Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - CRITICAL: Indianapolis Colts' Shane Steichen, Daniel Jones Offense Must Avoid Early Hole

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Indianapolis Colts must win in the trenches this weekend if they want to come out of week one victorious. Let's get to it. You are Locked-on Colts, your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast. Part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Thank you all for tuning in and making us your first listen of the day. This is your daily podcast covering your Indianapolis. Colts, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every single day.

Starting point is 00:00:34 Hello, everyone. My name is Zach Hickshaw, resident Philnerd of HustooHuddle.com. And my partner, Jake Arthur, is our credentialed boots on the ground for the site. We are here giving you our big final preview before Colts and Dolphins week one matchup here on Sunday. We're going to go through the offense and talk about the biggest player matchup and critical factor. We're going to do the same thing for the defense. And then we're going to close out the show with our final prediction and our final. and our final thoughts going into this matchup on Sunday.

Starting point is 00:01:03 But first, guys, to get some of the news and notes out of the way, the Colts are pretty clean on the injury report. Only running back, Tyler Goodson is listed. He is questionable with an elbow injury. So we will certainly monitor that coming up to game day. That is the Colts RV3, along with their starting gunner, but pretty clean because that's the only player on there. Miami Dolphins are a little bit more hampered by injuries right now.

Starting point is 00:01:26 Cornerback Ethan Bonner is out with a hand. handstring injury. Jalen Wright running back is out with a knee injury. Darren Waller, the tight end that they acquire this offseason is out with a hip injury. And then guard James Daniels is questionable with an ankle. And wide receiver Dwayne Eskridge is questionable with concussion. So a couple more injuries there for the Miami Dolphins that they're dealing with there. But obviously Darren Waller is the big one. And we will certainly see the status of James Daniels. He appears to be trending down. So if they are missing him on Sunday, that could be a big momentum shifter, I guess, for the Colts going into this first week one, this week one game.

Starting point is 00:02:04 But Jake, let's dive into the Colts offense versus the Miami Dolphins defense. Biggest player matchup or players matchup that you were looking forward to in this game. Yeah, I'm going to cheat a little bit because there's definitely one I initially had my eyes on. One is I'm more skeptical and one, I've got big heart eyes looking at the matchup. So one, I just, I want to see how Matt Gonzalez and Tanner Bordolini to another, extent. Handle Zach Seiler, who is just one of the most underrated interior defenders in the entire league, really good against the run, a solid interior pass rusher as well. He can get in the backfield. So that guy is very difficult to handle. You've done extensive work on both

Starting point is 00:02:45 Bordolini and Gonzalez in the last several weeks, kind of explaining how Bordalini, you can see his mental processing is very quick. And his athleticism is marrying that, and it's looking really good so far. Gonzalez, whereas is kind of, you know, he's going from tackle to guard now, and it's a bit of a learning curve. You know, it's going to take these kind of live bullets during an actual NFL game, not just preseason games to get him where he needs to be. And, you know, as a run blocker, obviously he's a little more comfortable right now, but he's not the most fleet of foot guy, you know, he's going to take a little bit to get used to things in pass pro. So one advantage.

Starting point is 00:03:27 Miami might have there as Zach Seiler against Matt Gonzalez. But then there's another one, Josh Downs in the slot against Jason Marshall Jr., Miami's, you know, their slot corner this week because everybody in their secondary is hurt. That's a fifth round rookie for Miami, who is not their first plan to be the nickel against Josh Downs, who we both talked about, should have an absolutely enormous year, especially, you know, with the comfort level between him and Daniel Jones. So that is definitely two little areas I've definitely got my eyes on. Yeah, and I think the big one for me is Brayden Smith against a pretty good edge duo of Jalen Phillips and Chop Robinson on his side of the field. Braden Smith, you know, by all accounts, has not had like a terrible offseason by any means, but you have mentioned a couple times as offseason Jake that Smith has been a little bit leaky and past protection. And we can't have that carryover into this first game against Robinson, who was a very good rookie pass rusher.

Starting point is 00:04:26 Jalen Phillips, who he's coming off two major injuries are already early in his career, but has shown to be a very productive pass rusher when healthy. We'll see what caliber of player Phillips is in this week one game. But Brayn Smith is going to have to hold up because Daniel Jones is going to try to get that fallout quick in this game. But even then, like you can't be giving up pressures within two seconds, you know, 2.5 seconds or this whole offensive system will just break down. So while you're looking at Gonzalez versus Seiler, who's just a fantastic interior rusher,

Starting point is 00:04:55 I'm looking at that edge room and looking at Brayton Smith and hoping he can get back to maybe the caliber of play that he was at in 2021 or 2022 even, 2023 even, because last year was a bit of a step back. And as long as he can get up to just kind of adequate play, I think this Colts offense can be fine in past protection, but kind of a tall task in this week one matchup against Top Robinson and Jalen Phillips there. But that's what I got for my individual player matchup. Jake, what do you have for your critical fact? and just kind of give a little background for what critical factor is for us, guys. It's kind of like an overarching theme that we're looking for in this game. So it can be skill position versus cornerback room. It can be O line versus D line. It can be certain aspects of that.

Starting point is 00:05:41 Jake, what are you looking forward to with your critical factor in this game? Yeah, so I'm approaching this one with massive caution because whenever I look at a matchup and I see like a clear plan of attack they should go for. I feel like Shane never does that, which, you know, he's paid to. to know more than I am, of course. But something I look at in this matchup, and I see that the Colts could really take advantage. You can take Miami's advantages on defense

Starting point is 00:06:06 and kind of use them against them. They're a very productive, quick. You could say explosive front seven with, again, Siler, Bradley Chubb, Chop Robinson, Jalen Phillips, Matthew Judon. Like, they got guys that can get in the backfield. You can even look at linebacker for like Jordan Brooks is a guy, that's got some athleticism to him. So your offensive line, we don't know much about it yet.

Starting point is 00:06:33 So let's just go ahead and assume that Miami's front seven is going to have some success getting into the backfield. Well, you can counter that with these draw plays, especially out of shotgun. You let the front seven guys get into your backfield. And then boom, here comes Jonathan Taylor with at least a few less guys to have to worry about getting through on the trench. And you can say the same thing with the screen game as well. We've seen that work against the Colts before as well. You've got these defenders getting into the backfield, creeping closer and closer to Jones. Well, here comes Jonathan Taylor or DJ Giddens, whoever it's going to be, creeping out of the

Starting point is 00:07:12 backfield and getting past this wall of a few Dolphins defenders. So that in itself, I think, is a good plan of attack. But you look at it, Miami and the Colts both defensively were not great when it. It came to yards after contact against their own and yards after catch in the passing game. Both teams not too great at tackling. So you get those out there with fewer defenders left to try and make tackles. And you're getting Tyler Warren, Josh Downs, Jonathan Taylor, in isolation with one or two defenders to beat. Those guys can all, you know, cause some tackles to be missed.

Starting point is 00:07:50 So we know with Daniel Jones it's not going to be a big explosive offense. Well, this plays into Daniel Jones's hand right here. Use your accuracy and use your willingness to go short to kind of take advantage of some of what should be Miami's strengths. Yeah, I think if you make these corners tackle, you know, Jack Jones is not the most physical, biggest corner in the NFL. Make him come up and have to tackle a Michael Pittman, Jr., who with his running back father obviously knows how to be physical after the catch. Tyler Warren, use Tyler Warren out in space and create those yards after the catch and after contact. I do love that. and I think that'll be a big part of this game.

Starting point is 00:08:26 My big one for me is Shane Steichen and Daniel Jones identifying pre-snap what they can do against this Miami Dolphins defense. When you have a team like the Miami Dolphins where, again, their defensive coordinator comes from that Ravens tree. They like to change a lot of things going pre-snap to post-snap. And also when you factor in their secondary, a big way to kind of counteract having a poor secondary on paper or a young secondary is to be as diverse as possible. throw as many changeups and curve balls at the opposing offense and make them have to hold the ball an extra couple of seconds because I'm telling you right now, if Jones is holding the ball of three seconds in this game, this offensive line is not going to hold up against this pass rush after three seconds. So they're really going to have to get that ball out quick. They're going to have to identify where they are hot. They're going to have to identify, you know, what coverage concept they're facing so they know what routes are going to win within quick succession.

Starting point is 00:09:19 I think Jones did a really good job in the preseason of this. But preseason is very different from the regular season, especially going from, you know, I know they played the Ravens in the Packers in the preseason, but they weren't really showing their full arsenal of pass coverage and in disguise. It's a very different jump now to a regular season game against the Dolphins defense that really got the best of Shane Steichen last year. I know Richardson was the quarterback, and we have our thoughts about Richardson there, but there was nothing really open that entire game because Steichen was just getting shut down

Starting point is 00:09:51 by this Dolphins coaching staff on that side of the ball. So how quick is just the pre-snap ability for Daniel Jones to identify where he's hot, where he's going to be able to get that ball out, and how quick can they get to those receivers on the boundary to make those plays after the catch, like you mentioned there, Jake. I think that's going to be the biggest part here. If Jones can get the ball out under 2.5 seconds, 2.6 seconds in this game and give his guys chances to create after the catch, I think this Colts team can move the ball

Starting point is 00:10:18 in the Dolphins. It's just if he starts holding the ball, if he starts holding the ball, if he's starting to get muddy reads that he's not trusting, that's where we're going to have some issues. So I think the Colts are going to have a plan for this. I think we're going to see a lot of motion in this game. The Colts did do a lot of motion in the preseason to get Jones those pre-snap reads and identifiers.

Starting point is 00:10:35 But he's going to have to be on his A game against a Dolphins team that is going to mix and max coverages and just going to change a lot pre-snap to muddy those reads. Jones is going to have to be a true veteran quarterback in this game in terms of just knowing what he's seeing, knowing how to attack and being confident with the balls that he's delivering. Owen says it perfectly here. He better look the part there because that's why he won the job.

Starting point is 00:10:58 Right, right. And this is a perfect matchup to show that. Again, really good defensive line, struggling secondary that likes to mix and match. This is where a veteran quarterback should feast because you have to understand where to get that ball out quick, get that ball to your guys on the perimeter, and don't let that defensive line just pin their ears back and get you. This is why Daniel Jones is starting. He's got to show it in this first game. Yep, absolutely.

Starting point is 00:11:23 All right, guys. So offensively, we are all very eager to see what's going to happen. But defensively, it's a brand new defense as well against one of the most explosive offenses in the entire league. So we'll break it all down in just a moment. This episode is brought to you by Price Picks. The daily fantasy app where making the right call can actually pay off. You and I make decisions every day, but on Price Picks, being right means cashing in. with football back prize picks is the simplest and fastest way to get in on all the action.

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Starting point is 00:13:35 I mean, there's a lot of matchups to look into on this one. We got some really good critical factors in this one as well. But let's start with these individual matchups. And, I mean, there's one that's staring us dead in the face. Are you going to make me go with that one? or which one has really caught your eye so far? I'll probably let you go with the big one staring in the face because I need to keep harping on a player

Starting point is 00:13:56 that I've talked about all offseason as needing a big season, and it starts here in week one, and that is defensive end Laotu Latu. We've said countless times this offseason about how this is the year for Latu. This Colts defense will ride or die with how good he's going to be,

Starting point is 00:14:11 and I hope it's going to be on the positive end of the spectrum here for Latu. Now, week one is a perfect opportunity for him. This Miami Dolphins team, despite being a team that gets the ball out fairly quick, does not boast the best tackle duo in football. Patrick Paul and Austin Jackson, look, I'm not saying these guys are the worst tackles in football, but they're certainly closer to the worst tackles than the best tackles right now in the NFL. And this isn't a matchup that you need your young pass rush to exploit. This is the matchup where he needs to get around and finish plays in the backfield.

Starting point is 00:14:42 Like we're not talking about going against Lamar Jackson here at corner or at quarterback where it's going to be very difficult to tackle. tackle him. This is Tua. Like, Tua is not the best running quarterback. He's not a statue, but he's closer to, again, closer to a statue than he is to a Lamar Jackson or a Jaden Daniels back there. So we need Laotu Latsu to come out here, win his matchups, and finish sacks in this game. I think Louana Rumo is going to do everything he can to get that time to throw number from 2.3, closer to 2.8 or 3 seconds in the backfield. And when you're a pass rusher in the NFL, that's the best you can hope for from your defensive coordinator. I think Anna Rumo is going

Starting point is 00:15:18 a mix and match so many things that two is going to have to hold the ball a little bit longer and this is where Latu needs to step up and finish plays and be that playmaker the Colts drafted him to be. So I think, again, all eyes are on Layatu Latu in this game, in this season to be that guy the Colts drafted

Starting point is 00:15:34 him to be. And it doesn't get better than this first week matchup against Austin Jackson and Patrick Paul. He needs to come out here and look like that top 15 pick, or there's going to be some questions for sure after this game. So it's almost like it's like the hot seat again. for a lot to like this is the time man let's get out here and make some plays it doesn't need to be

Starting point is 00:15:52 like a five sack performance but let's get some good pressures let's force the ball out quicker and and do your thing this week yeah i honestly there's zero reason for the colts defensive front not to have the advantage in this one you mentioned patrick paul and austin jackson just on the surface is advantage colts but austin jackson jackson has battled a toe injury all week i think he's off the injury report now but right guard james daniels has been downgrading throughout the week with an ankle injury. So he's hobbled. Even if he does play, he's going to have to go against DeForest Buckner and Grover Stewart. So like that's a tall order. So really zero reason the Colts defense shouldn't have the edge in this one. But the one we teased at the top that's

Starting point is 00:16:34 staring us all in the face, Tyreek Hill and Jalen Waddle against the Colts cornerbacks. So Charverius Ward and Exavian Howard, there's a lot to really like about them, especially Ward. Howard, Howard is 32, has been out of the league for a year. Like, we don't know what to expect there. But Ward at least has been there. I mean, he faced Tyree Kilt last year. Just be physical with these guys. And a lot of this is Louana Rumo as well and just scheming up guys being in the right spot and just taking the ability to go over the top away.

Starting point is 00:17:09 But I asked Ward about this today, actually. And he's like, he's like, guys line up and just assume. I mean, he could take a little five-yard hitch and take it 80 yards. Like, you have to tackle him as well. So being on top of that is very, very key. I guess the good news is that both Zavian Howard and Traverius Ward have years of experience going against Hill every day in practice with their former team. So they, this matchup is very, very well-versed on both sides. But that also means that Tyreek knows how to beat these guys as well.

Starting point is 00:17:44 So I think Cam Bynum is going to be enormous in this. Like you're going to have to keep him deep to just police everything back there. And Jalen Waddle gets forgotten about a lot as well. He was considered a burner, great yards after the catch. Like before Tyreek got there, Waddle was very, very much considered a dangerous guy that you don't want to have to go up against as well. So it's not just the Tyreek Hill show. But yeah, obviously very interested in that one.

Starting point is 00:18:11 With that being said, what is your big critical fact? or kind of your overarching thing defensively here. Yeah, you know, I'm actually going to change it up from something I said pre-show to you because thinking about it, R2 kind of sounded very similar. So what I'm going to just say is communication. You're going against a team where, again, two kinds of throws to spots of your defense. They have the perfect play drawn up. He's going to throw the end breaker at exactly 2.5 seconds because he trusts that Tyreek Hill

Starting point is 00:18:36 and Jalen Wattle are going to be there and be open against the coverage concept that the defensive coaches is throwing out there. So one way to combat that is have your defense, again, disguising pre-snap, but also be communicating and understanding like, hey, the in-breakers coming here. Hey, the end breakers coming here on the outside. Hey, the RPO is coming. We need to be in our perfect, you know, perfect landmarks getting to our spots, having the linebackers drop to depth. Everything needs to be right from a communication standpoint. This is honestly one of the bigger questions as well coming to this game because the Colts did bring in Joe Bachi, who knows this system.

Starting point is 00:19:10 guys like Charvarius Ward and Cameron Bindam know similar systems and I've been around the NFL a bit. But for a lot of these guys who are carrying over from the previous regime, this is a vastly different defense. And it's going to take time to fully buy in and understand the system, the scheme, and how it works on Sundays. So there's going to be some bad moments, some learning moments in this game. But can the communication be good enough to hold down a very good offense that's coming into a dome? You know, this offense team, maybe if you get them in a bad weather game, you can hold them to three points. But in a dome, clean conditions with their track speed they have on offense, your communication needs to be on point. And the other point that you need to be perfect with is what you're going to mention as your critical factor, Jake.

Starting point is 00:19:55 Yeah, so it's very obvious. It's coach speak, but you have to play physical and you have got to wrap up in tackling. And that's easier said than done because the Colts were not a good tackling team last year. I thought they were physical a lot of the time. I mean, it kind of waned as the season went on. But what I mean by that is it also means getting off of blocks and not just letting yourself get totally washed up into traffic because you take yourself out of run lanes that way. You cannot be in the right spot. You need to be on the outside.

Starting point is 00:20:25 The whole point is to avoid letting Devin A. Chan and Tyree Kill and Jalen Wattle take these short touches on the outside, making one guy miss and making it a 50 yard. game because they can all do that it's i i think definitely communication plays a huge part with yours because guys have to be where they need to be and like when you see these cheat motions and you see all these adjustments at the line botchy and buying them like the and franklin you know they have to get guys in the right spots but you have got to show that this is a better tackling team that it was before because if if you thought there were ugly performances last year in the first couple weeks giving up 200 yards rushing. That was almost nothing compared to a guy like Devin A. Chan, who as a rookie was averaging what, like almost

Starting point is 00:21:14 10 yards to touch or something at one point? Like, he's unbelievable. He reminds me a little bit of Jamal Charles, like early in his career as well. We know what Tyree can do. We know what Waddle can do. They're not even the only guys with speed on there. Don't forget, Nick Westbrook Akina is on the dolphins as well. And that's the Coltslayer. He's played for the Titans, and he'd go for like three catches and 80 yards and a touchdown every time he faced the Colts. Oh, yeah. So there are guys out there that can absolutely kill you if your communications poor, like

Starting point is 00:21:44 you're saying, if you're not playing physical and getting off your blocks, and then if you're not making sure wrap up tackles, square up with guys, there is pride and merit and getting jukeed out. You know what I mean? If you're square and you get jukeed out, whatever. You're at least in the right spot. But if you're not even in the right spot, and you're taking it. poor angles you're late to get there there's no redeeming quality in that you know what i mean

Starting point is 00:22:09 like some of these guys are just going to be better athletes and they're more agile sure but like you have got to do your part and that's my corny coach speak portion of the day here i'm gonna say yeah jake's sounding like a middle school coach yelling at at kids who just aren't getting to their they're hitting their run fits or whatever i didn't just say anything that lou aniruma hasn't been hammering into their heads all week yeah one thing i will say though is if you thought the run defense is bad last year with how much they missed tackles. If you're missing tackles this year, when you're going to be a 90% nickel and maybe 5% time, it's not going to be 200 yards that you're giving up. It's going to be around 300 that you're giving up because at

Starting point is 00:22:47 least the Colts had more linebackers and defensive linemen on the field last year. So yeah, they have to be on point with their run fits, with their just physicality, and they've got a finish place. They can't lead the NFL and miss tackles again. Like that's just inexcusable this upcoming season. But coming up, guys, we're going to give our final thoughts on this game, our predictions, and one of us is optimistic. One of us is a little bit more pessimistic, and we're going to talk about that in our final segment. It's almost the weekend, and it's time to look back and crown this week's MVP on Who Delivered, powered by DoorDash. Just like you can win every Saturday with DoorDash streaks, saving more

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Starting point is 00:24:28 There's going to be a lot of in-memorium stuff. I think going on there. There's going to be a good energy in the building, so to speak, as long as the Colts allow it to be that way throughout the game. But, Zach, let's talk about, I mean, we've had a whole week to look at it. We've actually had months to look at this, really. How do you see this game going and why? See, dangerous, Jake, starting with me here.

Starting point is 00:24:53 So we're going to be sounding all negative and then you're going to come in a little bit more positive. I will, I'll put the duvet cover over the top and snuggle us in tight. Don't worry. There you go. But yes, I unfortunately have the Colts dropping this week one game. And, you know, interestingly enough, I think if the Colts were to play this Dolphins team in November or December, I would really like them a much better in this matchup. But I think just this being a week one game against the Dolphins won, I've never seen this team win a week one game. So that certainly plays into my pessimism going into this. But the two biggest factors are my, again, my critical

Starting point is 00:25:27 factors I mentioned where on offense, this is a type of defense that Shane Stuyken has just never really shown that he has an answer for. Maybe in the offseason, he did a lot of soul searching and was like, you know what, just give me a Daniel Jones and I'll be able to finally beat these types of defenses, but I got to see it to believe it with him first. And even if we go back to the games where, sure, Richardson and Joe Flacco were his quarterbacks last year, but against these style of defenses, his game plan, especially in the passing game, was just not good enough. It was simply not good enough to get the job done. It was too simplistic and just not enough answers for his quarterbacks. And I'm scared that that's going to carry over into this

Starting point is 00:26:06 first game against Miami Dolphins like it has the last three or four years of his career as a play caller. So in offense, I'm a little bit concerned about Jones not having enough answers. And then when he doesn't have enough answers pre-snap, we're going to start getting some pressure with this defensive line that is quite frankly pretty good. It might be overmatched for the Colts right side of the offensive line. And then we go to the defense. And again, if this were November or December with this defense, I feel so good about the matchup against the Dolphins offense. I don't think the Dolphins offense is great by any means. And I think by November or December, this Colts defense is going to be fully bought in and growing into Lou Anurmo system and be a fringe top 15,

Starting point is 00:26:48 top 12 defense in the last two months of the year. But because this is week one and it's a fresh new system. The communication is not going to be 100%. And it's, again, it's, it's that home game against such a fast team where one misstep, one guy not hitting their landmark, one guy not fitting against the run can turn into a 70 yard touchdown. I just don't love those parts of the equation for the Colts in this one. So I have them dropping a close one. I have it being 27 to 20, Miami Dolphins. But I just think there's going to be just enough there for the dolphins in terms of the coaching advantage in terms of the experience just having the consistency, I guess, of having the same staff from last year on offense and defense. I just think that a lot of things

Starting point is 00:27:31 favor the Dolphins. And again, at the end of the day, I've never seen this team win a week one game. How can I predict it? You know, I know you have to, Jake, because you forced yourself to earlier in the off season, but how can I predict this team winning a week one game? They haven't done it since I've covered the team. They haven't done it, Jake, since I've graduated high school like i am almost 30 years old and i haven't done it since i graduated high school so you know i can try to be optimistic i can try to be all all sunshine and rainbows like you buddy but i got to see it man i'll maybe i'll buy i can buy in after give me a win this week and then you'll start seeing me buy in a little bit but i need to see that win first so the problem with me is

Starting point is 00:28:11 i always see things through the lens of what should happen not what is always most realistically going to happen. Yeah, I mean, the Colts have not won in week one since 2013. And before that, I think it was 2009. So, like, they've not been a great week one team for quite a long time. And conversely, Tua, I think is four and O in week one games. So the dolphins don't really lose in week one. But with that said, again, I'm going to look at things how they should, how they should go, I think. So Shane handpicked this quarterback to run this offense. And so hopefully that means getting over the hump of these type of defenses and being a little more productive at least. You know, you talked about the Ravens Street, of course, they did beat the Ravens in that game with Gardner Minshue a few years ago, despite Gardner Minchu not being able to see clear pressure coming off the edges.

Starting point is 00:29:06 So again, I am on record saying I think Jones will at least be a little bit better than Minchu will be this year. So I don't think, like, I don't think they're going to go out and score gobs of points by any means. But, like, I do think they'll be able to do enough offensively. Love Jonathan, healthy Jonathan Taylor in this one. He always, they always try to get him rolling week one. You know, all the factors I mentioned with getting Tyler Warren and Josh Downs going with yards after catch, Taylor, I don't know if Goodson's playing or not, but, you know, Giddens, like, they have enough guys that I really like. this matchup. If they could just get past that front seven into the secondary, they have all the advantages in the world back there. They clearly have the better pass catchers versus that

Starting point is 00:29:54 secondary that's beyond beat up. So offensively, I'm going to hope the right things happen. Defensively, Miami's offense is very, very predicated on, you know, the quick strikes and timing and everything. Well, the Colts now have a defensive coordinator who likes to muddy the waters and make things very confusing for these quarterbacks. So will Lou Anirumo be able to kind of plant a seed of doubt every now and then and to his mind as to what he's seeing or what they're going to switch to, whatever it is, to throw that timing off a little bit. I'm also going to hope that Lyotu Lothia kind of flips it up a little bit and disrupts that timing as well. So Miami's going to make their place, of course, like they're not going to, the Colts aren't going to stomp them by any means.

Starting point is 00:30:38 but I do have the Colts winning 24 to 20, kind of a narrow one, one score game. We're going to see some Spencer Schrader there. He's going to hit his extra points. He's going to nail a 50-plus yarder. But, yeah, it's, again, I'm not going to throw a ton of confidence points on this one, but I do think the Colts have some advantages and some key areas. Like, I can see the path to victory for them. They just got to listen to me, Zach.

Starting point is 00:31:06 They hardly ever do, but they just got to listen to me. I will say my one closing remark is they should win this game. They absolutely should win this game. The Miami Dolphins have had a rough offseason just in terms of complaining about physicality in joint practices with opposing teams to the injuries they're coming to this game with their head coach being on the hot seat-ish sort of and, you know, players wanting out of the system there. I mean, like, it has not been the greatest offseason for the Miami Dolphins. And this Colts team for, again, how much we've talked about it,

Starting point is 00:31:38 being a weird off season here have bought a lot of veterans in here to win now and they are going with the quarterback who gives them the better chance to win now you know according to the head coach so they need to win this game they really do so at the end of the day that's going to be the biggest thing is like it's time to break this curse it's time to prove that you made the right decision to quarterback and for your your talent to really step up because the culture the more talented roster in this game so they need to win this game for sure on Sunday you know every game's must win, but the home game honoring Jim Ursay to start off your week one against a team that's kind of average to below average in your win now season, you need to win this game. It doesn't get

Starting point is 00:32:20 more plain than that. But that's all we have for today, guys. Don't worry, though. We'll be back with you on Sunday immediately after the game with our Colts squad show, one hour long of pure unfiltered reactions to what just happened in that game. I'm sure Allen's going to be going crazy. that one, regardless of winner loss. But that's what we have for today. Last week, though, you guys got the AFC South preview, and it's not too late to binge every locked on division preview. Be the most informed NFL fan in eight episode series bringing you every division

Starting point is 00:32:51 winner, breakout star, and Super Bowl contender. Find the link in the description to the locked on NFL playlist on YouTube. Part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every single day. If you guys want to become a Lockdown Colts insider and chat with us directly and get that insider scoop, follow the link in our show notes. And if you don't already, make sure you're following at Lockdown Colts. at Jake Arthur, NFL, and at Zach Kicks 2, all on socials. Also subscribe to us on YouTube or wherever you list of your podcast.

Starting point is 00:33:14 We love your guys, bringing your views. And again, we'll catch you guys back here on Sunday right after the week one game.

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