Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Colts trounce Jets in all three phases, 36-7

Episode Date: September 29, 2020

On today's episode, Stampede Blue's Stephen Reed joins to discuss the Colts' latest blowout victory. Indy destroyed the Jets in all three phases of the game, which led to one of their most impressive wins in the Frank Reich era.The defense forced three more turnovers and a safety, so is this legit moving forward? We likely won't know until after the next weeks versus Chicago and Cleveland are completed.Philip Rivers continues to be efficient and actually leads the NFL in completion percentage through three weeks. Is Indy extending Rivers' career another year or two longer? It sure seems that way right now.Michael Pittman Jr. is now out until after the Colts' bye week. What happens next with the WR depth? Expect a lot of T.Y. Hilton and Zach Pascal, but, in the meantime, please keep feeding Big Mo.Closing it out, we quickly discuss the Bears game. With rain expected, we're in store for a low-scoring slugfest. Who holds the edge?All of this, plus so much more, as we dive into how Indy turned their record into 2-1! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You are Locked On Colts, your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello everybody, welcome back to your latest episode of Locked On Colts, or the Locked On Podcast Network. Today's guest is Evan Cedri, I'm joined by Stephen Reed of Stampede Blue to recap the Colts just absolutely destroying the New York Jets on Sunday, 36-7, and really starting to gain some momentum here, but unfortunately they lost another key contributor on the offensive side

for the third straight week for a couple weeks now. Stephen, how are you doing with that? I'm doing well, Evan. How are you? Doing good. Doing good. I'm glad to have you back on for this one because we kind of predicted this last week when we were talking, Steven, that this game shouldn't be close. I talked about it throughout the show last week as well, that the Colts should easily win this game by 10-plus points, cover that 11-and-a-half-point spread, and they certainly did that. I think a rough first possession, like we saw against Minnesota, the Jets kind of drove down the field a little bit.

After that pick-six by Xavier Rhodes, who had a great game, we'll hit on him in just a few moments too, but we maybe thought for a little bit in the first few minutes of that game it might be a close one, but the Colts just absolutely went off against the Jets, scoring the last 27 points, I believe, to wrap that game. 36-7 was the final score, and this one is the Colts' improve to 2-1 the season. What was your assessment to that game where the Colts,

really on all three phases of the game, just dominated? Yeah, from start to finish, really, the Colts did exactly what they wanted to do, and this is kind of what we expected them to do at the beginning of the season. And it's one of those things where you never really want to take a loss, but that loss to Jacksonville seems to really have woken up that defense. And you've seen them just be a whole entire 180 from what they were in Jacksonville against Minnesota and now against the New York Jets. It really shows also when you look at it,

the acumen of Chris Ballard and putting this defense together, because realistically, he's done this in three off seasons. So in two seasons and then the next one, because his first season he was drafting and playing for a 3-4 and getting players for a 3-4 defense for Chuck Pagano. Now that he swapped over to a 4-3, he's really only had two or three years to really build this defense and the fact that you're seeing this defense to be as dominant as it is as early in the season with no um no training camp just very limited practices it's really really impressive just how good of a job Chris Ballard has done in addressing needs and doing making the right moves at the right time at the right position so you look at Xavier Rhodes who had a fantastic game this past week which is something that we all kind of hoped that he would get back to playing in this system and then you had TJ Carey who had a great game you had Tavon Wilson who had a great game all these guys that

Chris Ballard has brought in DeForest Buckner obviously has just absolutely changed how offenses play the middle of the Colts defense and what they can do from a defensive standpoint. It's been really, really impressive. And the Vikings, even though they lost again this past weekend, they're not a slouch team. The Jets arguably are the worst team in the league and so you're glad to see them the Colts really take care of business when they needed to against a team that they really needed to just crush from the from the get-go because the Colts have a history of playing to the level of competition and keeping games close and everything. So it was really good. It was a relief for fans to see them really kind of put their foot on the gas and go and just leave the Jets in their dust. Yeah, certainly was a fun outing for this Colts team

as it really reminded me of the 2018 Bills game where they won by 30 plus points and the Colts won by 29 on Sunday, beating the Jets 36-7. I think you spoke about Xavier Rhodes had a good game, and TJ Carrier once again, back-to-back weeks now with an interception. He had both those guys that picked six on Sunday too against Sam Darnall. Six interceptions now for the Colts in the last two weeks. What did you think of that game on Sunday for Carrier and Rhodes where both those guys without Rockets sent for the second straight week

really starting to step here, maybe get a lot more comfortable now in this cold zone defense yeah it just shows that they they really are like you said they're getting comfortable in this defense they're they were brought in and they play a position that they feel comfortable with one thing that i thought was interesting about tj carey that he said um he was he felt more comfortable playing in the slot um coming in and so he worked really hard uh this past off season to work on being on outside, outside corner because he knew that he had to have that position

versatility here with the Colts. And so for him to also recognize that as a weakness is really cool. And it's really, really great for them. Great for the team to, for him to focus on that and be able to step in when he needed to. The cornerback position for the Colts has been kind of a an Achilles heel for a long time and so it's good to see them have some stability and have a little bit of depth so when Rocky Hussain went down we all kind of were scratching our heads wondering

who was going to be that other corner could Could TJ Carey step in in a pinch? And Rocky Hussien last week, he was out. Game time, left the stadium, had to go have something done at the hospital. And TJ Carey was shoved in there, and he played great. And so I think from both of those guys, they're really molding well into this defense. And I think it goes all the way back to the defensive line, just the defense as a whole and how fast they are. How fast they are on that turf is really an impressive part of this defense. Just the speed and the quickness that they can get around and get to the ball. We've seen that back-to-back weeks now for this Colts team on defense where they really

have been super impressive. And luckily I had the Colts defense in my fantasy leagues and where they were really helping me out this week on Sunday when they scored, I think, 25 points for me, which is super nice. But who do you think about this Colts defense so far? I know back-to-back weeks now they've played some. Poor quarterback playing Kirk Cuddens and Sam Darnold. Gardner Minshew still tore them up in week one. I feel like I still don't know who this Colts defense is just yet, Stephen. They rank top five in almost every category,

number one overall in total defense so far. But I feel like we'll know a lot more about them the next couple weeks when they play at Chicago, at Cleveland. What do you think? Yeah, I think so. I'm not as sold on the Bears, and we'll get into that a little bit later. But yeah, I think the defense as a whole is still kind of a mystery because was Jacksonville really a wake-up call for them? You know, obviously, the last two weeks, they've played fantastic. Are they going to come keep this keep playing like

they have Kirk Cousins isn't a slouch um in terms of his quarterback play he's one of the most accurate quarterbacks in terms of completion percentage in the league and so the fact that they really shut him down was really impressive to me um this past week Sam Darnold he's a solid quarterback but again he doesn't have a lot of options in terms of the receiving game. He didn't have really a whole lot of players at all. They're missing a ton of guys. And so you kind of give Sam Darnold a pass. I'll be interested to see what they do, not specifically against the Bears, but I think the Browns are the bigger kind of prove-it game for the Colts, just because I think that they've got a lot more weapons in terms of all the way

across the field, Baker Mayfield, Nick Chubb. You've got O.B.J., Odell Beckham Jr., Landry, Jarvis Landry, and Joku, the whole nine playing out there in Cleveland. They've got a lot of options there. I think that's going to be the bigger test than necessarily the Bears this week. It doesn't matter if you're a professional athlete, a stay-at-home parent, or you spend eight hours a day in an uncomfortable office chair. Everyone needs support to make it through the day. Luckily, our friends at CBDMD have an amazing duo that can help you relax, regroup, and recharge when life gets chaotic.

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Once again, that's CBDMD.com, promo code LOCKEDONNFL, for 25% off your purchase of superior CBD oil products from CBDMD. Again, CBDMD.com, promo code LOCKEDONNFL. Looking now at the offense for a second, we'll hit on Michael Pittman Jr.'s injury in a couple minutes here, but not much in the box score for Phillip Rivers. Once again, Steven, he had around 215 yards. I believe I don't have the exact number in front of me,

but it was a very low number. I think it was 211 yards passing for Phillip Rivers. He had 232 the week before against Minnesota. Just super efficient, though. I mean, he's not going to put gaudy numbers in this offense with how they are so run heavy and how that's really just a lot of quick, short throws. But Rivers, now, if you didn't know, Stephen, leads the NFL

in completion percentage through three weeks, 78.3%, which is far and away the best in the NFL right now. I think we talked about it, I think, last week and the week before that, too, with how just efficient he was. I think this is for real now, Stephen. I think there's a really, really good chance, I think almost maybe a guarantee at this point, unless Rivers falls off a cliff or we see an injury,

that he's going to be maybe the leader or at least in the top two, top three and get pushed to percentage here. Yeah, and it's a hard turn from what they had last year with Jacoby Brissett. Phillip Rivers, you saw it all game and how well he played, how well he knows this offense, and how well he anticipated where his right receivers were going to be and how well they were able to adjust. Like, there were times where Phillip Rivers threw the ball

before the right receiver even started to turn around. And that's just the level of trust in yourself, knowing, trusting the receiver trust in the offense as a whole they're going to be put in a right position to win and you see Philip Rivers really take advantage of that and for him he doesn't necessarily have to go out and win a game per se you know it's one of those things where we always talked about how you when you had Peyton Manning when you had under luck no matter what the score was, you felt like you could win. And when you had Jacoby reset, he was going to be okay, but you never knew if he – you kind of figured that he couldn and how how accurate he's been despite the you know a couple of really

questionable interception throws that he had in week one he's been really really efficient and that's all they need in this offense with this offensive line like you watch these games and phil burris doesn't get touched like nobody's around him which for him has got to be like just waking up on a cloud like it's he's just he's never had that in his career he's always been hit and so for him to be able to have a clean pocket pretty much every time he goes to back to pass you can tell that that's really playing into his completion percentage and how comfortable he is just sitting there and they're in pocket and and making the throws i think it's fair to say, too, Steve, I know many Colts teams, when they first signed Phillip,

it was supposed to be a one-year thing if Rivers is really washed up or falling off a cliff. But I'd bet more so – I'd hedge a lot of money at this point if I was a betting man that Rivers might even be extending his career right now in Indianapolis that this could be more of a two-, three-year pack with the Colts at this point instead of a one-year one, right? Yeah, I think you're probably looking at at least two. And the reason why I say that is because at some point they're going to want to see what Jacob Beeson has. And so you go into next

year, you go ahead and extend Phillip Rivers for another year. You've got your two quarterbacks there. You've got, you know, Phillip Rivers, you got Jacob Beeson. Let's be real, Jacoby Brissett's probably not going to be on the team next year. And so I think the Colts will let him go ahead and go for another year, teach Jacob Eason another year, teach him the ropes, kind of get him under saddle, let him be able to take over after next year. But yeah, I think that Phillip Rivers for is probably going to be here for next year. And if he keeps playing like this, shoot, if he doesn't get hit and he can just throw the ball around, you're right, he might be here for three years.

Who knows? Looking at this running game now, Stephen, of course, Rivers has been a godsend to this Colts offense so far through three weeks, and it should continue moving forward here with how efficient he's looked at the quarterback position for this Colts team compared to last year with Jacoby Bursette. But this rushing game had a good game once again against this Jets team on Sunday. But let's tell Jonathan Taylor for a moment here because I've seen a lot too

on Colts Twitter, a lot of analysts like Zach Hicks over there as well, who's a weekly guest on the show as well. They said about his vision, I completely agree with you, or completely agree with Zach and others that I mentioned this, that he's left a lot of yards on the table so far back- back weeks where he's done that he averaged four and a half yards per carry on Sunday but it came out a couple big runs and a lot of small ones where he just missed a lot of holes are you is it just an adjustment period you think for Taylor so far are you going to be a little more worried still being consistent for Taylor the next couple weeks I think I'd start

to get worried around like week eight or nine if this continues to happen you got to remember this is going to be his second start uh you know or you know his he's not had a lot of NFL game time at this point and so he gets in there and he finally gets to start and gets to play a little bit you got to get acclimated to the speed of all these players. And for him, you came from big 10 programs, some good players in there, but they're not NFL. Not everybody's in there.

See him still leave those yards on the table. Then maybe you get a little bit worried, but I think for right now you give them a pass just from the inexperience. I agree with you. I think right now it's a little too early to say that, but just something to monitor here because we saw once again on Sunday, Jordan Wilkins had a good game, second half in garbage time too. He had a couple big chunk runs in there.

Do you think for the time being, while Taylor gets adjusted, we should see more of a 60, 40, 50, 50 split between Taylor and Wilkins. Cause I feel like just not using Wilkins enough in this offense where he could be sort of that guy late in games where he could do, we saw against Tennessee last year too, that he can really just wear out a defense and golf for a chunk run at any

point. Jordan Wilkins is like one of the most underrated players on this roster. Like he is so highly efficient when he gets an opportunity. It really, he should be getting more carries. Now I get it. If you watch Taylor, you see that the ability, like the way he burst through a hole is pretty, you haven't seen that from a coach running back in a very, very long time. Just the speed that he gets gets that second gear and how fast

he hits it jordan wilkins on the other hand he's much more efficient he's got great vision that was his big thing coming out of college is that he was a very efficient runner great vision was able to do the little things well and so i think they should be giving more carries to jordan wilkins maybe a 60 40 split um until you split, until Jonathan Taylor kind of really gets himself acclimated. And then you might see it start to split a little bit more into that 70-30, 80-20 range, which is what it is now. At the same time, against some of these opponents, you really do want to kind of give Jonathan Taylor the the bulk of the carries

because he's young because the guy the teams that they're playing against they should win these games um and so you want to give him carries and you can but I think I do think Jordan Wilkins is one of the most you know underutilized players on this roster and and like he really is just so incredibly efficient as a running back that he should be getting more love than what he does let's tell him molly cox for a second student because once again he had another huge game he only had a couple receptions i think it was three for 50 and a touchdown of that one yard touchdown got philip versus 400th career touchdown pass in his illustrious career so far but it was was almost a 50-50 split, even more so 60-40 for Allie Cox

getting reps over Jack Doyle this week as he comes back from his injury. I mean, at this point, what about Michael Pittman Jr. next in his injury? It's going to start on for a couple weeks, three to four weeks, it sounds like, per in-report, kind of on that work. But at this point, Stephen, why not feed Allie Cox six to seven, eight targets per game? I mean, he's producing at a monster level right now. Yeah, Mo Allie Cox is another guy that, even though he's got I mean, he's producing at a monster level right now. Yeah, Mo Ali Cox is another guy that,

even though he's got limited experience, he's been incredibly efficient. And the way that he plays is something that Frank Craig loves. You can put Mo Ali Cox in, and he can either block or he can go out and catch passes. He has the biggest hands I think I've ever seen on a football player or somebody that's like a skill position player. He's just huge all the way around. And he's a matchup nightmare. And so I think with you,

you mentioned Michael Pittman going down with him being out, I think you're probably going to see more mollycocks going out for routes because he really is just a matchup nightmare and he he's got the ability. He's got the skills. And so I think they should feed feed Mac and I think that's a good one yeah his last two games Steven eight receptions on nine targets for 161 yards two touchdowns 20.1 yards per reception once again from LA Cox to a plus 90 pff grade on Sunday he ranks the best tiny enough bar right now per pro football focus. And you see overall just the way he's playing right now. He's a very good blocker.

We already knew that. But him as a playmaker in this offense, he could quickly blossom into one of Fulper's favorite targets. We're probably going to see that more often now with Michael Pittman Jr. signed for the next three to four weeks with what sounds like compartment leg syndrome in his calf. He had surgery late last night on Sunday. It went well.

And he said he should be back after the game on their bye, which will be week eight against the Detroit Lions. But it's going to really hurt this Colts offense now. No Paris Campbell, which sounds like could be the rest of the season. Michael Pimmel Jr. out now for the next three to four weeks. Now the Colts depth chart now, Stephen, is like we saw last year, just back to where it was at T.Y. Hilton. You have to have Zach Paschal step into a bigger role again.

And now after those two, you have Darius Fountain, Desmond Patman, Marcus Johnson now called from the practice squad too. It just seems like the Colts are just always snakebiting at the wide receiver spot with injuries. And they have to have T.Y. Hilton now step into a really big role to take on more responsibility as well. Yeah, it really is sad for the wide receiver position for the Colts. This is the second year in a row where they've been just absolutely crushed

at the position, which is really a third year in a row they've been crushed at the position. Losing Michael Pittman is upsetting because he is such a high quality player all around. Like we mentioned with Molly Cox, Michael Pittman is a solid blocker. he's got that big body that philip rivers you saw him just kind of throw the ball to to michael pitman um just tossed it to him and pitman came down with it usually um so it's one of those things where i think it's going to be a huge loss for this offense you you're probably going to see therese fountain try to

step up into that role the colts are really high on him last year and before his injury they were hiring him again this year um and so i'll i'd be interested to see how that goes i also would keep an eye on desmond patman um to see if they maybe bring him up later in the week um just because he offers that special team he's in a similar he's a similar size and skill player as Michael Pittman in terms of being able to be in, come in and be a blocker, be that big body target that Phillip Rivers lights. I'll be interested to see what they end up doing at the position, but yeah,

this is now second week in a row. The Colts have lost a promising young wide receiver for, you know, hopefully Pittman's not a significant amount of time, but for a couple of weeks. And that's never good when you've got an offense that really the wide receiver position. We had a lot of depth, the Colts did, going in to season. And now a couple of big injuries and you're back to scratching your head

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Use promo code LOCKEDON, L-O-C-K-A-D-O-N, for $10 off BiltBar.com. That is B-U-I-L-T-B-A-R.com. How do you see the target share going for this offense now? Because we saw Michael Pimmons start to get more of that load the last couple of weeks with Paris Campbell. Paris Campbell probably was going to be their lead target share guy through the rest of the season. He didn't get hurt in week one.

How do you see it going from the next three to four weeks with both those guys out? Do you think it's going to be a lot of T.Y. like we saw on Sunday? Or do you think it's going to be maybe a mix of Zach Paschal, Molly Cox in there as well? How do you see the target shares going for this Colts team? As far as the top three goes, I'd probably put it as those three guys hilton paschal and maybe molly cox uh going number two number three there yeah i think you're gonna see the offense i don't know how much it's gonna change

um because they didn't really focus on one receiver anyway i think you're probably gonna see if you're looking at the wide receiver position i think you're gonna see the two i get a little bit more targets i think you're going to see the two. I get a little bit more targets. I think you're probably going to see a lot of usage of the tight ends for them coming through. They already use them a lot as it were, but you're going to see probably more targets go to Mo Ali Cox and Jack Doyle than maybe you would normally. You'll see them use a lot of guys out of the,

out of the backfield, maybe using the Jonathan Taylor on some bubble screens or some wheel routes and try to get them out in space. I think, I don't know who from the wider receiver position, they're going to kind of focus on an outside of TY Zach Paschal is proven. And so he would be the obvious choice just because he's done it and he's played well. Marcus Johnson had a great game last year against Tampa Bay

that really showed that if they give him the opportunity, he can really play. Darius Fountain has a bunch of talent, but really, if you're going to lock me in, I think I'm probably going to look at T.Y., Jack Doyle, and Mo'Ally Cox, and those are going to be my three leading target share guys if we're looking at just tight ends and wide receivers.

Let's move on now to the Bears preview, Stephen. A few impressive weeks now for this Colts team, getting impressive wins over the Vikings and the Jets, but now a really important two-week stretch for this Colts team. They can go 2-0 against the Bears and the Browns. They could be looking at 6-1 heading into that game against the Ravens. I think they match up pretty well with, honestly,

at Luke Sola Stadium in early November. But let's tell them the Bears game, two-and-a-half-point favorites per DraftKings. We saw Nick Foles get the starting nod this Sunday. Mitch Trubisky finally got benched for the Bears. They move on from that era. And Nick Foles gets the starting nod now for the rest of the year, I imagine, for this Bears offense.

How do you see this one going on Sunday, Stephen? What's your three keys to the game? What's your prediction? Because I think this one's going to be a slow test. Yeah, I think the Colts will end up winning the game. I don't know what the line is, so I don't know what they're going with on what Vegas is saying. I think your three keys of the game for the Colts

is offensive line, defensive line, just the trenches. I said this two weeks ago. I said this probably last week as well. The trenches are what's going to make this game. Colts are going to be going up against Nick Foles. Like you mentioned,

they ended up benching Mitch Trubisky. And I think if anybody's going to be able to know Foles' weakness, it's probably going to be Frank Reich. And so I'll be interested to see how the defensive line, if they're able to get pressure on Foles, get him off his spot, get him to have to kind of force some throws if the defense can take advantage again. The other thing I'm going to look at is probably to see how the cornerbacks can hold up, because you've got a couple good receivers and you're going to see some guys coming out of the backfield for Chicago that are going to be able to make some plays. And then probably the last one, I want to see how well they're able to handle that,

the Bears defense for the Colts, the offensive line where they're going to be able to stop them and be able to make them make some plays against the defense. It's pretty good. You're going to be playing outdoors in Chicago. And so the Colts have struggled thus far this season not in Lucas Oil Stadium not on that fast turf and so I'd be really interested to see how well they play outdoors on the grass on the slower field when they are kind of predicated on speed and so that's that's my my thoughts on it I'd be interested to see how the Bears end up turning out.

The Colts and the Bears, similarly, their opponents in their first three weeks of the season are a combined one and eight. And so the Colts, I'd argue, have beaten the better teams in Jacksonville, Minnesota, and the Jets. The Bears have beaten, I believe it was the Lions, the New York Giants without Saquon Barkley, and now the Atlanta Falcons. And so you really are, you don't know what you're going to get with the Bears. And so, and you don't know what you're going to get with Nick Foles. And so if you get good Nick Foles, the Bears could be really tough, tough team to beat. Nick Foles also is kind of like the Jeff Fisher of quarterbacks, where he's going to be just there.

And so it's probably not a really good analogy. Nick Foles is really kind of up and down in terms of quarterbacks. He's like a rollercoaster ride. And you never know if you're going to get good Nick Foles or bad Nick Foles. And if you get bad Nick Foles, then you're going to see the Colts defense. You want to start them in fantasy again, because they will be scoring two to three touchdowns. Again, in back to back weeks, if you get bad Nick Foles, if you get good Nick Foles, the Colts could really be in trouble. Because he's probably just as good if not better thanner and Menjoo. And it just depends on how Matt Nagy and the Chicago Bears decide to attack the Colts' defense.

I just checked the weather forecast for Chicago, Stephen. How would this change your analysis? As of late Monday night recording this with you, 40% chance of a downpour rain on Sunday in Chicago outside. I think I'm leaning more towards what I was saying before. I think this one's going to be a very ugly low scoring game. Yeah, if it's if it's raining, then you're going to just see the focus be on the running game. And I do think it'll be a slugfest and just a really low scoring game. I would probably still hedge my bets towards the Colts

just because I think they've got the better offensive line and the better running back. And I think they also have the better defensive line with now Danico Autry playing the defensive end more regularly. Steven, I always enjoy talking with you. I enjoy having you on every week here on the podcast. You guys can go follow him on Twitter at NiceReads. Steven, go read and listen to his work over at Stampede Blue. Steven, appreciate the time.

All right, thanks, Adam.