Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Crossover Thursday with Locked On Seahawks

Episode Date: September 10, 2021

It's time for our first Locked On Crossover special of the season! Locked On Colts and Locked On Seahawks collaborate diving deep into the Week 1 matchup between the Indianapolis Colts and Seattle Seahawks.Every angle of the upcoming matchup is covered, and you won't want to miss out on this one! Stay tuned every Thursday as our crossover specials continue throughout the season on the Locked On Podcast Network! 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. Greetings, 12s and Colts fans. This is Corbin Smith from Locked On Seahawks, joined by Evan Sidery of Locked On Colts. It's time for our first Locked On crossover special of the 2021 regular season. Two teams that don't play each other very often, but Evan, it seems like every time these teams get together, some interesting things happen. The last matchup, the Seahawks won 46-18,

but that really doesn't tell the real tale of the game. The Colts were winning that matchup at halftime, and then 2013, unfortunately, the only time we got to see Russell Wilson against Andrew Luck. The Colts ended up outlasting the Seahawks at Lucas Oil, so it just seems like they have very interesting matchups every four years when they do get to play each other.

And these are two teams that have Super Bowl aspirations going into this new season. Absolutely. These are two teams I think that are flying a little under the radar in the NFC and the AFC as far as playoff contention goes through, both dark horses as well. A great matchup here, especially Seattle, Russell Wilson, DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett, Chris Carson, a loaded offense, the Colts have to go against. And also just this overall Seahawks team I've been a big fan of over the last couple years. The Jamal Adams

move I think was a big one for the organization. I'm really excited to see him in this defense for another year in 2021. Before we get started with our storylines, matchups, everything that we're going to cover in this game, it's not too late to listen to the Ultimate Season Preview 2021. For previews of every team and every division from our local experts and Odyssey's NFL experts, search Ultimate Season Preview 2021 today on the Odyssey app or wherever you get podcasts. So to kickstart this first crossover episode of the 2021 season, Evan, you and I are going to have a little bit of a roundtable discussion here, looking at some of

the big storylines revolving around these two teams. And it's always most interesting when it's week one, because there's so much uncertainty, especially in today's era, where not a lot of teams play their good players in preseason games. I can at least speak for the Seahawks on that. The Colts have had a number of guys injured that weren't able to play in preseason games. So this is really going to be the first chance that we get to see these two teams in full out on the field going against other competition. A lot of uncertainty, and that makes it exciting. What, in your opinion, is the biggest storyline for the Colts going into the 2021 season?

Yeah, I think it has to be Carson Wentz, the Colts' fourth starting quarterback to start a season opener over the last four years. Just a continuous carousel for the Colts, the most important position in football. Carson Wentz came off a historically bad season last year in Philadelphia. Now he's back with Frank Reich, his former offensive coordinator. We made that magic happen in 2017, would have won the MVP

if it didn't blow out his knee in LA against the Rams. But, I mean, it has to be Wentz when you see all the – this team is built for a solid quarterback to come in and help them get over the top into the playoffs to a potential AFC South Divisional crown. Wentz provides you the mobility, the arm strength that's been missed in the last couple years compared to Phillip Rivers and Jacoby Bursette. If Wentz can just take care of the ball and stay healthy,

health's already been an issue for Carson Wentz. He was out for most of training camp and all preseason due to a foot injury he suffered in the second day of practice. If that's behind him, if he can just play smart football, if Frank Wright can reel him in a little bit, I think Wentz can be the true X factor to this team. He's going to have to be. If it's a bad version of Carson Wentz that we saw last year,

this Colts team is going to fall way below expectations. And it might be a little bit of a hot seat push for some in the organizations because this Colts team is in a win-now window over the next three or four years, and they can't be wasting time with quarterbacks. Yeah, I'm really curious to see what Carson Wentz looks like in this offense because, as you mentioned, back in 2017 when Wentz was playing for the Eagles with Frank Reich and obviously had a better supporting cast a healthier supporting cast at that he was putting up MVP numbers extremely

efficient they used him in the run game some you could see the power the ability to get outside of the pocket and create with his legs and that gave a lot of teams fits one team that has never really had any issues with them even dating back then in 2017 when the Eagles won the Super Bowl, the game they played in Seattle went struggled. And then the games after that fact in the last couple seasons, he's really struggled as well. This has been a team that he has historically really struggled against. But again, reuniting with Frank Reich, I think,

has a real chance to be a successful reunion there. And it gives the Colts some long-term stability, potentially, at the quarterback position. So I'm fascinated to see what he looks like. As far as the Seahawks go, there's a newcomer on their offense, but he's not going to actually be wearing a helmet and shoulder pads. I hope he's not going to be wearing a helmet and shoulder pads on Sunday. And that's new offensive coordinator Shane Waldron. We haven't gotten to see what Carson Wentz looks like in game action with the Colts. We haven't gotten to see what Shane Waldron's offense is going to look like in game action

with Russell Wilson under center orchestrating this scheme. I'm expecting that we're going to see more motion. We're going to see more up-tempo. We're going to see more under-center plays from the Seahawks with Waldron as the coordinator. We've seen those things in training camp practices, but there still is a lot of uncertainty. How much carryover from the past offensive scheme there's going to be. What the run game is necessarily going to look like. How much emphasis there truly is going to be on the short to intermediate passing game. With all the weapons they've got, this offense should be dynamic, but there's still a lot of question marks, a lot of uncertainty about what this offense will truly look like with Shane Walters,

the play caller. And this is really going to be his first NFL game as a coordinator beyond the high school level coming up in week one. And so that's not to say that he's going to struggle. We've seen coordinators jump a couple levels like that and find success right away. But nonetheless, this is a big stage. There was a lot of pressure on him with a top five offense from a year ago that kind of struggled at the end of the season. What that group is going to look like with him calling the plays

on the sidelines? Yeah, I think it's really interesting because, like you mentioned, Waldron comes from the Rams. He's been with Sean McVay before. And I do wonder, it's been a lot of – I've seen a lot of Seahawks fans in their last couple years say this, Corbin, but I think it's finally time to let Russ cook, and I think Waldron's going to let him do that.

Well, I don't know necessarily they didn't let him cook last year. It seemed like he kind of burned his kitchen in the second half. But part of that was because Brian Schottenheimer didn't have the fire extinguisher ready to go. So it was just a very weird season for the Seahawks on both sides of the ball. The first half, their offense was unstoppable. Defense couldn't stop anybody. And then it kind of flipped the script. And that's why they kept winning games in the second half. But ultimately, that offense struggling to hurt them in the postseason. They were one and done with that loss to the Rams. So they're hoping that Shane Waldron can bring out the best in Russell Wilson,

just as the Colts are hoping that Frank Wright can bring out the best in Carson Wentz going to the Indianapolis Colts after a bit of a fallout the last few years in Philadelphia. When we come back in for the second quarter in our crossover special, we're going to be looking at the matchups that worry us the most. Evan and I already had a chance earlier this week on our own respective shows to dive be looking at the matchups that worry us the most. Evan and I already had a chance earlier this week on our own respective shows to dive into a number of matchups, but we're going to bounce off each other a few of the matchups that really worry us going into this

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I'm Corbin Smith from Locked On Seahawks, joined by Evan Seidry of Locked On Colts. We've got a big matchup coming up at Lucas Oil Stadium. The Seahawks traveling to Indianapolis to face a Colts squad that finished last year on a strong note. They were 11-5, put the Buffalo Bills on the brink of going one and done. The playoffs came up just short, but a very talented football team that believes they've upgraded the quarterback spot.

The Seahawks are hoping they've added the pieces around Russell Wilson to make a deeper push into the playoffs as well. And this is going to be a critical first game for both teams. We've had an opportunity, you and I were talking about this before the show, on both of our respective podcasts, we've already kind of touched on many of the key matchups that we are looking forward to watching in this game. And we decided to take it another step further here going into this first game of the season. Let's talk matchups that worry you the

most. And it can be on offense, it can be on defense, but if you could pick one matchup going to this game that really concerns you the most, that provides you the most panic, Evan, which matchup would that be? I think it has to be the Seahawks' talented pass catchers going up against what could be a banked-up secondary over this Indianapolis Colts team. Xavier Rhodes missed Wednesday's practice due to a calf injury. We're going to find out more about that later this week from head coach Frank Wright. But if he can't go on Sunday, he's their number one corner.

Kenny Moore is one of the more underrated nickel corners in the NFL, but he's not an outside corner at 5'9". If Rhodes misses time in week one, DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett, they're going to absolutely feast on the secondary with deep shots, crossers, down the middle of the field. It's going to get ugly. I think it gets to that point if they don't have Xavier Rhodes out there even if Rhodes is out there I do think that the Seahawks are going to have some moments down the field where they hit on some deep throws from Russell

Wilson that's one of the best deep balls in the NFL DK Metcalf is such a freak of an athlete at the wire seer position and Tyler Lockett is an absolute technician as a route runner so I think they're the big matchup for me if the Colts can somehow contain this passing attack for the Seahawks, they're in good shape. But I have a really tough sentiment on my end. I really believe that the Seahawks are going to put up a lot of points and a lot of yards via the air against this Colts defense.

The running game might be different, but you're going to have to really put a lot of pressure on this front four to make up for the difference in the talent as far as wide receivers versus cornerbacks go because Rocky Asin is the second boundary corner if he can't go or if Xavier Rhodes can't go excuse me it'll be Rocky Asin taking his spot and TJ Carey moving up one spot on the depth chart so big advantage because the Seahawks there as far as wide outs versus defensive backs it could be a lot of points via the air for Seattle. My co-host Rob Rang and I were joking about this yesterday because T.J. Carey, I do feel like at this point in his career, I mean, good for him that he has been in the league as long as he has

been, but he's been on like half the teams in the NFL up to this point. He's bounced around a lot. Veteran journeyman corner, not a very big guy either. DK Metcalf is a matchup nightmare for pretty much any set of corners in the NFL. There really aren't 6'4", 230-pound corners that are around the league that can match up physically with him. But nonetheless, the Colts have a little smaller secondary. They're banged up. Even if Xavier Rhodes does play, he's had his issues in the past covering Tyler Lockett, and DK Metcalf a couple

years ago had a big game with Rhodes and coverage against him a lot. So I would agree with you. I think that is the biggest area of strength for the Seahawks going into this game. The discrepancy between their receiver talent and what the Colts have in their secondary. As far as I'm concerned, there's one matchup that stands head and shoulders above the rest, both literally and figuratively, and that is the massive mountain of man that is DeForest Buckner in the middle of the Colts' defense. The idea of him going against Kyle Fuller,

or quite frankly if Ethan Posick was still the starter, whoever's out there, the Seahawks decided not to touch the center position this offseason, and I still don't understand the logic behind that, especially when they had chances to get Creed Humphrey in the second round. They also could have got Quinn Miners out of Wisconsin Whitewater. Both those players were available.

They picked receiver Dee Eskridge as well. Eskridge is a very good player, could be dynamic in this offense, but that could come back to haunt him. They had some free agent opportunities at center as well. So they're going into this game with a player in Kyle Fuller that has started one regular season game at center. His career really struggled against the Rams last year and preseason was pretty underwhelming for him for the most part, going against second and third stringers. Now there's a possibility he's going to have DeForest Buckner, even Grover Stewart across from him. Both those guys working against the centers the Seahawks have scare me.

And the idea they can get the ball downfield might be quickly nullified if DeForest Buckner is immediately getting penetration to the backfield up the middle. It's not going to matter what the advantage looks like on the outside. Russell Wilson isn't going to have time to throw, and this offense is going to be stymied. So I think Buckner is the type of player in this game that could absolutely be a game plan wrecker if the Seahawks don't have a quality plan to help out their centers with their quality guards and keep him away from Russell Wilson. Yeah, I totally agree with you there. DeForest Buckner is a complete game wrecker, 6'7", 300 pounds. A guy by his size that moves the way he does is a complete unicorn in the NFL as far as the way he plays. And going against the Seahawks offensive line, you can mention there, Corbin,

we saw last year in Week 2 when Buckner had that moment where he tossed a 315-pound Drew Samia five yards into the air with a Reggie White hump move. Maybe we see something like that on Sunday with this, I think, a huge discrepancy for the Colts' interior defensive line against the Seahawks' interior offensive line. Quinney Paye is another one to watch out for on the edge there, but Buckner for sure. He had nine and a half sacks last year.

He set the franchise record for quarterback hits in a season over Dwight Frieden and Robert Matheson his first year with the Colts. So if Buckner can get back on that level, which he absolutely should, he was an all-pro last year, who played with a dislocated thumb all season. He actually let the media know that on Wednesday that he played all last year with a thumb injury, so he's going to be even better than he was last year as far as health goes. Buckner's a huge mismatch nightmare for any offensive line.

If he can get interior pressure, that helps out everyone alongside on the defensive line. I think if that happens, it's really going to change the game, really help out the secondary. That's going to be a big disadvantage against these Seahawks weapons. One other set of matchups that does concern me if they find success early, the Colts running game, because I think the Seahawks starting defensive tackles are fine. I do worry about the depth that they have, especially if Quentin Nelson does play in this game. That is a huge factor for the Colts ground game. If he's not playing, that's a major drop off at left guard for them. And they already are dealing with the repercussions of losing Anthony Costanzo to

retirement on the left side. So there are some question marks for the Colts, but if they can get Jonathan Taylor and the rest of those backs going and they can wear Seattle's front line down, they do not have a lot of depth in that interior line. Some of their backups are 280 pounds. They're more defensive ends than defensive tackles. That feels like another area that could really make things snowball out of control for the Seahawks in this game. And especially on the road, you don't want the other team to be able to dictate things with their run game. This was a really good run defense last year for Seattle. There's been some personnel changes though.

So I'm both curious and at the same time, a little bit scared about what that might look like if the Colts are able to get that ground game really humming. No, I totally there with you. I mean, Jonathan Taylor, we saw the second half of last season. He had a really rough adjustment to the NFL in the first six or so weeks. But once he found his footing, he found his confidence. He was one of the best running backs in the NFL.

He was second behind Derrick Henry over the last eight weeks in terms of total yards. He averaged over six yards per carry in the last eight games of the season. He looked like a star running back already in his rookie season. That should continue over. The rave reviews out of camp about Jonathan Taylor have been fantastic across across the board looks like the best player on this offense he should be taking another leap forward in a year or two which i think is a really dangerous idea for defenses if taylor can be even better than he was in the second half of last season he is one of the best running backs in the nfl if that's the case i do i i think it really counters to my point as far as

the other weakness for this colts team that really worries me as far as matchup goes is the offensive line because Quentin Nelson he should play he had his back flare up this week but he's also doing the foot injury so he's not going to be at 100 percent but the guy next to him at left tackle is going to be Julian Davenport who was with the Miami Dolphins last year also with the Houston Texans before that going against Carlos Dunlap who I think is a legit mismatch for Julian Davenport. If Quentin Nelson has to focus a lot on him, it's going to help out the Seahawks interior defensive line as well. But Davenport is not Eric Fisher. He's not Anthony Costanzo. Fisher will be back in a couple weeks from his Achilles injury that he's rehabbing from. But in the meantime, it's going to be Julian

Davenport. We beat out Sam Tevey, who beat out Will Holden as well for this temporary starting left tackle spot. But Davenport's a huge downgrade from Fisher, and especially from Andy Costanzo over the last decade for the Colts as their blindside protector. Carson Wentz, we've seen in the last couple years, Corbin, if he doesn't have the offensive line in front of him, he kind of shrinks a little bit in the pocket when there's pressure. And if Carlos Dunlap can get on his blindside, Davenport really struggles,

it could be a long day where Wentz forces some balls and gets some turnovers there. Yeah, that's another area that I'm going to be watching that I think could be advantageous for the Seahawks because while they don't have as much depth in the interior, they have stockpiled edge rushers. Even after releasing Alden Smith, they've still got a bunch of guys that can get after the quarterback, pin the ears back, a number of different skill sets.

And if the Colts are starting a third or fourth string left tackle and Davenport would qualify as that, then certainly that is an area that could be a major focal point for the Seahawks to try to get pressure on Carson Wentz. When we come back in the third quarter and continue our Locked On crossover special, we're going to be diving into the keys to victory for both teams, looking at the current betting odds, and of course, dishing out our predictions for week one. We'll be right back. You're listening to the Locked On Crossover Series. It's that time of year again, and all eyes are now turning to football as teams are back on the gridiron to start the football season. As always, BetOnline is your number one spot for all the pro and college football action this season. Get all the updated odds, props, and contests, including online's biggest half-million-dollar NFL mega contest and the world's largest $200,000 NFL survivor contest

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and use the promo code LOCKEDON. Welcome back to the Locked On crossover special. Week one, Seahawks getting ready to face the Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium. I'm Corbin Smith of Locked On Seahawks joined by Evan Sidery of Locked On Colts. We've got this big matchup coming up for week one. Two teams that have Super Bowl aspirations.

Let's talk keys to victory. We'll start with the Colts. This is a team that's got a lot of players returning from their 11-5 squad from a year ago, but they've got a new quarterback and they've got some injuries, in particular along the offensive line. A little bit of a worry there going into the season opener. What do you think are the biggest keys for the Colts to win the season opener and move to 1-0? It's going to be a super tough task because the Colts obviously have struggled over the years in season openers, but against a team like the Seahawks, who I think might be one of the

most talented teams they've played on their schedule throughout this year, they're in the same tier, in my opinion, as Tampa Bay and Buffalo, who they played later in the year, but Seattle's going to be such a tough task for them. I have three total keys I want to hit on real quick to go from the cold side. The first one, like we talked about before, Corbin, is pressure. You have to get consistent pressure on Russell Wilson to take away the passing game a little bit. DeForest Buckner is going to be a huge factor in this one. Quiddie Paye, their first round draft pick, has had rave reviews throughout camp and preseason. He had two sacks and three quarters of preseason action.

So Paye and Buckner can wreak havoc on Wilson's blind side. I think it's going to do a lot of good things for this Colts defense to kind of counteract the potential of the Seahawks passing attack. Another one for me is Carson Wentz playing smart football. He's had 15 interceptions last year and I believe 14 games. If he can cut down on those turnovers in this offense, especially in week one where he struggled historically against the Seahawks team, it's going to do a lot of good things for this offense to maintain efficiency, to not really make bad mistakes. And that's been a thing in Wentz's DNA the last couple of years that he has to get rid of in Indianapolis. And then

the last one for me is the ground game. We've hit on it already, but you have Quentin Nelson up front. Even though you don't have Eric Fisher yet, you have Julian Davenport. He's an adequate running blocker. You also have Ryan Kelly, a Pro Bowl center. Mark Lewinsky, a former Seahawk who's been, revived his career at right guard with the Indianapolis

Colts and Braden Smith, who has locked down a huge extension for the Colts over the next four years. If they can get the ground game going, Jonathan Taylor around 20 or so carries, milk the clock a little bit, keep the ball to Russell Wilson's hands. I think that's the key to victory there. You make a low possession,

low scoring game where you keep it out of Wilson's hands. You get the pressure on him as well. Maybe force Wilson to a mistake or two with some pressure from Pey or Buckner. I think the Colts will be in good shape then. From the Colts' side, I think it's going to be a retro kind of slugfest type of game you want to get into to get the win over the Seahawks. I think you and I are going to have a little bit of carryover between our keys to victory because I think these teams in a lot of ways are very similar in style and what they want to do offensively. I still

think the Seahawks are going to run the ball plenty, and that's going to lead off my first key to victory here. I think you got to get Chris Carson going, and I'm not saying that Carson has to go out and run for 150 yards. This is a very good Colts run defense. It was top five in the league, but how can you take some of the pressure off Russell Wilson and prevent DeForest Buckner from having a field day? I think you do it in part by running right at him. I think you get that downhill run game going. I think the perimeter run game is going to be tougher against this Colts defense with Darius Leonard out there and the really good athletic linebackers that the Colts have.

I don't think this is necessarily going to be a game where they're going to be able to get that wide zone and their sweep game going. They're still going to run a few of those plays, but the downhill between the tackle run game to me is going to be very important to help open up some of those play action possibilities so that you can get DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett, Dee Eskridge, the football downfield. That is still going to be the bread and butter for this offense. Shane Waldron is going to want to run that quick strike passing game, but with the players they have, you've still got to take your shots.

That is Russell Wilson's greatest asset is his ability to throw the ball downfield. So I think you create those opportunities by getting that run game going. And again, it doesn't have to be dominant necessarily, but they need to have a semblance of a quality run game to be able to counter what the Colts have advantage-wise along that defensive line. And on defense, I think you've got to do the opposite here. You've got to shut down the Colts' run game so that you can force Carson Wentz to beat you. There are a lot of quarterbacks in this league that I would not have that same mindset with,

but I mentioned this earlier, and I say it knocking on wood here, because Carson Wentz is more than capable of being a quality NFL quarterback, but he has not had success against the Seahawks in the past. And one of the big reasons why they have been able to get into his head early, they've knocked him around. They have been able to get pressure off the edges through the interior. They've been able to blitz some and get to him. And when he gets flustered as much as any starting quarterback in the NFL, it really impacts his ability to execute. In particular, as a passer, he starts airmailing passes, just isn't as accurate, and really it just gets into his head. If the Seahawks can do that again because of who's on the opposite sideline, I feel like it's going to be easier to do that

to Carson Wentz, even with a new uniform on, because of the past lack of success that he has had against the Seahawks. I think if you get that pass rush going, it mitigates the fact that their own corners don't look like they're going to be great. And that's viewed as a question mark for this defense. You can offset that by getting that quick pressure. And last but not least, I actually think special teams are going to be big in this game because as I mentioned a little bit ago, I think both these teams are very even. I think that they both have quality run games. They have well-coached offenses. I think both quarterbacks

are capable of being really good. Wentz just had a couple of down seasons. They've got some weapons on the outside, some really good defensive players. I could see this being a game where in today's era where we see mostly touchbacks, there could be a big kickoff return or a big punt return that ends up shifting momentum in this game or even a blocked field goal. I just have a feeling that this is going to be a very close game and that a special team's miscue of some sort could end up deciding who wins the game, especially with it being week one. Yeah, I really think it's going to be one of the most entertaining games of week one. And luckily the Seahawks and Colts fans are gonna be in for a treat on Sunday in my opinion Corbin I think

they're evenly matched like you mentioned I think it's gonna come down to the fourth quarter last possession of this game we can dive right into the betting odds for this one too the Seahawks are currently two and a half point favorites per our betting partners here at Betta online and the over under is 50 what's your thoughts on that the Seahawks being a two and a half point favor on the road that seems about right to me when we get to the predictions in a minute, I'll be right in that ballpark one way or the other. I just think playing in Indianapolis, the fact that this is a really talented Colts squad that was red hot going into the playoffs last year. They've got talent on both sides of the football. I think Frank Reich is a great coach. I think they're

coached well on defense as well. It's a team that runs a lot of different sides of the football. I think Frank Reich is a great coach. I think they're coached well on defense as well. It's a team that runs a lot of different types of coverages. I think they're going to do some things that will confuse Seattle's offense a little bit. There's a lot of the uncertainty with Shane Waldron. I just feel like this, as always, week one is always a crapshoot anyway, because you just don't know what's going to happen. But I have a feeling this is going to be one of the more compelling contests in week one between two teams that truly, in my opinion, are in the upper echelon of their conferences,

have an opportunity to play in the Super Bowl come February. And so I do think that's going to be a close one. I think two and a half seems about right. I think the Seahawks have the advantage at quarterback, and so that might be what leads to that two and a half point swing being in their favor. I have still any day take Russell Wilson over Carson Wentz. And so that's why I go in with predictions here. Not to be sounding like a homer because I actually considered the Colts here because

I do respect them. I think they are a talented football team. I just think with some of the injuries they've got and the fact that number three is back under center, I just think Russell Wilson, one of the best quarterbacks in football, has got too many weapons at his disposal. The Colts are going to give a valiant fight. They're going to be right in it to the end. But I have this going down as a 25-20 game.

Seattle always has weird scores, so I've got to go with a weird one. I think 25-20, a one-score gain, just a little over the betting odds of two-and-a-half-point victory for the Seahawks. I think the Colts are going to have their moments where it looks like they have a quarterback in a new offense. They're missing a few receivers on the outside. They're missing some linemen. Seattle's a healthier football team that's got an advantage at quarterback. They've got a solid pass rush off the edge. I just think there are just enough things in their favor. They're going

to find a way to slip by in a game that could truly go either way. Yeah, I'm actually surprisingly right there with you. I'm having the Seahawks win this game on the road in Indianapolis. I'm going 27-23 right on the number of 50 for the over-under. I just think if the Colts want to have a chance this one, they have to keep in the late teens or the early 20s as far as the Seahawks score goes. And as you can see, I don't have them reaching that point. I have him going over it at 27. I think Russell Wilson is going to have a couple of magical plays that he always has. DK Metcalf, Tyra Locker are going to have a couple of sequences themselves.

I can say weaker Colts secondary, especially if Xavier Rhodes misses this game due to injury. And then also, I just think the Colts with Carson Wentz, a quarterback, he's going to have, I think, one mistake in this game. I think it's going to be a really costly mistake. I think the Colts don't capitalize in the red zone. The Seahawks will. So I think that's the big difference in this one. Just the Seahawks playing more efficient football,

less risky football in this one, like the Colts might have to do late in this game. So I'm going to go 27-23. The Colts get the ball late in this one, Corbin, but they can't capitalize, get on the field, and get the win. So Seahawks win by four in this one. I had the Colts start an 0-1 once again for the eighth straight year and then their season opener getting a loss. It's funny you bring that up because Seattle is two and five in road openers,

but one of those wins was last year in Atlanta and it was without a preseason. I think that's one of the big reasons that Pete Carroll decided, you know what, I don't have to play my starters in the preseason. So they're hoping they can find similar success in the season opener and keep that trend going. The Colts certainly have had their issues in the season opener as well. Both teams will be looking to get off to a hot start. I think it's going to be a fantastic football game. Really enjoyed doing this crossover special, Evan, and enjoy the football game. I appreciate it, Corbin. I know you'll be there in Indy covering the game as well, so appreciate it. Corbin. I know you'll be there and indie covering the game as well. So enjoy it.

I know Lucasville stadiums, a great atmosphere as well. And it'll be, it'll be a ruckus atmosphere. First time we're gonna have a full stadium for the NFL and over two years, it's going to be a lot of fun. And I can't wait to watch it on Sunday.