Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Crossover Special with Locked On Bears

Episode Date: October 1, 2020

On today's episode, Lorin Cox of Locked On Bears joins for our latest crossover special previewing Sunday's matchup between Indianapolis and Chicago. Who will come out on top in this key game for both sides?First off in Chicago, why did the Bears make their change at QB from Mitch Trubisky to Nick Foles? With the Trubisky era officially over, how will Foles look in Matt Nagy's offense? Tarik Cohen is out, so now David Montgomery will take on a bigger role in their offense as well.Former Colts head coach Chuck Pagano is the Bears' defensive coordinator. Why has their defense taken a step back under his control after Vic Fangio left for Denver?In Indy, a lot has gone right for them after a disappointing opener. From the dominant defense to Mo Alie-Cox and Philip Rivers establishing a legit passing connection, are these sustainable long-term outcomes? Also, how has Chris Ballard overhauled their defense post-Pagano?Finally, we give our predictions to Colts vs. Bears. With poor conditions expected at Soldier Field, who holds the edge? 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 into your latest across the board special in the Locked On NFL Podcast Network. My name is Evan Sidery, the host of Locked On Colts, joined by Lauren Cox, the host of Locked On Bears. Previous Sundays, very key matchup at this point. The 2-1 Colts travel to Chicago to play the 3-0 Chicago Bears.

Lauren, how are you doing today? Hey, I'm doing well. I think it's been kind of a weird season for both of these teams, so I'm interested to see how this plays out on Sunday. Yeah, absolutely. And from reading the forecast so far, it looks like it's going to be a rainy one at Soldier Field on Sunday. 50% chance of rain the last time I checked early this morning,

which will definitely change the game plans I match for both teams here. But let's start off with the Bears first, and we'll dive into the Colts. And in the last few minutes of the show, we will touch on our predictions for this game. Let's tell them the obviously biggest storyline of the Bears season so far. Mitch Trubisky has binged last week in Atlanta playing the Falcons. Nick Foles leads into a comeback victory.

We heard all throughout the office in here there'd be a true quarterback competition between Mitch Trubisky and Nick Foles. Trubisky wins that competition, but less than three weeks in, Lauren, Foles now is the starting quarterback again. Yeah, it's a weird situation, especially from outside of Chicago. When you look, they're 2-0, and halfway through the third game, they decide to bench their quarterback. If you haven't been watching closely, you'd maybe be a little bit confused

after the quarterback competition. But it was clear that even after the third win, the Bears kind of sit together and say, you know what, not that they don't deserve to be 3-0, but they recognize that, hey, they're not good enough yet, that they still need to be better, and that they weren't really fully satisfied with those first two wins, and especially the performance as a quarterback in those first two wins. So they were, I think there was a leash on Trubisky that was already dwindling, even after 2-0, because it took a major fourth quarter comeback against the Lions, and then a little bit of a shaky finish against the New Yorkork giants two teams that were winless and between the bears three opponents

this season they all have one combined win the lions getting a win last week so matt nagy felt like you know they kind of seen their limits with trubisky through two and a half games it felt like this is as good as the offense was going to be with trubisky in there and it was a big third quarter interception against the falcons that ultimately led to the benching. Nick Foles came in and had a little bit of rust to knock off, having not really played since late last season because of an injury. And by the time the end of the fourth quarter came around, he was really slinging it and delivered some pretty impressive

fourth quarter throws to complete the big comeback against the Falcons. I know the Colts are pretty familiar, at least with Frank Reich and Nick Foles, having worked together with the Eagles. I'm kind of curious to see how much benefit they get from that familiarity, especially with the Bears' offense being very similar and all coming from that same Andy Reid system. We'll see if the Colts have more familiarity in Nick Foles

or if Foles' familiarity with Reich will give them advantage or if that just kind of all evens out. Lauren, this is kind of a move here from the Bears. Of course, Trubisky has improved on the field through his first three, four years in the NFL and looks like this is the end of an era in Chicago for Trubisky as they move on to Nick Foles in a win-now situation for this Bears team. It's obvious now at 3-0, trying to ride this momentum here

for the rest of the year. Is this move sort of make it or break it, you think, later down the line if the Bears do start to fall off a cliff a little bit? It's a tough schedule in the next couple months for them. Is this sort of an early push by head coach Matt Nagy that this is his quarterback and he's going to ride foals until maybe he gets to let go of his job? I think the perception of Matt Nagy's job security outside of Chicago is different than inside.

I think it would take a pretty drastic collapse for him to be fired at this point. Like I think even before the season, if they'd finished eight and eight, he would be in a pretty good spot. So I don't think, I don't know that it's a job saving type move, but it's definitely, you know, as they look ahead to what the future of that quarterback position is going to look like. I mean, with Trubisky in the last year of his deal and potentially moving on to another quarterback, they wanted to make sure that Trubisky was not going to be the guy.

You know, like they wanted to give him that chance, you know, the first few weeks of the season to show, hey, let's see what you can do. Let's see if the improvement is there another year in the system. And clearly through two and a half games, a lot of the same guy through the majority of that time. So Foles is kind of the opportunity guy through the majority of that time. And so Foles is kind of the opportunity for Matt Nagy to show, okay, here's my quarterback, basically the quarterback I hand selected.

He inherited Trubisky and kind of had to try and work with that. But Foles has experience in this offense from their time together in Kansas City and on the Eagles. And now he's sort of like, here's what Matt Nagy's system is supposed to look like with a quarterback that has some experience running it so I think this will sort of be finally the true evaluation of how well is Matt Nagy's offense working when it's with a quarterback that they feel like is a little bit more consistent and competent to be able to run it as designed. Moving on here into the running back discussion for a few minutes Lauren because of course losing

Tariq Cohen to his season-ending injury is a massive blow. What do you think moving forward now for this Bears team, especially without Cohen out there, who's sort of like the Colts version of Naheem Hines as your third down scat back? I think Cohen's even more versatile than Hines, honestly. What do you think now? Is David Montgomery going to step into that bell cow role, get around 15, 20-plus touches a game moving forward?

Yeah, Montgomery has pretty well been in that bell cow roll get around 15 20 plus touches a game moving forward yeah montgomery has pretty well been in that bell call cow roll i mean it's been a little bit of fluctuation here and there but honestly like this season terry cohen i think through three games only had 13 ish carries and the majority of his snaps have been as a receiver and that's where they're going to miss him the most he's a guy that can line up at wide receiver or in the slot and do pretty much anything you need him to do out there. But more importantly, you get him in the backfield lined up one-on-one with a linebacker or a safety depending on how the defense wants to play him, and that's a mismatch for your offense every time. So in terms of trying to replace him, I think you're going to see more David Montgomery in

some of those third down situations. He hasn't been as good in pass protection as you might like, and he's never going to be as explosive as Tariq Cohen. But we saw even a couple weeks ago him being able to make some pretty impressive plays after the catch and turn a short gain into a big one, even a touchdown. I believe it was against the Detroit Lions. So there's some potential there, and I think we're going to see even more of Corndary Patterson in the backfield as well. It's sort of been a transition for him to play more running back closer to full-time

he still plays some wide receiver but they've been getting him the backfield but even him I think he played 11 snaps against the Falcons so you know one-sixth of the game so I think there's some opportunity to expand his role a little bit to fill Cohen's shoes but it could also lead to just more wide receivers on the field less of that heavy dual running back packages, and just kind of find some different ways to make up for it in the passing game in particular. What's the situation right now, Lauren, with Allen Robinson? We heard about those little rumors about him being a little bit disgruntled, still no contract extension for him. What's the situation with that with Allen Robinson? Because, I mean, looking through his stats the first few games

here, he's definitely getting a lot of targets around 9, 10 per game. He's on track for 150-plus targets again this year, like we saw last year in the Bears' offense. I expect even more production on Nick Foles' quarterback instead, Mitchell Trubisky. Can you fill us in as to what's going on with Alan Robinson? Yeah, he's been a professional about it, right? I mean, he obviously wants a new contract, and you can't blame him,

especially after seeing Tariq Cohen's injury. Tariq Cohen had signed a brand-new contract like three days – or no, it was the Saturday before the Sunday game, but he officially signed the contract extension. So he got paid and then immediately hurt. So you can see where if you're Allen Robinson, like you never know one hit could end your season. He's had an ACL tear before that he's going to –

you know, he wants to get paid and wants to be compensated like the number one receiver he is and we saw his production even uptake in the limited time nick foals was on the field last week and i think it's pretty clear that there was some some of that disgruntledness was with the quarterback play feeling like traviski was holding back alan robertson production. And I think he's going to be a lot happier with Nick Foles in this offense. So I wouldn't expect the contract situation to be an issue, you know, at any point in terms of on the field production from Allen Robinson. And I would expect a little bit more accurate downfield passing for Robinson should help boost his performance.

I think the big question for the Bears offense is like, how consistently can they get other guys? You know, they can get 75 to 100 yards a game from Allen Robinson easy. It's just, okay, who's your number two going to be? Right now it's the fifth round rookie Darnell Moody. And with Tariq Cohen out, he was kind of their number two in the past. So can the tight end position step up? Where else are they going to be able to get some production? Because I think Allen Robinson, game in and game out, you kind of know what you're going to get there looking at this defense now the former head coach for the Colts actually Chuck Pagano who's been now in the second year as defense coordinator for the Chicago Bears been a little I would say inconsistent through the first three

games of course having a little bit of a quarterback issue much Trubisky it won't help you there much at all but we saw last year defense did talk a little bit once Vic Fangio left and we saw this year the Bears through three games are allowing about 21 points per game, which isn't bad at all. Nothing to sneeze out there, honestly, Lauren, but what do you think so far of Pagano's defense entering its second year

and through the first few weeks of the season? Yeah, it's tough to tell how much yet even is Chuck Pagano's fault versus kind of changes and other things that they've had to deal with defensively. So last year you call it, call it an excuse, call it an explanation. Injuries really ravaged this defense.

So like 2018 under Fangio, when they were the top defense in the NFL, they were remarkably healthy, perhaps unsustainably healthy. They had all their guys for the majority season playing out of their minds. And then 2019 comes around. Khalil Mack plays most of the games, but he's dealing with an injury throughout the season that's clearly leaving him less than 100%. Akeem Hicks on the defensive line is injured. They lose some guys in the secondary. The linebacker

core was down to their number three, number four, and sometimes number five inside linebacker for a lot of the season. So I think generally Chicago was willing to kind of chalk last year up to injuries and say, well, Pagano didn't have his full tool set to work with. This year, you know, they lost a little bit of talent to the secondary again, but added Robert Quinn as another pass rusher to compliment Khalil Mack, but he wasn't healthy to start the season. And really right now we're seeing these inside linebackers in particular, Danny Trevathan and Roquan Smith, they were supposed to be one of the strengths of this defense, and they have been the biggest weakness by far. Danny Trevathan looks like an old man who is the game all of a sudden, out of nowhere, just kind of passed him. He's slow and ineffective on the field, and it's like, how much longer can the

Bears keep starting Danny Trevathan is a real question right now in Chicago, and Roquan Smith hasn't taken that next step now in his third year in the NFL after being a top 10 draft pick. There's a little bit of concern about why his development hasn't come around. So maybe some of that you can point to Chuck Pagano and the coaching staff. But other than that, I mean, you know, they played a really good Falcons offense and gave up, you know, 23 points or whatever. But that's – I think they can live with what they did against the Falconscons and they were fine against the giants and we're a little bit rusty to start

week one against the lions so it's not like a a huge concern because it feels to me like a lot of it's self-inflicted they've had some key penalties and key situations that you just clean up a play or two there they've had a couple of turnovers overturned by penalties or other rulings that fans certainly get upset about with the referees but like if you if a couple of turnovers overturned by penalties or other rulings that fans certainly get upset about with the referees. But if a couple of those turnovers counted, including one was a pick six that was called back, and you take away a few of the penalties, I think it's a very different feeling and storyline around this Bears defense. So it feels like they're pretty close, and it's not a huge concern at this point,

but it's enough that you're keeping an eye on it and say, okay, let's make sure this doesn't get any worse than this right now. Last one for you here, Lauren, before we dive into Colts talk here in the second segment of our crossover special today, looking at this game on Sunday, I mean, obviously the bears, many have said throughout, not only the guests have had Dawn throughout this week, but also just what I see on NFL Twitter, that this could be a fraudulent three and O start for this bears team.

Many think they're really pretenders compared to contenders. And looking at their schedule, obviously they play the Colts on Sunday, but after that they play Tom Brady and the Bucs the week after that. They have a good chance to beat the Carolina Panthers the week after that. But then from there, the Rams, Saints, Titans, Vikings, Packers to close out the rest of October and November. A tough slate coming up here, Lauren. Do you think this team's legit or not?

I don't think they're 3-0 good. I mean, they're not as good as their record might suggest. I don't think they're a top team in the NFC. I think they're right now still a borderline playoff team, and that borderline depends, in my opinion, almost solely on what level of quarterback play they get from Nick Foles. If he can kind of play up to a consistent level like we've seen in the past in Frank Reich's offense, for example, they're a playoff team.

But if you kind of get on the Nick Foles rollercoaster with some big ups and some big downs, then I think they're more in that 8-8, 9-7 range, which is, you know, it's a 17 playoff in the NFC this year. I mean, that's maybe a potential playoff team, but I don't think they're on the same level as, say, the 3-0 Green Bay Packers in their same division. So they've lucked out with a pretty easy schedule thus far, and even the Colts have kind of had some ups and downs along the way too.

They're still the best team the Bears have played at this point by far, but I think this will be kind of a good measuring stick for even potentially both of these teams to say, okay, are these teams legit? Are the Bears a legit 4-0 team if they beat the Colts? Or are there still question marks about what they can do? I don't think they're legit, but they're not terrible either. Let's dive in now, Lauren, into some Colts talk.

Before we do so, I want to remind you guys to subscribe to Locked on Bears and Locked on Colts. Before we dive into our second segment, I want to get a quick word here from our sponsors. Now more than ever, it's important to show support for your team and your community. Visa and the National Football League know that local businesses help your community move the ball down the field. Small businesses everywhere are overcoming challenges in these new times thanks to teammates like you and Visa.

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Yeah, I want to start with Chuck Pagano in particular. Obviously, some ties there with a long time with the Indianapolis Colts. But when you look at this Colts defense, it seems like given how much they struggled over the years with Pagano they've worked to do quite a bit of turnover in terms of talent there but I wanted to get your perspective are there any notable players left in that Colts defense from Pagano's time there or any potential advantage or advanced knowledge that Pagano would have on what they're working with there given all the changes yeah a completely clean house honestly lauren on defense chris bowers michigan first got there was to rebuild that defense had pagano of course one year as head coach then replaced him with frank reich the only

player left from the pagano era i believe that's still on this roster is malik cooker but he tore his achilles in week two and now julian blackman the rookie third round pick out of utah is a starting free safety opposite carrie willis chris bowers has been always about changing from a 3-4 to a 4-3, which they've done so this year. They added DeForest Buckner via trade this offseason with their first-round pick to be sort of that crown jewel move to make them a more above-average to an elite defense. And we've seen that through the first three weeks.

The Colts, number one overall in total defense. They're creating a lot of turnovers, six interceptions their last two games, two safeties as well. Of course, it's against really poor competition. The Jaguars, in week one, they lost two. But against Minnesota and then against the Jets, who I think are the worst team in the league, they really were dominant and allowed 18 total points in those games. The defense actually scored 18 points themselves over that two-week stretch.

So I do wonder here if they're actually elite or not because they've had really poor scheduling so far. But from the perspective of Pagano versus Matt Iberflus' defense, it's completely different. Now with Malik Hooker being out, there are zero guys left on this current starting unit and overall roster with Hooker and now an IR that are still from the Pagano era. What has been the key for them to be so successful? I mean, obviously quality of opponent kind of plays a big role in there. But, like, I think if I'm somebody who doesn't follow the Colts at all and I just glance at their defensive lineup,

there's not a lot of, like, big-name talents that you're like, oh, man, they're loaded at every level. Like, you know, Xavier Rhodes coming over from the Vikings had a little bit of an off year last year. There's a reason why he was available for a team like the Colts. And he's already on the wrong side of 30. I think everyone knows by now that Darius Leonard is a legit talent and inside linebacker. And especially in that four, three system,

I think he's got a lot of room to work and thrive there. And then they added Justin Houston in the front seven and, and of course traded for DeForest Buckner. But like, I realized that's, that's four guys, but the seven other starters there aren't necessarily players that the average fan at home might have heard of. So how have they been able to be so successful? Where are they winning besides just generating turnovers? Yeah, a lot of it is due to that front four pressure.

We saw last year the secondary, and even still sometimes they're so inconsistent with coverage. A lot of young guys too. Those are all Chris Bauer draft picks that outside of those guys they may have added a couple of veteran guys like TJ Carey, who's a death piece of course with Rocky Hussain currently out who is a high

Bauer draft pick. Bobby Okereke too is a high Bauer draft pick as well as was Kari Willis, Julian Blackman. A lot of young talent on this roster that's still ascending and they're all ascending at the same time which is really good for this Colts defense long-term. And adding in Buckner to that front four, that's probably their strength for this team is that front seven.

You have DeForest Buckner in the middle. You have Justin Houston on the outside, Darius Leonard in the middle of that defense so he can roam free more often now with Buckner taking out the trash, so to say. And I think Kamoko Ture, who's missed the first portion of the season so far, he'll be out to November 1st, be on the publicist. He'll have his season open against Detroit at that point. He's really the X-Factor of this defense. He'll be out to November 1st to be on the publicist. He'll have his season open against Detroit. At that point, he's really the X-Factor of this defense. He's their speed rush guy. They have not really

had much speed rush. Justin Houston's more of a power edge guy, I would say. But once Tureza added back into the mix, he's another ascending young talent. He really started the flash last year before he broke his ankle in their primetime win against Kansas City. I think this team has a chance to really ascend on the defense even more.

We've seen so far, I mean, the level of competition, like I mentioned, definitely plays a factor. But Xavier Rhodes looks like a really good fit in the zone compared to playing a lot of heavy man in Minnesota. Buckner looks like a true, legit, all-pro talent. Of course, Darius Leonard doesn't have to say much about him at this point. He's one of the best linebackers in the NFL. And Justin Houston, he's had a sack actually in 13 of the 19 games so far in his career in Indianapolis, which goes

to show you just how consistent he's been off the edge for them. Outside of that, just a young talent as they all start to ascend here. And once you add Kamoku Ture back into the mix in November, this defense, looking at their schedule, is going to get a lot more tougher. But I do imagine that this defense should be hovering around that top eight, top 10 level throughout the year. The Bears have put a stronger emphasis on trying to run the ball more this year. It's been a complaint against Matt Nagy for a lot of the time he's been in

Chicago. They invested in tight end position. They've been trying to go a little bit heavier in the personnel and try and get opposing defenses really in their base defense. How have the Colts fared? I mean, I realized they haven't necessarily faced the the most talented the running back and offensive line positions and the Bears

aren't at the top of the NFL in that regard either but I mean again DeForest Buckner and Darius Leonard and the interior there are obviously going to do some damage and take up a lot of space but as far as the other guys what's your confidence level in them shutting down the running game if you know opposing offense like the Bears is going to put a couple tight ends on the field and try and work some play action off of that? Yeah, I think that's where their bread and butter has been so far. They've really shut down the running game. Dalvin Cook, when Minnesota came to town, he only had around 58 rushing yards, I believe, in that game. Of course, Frank Gore, the Jets, there's really not much to say about that Jets team. They're just so porous all around there, so can't really take

much from that one. James Robinson did have a really good game in week one, but I think really the Colts defense has settled down a lot in the front four. I sound like a broken record mention DeForest Buckner a lot here, but he really does play a huge factor in everything the Colts do. He's such a great run defender, as is Justin Houston setting the edge there as well, that those two guys really have helped take a lot of pressure off of that back end where in the running game they're able to be more aggressive. They're able to give you more exotic looks.

And I'd probably say even more this upcoming Sunday for this game against the Bears that I feel like the Bears might have to pass a little bit more often. I know it's going to be rainy conditions. They're probably in for a slugfest here. I do think that the Bears want to win this game on Sunday. It's probably going to have to be trying to pound David Montgomery, like you mentioned there. Let's get some play action concepts from Nick Foles and try to test them with Allen Robinson, Jimmy Graham, etc. This Colts defense,

I mean, there's really not much weaknesses. If they're able to test them more in the secondary and some quick concepts, that could make some sense. But as far as running the ball against this defensive line, if the Forrest Buckner can get home clean more often than not against this Bears offensive line, it could be a long day for them what about the colts running game if we flip out the other direction there the bears one of the big weaknesses like the inside linebackers as a result of that has been a relative inability to stop the run they've been pretty good in the secondary pretty good at keeping quarterbacks at least somewhat contained when they need them to but obviously obviously, so I'm a Wisconsin guy.

I mean, I've interviewed and met Jonathan Taylor many times. Great human being, great running back. Has he been everything you wanted and more? And what's been the offensive line run blocking quality in front of him? Yeah, I'd say the running game so far has been a little inconsistent. Jonathan Taylor also, I think, still adjusting to the NFL. He's missed a couple big runs due to his vision. I think he's still just trying. And he's trying to make that adjustment from Big Ten defensive concepts to NFL concepts.

And obviously, that's going to take a little bit of time. We saw Marlon Mack in his rookie year struggle with the vision as well until in 2018 and 2019, getting better and better. So Jonathan Taylor long-term should be fine, but I think right now he's still going through some growing pains as far as trying to figure the NFL defenses out. He had a good game against Minnesota, of course, getting 100-plus yards, but it was on 28 carries. So I do think Taylor hasn't reached his full capability just yet in this Colts offense. But I think this upcoming Sunday he could be primed for a big game here

if the Colts offensive line is able to adjust well. Because we see Quentin Nelson, Anthony Costanza, Ryan Kelly, those guys up front. If they can get a push on this Bears defensive line, which is going to be a tough task with Khalil Mack and Akeem Hicks up front, I think this could be a type of game where we saw last year with the Colts against teams like Kansas City where if they establish the run early and especially in not pleasant conditions, it could be one of those grind it out,

keep the ball for 40-plus minutes types of games for this offense. In terms of the passing game, I don't think a lot of Bears fans would realize that I believe Mo Alleycox is their leading receiver this year at the time, I mean, over even T.Y. Hilton. Where has he come from, and how has the structure of the offense, like, how has he been so successful, and what does it look like when he's having success? Is that in line? Is he working more out of the slot? What has been sort of the slot?

What has been sort of the structure of this passing game? Yeah, Moelle Cox has really benefited from Jack Doyle and Trey Burton being out, the former Chicago Bear tight. He's actually been making a season debut this upcoming Sunday, as he's now off the IR list for this team after a calf injury. Moelle Cox has been the number one tight end for this Colts team the past two weeks, and he's thrived in that role. 111 yards against Minnesota.

He had 50 yards on three receptions against the Jets and a touchdown. He's had really, really amazing season so far. He's already a great blocking tight end, which he was used a lot more for the Colts last couple of years. And that role is exclusively as a blocker. Maybe get a couple of jump balls here and there, but he's showing his route trees expanded.

He's definitely as a beneficiary and the running game to play action, pass concepts. Phillip Brewers, of course, loves targeting those bigger tight ends. We've seen throughout his career, Antonio Gates, et cetera. Molly Cox could really be that sort of guy now for this team. He's averaging over 20 yards per reception this year as well. Been a big play threat. And we see that if he's able to really be more,

I'd say he's been more in line than outside because he's more of a slower guy than like an Eric Ebron we've seen in the Colts offense in the past. He runs on like a 4-6-40, 4-7-40, like Cox does. So I think for him, it's more so just benefiting off that pass game, benefiting off jump ball situations. But I think he's already one of the better blocking tight ends in the NFL. It's crazy to say, Lauren, that he's rated as the best tight end in the NFL right now per pro football focus with two back-to-back weeks and 90 plus grades so I think Molly Cox's his ceiling is definitely ascending and moving forward here I'd be stunned if the Colts do not continue to use him because Nick Sirianni mentioned earlier this week the Colts off that's coordinator that Molly Cox has shown too much the last couple weeks to get in phase out of the offense now with Burton and Dwell back from

injury so expect Molly Cox to still be a focal point in this offense Phil Burrus already trusts them a lot and I think could be a player the rest of the year. He does lead the team in reception yards so far. That might not change moving forward because Mo'Ally Cox has shown to be a consistent big play threat. Well, I'm really glad to be able to add Mo'Ally to the Cox family along with me and my distant cousin, my third, fourth cousin, Fletcher Cox of the Philadelphia Eagles.

We're really establishing, I think, a dominant NFL family here with the rest of the Coxes. But what are you expecting for the game on Sunday? I imagine, given how well this Colts defense has been playing, and the offense has been putting up some pretty good points, too, you've got to, I mean, I think it's fair to have a pretty high level of confidence for the Colts in this one, but what are some of your predictions for what we're going to see on Sunday? Yeah, I think it's going to be a slugfest. I think it's going to be a really low-scoring game.

I'm checking the over-under now on DraftKings, and it's 43. I'd be shocked. Maybe that's a little overzealous there if we see the over-hit in that one because especially if it's rainy conditions, which seems like a guarantee at this point. I check the weather app every single day in Chicago, and it keeps getting worse and worse as far as percentages goes for it not to be raining.

So I think it's going to be one of those games where we see Jonathan Taylor get around 25 touches. We see Phillip Rivers really maybe throw 20 times or less in this one. I think the Bears probably do the same thing here with Dave Montgomery, try to pound him a little bit in porous conditions. I think with this defense too, I mean, they're really starting to click. They have a super high amount of confidence right now, only allowing 18 points

the last two weeks to Minnesota and the New York Jets. I do think this is going to be one of those games where time possession is going to be key. They're going to try to establish the run, maybe use the tight ends a lot more. Molly Cox, Trey Burton, Jack DeWoe could all be heavy targets for Phillip Rivers in this one. I think it's going to be a really grinded out game, Warren. I don't know about you, but I'm going to go with the Colts, who are true net point favorites per Vegas right now. I say they cover that spread. I'm going to go 20-9. I expect a really low-scoring, slow-fest type of game. I agree with you in terms of the style of game. I think we're going to end up seeing a lot of

checkdowns from both quarterbacks. The deep shots aren't necessarily going to be there in part because of the conditions and in part because I don't think the secondaries are going to want to allow much of that but I do have more confidence in the Colts to be able to run the ball against this Bears defense right now than I do this Bears offense being able to run against the Colts defense I do think having a full game of Nick Foles as the starter having a full week to prepare as the starter and not just kind of coming in on a whim and trying to figure out everything on the fly will,

will help this bears offense be a little bit more consistent and really from the start and not have to pull off a miracle fourth quarter comeback to even have to be in the conversation by the end of the game. I, it's been this way for every bears game. I have a feeling it's going to come down to the last possession. It's been three games of that. And I can't help but think game number four against another quality opponent is going to put them right there.

So it's tough for me to see this Bears team go 4-0, but I think the Colts are another at least beatable opponent, but I struggle with exactly where to go with this. So I'm going to go Colts 17, Bears 14. And I'm going to say it's a last second field goal from... Is it Rigoberto Sanchez still kicking for the Colts? I think he'll end up being the game winner there. Yeah, hot rod. The Georgia kicker,

Rodrigo Blankenship. He's the guy I can turn out. Yeah, that's right. They got all those names that are really long and complicated. In the Chicago rain, in the Chicago win, a super difficult kick. I think he's going to step up and deliver. Yeah, I think I'm right there with you. I think it's going to be a very low scoring. If you like defense, if you like running the football, I think he's going to step up and deliver. Yeah, I think I'm right there with you. I think it's going to be a very low scoring.

If you like defense, if you like running the football, I think this game is for you Bears and Colts fans. But, hey, Lauren, I've really enjoyed having this crossover with you. You guys can go follow him on Twitter if you're not already, at Copsports1 and also the podcast at LockedOnBears. And for Bears fans out there, if you want to follow along with us here throughout the week here at LockedOnColts, you can follow us on Twitter at Locked on Colts.

Lorne, appreciate the time. Hey, appreciate it, man. Anytime. I love doing these crossovers. I know we got to do it a little bit in the offseason with the divisional crossover, and I'm sure we'll have a lot of fun on Sunday.