that matter the most. Talent, luck, and injuries. Those are the three most important. I know luck and injuries kind of go together, but those are the three most important things. You need equal participation from all three of those to win a Super Bowl and win effectively throughout the season. I think we can all agree. The Colts have the talent. They have the talent to be a good team in the NFL. They've been hit or miss with the luck like most teams are. Most teams are very hit or miss with luck. But the injuries they've just been killed on this year. And I know this

affects every single team, right? Injuries affect everybody in different ways. But if you would see, like, the most important positions on the NFL are quarterback, offensive tackle, defensive end, and corner, the Colts have been decimated at two of those positions for sure. And now, one of their offensive tackles is hurt right now, too, like, their right tackles. So quarterback, they're down to the veteran off the street and corner. I mean, if you look at the top, what, seven or eight corners they had in training camp this

offseason, there's only one left on the roster. I guess two if you count Jonathan Edwards, but Jalen Jones is that guy. It's going to be Jones and Mackay Blackman again for this game. And we'll have to see with Soss Gardner. But yeah, this team has just been decimated by injuries. We talked about it a lot earlier on the show earlier today, Derek. But injuries have just taken away a lot from this cold team. And when you're pushing for like a stretch run, you'd like to have at least one of your top three defenders on the field,

at least one of your top three quarterbacks on the field, at least, you know, you're starting right to tackle. but it's tough, man. It's tough to overcome injuries. And it's just, again, it does kind of fall into the luck aspect of this. And this is where the Colts have just been hurt so much in recent seasons. I don't know how you fix injuries. You know, how do you fix Mooney Ward, who hasn't really dealt with concussions much in his career

from getting three in one season? It's just part of the game, you know? So it's such a big factor in who makes the playoffs and who doesn't. The Saints last year were a top five team in the NFL through about six, seven, eight games. and then their entire roster got hurt, including their top two quarterbacks, and they ended up being in the same situation the Colts are in right now.

So it is a big factor, and yeah, this Colts team is dinged up. And I know Alan's going to say everyone has to step up, but it's tough, man, when you're like top players are out, like there's a reason why those are your top players, you know? Like, it's hard to overcome the losses of that as a team. Well, I guess 100 years ago when I played, that's when you could actually have, you know, some quality depth, you know, some teams,

some dynasties were built because they had quality depth. We called it like the middle class of the NFL. They weren't necessarily starters, but they were, you know, better than just being a backup. You know, I think about some of the old Steelers teams where they just had guy after guy who could play. But then with the advent of the salary cap and free agency, you had. that one guy that you paid an immense amount of money to, and then you were looking for the best $70,000 player you could find as your backup. And so because of this, one of the things I do is try to pay attention in preseason,

who's playing that last preseason game? Because mark my words, you're going to see them again in games 16, 17, 18, or 15, 16, 17. And that's sort of the thing. And so there's two injuries that really stand out to me, and one is with Sauce Gardner. I don't know where he is. I know he's not 100%, but is an 80% sauce Gardner better than the other D.Bs that they have? I don't know. And then do you take the chance of putting them out there and re-aggravating whatever calf muscle he has,

especially that if you're going against the number one receiver in terms of reception yards in Jackson Smith Enigba. Did I say it right? In Jigba. Thank you. Yeah, I know it's a bit tough there. Jackson Smith and Jigba. I mean, I would say it's probably one of the three or four best receiver seasons we've seen in the 2000s.

Like it is just an incredible season that we are seeing from him and have to cover. him. I mean, if you had both Ward and sauce out there, he'd be a handful. But for it to be all on Mackay Blackman and Jalen Jones, I mean, it's more than a, what's, I don't know what more than a handful is, but that's what it would be this weekend. Right. And I don't know if you can, with all the defensive linemen on, on, that are hurt. I don't know if you can bring more pressure, uh, right, unless you pull a couple more guys off the street to, to rest the passer, you know, so. Yeah, what's, what's Dwight Freeney up to? What's, uh, Robert. I mean, why not, right?

And I just saw, you know, what's his name from the Rams from Pitt, take his shirt off on TV. Aaron Donald, yeah, he looked like he was pretty good if you call him. But that one, the other one is the right tackle of Braden, Braden Smith, because now you've got a quarterback coming in, all right, who hadn't played in five years, and you don't have the full. compliment of your offensive line, you know. So that's just another thing for a quarterback to worry about. Usually, you know, a quarterback can be real confident in the back when he knows he's got

his full complement of offensive line. And they're going to give him the necessary two seconds he needs. But we don't know if, if Braden's going to play. I guess he didn't practice today with that concussion. And so now you've got a questionable. At least it would be coming in his face, it's not his backside, so he can come see it, or maybe they can, maybe he can learn to bootleg out to his left

or escape to his left because he's secure on his left side, maybe not his right side. Are you saying Philip Rivers escape, Alan? Philip River is a escape. Yeah, you're asking a 44-year-old. It's like asking the Statue of Liberty, move to your left a little bit.

Yeah, no, basically. But I want to say the most important, an aspect here. And again, Derek and I talked about this a little bit earlier if you guys really want to dive into it. But when it comes to injuries, it's not just this season. The one, the one injury we had to keep coming back to, and it just changed everything about the Colts outlook, is that injury to Daniel Jones? Because I've been saying this as much as possible, because, like, the Achilles injury is so massive. Like, if this were any other injury, if it was his throwing shoulder, completely separated, and he had to get a new arm,

I'd feel better about his outlook going forward. And Achilles injury is so, so vital right now to NFL athletes to pro athletes in general like all the data we have on basically any player from quarterback to running back wide receiver edge rusher when they come back from an Achilles injury the production is not the same it takes a long time to ever potentially get back to what they were if they ever do I mean we're looking at other positions just with the Colts I mean Dallas Flowers tried to give it a go after his Achilles injury still a young guy 25 years old got beat a couple times in a game, got cut, and now he's not in the NFL anymore.

Marlon Mack was coming off a 1,000-yard rushing season for the Colts, left the team in free into the year after, never played a snap after that for the Colts, and I think he only put a couple snaps for another team and he was out of the league before he was 30. Sanson-Ebucum, the best Colts pass rusher a couple seasons ago. Have you guys heard his name at all this season? No.

Coming back from that Achilles injury? And then if we're looking at quarterbacks, too, Kirk Cousins and Aaron Rogers, I know they're much older than Daniel Jones, but Kirk Cousins and Aaron Rogers, look at what their careers have been since their Achilles injuries. I know they were both already trending down, but Kirk Cousins was dreadful when he had to play last year after that Achilles injury. And this year, when he's gotten out there, it doesn't look like he can throw the football anymore. Aaron Rogers can't throw the ball past 10

yards anymore. He hasn't been able to throw the ball past 10 yards since his Achilles injury. It's such a devastating injury to athletes. There are always those couple exceptions that can come back from it, but if you're the Colch, you don't want to rely on an exception when it comes to the most important position in sports, you know, at quarterback. So if this was a torn ACL, if you're the Colts, you extend Daniel Jones because that's fine to come back from at this point. There's a lot of good science and data about recovering from that, but the Achilles, it zaps so much power, it zaps so much explosiveness, and this is the leg that he has to drive his throws off of to generate power and throwing down the field. Like Daniel Jones, even if he doesn't,

come back to start next season, like early in the year, are you getting like a 50% Daniel Jones for the rest of the season? In a year where you don't have a first round pick, you've got to win, especially if Stuyken and Ballard are back. You've got to win next year. It is such a devastating look for like the outlook of this team that he suffered an Achilles injury. Again, anything else in the outlook looks fine, but because it's an Achilles injury, it just changes everything about how you view this Colts team next season even, because Because like, what do you do with Daniel Jones? It's like you want to reward him for his play, but it's a business, man.

And Achilles is like the poison pill of this business right now. Yeah. And the rehab physically for this thing is daunting, you know, just to get it back to where it was because there's never any warning signs that you're going to rip your Achilles. But I think the even bigger part of rehab is the mental side. of coming back because you remember that excruciating pain that you had when that thing ripped. It's not like any other thing you could experience. The only thing I could think of is have somebody take a sharp knife and stab you in the back of the foot and see if you

like that or not. You know, and so the mental side of rehabbing, you can build it up as much as you want, but you're going to be tentative, you know, when it comes to pushing off of that thing because you remember, you know, that pain. That's why if I see a running back that's, you know, in the game injured, I would prefer to put another running back in because, let's say you got an ankle injury and you're running the ball. As soon as somebody touches your ankle, the last thing you think about is that football. And so the mental rehab that you have to go through to me takes longer than the physical rehab. And look, I blew out an ACL and I did all the rehab and everything came back fine. And I mean, I really had to talk myself into, I'm taking this damn

brace off because I remember trying out for teams and having a brace on. And the coaches just looked at you differently. And so I said, bump it. I'm going to trust my rehab. And I'm just going to go head and play. And I was fine, but it's because I was rebuilt. Now, if it's an Achilles, that's a totally different deal. Yeah. And I think we're just used to evaluating injuries in the scope of one season, whereas because of the timing of this, it bleeds into next year. And it's almost like Colts fans are dealing with the mental stress and reality of, okay, they're going to fall out of the playoffs this year and also thinking that you had at least the quarterback situation temporarily solved is also out the window. So it's it's like multiple things

crumbling at once for Colts fans. And I think that's what's, you know, it's one thing to just miss the playoffs. It's another thing to now, you know, look at next year and be like, well, who's going to be the week one starter at quarterback? Whereas four weeks ago, that was a no brainer that it, that was going to be Daniel Jones. But speaking of the, you know, the tentacles of the Daniel Jones injury, is the sauce gardener trade already a failure? Are the Colts completely screwed for 2026? We're going to talk under and overreactions next right here on the Colt Squad Show. This portion of the Colt Squad Show brought you by Fanduel.

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i do want to say this and i'm seeing a lot of this and zach i know they're you're probably seeing a lot of it as well. Is it an overreaction to say that the sauce gardener trade is already a failure? And I just want to give my take on this. Dude's played two games, okay? He's played two games. I understand the Jones injury changes things. And if you could go back and hit the undo button knowing what we know now at quarterback,

you would, right? If you gave everybody true serum, even if you gave the Colts true serum, they'd say the same thing. But what I don't like is I try to not be a, hypocrite. We've been clamoring for Chris Bauer to be aggressive with saying, hey, what are you going to go for it, my man? Stop, just kind of, you know, 8, 9, 9, and 8, 10, and 7, like push the chips in, let's go. He was aggressive. If I come back and then say, whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute, that was too aggressive here. Like, you know what I mean? Like, that makes me look like I'm talking

out of both sides of my mouth here. I think in the context of the time, even though it was a substantial price to pay, which we said, you know, two ones and then A.D. Mitchell, that's a substantial trade package. I think of the context of the time, the move made sense. Now, that is aged like milk, but that's kind of where I am with it. Zach, how are you feeling? Yeah, I mean, anytime you make a big swing like that, there's always a chance for it to blow up in your face. I mean, look at the Mooney Ward signing, his potential of blowing up in the Colts face right now because we don't know if he's going to play another snap for the Colts, let alone an NFL team. But it doesn't mean that, like, we go back and say, like, this changes, like, you should

never have done this like yeah sure if you had the the foresight of what was going to be maybe you do undo that but i don't think it changes the analysis at the time you know so we'll have to we still have to see i mean again the colts have to win two of these last four games it is very unlikely but we'll see if they can win any of those to get in the playoffs and the next year is a new season and we can grade it after the next season and also there's still the thing like if sauce gardner comes back and he's a star he's a star corner after this injury for the rest of this season and next season even if the Colts don't make the playoffs it's still like hey we got a really good player on a long-term deal so it's not like the worst thing in the world so there's still just so

many factors with it right now is it aging poorly as of right now yes but like you said Derek like I'm not going we don't have the foresight there when the trade is made and when the time the trade was made like things were looking good things were going great things were were sending for this Colts team and I didn't I don't hate him going all in it's kind of like when they took the big swing on Anthony Richardson at quarterback where it's like even if you miss on that swing like I still respect swinging for the tracy quarterback in a league where the tracy quarterbacks are wedding Super Bowls you know like so I it doesn't mean that it it all like you know I'm not saying like oh it did work like if it doesn't work it does we don't

go back and just change everything we just say like you know what that aged poorly but I still understand and respect the decision at the time so um yeah it's not aging super well right now but I don't think it's like you know never should have done it it's like I understand taking the swing they were winning and they look like

they had their quarterback for the next couple seasons if if you made every move with the hindsight of like our quarterback could tear Achilles tomorrow then you would never make any move in the NFL because that's always on the table it just unfortunately happened to the team that traded two first round picks

for sauce gardener well you know not to be redundant I don't want to repeat everything you just said But I agree with you. It's too early to tell. I do like the bold move. And I tell you who appreciates it more than anybody else. The players on the team, you know, because they all want to win,

but they know when they're underhanded and they don't have the top players at certain positions. So when you go out and add to that, you know, that's one of those things that lifts the team. You know, so they're going to have to play through this. this right now. But for the future, your defense is going to be better. Now we just got to be concerned about the quarterback. Yeah. And what was the other one you had there, Derek? The other one was, and I think this is maybe an underreaction. The coaches feel stuck right now. They feel, they feel stuck. If you look at the contract situations, you know, for the people that are saying, well, you got to tear the whole thing down, you know, A, they don't have a first round pick. How do you

tear things down, you don't, right? And B, if you look at the contract situation, a lot of the major money guys or the core guys are free agents after next year. And so 26 is really kind of the window. And I think when you made the Gardner trade, I mean, that's when the cap hit start happening in 27. I think you were looking at this as sort of a two-year window for the Colts in 25 and 26. And now, you know, you have to go back to the veteran carousel, I guess, and take another spin there at quarter. back, you know, even if you bring Jones back on an incentive-laden deal, you're still going to have to protect yourselves in case he's not ready to go for week one. And you have to assume

he's going to miss the entire, just about the entire off-season program, right, with the way that the injury is. And, you know, God, how does your 10 for Chris Boward sound to folks right now, right? How does that sound? That'd be hard to sell, I think, Zach, at this point, too. But then again, if you make a move and then you know you keep stiking and then it's that weird like gm and possibly lame duck head coach thing like i i don't know if i'm carly ursay gordon what what the play is this i know i'm forecasting out to the off season these are conversations we're going to have down the road but it just feels right now like the colts are just there there's no easy solution here with where they said yeah i mean the colts are staring down the barrel right now of twice since

2021 so 2021 season and now of having 97 plus percent chance of making the playoffs and missing both of those times, you know? In 2021, they had to win two games, one of two games against bad teams to make it. They lost both. And this year, I mean, at the buy week, they were sitting at like a 99% chance by almost every single metric to make the playoffs. And they are staring down the barrel of eight and nine, you know, losing all these games down the stretch. And to think that you would bring back the coach and the GM, especially the GM going into year 10 after that is kind of crazy. But like, again, like you said, there's no real incentive to tear this thing down this all season because like if you tear it down to the you know

to the root foundation you're not benefiting from it like if you win two games next year the jets are benefiting from it you know like you get a higher second round pick but you're not getting that higher first round pick so you kind of have to like push your chips in one more year maybe you don't touch any more future picks to push your chips in for one more year because you are aware of what could happen after 2026 which is all these veteran contracts are coming off the books you're probably moving on from GM and coach if it doesn't work out next year, and you're kind of starting over. But yeah, the future just got so much bleaker for the Colts because, again, you don't know what the timeline looks like for your quarterback next season. The roster is going to be one

year older. You don't have a first round pick to infuse in here, not that the first round picks have been great in the Chris Ballard era. And you can't really just tear this thing down. So they do have to kind of just go for it again next year. And I'm really curious to see what the offseason plans look like. I know we're going to talk about that more in future shows. Yeah, I mean, injuries change so much of a perspective. And when your quarterback goes down with an injury, especially like that, like I know all of us felt like all of us just like let out like this dejected sigh when we saw the way that he fell. And we all knew what kind of injury it was when it happened.

It reminded me of when I was a Washington fan before I came over and covered the Colts, before I grew up and became an adult in the cover the Colts. But when I saw the way RG3 fell in that playoff game, you know, back in 2012, every Washington fan knew exactly what that. And then the way he fell, the way the knee looked, the way, and that was our young quarterback, it kind of feels the same as like how every Colts fan felt the way when Jones fell on Sunday. It's like it just changes so much about your franchise. So we'll see how they recover, but yeah, they are kind of stuck in a little bit.

I don't think that's like a, I think I'm kind of with you. I think it's more of an underreaction than an overreaction that the Colts are a little bit stuck right now. Speaking of underreaction, is it an underreaction that we're not, talking about the kicker making all of his kicks to a blake blake in the rain too in the rain he didn't miss any kicks in the rain Zach is so happy you brought that up Alan yes yeah the kicker obviously you know what though honestly uh I'm a groupie for groupie Badgeley Badgeley missed an extra point right you know you take the wins where you can and certainly that was a little bit of a win to kind of nail down the kicker situation just feels like since since everything else has

turn to ash we're not focusing as much on the on the kicker situation this time but yeah no alan that's i think that's a good one there um yeah as far as under reaction i have a slight over i have i have an overreaction as what i want to talk about because i think we're lumping too many games together and i think we're saying that the offensive line has been an issue in every single loss of late and i thought the offensive line was mostly good on sunday i mean watching back on the film i really didn't see many issues on the old line like yeah some of the run lanes got clogged up but Jacksonville is a defense that clogs run lanes up. They trigger so fast and their linebackers are so fast and athletic

that they are more than willing to crash down against the run because they feel so comfortable rotating back and getting back into their zone. It's just hard to run against like a seven-man box with five guys blocking up front. It's tough for an offensive line, but they pass protected pretty well on Sunday for the most part. I thought the O line played fairly well.

I think they were good against Houston. Atlanta, I thought they were better than the numbers looked because Jones kind of ran into a lot of sacks. I think the offensive line has been mostly good in recent weeks. It's just the way that they looked against Kansas City, the way they looked against Pittsburgh for sure were really rough showings. And I think we're bleeding that into our other takes where maybe the offensive line isn't dominating teams, but no one's dominating against Chris Jones.

No one's dominated against Will Anderson. No one's dominated. Like they're going against tougher offense or defensive lines right now. And I think they've been fine. Like if anything, I think they've been good in most these games. It's just we're seeing more drops. We saw some quarterback issues in the last couple of weeks. We saw, you know, I think Taylor has taken a little bit of a step back in recent weeks with some of the lanes he's hitting and obviously in pass protection as well.

He's had a lot of issues lately. So I think a lot of it is like guys around them kind of regressing a little bit as well. But I think the offensive line for the most part, the last couple weeks has been pretty solid. I thought Jalen Travis looked decent coming in there. I mean, I mean, if we're trying to be positive on here, I think Jalen Travis coming in at right tackle looked really solid, had a couple really nice moments. Gonzalez has looked really good in recent weeks. So, like, I don't know. I'm not trying to say the offensive line is perfect and they have no issues,

but I think they have been better than what some of the overall perceptions have been where a lot of people are saying, like, the O line regression has led to the whole offense regressing. It's like, not really. They played some really good defenses and they've been pretty fine against them. It's just you're playing against better defenses. You're going to have some losses against Chris Jones. You're going to have some losses against Will Anderson.

These are the best players in football. You know, you're not going to win every single race. rep. And I think for the most part, by and large, like, a good chunk of these games, Y-L-Line has been better than they've been, like, perceived by most people. Here's one. I don't know if I would deem it an underreaction or overreaction, but with the receivers that the cults have, don't you just need a distributor? Don't you just need someone get the ball in their hands? Zach and I talked about this down. It's interesting to bring it up.

If you go back and look at the 2020 pass. catchers for the Colts. It was like an aging T.Y. Hilton, Zach Paskill, a rookie Michael Pittman, Jr. And really kind of a whole bunch of nothing. This is a much better situation that he's entering. You know,

I know Pierce is banged up and all that, but this is a much better pass catching situation that he's entering into here. And I'm wondering if he can take, you know, he made chicken salad out of chicken, you know what in 2020 with that receiver room. And certainly he's not going to have to the same

challenge this time around. Yeah, I mean, they certainly just need a distributor. It's just what does Philip Rivers even have left at this point? Yeah, that question. Can he be that distributor is the real question? Because like, if you, if you're dropping 2020 Philip Rivers into this, I'm like, oh yeah, we're making the playoffs. We might not beat Seattle because we're going to talk about Seattle in a second. Like, oh my gosh, that team is insane. But I fully believe they could be Jacksonville or Sanfred at home if you drop 20, 20, Philip Rivers in here. But this is five years later five years changes a lot you know like especially for a football player like alan five years after your retirement that's different right five years after your retirement heck Alan at 44 how do you think

that would have felt going out there that's the real question but it's just it's so different time changes so much i know he hasn't been taking hits the last five years but it's five more years on your body there and he's even said he's not fully into into football shape right now so look if they get even if they get 70% of 2020 Phillip Rivers, they can win games? It's just, can they get that is the big question. A top two defense and a top two offense. Woo, going to be a tough one coming up here on Sunday.

We're going to talk about the challenge. The contending Seahawks team presents to the Colts next when the Colts squad show returns for a final time. And we're back. Final time here on the locked on cold squad show. Thanks so much for making us apart. of your Wednesday or maybe your Thursday or maybe you're real late to the party and Friday. We don't care.

Watch it whenever right here on Locked on Colts, YouTube, a podcast channel, anywhere that you are consuming the show. We really appreciate it alongside Alan Pinkett and Zach Hicks. I'm Derek Schultz. So as I mentioned, number two in total defense are the Seahawks, 17 and a half points per game. Number two in total offense are the Seahawks, 30 points are game. I was not a math major at IU, but 30 points per game, you're scoring, 17 points per you're giving up. I think that's pretty good. Also, number four rush defense. I think Zach,

you had mentioned tied for second most interceptions in the league. Their top five overall and takeaways. And they're hot. They've won seven of their last eight. They've won all three games against AFC South opponents, even though they did catch Jacksonville and Houston before they kind of started this late season surge here. Look, they're really good. They've got a chance to win the whole thing. I really think. And just the latest in a line of really tough opponents here that the Colts have had to deal with the last couple of weeks. Yeah. And of all the teams they've played lately, this is the best one that they play like they're going to play. Like in my opinion, the Seahawk to the best team in football. I know they're the five seed right now, but they are

an incredible football team. Top to bottom. Their offense is this pure like modern day NFL offense where they're playing from under center. They're playing 12 personnel and they're using it to set up deep play action passes to the best receiver in football and Jackson Smith and Jigba. And he's just on an unreal heater right now. Like it doesn't matter if you're putting Derek Stingley on him or if you're putting three safety, you know, three corners, three, whatever it is on him, he's going to make that play on the vertical plane.

They run the ball quite effectively. Their offensive line is full of just mean mallers up front, not the most like perfect offensive line like technique wise, but they are physical and they punch you in the face over and over again. They are good offensive line. And on defense, I mean, McDonald has been one of the best defensive coaches for years. Going back to when he was at Michigan, goes to Baltimore Ravens, is great there. And now he's brought it over to Seattle.

These guys have bought in. They're big, they're fast, they're athletic. They have guys who are just playmakers like Witherspoon on the outside and the guys they have up front just win their matchups and fit so aggressively. To me, this is the best team in football, and they don't have many weaknesses whatsoever. It's a very, very good team. if you're going to have any chance of beating them, you need to find that one game every once in a while

where San Darnold is chaotic in the pocket and forces a lot of interceptions. That is really where the issues can fall with their team. That's where they've been in their losses this year is when they lost their big matchup against the Rams the last time they faced the Rams, I believe Darnold had five interceptions in that game, really got out of his own structure

and just let the defense get to him. So that's probably the big. biggest way to attack them is just go after the ball, try to get in Darnold's head early, hit him a couple times, and you might get some poor play from him. But if things are clean for him, which things have been clean for quarterbacks against the Colts defense the last couple weeks, he is up there among the best quarterbacks in the league this year. So this is a tough test. Like, if the Colts were going in here with Daniel Jones, with Saus Gardner, with Mooney Ward, and with DeForest Buckner, I would still say this is going to be a tough test.

But with the context of Philip Rivers coming off the street, multiple corners being down, Buckner being 50-50 if he's going to play this week, this feels insurmountable. And I understand why the spread is what it is at 13 a half. Oh, and also it's going to be apparently like a monsoon this weekend. It's going to be a downpour. And I will say this about Sam Darnold, you know, you can say throughout his career if he's a good enough, if a good passer or not. But he has been phenomenal in bad weather games his entire life. He has really big hands. I remember that when he was drafted.

And that's what evaluators love that, right? The quarterbacks with the big hands because they can throw the wet football is a lot better. That's why they always call like the nine inch hand quarterbacks, the dome quarterbacks. But Darnold has always been great in those monsoon games. And that's partially why Seattle liked him actually is because his ability to play in those bad weather games. So it just kind of adds a little bit more of an advantage to the Seahawks. And it hurts the Colts a little bit more. But yeah, this Seattle team, they are fun.

they're well coached, they're physical, and they are good on both sides of the football. The Colts need some lady luck to go their way, they need some turnovers, and they really need special teams to step up in this game. If they lose the special teams battle when you're a 13.5 point underdog, you have no chance at winning. You need some block kicks or big returns or whatever. You need to win that special teams battle handily to have a chance against a team as good as Seattle.

And speaking of special teams, it was just announced what today? that a player from the Seahawks was the special team's player of the week. Rashis Shahid ran back one for 100 yards. So it's one of those, the rich get richer. You know, they've been a solid team all year long. And looking at their injury report, they have just as many players, but it's not as serious. You know, they still have their quarterback. And they've got a, they have a true number one receiver.

but they've got all the pieces around. And right now, this team just has a belief that they can go out and win. Now, the other thing I'll say is playing in Seattle. I know back when I played, it was the King Dome, but that was one of the loudest places I've ever been to. To me, it seems like they're just as loud with an outdoor stadium. And that really, think about that. match, not only do you have a 44-year-old quarterback potentially starting, but he hadn't been

yelling at the top of his lungs for five years. And he's going to have to either yell or come up with some innovative hand signals to just, you know, just the communication aspect of being able to operate in that stadium. But there is hope because they're four and two at home right now. They've lost two games at home. So they can be beaten. Yeah, it certainly can happen. Like, it's the NFL, right? And I think the biggest thing for the Colts is you have to survive the early onslaught. This Seahawks team, when they have played some teams this year, they have gotten off to some seriously huge leads in the first half of games.

I think of the Washington game, for instance. I think Darnold had like four or five touchdown passes in the first half of that game. I believe in that game, he had more touchdown passes than incompletions at halftime in that one. I believe the Cardinals game, there was like the second game they played against the Cardinals. I think they were up by like 40 for most of that game. When they get going early in games, it becomes this onslaught that just cannot stop. So for the Colts, they have to win the momentum early. Honestly, I think this is one of those games, especially when you have the surprise factor of Philip Rivers

where nobody knows what the heck to expect from him. I think this is one of those games where you want to take the ball first, right? Get Philip Rivers on the field. And if you can get points on that first drive and just calm that momentum that Seattle might have, you know, because I don't want to give them the ball to start the game because if they get on that roll, they get seven out the gate like that, it could just turn into that onslaught. If the Colts can get that ball first and just get some points on the first drive, it might slow that momentum, bring this back into a game. And especially in a rain game, you never really

know what could happen. It could become sloppy from that point. I think that could be key for the Colts in this one. So look, it's the NFL. Anything can happen, obviously, but Seattle looks geared for a Super Bowl run. They have all the ingredients you look for of a Super Bowl team. And for the Colts to beat them, I think they do need a lot of things that, that, that go underdog's way and upsets. You know, you need to win the turnover battle by a good margin, and you need to win the special teams. I think those are the two biggest things for the Colts on Sunday.

Well, and look, the Colts still have the number one rusher in the NFL. If they can create some type of balance between run and pass, that'll go a long way because, you know, J.T. can still bust it at any time. And so we talk about they're going to adjust to this new quarterback. They're going to have to watch everything, you know, because if they want to be blitz happy, then I'm sure that that screen and draw game will come out. And you've got the weapons to make that screen and draw game go. But if they want to be so concerned with the past, you know,

you've got a physical enough offensive line with the cults. that they can be a battering ram running that football at you. So if you can, the thing is, if you can get balance, and it all comes back to, you know, how they do on first down. Can they put themselves in a second and four situation where now you don't know if they're going to run or pass? So it's going to have to be really detail-oriented to play very well on first down to give themselves a chance

to balance their attack. Yeah, it's just frustrating that, you know, they're in a situation where, you know, if you would ask me about this game four or five weeks ago, I said, well, they might be in a position where it doesn't matter, right? Because if they beat Jacksonville and if they beat Houston and if they're in control of the division, then it's an NFC game and, you know, if you win, it's nice, great, but if you lose, who cares? And now they're in a position where it's a game that they really have to have. And it's just, it's a shame that the Colts have put themselves in this spot with what's happened the last two weeks. But they actually haven't

one in Seattle since 2000. Now, they've only played there twice in that span. Brock Huard was the quarterback for Seattle. And I'm assuming, I mean, 2000, that would have still had to have been the kingdom, right? When did they blow up the kingdom? Early 2000s, I want to say, maybe. I think probably early 2000s.

I will say that the Seattle Stadium, like outside of Kansas City Stadium, is probably the loudest in football. It gets going. The 12s are incredible. there just with how they attend games and how they how routed they are they they do some great stuff there there there's a reason why they have been nicknamed the 12s you know up there um you know it's it's a really fun environment but yeah for the colts i will say i think one thing that could benefit them and again it goes to the surprise factor of philip rivers is mike macdonald is

a really great advanced scout as a defensive coach for for the seahawks but if you're scouting this year's offense i know that the colts have said that philip rivers runs this same offense for the high school team, but again, I don't think you're going to have many bootlegs. I don't think you're going to have a lot of under-centered play action with Philiburg. I don't think you're going to have a lot of five or seven-step drops, you know, with Philip Rivers. So if the Seahawks are watching a lot of this year's film and gearing up to stop this year's offense for the Colts, I don't think that's going to do so much good. So it might help the Colts get some points on the board early because I'm expecting more of a

20-23 Colts type of style. And I'm sure McDonald was also factoring that in, but the surprise factor is a big part. The game planning is so big in the NFL and just knowing what your opponent's going to throw at you is so vital. And the Colts might throw something that the Seahawks are not expecting early because I don't even, how would I game plan for this game if I were McDonald's, you know? So I think that surprise factor could lead to some points stolen early in the game. And I mean, gosh, we all know from covering this league or playing in this league, any point, every point matters. If you could steal a couple early in a game, who knows how sloppy it can get after that and how, you know, especially in a rainy game, if it can get kind of messy,

and those points can be the difference at the end of the day. So I'm not saying it's likely the Colts win on Sunday, but that surprise factor early where they can maybe steal a couple, several points from just not expecting. And I'm sure Stuyken's going to pull out some trick plays early in this game to try to get some momentum. That might be a factor in this one, and we'll see if that impacts the final score anyway. Yeah, I think the goal is make that defensive coordinator have to spend an extra hour or two hours, because the more you put on their plate, the more that they have to be responsible

for, and the easier it is as an offense to attack them. So when you have to be concerned with more offense or unsure of what offense they're going to play, that does put the defense at a little bit of a disadvantage. So hopefully the Colts can capitalize on that because they know what they have in Rivers. I think after a day in practice, you know, but the element of surprise is so huge in this one. And, you know, when you were talking about it, Zach, I was thinking, yeah, Riley Leonard will start. But then when you started talking about, you know, he wouldn't be here unless he was starting. And he's like, you know what?

He's right. Yeah. I know. Why would I come off the couch to go sit on the bench? Yeah. And speaking of the element of surprise, too, I mean, Joe Flacco was traded right before the Steelers game against the Bengals this year, right? So Flacco arrives at the Bengals, starts that week, and he throws for like 380 in that game, and they win that game. And look, it's obviously Flacco versus Steelers has that moxie with it, but sometimes it is just that change that you have to account for as a defense that can lead to some issues. I know the

Steelers defense going into that week is much worse than the Seahawks defense we're going to see on Sunday. But that quick change can weigh on a defense a little bit. You know, you're expecting one thing and you get something else. Like Allen said, the more plays you have to learn, the more wrinkles you have to learn as defense slows your momentum a little bit going into a Sunday. So if that can be enough to turn the tables a little bit, maybe that can get the Colts and momentum. But ultimately, we'll see on Sunday. Seattle's a wagon is what we call it in sports. There's certainly a wagon this year. They're a good team. We'll see what Uncle Phil has from coming up here on Sunday.

Thanks so much for joining us right here on the Colts squad show. Lock us in for your midweek show every Wednesday night at 9 p.m. But don't forget we are your place to be for live game recaps, following each and every Colts game this season. We'll be back with you Sunday following Colts Seahawks around 8 o'clock or so and recap a really big game. I mean, they're all big from here on out for the Colts as they try to hold on to whatever playoff hopes they still have left.

That'll be right after the game goes final right here on the Lockdown Colts Network. Until then, keep it locked on Z. Zach for the rest of the week on Locked-on Colts and be sure to follow at Lockdown Colts on socials and check out our other great content on YouTube and TikTok and we'll see you next time right here on The Squad Show.