Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - CROSSOVER: Indianapolis Colts Taking On Which Washington Commanders QB in London?

Starting point is 00:00:00 Daniel Jones keeps putting the football in danger. The Washington Commanders defense knows how to take advantage, but one of those things is not going to happen on Sunday, and that is going to determine the week for winner. You are Locked on NFL crossover, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome inside today's episode of Locked On Commander Locked on Colts. I am David Harrison, the host of Locked On Commanders.

Starting point is 00:00:32 He is Zach Hicks, one of the hosts of Locked on Colts. Crossover Thursday and it's brought to you by Fanduel. Make this your most rewarding season ever with the Fandual Rewards Club. Every week, check the Fandual app to see what's waiting for you there. And on today's this week's crossover Thursday episode, the keys of controlling possession and eliminating explosive plays, how Josh Downs against the Washington Commander's pressure package and David Blow against Lou Anorumo could help shape this matchup.

Starting point is 00:00:58 But first, whether Daniel Jones can protect the football against a very, very fast and aggressive Washington Commanders' defense. and how injuries on both sides of this matchup are going to dictate terms. This matchup starts with a simple conflict. The Indianapolis Colts need Daniel Jones to stay aggressive without giving the Washington commander's extra possessions, while the commanders need to prove that last weekend's takeaway outbursts against the Seattle Seahawks was not a fluke,

Starting point is 00:01:24 but was rather the turning on of the takeaway faucet. Zach, talk to us about Daniel Jones, man, the turnovers, and how he could possibly limit it, and how important that's going to be this weekend. I mean, so far, it's been, you know, it's weird. It's been a good start to the season for Daniel Jones, even if a lot of the numbers don't say it. It's just they've gone against some really tough teams, right? The Baltimore Ravens, Week 1, Kansas City Chiefs in Week 2, Houston, Texans, and week 3.

Starting point is 00:01:49 And all this pretty much without Alec Pierce, right? Alec Pierce has been out for a majority of the time this season. So it hasn't been as clean of a structure as what it was last season for Daniel Jones when he was putting up the career best numbers and was leading one of the best offenses in football through those first 10 weeks. It has been a bit more of a struggle, and I think in some degree we've seen him thrive in this environment, like he's performed better against the Blitz than he ever has in his career up to this point, but the turnovers are this lingering issue that has not gone away for him to start the year. He had three turnovers this past game against the Houston Texans,

Starting point is 00:02:22 including an inexcusable fumble with about five minutes left with the Colts up by six at midfield. The Texans were able to go down and take the lead. Now, luckily, Jones came back and led the game-winning drive, and the Colts were able to steal that victory, but he almost was the zero instead of the hero for the Colts in week three. So I think that's just the big thing with Jones. We are seeing him play more aggressive and play well against the Blitz and do more than what he was doing last year. But if the turnovers persist, like you guys saw last week with the commanders game

Starting point is 00:02:52 versus Seahawks, the commanders won that game because the takeaways, because they won that turnover battle. That is one of the deciding factors in the NFL. So if the Colts want to continue winning like they did last week, they can't turn the ball over as much they did. And it starts with Daniel Jones, especially against his commander's defense, where they come from that Minnesota Vikings tree,

Starting point is 00:03:10 they want to blitz, they want to take the football away, and they finally did it last week, and they're upset over the Seahawks. If Jones turns the ball over like he did against the Texans, against his commander's team, it could be a loss in London for Indy. Yeah, for sure, man. I mean, the ball is life, right?

Starting point is 00:03:24 That's why that's the saying here in Washington. It's not a, you know, nobody, no NFL locker room would hear that saying and be confused by what it means or how important that stance really is. And Daniel Jones, like you said, may have five giveaways through three games. That is completely unacceptable for an NFL quarterback. But to watch the commanders, you know, three takeaways in the one game,

Starting point is 00:03:43 but that's three takeaways for the season. They didn't have another takeaway in the first two games. And it was kind of weird because I was talking to another meeting member here covering the commanders. I was like, you know, when I looked at the beginning of the season and the potential for the commanders get takeaways from this defense, which is not something they've done very well the last two years with Dan Quinn and, you know, previous defense coordinator.

Starting point is 00:04:01 Joe was Jr. I was like, okay, they can probably get Jalen Hertz. He usually puts the ball in jeopardy at least a little bit. Back Prescott's good for like one duck a game. You know what I mean? So if you take advantage of that one, you can get a takeaway. But then you look at Sam Darnold, and one of the things he did so well last year was protect the football. And you're like, I don't know if they get a takeaway against the CLC Hawks and then turns completely 180 on me. They had no takeaways the first two games. Three in the one game. And truthfully, they could have had five. They had their hands on two other interceptions against Sam Darnold, but dropped both of them. So a really good game for that commander's defense, but of course, the question

Starting point is 00:04:33 in relation to the turnover picture this weekend is, was that a one-time out first or was that the faucet turning on, right? Because Durante Jones, Dan Quinn, were obviously frustrated about the lack of takeaways coming into week three, talked about how they come in bunches. Adapioi talked to us about how they come in bunches, and they absolutely came in bunches. In fact, Sonny Stiles even had another forced fumble in that game that unfortunately was forced and then fell right into the stomach of the Seahawks tight end, who was across the goal line. So they got a touchdown on that force fumble, but it just kind of shows you that they have gotten better

Starting point is 00:05:03 at hunting the football, the speed. Absolutely of that defense absolutely matters, like he pointed out. And so not even necessarily how many sacks they get, but how do you affect the football and stopping Jonathan Taylor and preventing him from having a major impact in this game on the ground is probably kind of the first step to really making this a Daniel Jones game.

Starting point is 00:05:22 And fortunately for the commander's side, unfortunately for the Colts side, if that pans out the same way, the watch commander's run defense has actually been really, really good so far to start this season. Now on this side of things, though, Zach, a name that Colts fans are going to be very familiar with, safety, Nick Cross, one of two key players that did not take the trip across the pond for the Washington commanders, along with Guard Sam Cosme. That's two key starters out of this game. Meanwhile,

Starting point is 00:05:46 Frankie Louvo, linebacker, tied in Chigacanquo, and maybe quarterback Jaden Daniels in play to play this weekend against the Indianapolis Colts. I'm just going to get this out of the way. I don't think Jane Daniels was playing. We're going to operate. I'm operating until I'm told otherwise, like it's Marcus Marriota, and I would recommend that you on the Colt side do as well. But, man, Nick Cross is huge? Because not only is this a vulnerable secondary,

Starting point is 00:06:11 we've seen that all season so far, but it's also one that relies on a lot of communication. You talk about that Brian Flores tree. Durante Jones comes from that tree, requires a lot of communication. Guess who else is the defense needs a little bit or a good amount of communication? That Lou Anarumo tree. And Zach, obviously, you know Lou Anerumo very, very well,

Starting point is 00:06:28 as a defense coordinator there, the Colts. Nick Cross coming from that Luanarumo system, communication, aggression, all of it very, very key. Nick Cross being out for this game is huge because of that, because he knows how to operate that defense for Durante Jones. So from your opinion, you know this style. You know Nick Cross and his abilities to you as you look ahead of this weekend. How big of the loss is Nick Cross in this matchup?

Starting point is 00:06:50 Yeah, I haven't really watched too much of Nick Cross in Washington, but I can tell you from last year in Luanerumo's defense, he was used as this like just jackknife all over the defense right he'd be in the box one snap he'd be on the end of the line of scrimmage on another he'd be at lineback or he'd be at safety like they used him all over the place and his ability to just be this a Swiss army knife is what I should have said Swiss army knife all over the place is what made the most sense for him in his role last year his tackling his speed all that but also the communication like you mentioned where being a guy who can play all three levels of a defense moving across the formation yeah it is

Starting point is 00:07:26 huge. And we know here with the Colts, like they tried to have a safety be their green dot to start the year, and it was a disaster against the Baltimore Ravens. So when that communication is not on point, it can lead to big plays, explosives, and easy answers for an offense, especially when you want to work this diverse defensive play, like game plan, like our two defenses like to be. Like, the Colts, they don't blitz as much, but they like to do these inverted coverages and drop into specific zones and do a lot of like different man looks as well. If you're, communication is not a point that can really be an issue, but even more so, again, with what the commanders want to do, where you're blitzing at this 40 plus percent rate, you're dropping guys,

Starting point is 00:08:04 you're bringing six, bringing four, but you don't know which four of guys are coming. Like, you need to have everyone on the same page. So, yeah, losing a starter who knows the system, it can certainly be a big blow for a team. Absolutely, man. And I think that's a really great point that you just point out. Like, we all think, when we hear aggression, you think, oh, they blitz a lot. But aggression comes in so many different forms. Essentially, aggression just means you're attacking, the offense. And Lou Anirumo attacks the mental side of the offense as well. I mean, look, man coverage is about as aggressive as it gets for a secondary as well. Chig O'Kakwo, someone that,

Starting point is 00:08:35 truthfully, I don't really have a beat on him right now. We're so early in the practice week. Don't pay too much attention to the practice report coming out from Washington today because they just arrived in London and literally went straight to the practice field. So it was very much a jog through. So I wouldn't put too much stock into that. But Thursday, Friday we'll see what happens with Chig. I've already told you, I don't think Jaden is playing. But Nick Cross certainly out Sam Cosme, Interior Officer. its alignment is going to be out for this matchup as well. So that's going to be huge.

Starting point is 00:08:58 Coming up, two chess matches that can shape the entire outcome of this game, Josh Downs, one of my favorite receivers when he was coming out of North Carolina, by the way, up against Washington's pressure plan, and David Blow trying to keep Lou Anirumo from controlling the picture post-snap. That's all coming up next on today's episode of Lockdown Colts, Lockdown Commanders, Crossover Thursday, here on the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome to your most rewarding NFL season ever, only on Fandle.

Starting point is 00:09:26 How rewarding are we talking about? We're talking more rewarding than a touchdown with time expiring. More rewarding than a multiple score comeback. Even more rewarding than an offensive lineman catching a touchdown. I can tell you just from watching Trent Scott do it. Jaden Daniels' first ever career touchdown pass to Trent Scott. Very, very rewarding. But this season, Fandul is trying to make the excitement on the field go beyond what happens on the field to you

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Starting point is 00:11:19 Terms and conditions apply need to hire. This is a job for Indeed sponsored jobs. Josh Downs gives the Indianapolis. Colts, a natural answer for when the Washington commanders bring pressure, but Lou Anarumo's disguises can make life difficult if David Blow can't figure it out, no matter who the quarterback is this weekend. Thank you for making a locked on commanders, your first listen of the day every day. Thank you as well for checking out the Every Day or Club. The Every Day or Club, you get all kinds of perks, bonuses to both episodes, to both shows, locked on Colts or

Starting point is 00:11:47 Locked on Commanders, whichever one you want to sign up for. Check the show notes below for details on how to do that. We appreciate you supporting each show and becoming a part of each shows every day or club. When we talk about key matchups in this game, Zach, Josh Downs is someone who stands out to me. One, because I loved him coming out of college, really kind of hoped that the Washington Mayors will find a way to get them. That didn't happen, and I kind of didn't expect it to necessarily happen at the time. But someone who I've been following throughout his NFL career, really happy with some of the things that he's been able to do. Of course, he's also the brother of Caleb Downs, who I'm a big Ohio State guy. So, you know, I was a fan

Starting point is 00:12:20 of Caleb Downs for years, you know, until he ends up going to Dallas Cowboys. Now it's kind of like, hey, bro, like, you know what I mean? Maybe give up a couple plays here and then. They also have their own podcast, which is really cool. And more and more players are doing that. So people can hear from Josh Down themselves. But Josh Downs against this defense, the defense who does like the blitz like you just talking about.

Starting point is 00:12:37 And it's secondary that maybe hasn't necessarily but been the cleanest when it comes to communication. How impactful do you think he's going to be in this game? He's going to be immensely impactful, especially when you factor in. Again, there's no Alec Pierce. Tyler Warren's been a little bit slower to start his second season. Josh Downs has emerged as the go-to guy for this Colts passing attack, and especially the last two

Starting point is 00:12:59 weeks where they've been under duress a lot against the Houston Texans, even though the Texans mostly brought four when the Texans did Blitz, they had Josh Downs as an outlet, but especially against the Kansas City Chiefs when Spagnola was throwing blitz after blitz at the Colts, because that has been Daniel Jones's weakness in the past. You know, even going back to last year, pretty much every single metric, Daniel Jones was this top 10 quarterback when he played for the Colts, except against the Blitz. He was more so outside the top 15. He was struggling against the blitz last year, but through the last two weeks, he's 19 of 23 for 189 yards and a touchdown against the blitz. And so much of it has been the most easy answer ever. Isolate Josh Downs, throw it to Josh

Starting point is 00:13:40 downs. He is your separator. He is uncoverable one-on-one, and the Colts do a lot of really cool things to get him isolated, whether it's going with the two-by-two stack and just having him is the inside most guy against whoever it is. He's going to win to the middle of the field because if you're going to bring six guys, you're going to vacate that middle of the field because you're going to be in zero coverage. If you're not going to be in zero coverage, you're going to be a more cover one, they'll motion him into a three stack, and they'll let him run those option routes and really just find space against the defense. He is such a cerebral player, but also has great hands, great quickness, and just the ability to get open. So Josh Downs has been the answer for the

Starting point is 00:14:15 Colts against the Blitz. He's also been their answer on third down this year. His target rate on third Downs is up to 40% this season, which is top 10 among all wide receivers. He has been the answer to a lot of the Colts questions throughout this year. And I know you guys are coming off a game where you were giving heavy attention to Jackson Smith and Jigba, right, to make sure he wasn't going to be the guys who beat you. I think Josh Downs should warrant some similar attention, even if he's going to be almost exclusively in the slot, I do think if I were the commanders, the way I would look at this approach is if we stop Josh Downs, we have a good chance to win this game because Downs has been the player.

Starting point is 00:14:51 I know he hasn't had gaudy numbers, but the last two weeks, over 10 targets each game, over 70 yards each game, he has been the chain mover and the big play guy for the Colts all at the same time. You know, I can tell you already, Zach, there are commanders fans who just heard everything that you said. I'm like, man, that all makes sense. That all that makes sense. Hold on. Did he just compare Josh Downs to Jackson Smith and Jigba? And there are even going to be some commanders fans who have paused it, or,

Starting point is 00:15:17 or not even listening to what I'm saying right now because they're busy tip-taping on their keyboard to let you know how ridiculous of a comparison that is. But guess what? I want to make the exact same comparison. So I'm so happy that you made that comparison so that when I make that comparison, it's both of us. So you know what? If you think it's a dumb comparison, we're both dumb. Now I'm not saying that Josh Downs is Jackson Smith & Jigua.

Starting point is 00:15:37 He's going to be an office player of the year candidate, all that kind of stuff. Although there is potential there for him to eventually someday one day be that guy. And who knows, this could be his breakout season, right? but that is how effective he can be. I agree with you 100%. When I look at this matchup, I think Josh Downs can be that effective in this game. Let's be real here.

Starting point is 00:15:55 And commanders fans, while you have enjoyed celebrating that week three win and I've enjoyed celebrating that week three win with you here on Locked on commanders, let's be honest. If Rashad White doesn't get that second to last third down conversion in the game or if Mark's Mariot doesn't get that last third down conversion of the game and the Cilocks get the ball back,

Starting point is 00:16:11 you're just as worried as I am that Jack Smith and Jigba is about to do something against that secondary. and this game's going to go the complete opposite way, whether it be a game-winning field goal or a touchdown. Josh Downs has that ability, and I'm with you, Zach. I want to see the Washington commanders do some of the same things they did against Jackson-Smith and Jigba to try to contain him. Now, Jackson-Smith and Jigba did end up getting his numbers,

Starting point is 00:16:31 but it did kind of come sparingly at first. Eventually, because of the adjustments that coaching staff made there for the Seattle Seahawks, they were able to get him more room and more space to operate, make the Indianapolis Colts make the same adjustments, right? because quite frankly, the Indianapolis Colts coaching staff not known as much or as well for making those halftime adjustments like the Seattle Seahawks coaching staff has been. Make them make those adjustments. Make the Indianapolis Colts force or find a way to get Josh Downs open by putting bracket coverage on him, giving him lots of attention and make Daniel Jones go somewhere else with the football while you contain Jonathan Taylor.

Starting point is 00:17:07 I think if you do those things, yeah, you might be giving Josh Downs. You can call it premature if you want to, JASN attention. but I think it's very, very important because that's how effective you can be. Luana Ruma, we've already talked about him a little bit, can also be very effective as a defensive coordinator. David Blow coming into his fourth game. Zach, David Blow has shown a lot of potential as an offensive play caller, but what are some of the things you've seen Luana Rumo do to other offensive play callers who have potential or have even proven their potential as offense coordinators that makes you

Starting point is 00:17:38 think that he could stop this Washingtoner's offense, even if Jaden Daniels, which I don't think is going to, but even if Chaden Daniels weren't sued up for this game. Yeah, I mean, I think the big thing for the Colts is they're still trying to find their identity on defense right now. They've had a lot of rotations, and they're still trying to work out a lot of new guys on the field. But one thing that they can rely on at least to disrupt guys at line of scrimmage is they're going to play a lot of cover one man, right? They're going to force your receivers to beat them, and if your receivers can do that,

Starting point is 00:18:06 then you can find success. The thing is, though, they have Sauce Garner, they have Mooney Ward. Justin Wally's coming off a good performance this past week, so I do think, that, you know, this can be a tough matchup for a team, especially if you have to get rid of the ball quickly. No Sam Cosmy, maybe you have to, you know, account for that if you're the Washington commanders this week. So if you have to get that ball out quickly, you're going to have a lot of press coverage to deal with there. But, yeah, last week we saw the Colts go away from what they struggled with in the first two weeks, which was communication on a lot of these things. And, you know,

Starting point is 00:18:37 Zay Flowers was killing them from the slot in the first week as well. So they had to kind of move away from so much man where they were running at like a 65% rate the first two weeks. They had to bring that down just a little bit against the Houston Texans and play a little bit more Ben Don't Break. And I do think that worked well for them. Let their defense play a little bit faster. So we may not get the full Luan Arumo like mad scientist approach this week because, again, they're still working through some things.

Starting point is 00:19:03 But I do think they did some good things against the Texans in terms of adding more run blitzes, a more active defensive line. they inserted Atatomio Adabore as a designated pass rusher. And he is, you guys will see him on Sunday. He is lightning fast with his hands. I mean, he has multiple pressures this year under two seconds. They want to be closer to what you guys are doing with the commanders, what the Vikings do with Flores.

Starting point is 00:19:26 But they are a little inexperienced right now, and they're still trying to work through some kinks. So they're probably simplifying things. I think it's interesting because we always talk about these matchups. Like, oh, well, Durante Jones really knows Lou Anuruma really well. So that's an advantage. Well, people forget, though, Lou Aniromu also knows Durante Jones. It sounds pretty well.

Starting point is 00:19:40 So I don't know how much of advantage that is. But also, I think that when you have two coaches who know each other very well, and Lou obviously knows that Durante's given David Blatt, all of his notes and, you know, all that kind of stuff, it also kind of takes away the little bit of, like, how can I trick this guy? Because you do know he's so familiar with me. So let me just simplify it. Like, let me just be who I am and simplify things and prove that your side of the ball can beat my side of the ball. On top of the issues that you said that the Colts defense have been having, I think just makes

Starting point is 00:20:05 all the sense in the world for Lou to come with a little bit more of a simplified plan. but in that simplification, allowing his team to be more dynamic, if that makes a whole lot of sense. Now, the winning formula on both teams of this, or both sides of this matchup is going to sound pretty simple, right? Protect the ball, win the early downs, limit explosives, right? But making the other offense to saying drives in this game is going to be a way of eliminating some of those shortcuts to victory for both sides,

Starting point is 00:20:28 and that's coming up next on today's episode of Lockdown Commanders, Lockdown Colts, crossover Thursday, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, Your Team, every day. And today's episode is brought to you in part by prize picks. Football is fully back. We're about to hit the end of the first month of the season. That is when we start to believe we know who these teams are going to be. And that means that Sundays, Thursdays, Mondays, all of it are going to get a whole lot more interesting for all of us.

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Starting point is 00:22:49 But turnovers and possessions can make every single one of those things seem a little bit more irrelevant or a little bit less relevant. Thanks again for tuning in to today's episode of Locked on Colts, Locked on Commanders. Keys to Victory, Zach, hit us with your three Colts Keys to Victory, man, and we'll break one of these things down. Yeah, I mean, I always sound like a coach, I guess, in this final segment, because I always bring up all the coach-speak stuff. And it's always like, okay, here are the keys, like, here are the keys, like they really are the most important keys. So like I said in the first segment, limit the turnovers.

Starting point is 00:23:18 The Colts got lucky last week. They controlled that game for the most part. But when you have three turnovers against a good defense like that, you are lucky to win the game. You're lucky that there was no Nico Collins and you won the special teams battle as much as you did. That's not going to happen week over week. the NFL. So losing the turnover battle three to nothing is not something that you want to repeat. So keep control of the football, control the clock and control the ball because the Colts have had one of the less explosive offenses in the league this year. No Alec Pierce,

Starting point is 00:23:48 the run game's been bottled up a little bit. They have not been overly explosive at all. So controlling the football, converting on third down like they did last week, is one way that you can dictate the flow of the game. And then the final key is just limit those explosives on the other side. Make the commanders, especially if Jane Daniels isn't playing on Sunday, make them go the length of the field in 12 plays, 13 plays, 14 plays. I like Mark Smirida. He's a good backup quarterback, but asking him to be consistently good on every single snap is a bit of an ask, especially for any backup in this league, even for a lot of starters in this league. So limit the explosives. Don't allow them to get all the way into the red zone on one play. Make it take eight

Starting point is 00:24:29 place to get down there because then you're more likely to have a botch snap, a penalty, a sack, something that knocks them back and throws off the momentum of the drive. So it's simple. I sound like every coach in the halftime locker room right now, but limit turnovers, control the football, and win the explosives, or at least limit the commander's explosives, and I think they have a good chance to come out on top on Sunday. Bobby, listen, you do, you do sound like a coach, right? But that is really, that's the essence of the game, right? And it sounds a lot more simplistic than it really is. But I mean, we hear coordinator saw it's like listen the team that does the best on his fundamentals and hitting their

Starting point is 00:25:04 keys and all that stuff they're going to be the team that comes away with this thing the team that makes the fewest mistakes that's it's almost akin to the team that scores the most points is probably going to win the game but it's the process of how you get there right which is what you just did a good job of breaking down and why it matters in this game and yeah ball is life man like bottom line ball is life you said it the watch bears don't win that c lc golf game without three turnovers and it's all three it's not two turnovers like they don't win that game without three take against Seattle Seahawks. And some of that is a hat tip to the Seattle Seahawks for proving just how hard

Starting point is 00:25:35 and out they really are in this national football league. Like I know the Seahawks are sad that they lost that game and their fans are probably mad they lost that game. But I mean, if you're a team that people look at and say, we need three takeaways to beat this team, you're in a pretty good stinking situation. So, yeah, for the Washington commanders, man, they've done a really good job and not turning the ball over this year. Only one giveaway this season, which is tied for the best rates in the NFL through three

Starting point is 00:25:57 games. And then like I said, their takeaway game just came to life last weekend with three, which now ranks the middle, middle of the league. It's like 15th overall, which is pretty much right in the middle of the league. And they need to continue to evolve. Their offense needs to continue to continue, even if Jaden Daniels isn't on the field, that offense needs to continue to other things. Don't let the New York Giants come in with two weeks of worth of tape, essentially, because you're not growing your offense while Jaden Daniels is sidelined as they look forward to week five, make them continue to plan for anything and everything. And then, oh, by the way, maybe you're getting Jaden back in week five.

Starting point is 00:26:28 And now they've got to prepare for that, and what that could look like, defense has to continue a ball. They did better communication-wise as the game went on. Last week, they've done better since they moved Mikey Sainer still into the nickel. That actually happened midway through the Dallas Cowboys game that I noticed with Mikey Sainer still moving into the nickel, not getting as many outside reps.

Starting point is 00:26:46 And then in the entirety of the Seahawks game, Mikey ended up playing nickel, which the Seahawks don't go a lot of three-wide, so he ended up playing the few of snaps of his career. So if you're a Colts fan thinking, hey, Mikey has not done great, maybe Daniels could pick on him. He might be able to, but he's only kind of probably get about 25, 26 chances to do it in the entire game, though those could prove to be some pretty valuable

Starting point is 00:27:05 25, 26 reps as Sam Darnold showed. And I think the real unique one for me here, Zach, is get Bill a breakout game. Jacori Crosskey Merritt running back. We're calling Bill out here. That's his lifelong nickname, and we've steered into it. If you look at his stat box from last week, and if any Colts fan out there are stat scouts, because Zach, I know you and Jake don't,

Starting point is 00:27:25 you look at your, like, rough game. Like rough game, maybe he's not going to be this breakout running back that people maybe thought that he was going to be. But what you don't see in the stat box

Starting point is 00:27:33 is the 48-yard touchdown. I'm pretty sure it was 48. It was 40-something-yard touchdown that got called back because of an illegal formation penalty that had nothing to do with the play. So that play was a very clean play, shows you what Bill is capable of.

Starting point is 00:27:47 You hammer it, you hammer it, you hammer it. You hammer it. You break one out. This time, you need to see the watch the commander to let that breakout run. If it comes against his Indianapolis Colts defense,

Starting point is 00:27:55 stick and help the Washington Commanders control the clock, control the ball because yes, it's cliche. Yes, it's said probably almost every single week, but it matters. And for the Washington commanders, getting Jacori-Crossi-Marer, that jab, jab, jab, jab against the Colts defense and eventually find that uppercut.

Starting point is 00:28:11 But let that uppercut land and make it stick, make it count. I think it's going to be a huge key this weekend, Zach. Yeah, absolutely. I'm also going to add now Josh Downs versus Mikey. I didn't realize Mikey you moved inside to the slot again. I was a big Mikey Sanders still fan coming out of the draft. I know it's been a rough go with Washington, but I think the Colts, especially if they know that,

Starting point is 00:28:31 hey, the commander is going to bring some blitzes, they're going to get out into those three wide. They're going to make sure that they are getting Mikey on the field, and then they're going to isolate Josh Downs with him. So if I'm the commanders, again, you want to bracket Josh Downs there or maybe travel somebody else with him. But that should be a really good chestnatch to see how that matchup goes down. Yeah, that's honestly, and this is a spoiler alert for Locked on Commanders fans.

Starting point is 00:28:52 Like, that's going to be the matchup, Josh Downs versus Mikey Sanders. I'm like, ah, 20, listen, 26 naps. Mikey still gave up three completions, gave up two touchdown. Not great. But I'm like you, man. I was a big Mikey fan coming out of Michigan. I still have faith in the young man and what his potential can be. There's some things he's got to clean up.

Starting point is 00:29:12 Let's see if this could be the week. But if it's not, that's absolutely a matchup worth watching that you just hit on right there. Next time on lockdown Colts, locked on commanders, we will continue to dive into all these matchups, everything going in to this weekend happening out here. London. If you want to be even further Locked on Colts, Locked On Commanders, check out the Locked On Colts or Locked On Commanders, Hit Channel, or both while you're at, might as well, your daily

Starting point is 00:29:32 hit of espresso on the team that you love and maybe the enemy of the team that you love. So you find that on YouTube, you find it wherever you're listening to the podcast. Every Day, or for both programs, as we do every single day. We want to thank you for coming through again today for this crossover Thursday episode, Locked on Commanders, Locked on Colts, part of the Locktown Podcast Network,

Starting point is 00:29:50 your team every day.

Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - CROSSOVER: Indianapolis Colts Taking On Which Washington Commanders QB in London?

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