Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - How Pro Football Focus grades the Indianapolis Colts after 0-3 start

Episode Date: October 2, 2021

On today's episode, Evan and Stampede Blue's Stephen Reed go over how the Indianapolis Colts' players have been graded by Pro Football Focus after an 0-3 start.Which players stocks are on the rise or falling rapidly?Closing out the show, we do a quick look-ahead to the Miami Dolphins on Sunday. Will the Colts notch their first victory of the season?All of this, plus so much more, in a loaded episode! 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 everyone, welcome to your latest episode of Locked On Colts, part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Today's always your host, Evan Sattery, joined by Stephen Reed of Stampede Blue. We're here to talk through this Colts 0-3 start. We're going to talk through guys who have maybe their stocks up, stocks down, dive into some PF upgrades as well as far as the best and worst graded Colts so far. And we'll look ahead to the schedule just for the next couple of weeks.

Can this season be salvaged at all? Let's go ahead and dive in to our episode today talking through exactly what's going on for the Annapolis Colts so far this year and I want to get your thoughts just on this 0-3 start because I think the first two losses maybe were expected when you see the opponents they played. Seattle has the best DBOA on offense so far this year. They have an elite offense. The Rams are the best team in the NFL so far this year for the first three weeks. And then Tennessee is always really a slugfest there. But Tennessee, Derrick Henry got going late in that game. Just a lot of mishaps from the Colts on both sides of the football. You obviously have Carson Wentz injured as well. This team feels like to me, I don't know if it's the same

for you, Steve, but I just feel like it's a lot of mistakes that we haven't seen from the Colts in the past couple of years where it's a lot of self-inflicted wounds, a lot of just miscues in the secondary. I feel like there's two or three miscues in the secondary really multiple times over the past couple of weeks in each game, and that's cost them pretty dearly. What's been your thoughts on that? And also, I think the regression from the offensive line has been a huge part of this as well because I think PFF actually graded Carson Wentz

as only 2% of his dropbacks he's been hit on so far this year are his fault. So the offensive line has regressed a little bit. Obviously, the injury is there too as well. Eric Fisher, Quentin Nelson now, Braden Smith remains out as well. I mean, that's a lot to take in. What's been your biggest takeaway so far

for this 0-3 start where I think you've seen it on Twitter as well, Stephen. A lot of people are pretty close to pushing that panic button they haven't already yeah I mean to be honest if if you talk to me like right after the game like we normally do unfortunately we're able to weren't able to get together after the game this week but if you talk to me right after the game I'm probably one of those people that my hand is hovering over the panic button but now a couple out, you kind of look at things in, in that perspective, you know, in every single one of these games, the Colts had an opportunity to win going into the fourth quarter,

if not for a mistake here or there. I mean, you, you look at it if Carson Wentz doesn't get hurt against the Rams and the way that they were moving and he had like finally gotten to a groove in the offense, they were moving the ball pretty well against that Rams defense. I have every inkling of faith that they were going to go down and score in that two-minute drill versus having to put Jacob Eason in there. So you're looking at the best team of football. They end up losing by three points.

Tennessee, you had a couple great opportunities but just couldn't close it out had some questionable officiating uh that went in Tennessee's favor every single time and playing on the road in division against the division champ it's tough so realistically like I originally thought they'd come out of these first three games going two and three or two and one. They're obviously oh and three, which is disappointing, but it's not necessarily surprising because Seattle's a great team. The Rams are a great team. If not for a couple of blown coverages against Seattle and the Rams, honestly, I think they probably win those games.

And this is a completely different story that we're talking about now. And so all you can ask for at this point is that you've seen kind of growth. There's some mistakes that happen in terms of either play calling or mental mistakes that happen usually on the defense. But overall, you kind of knew that this might be an option coming out of those first three games being 0-3. You hoped it wouldn't be. It was like obviously the doomsday scenario. But you kind of knew that 0-3 was a realistic possibility.

If they lose to Miami and then again to Baltimore next two weeks, that's when I'm hitting the panic button because you can't come out of these first five games and start 0-5. I think you're teetering on disaster starting 0-3 in terms of making the playoffs. The only good thing is Tennessee has looked beatable. They're only two games up total. You've still got 14 to play, so there's plenty of time left.

Tennessee's got some tough games going down the stretch as well. They still have to play the Rams. You still get the Colts again. So, I mean, shoot, you got a couple games right there where the Colts could pick up some games. So I'm not going to, like, slam my hand down on the panic button just yet, but it's a little concerning because there are some repetitive issues that keep going on. It makes you question kind of the coaching and some of the coaching decisions, whether it's

player personnel, play calling, or, you know, just what they're doing in terms of practice. But it's hard. The Colts have been just completely bereft with injuries at this point. And I don't think there's any team in the NFL that is dealing with the number of injuries to the important players on the team. The Colts just put out an injury report today that had, I think, 12 players listed. Nine of the 12 were with leg injuries, whether it be hamstring, knee, or ankle. And it's one of those things where you sit there and question whether the practice facility is something. Because based on NFL data that I think the Sporting News put out back in 2018,

from 2012 to 2018, there a 32 percent uh more likely 32 percent more likely chance that you're going to have a leg injury and like a pretty large percentage that was going to be knee or ankle related so you wonder whether it's training facilities and things like that that's leading to these injuries but the colts have just been really unlucky on a number of different different things. If the ball bounces their way, you know, a couple games, a couple times in a couple games, if they get the flags that the other teams got earlier in the game, I think this is – I think, honestly, if the refs called the game for the Colts like they did for the Titans,

I think we're sitting here talking about the Colts at 1-2 and leading the division in the AFC South. So that's the crazy thing right now is that they were so close on both the Rams game and against the Titans that I feel like they had an opportunity, and that's really all you can ask for. Yeah, and I agree there. There's been some bounces here and there for the Colts where they could have gone a different direction.

With the Colts, though, I do want to mention real quickly, I know some say Kirsten Wentz is at fault. He did have not a good game on Sunday. I think a lot of that was due to the ankle injury with him, and I do have to wonder how he's going to look not only on Sunday against Miami, but the rest of the way until the bye week. If this is something that hampers him throughout the rest of the year. And I think it's really going to cloud the evaluation of Carson Wentz. I mean, what's your thoughts on the Wentz situation before we dive into some PFF grades?

Because I think, honestly, we only saw about six quarters of a fully healthy Carson Wentz this year before he hurt his ankles. He didn't look at all the same in the fourth quarter of the Rams game. Same thing for as well when you see as well the Titans game where he was just on two bum ankles, really immobile, more immobile than Phillip Rivers ever was. What's your thoughts on the whole Wentz situation, them getting out? Because I feel like, honestly, it might be hurting the offense

when you put Wentz out there in that sort of situation because he relies so much on his footwork that he's not really able to do it right now. Yeah. wish because he relies so much on his footwork that he's not really able to do it right now yeah my i i was a huge once he came out that he had the high ankle sprain on one foot and then the low ankle sprain on the other um i was a proponent of sitting once uh against the titans i feel like putting him out there the trouble with putting a guy out there with such these are these are major injuries. High ankle sprain is a major injury. Normally it takes guys three, four weeks to recover from that.

And so I would have sat Wentz against Tennessee. It was a game that was going to be a tough game, division game on the road. I think it really shows the leadership and toughness of Carson Wentz going out there and playing. But I feel like the coaching staff should have stepped in there. My biggest concern with Carson Wentz and putting him out there while he's injured is that when you do that, when you put a quarterback out there, when they're injured specifically, when it's a leg injury, a lot of times they rely on other parts of their body. It's like whenever you get hurt and you

hurt one knee and then you start, you keep going about your day, like there's nothing wrong or you're trying to just work through it. And then the other leg starts hurting because you're having to put more focus. You have to do more with that other leg that you didn't have to do before. And so what Carson Wentz is doing right now is instead of relying on his footwork, he's trying to rely on his arm and his mechanics are getting sloppy, which was the biggest issue with him in 2020 and why he had the worst season in the NFL in terms of signing quarterbacks was because his mechanics fell down. If anybody saw Zach Hicks over at Sports Illustrated puts out articles regarding Carson Wentz's mechanics. And if you watch some of the clips that he put out,

it's really clear that Carson Wentz's ankles were hurting him. I mean, he didn't line up his throws, what they call is lining up the alley for his throws. His footwork was off. He immediately started drifting back in the pocket versus stepping up, which is something that you do when you feel that pressure. And like you mentioned earlier, PFF says that Carson Wentz is at fault for only 2% of his hits. Maybe it's partly to do with the offensive line in there as well. I think it's got a lot to do with the offensive line, to be completely honest. But the trouble with putting Wentz out there when

he's not fully healthy is that his mechanics will break down and it's really hard during this season with somebody that is injured to fix those mechanics because he's going to have to rely on something else and have other parts of the body kind of make up for the the parts that are lacking and I think it would have been in his best interest in the best interest of the team long term. And if they just went ahead and sat Carson Wentz for the Tennessee game and sit him as long as he needs until he gets healthy. And if people have said that I am doing that because I want to retain that first round pick in 2022. No, I want to do it because I want to see a healthy Carson Wentz.

Because a healthy Carson Wentz gives the Colts a better opportunity to win the division even if he has to miss two or three games that just gives you that chance to win the division because you've got a guy that if you watch the first six quarters he was pretty good despite getting banged up and so I just feel like putting him out there did a disservice to him and maybe he was the best option they had but it just it just seemed like putting him out there did a disservice to him. And maybe he was the best option they had, but it just seemed like they were forcing it. I didn't think that that was the best idea for him. Let's dive into the PFF grades now. We'll do worst and best on both sides of the football here.

We'll start off with the best on the offensive side so far through three weeks. Michael Pittman Jr. comes in number one on offense with a 72.7 grade. Behind him is Quentin Nelson at 69.3. Carson Wentz actually third best so far at 68.5. And then behind them, Ryan Kelly, 68.2. Jack Doyle, 68.1. And Naheem Hines, 67.9. I feel like, honestly, just based off those grading scales right there

and how the offense graded out the best players, that feels pretty spot on to me. I think Pittman has actually looked really good the last couple of weeks. Nelson obviously is a mainstay atop the best offensive players. Person Wentz has actually looked really good. We just went over for the last couple minutes. It's really not his fault for what's going on right now. It's mostly the offensive line regression from guys like Ryan Kelly or Mark Lewinsky, Julian Davenport playing a lot of left and right tackle. Eric Fisher not looking as sharp since his return from the Achilles injury. What's your assessment of those grades? I feel like, honestly, it might be pretty close to spot on. Is there any changes you make there, Steven? Because honestly, I feel like Pittman has been

really the biggest plus for me so far. He looks like a guy with 24 targets for the last two weeks. He's really settling in now. Carson Wentz is really trusting him as the number one option. He looks like if he keeps his pace up, he's going to easily clear that 100-plus target bar we talked about a couple weeks ago. Yeah, it seems like it's probably about right. Honestly, that was just the offense, or was that offense-defense? That was the top five for the offense.

Okay, yeah. That seems about right, honestly. I feel like Pittman's done well. He's had a couple issues here and there, but overall, I think you pointed out pretty well, is guys like Ryan Kelly, who's injured, and it's very clear that he's got that left elbow injury, because you'll see defensive linemen stunt and twist, so they get onto that left side of him, and he just can't follow and keep that hand out and lock them out with that arm. So, you know, you've had these injuries, everything like that,

but in terms of those top grades, yeah, I mean, I don't have any complaints about that. I think Carson Wentz has played pretty well, all things considered. And Naeem Hines, I think, has probably been the best running back they've got. And so that all makes sense. Naeem Hines averaging 6.5 yards per touch through three weeks, which leads the NFL for all running backs. Obviously, I think the Colts are getting a more featured each week,

which is a good sight to see. Let's put her to the other side, the worst graded offense players on PFF so far through three weeks. And no surprise here, this might be why the Colts are 0-3, but all the offense players. Davenport. Yeah, Julian Davenport. It's all offensive linemen here.

It's Mark Lewinsky, 43.4, Julian Davenport, 47.4, and Eric Fisher, 54.1. So your three worst players on offense and PFF grades are all offensive linemen all starting off right now as well with Braden Smith being out that feels around the money too because Glowinski I think his regression has been pretty bad so far this year he's had some really rough matchups going against some guys like Aaron Dahl more often in week two Jeffrey Simmons a lot in week three as well Julian Daport thinks a lot over 15 pressures and his starts as well and Eric Fisher looks pretty rusty. He got pretty manhandled pretty bad against the Titans on Sunday. He did not have a really good game at all.

So, I mean, that kind of lines up with the Colts having three, the three worst players on offense so far being offensive linemen. This team is built in the trenches. Might be one of the main reasons why the Colts are struggling so bad is for the offensive line, the regression guys like Glowinski and like Eric Fisher. Yeah, that doesn't surprise me. Glowinski, I honestly thought Glowinski has kind of fallen off for the past couple years, so this isn't super shocking. I will put the one caveat on there, and you and I briefly talked about this before we jumped on. I have a hard time judging offensive linemen in terms of grades because we don't know exactly what the blocking assignments are uh gluinski like you said though

had a really tough matchup um versus aaron donald and jeffrey simmons who i think are two of the top probably 10 uh defensive linemen in the nfl um and then i mean, Julian Davenport has just been, it's been so bad with him is no matter where he's at, either left tackle or right tackle, defensive coordinators are spotting him and putting their best pass pressure on him, knowing that they can, if they don't get a chip or a help from a running back, those guys are going to be able to get pressure on Wentz and with Wentz's ankle injury if he starts to float back and drift out of the pocket like he had he did against Tennessee Julian Davenport's like putting the defensive end like right in path for Carson Wentz or Carson Wentz is putting himself in the path of the defensive end because Julian Davenport's trying to get him outside and

trying to you know bend him around that corner um keep him out away from the quarterback and just let him run past but if Carson Wentz is drifting back in there it causes a bigger issue but it's not super surprising to see the the offensive lineman there uh one two three is the worst created by PFF that's not That's not shocking at all. Hey, Colts fans. This is Evan Sider with an incredible app everyone buys gas needs to know about, GetUpside. My listeners are making up to $0.25 a gallon of gas every time they fill up. Just download the free GetUpside app in the App Store or Google Play right now

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diver to the defense best and worst because this is something that i haven't talked about you on the podcast i want to get your thoughts on because it's kind of confusing me why frank reich is doing this but why do you think especially I noticed a lot more against Tennessee it was almost every possession the Colts offense on the field it was a different right tackle out there it was Matt Pryor and Julian Davenport switching off possessions for the Colts why do you think that is I don't know why I mean obviously you want to get some sort of chemistry the offensive line Julian Davenport struggle Matt Pryor really has done pretty solid he's done actually a lot better I think than Julian Davenport at right tackle.

You have to wonder, maybe it's because he's learned the playbook on the fly. He was acquired right from the scene and started. That could be the reason why they're splitting reps right now. But it's kind of confusing me why they're really going almost a 50-50 split in week three with Davenport and Pryor, why not just roll with Pryor? What's your thoughts on that? I have no idea. I mean, you would think that they would want to continue to have just one guy go to try to build up that chemistry because that's one of the reasons why the Colts

offensive line was so good back in 2019 was because they had chemistry. They had the same offensive line throughout the entire season and most of 2020. And so it's really confusing to see why they're doing it. Maybe just spitballing ideas here. Maybe he's trying to see if somebody really takes a hold of the job because you don't get a lot of practice reps during the season in terms of just live contact live drills and so maybe he's trying to see if somebody just really shows out and then at that point it's kind of like what they would do with the running backs you go with a hot hand um and then maybe maybe like you're right it's matt prior's learning the playbook on the fly and he's trying to give him some some live game snaps just to see if he can handle it while Braden Smith's out.

Yeah, it's confusing. I don't understand it. I figured they would just pick which guy they think is the best player and send him out there and go. Let's go now to defense. The top players on PFF's gradients go through three weeks. A couple of these guys really rocketed up the list past this Sunday with really solid performances.

Number one on the list is actually Taequann Lewis for best Colts defenders at 79.5. He's splitting reps with Al-Qaidi Muhammad. He hasn't really done much, so I don't know why his grade is that high, but I could see maybe him winning some rush situations, and that could be the reason why his grade is that high as it is. Number two is Quidi Pei at 74.2. Number three is Rakia Sin at 73.2.

He had a really solid game against Tennessee. He really has actually held pretty well the first three weeks of the season, which has been really surprising to me. Maybe a good sign that Rakia Senn is taking some sort of leap forward here in his third season. And after that, it's Darius Linder at 70.1, which I personally don't agree with. I think he's had those splash plays.

He had the interception on Sunday. He had the forced fumble as well. But outside of that, he's really struggling, in my opinion. DeForest Buckner is actually the next player on the list, I believe, at 66.9. I feel like, honestly, those two guys should flip grades, if more, sliding Leonard down further down the board, in my opinion. I think Buckner should be one of the best defenders graded so far. So just really quickly to recap, Lewis, Paye, Yassin, and Leonard

are the top four graded Colts defenders so far. What's your thoughts on that? I'm kind of in the same boat. I mean, with Lewis, I can see it just because he's so disciplined against the run. That was one of my big faults with Al-Kadhi Mohammed is that he was getting the early downs and he wasn't keeping contained. And so that was a huge issue for me because, you know, those early downs are run downs. And if you can't keep contained, your offenses are able to gash you for six, seven yards on a run to the outside.

And if you're not doing your job, it costs everybody. The Leonard one is a little confusing because I'm with you. I love Darius Leonard. I think that he is a little confusing because I'm with you. I, I, I love Darius Leonard. I think that he is a great player. Um, he's hurt right now and it's pretty clear to everybody that's watched him. He's injured right now. He's had, like you said, a couple of those splash plays with the interception and the forced fumble.

Those are obviously huge plays and he gets credit for those. But when you look at all the other plays that he's really – it looks like he's been a step slow. And maybe they don't grade in terms of how quickly he gets there versus him just kind of getting there. So it's interesting that he's that high. I would have thought that DeForest Buckner would be much higher on this list. And I think it's awesome that Rock is that high,

because that's, I'm in the same boat. I think I feel like I've said that now three times, but with Rock, he's steadily progressed and he's done better each time he's been out and really that's all you can ask for from a guy now going into his third year really it's it's really his prove it year for him like and something that we talked about prior to the season is if he can't get it all together then he's probably going to get cut or traded and with with how he's looking now it's I'm really confident in rock going forward I was confident in rock leading up to it that he would be able to take that cornerback two job um but at the same time there was there was obviously some hesitation but he's shown that he's been consistent uh and that's all he said that's all you can ask for from a cornerback is that you don't hear his name called very often

because that means offenses aren't going over the top and taking advantage of him and he's not getting called for penalties. And so far he's been able to avoid a lot of those penalties this year that's really plagued him in the past. Real quickly, because obviously Rock does rank number one amongst defensive backs so far this year for the Colts as far as PFF grades but I think on the field as well it shows that Rock I think has been the most consistent guy in that in that secondary do you agree with that assessment that I think Rock's probably the most steady guy surprisingly enough back there so far this year because he was a guy to me that I thought if he has a bad training camp might not be on this

roster anymore but he's actually proven to be, so far, surprisingly, again, one of the more reliable guys in this back seven. Yeah, I'm a little surprised. I would have expected Kenny Moore to be much higher, or, for example, Julian Blackman or Kyrie Willis. Quite honestly, any of the other starting four DBs, it would not have surprised me if they were higher than Rocks, so I think it really is a testament to how hard rocks worked um and how how much he's done because you've got some really quality defensive backs there in the cold secondary with with kenny moore and xavier rhodes and julian blackman those guys are all probably going to be pro bowlers at some point in their career once they end up giving a slot corner a position in pro bowl voting.

I think Kenny's going to get there, but everybody else, I it ingrained in their head that that is the truth, even though that is their truth. Because even though the play on the field gets better and better every week and he grows and shows growth and everything like that, people will always doubt you. If you can start the season really hot and continue to keep that rolling, it's going to help him acquire a lot of those critics. Let's go now to the worst PFF grades on defense for the Colts so far this year. No surprise, everyone else except Rock is not great at much, really good at all so far. Curry Willis is actually the worst grade of Colts defenders so far this year, 41.1. Xavier Rhodes is right in

front of him with his debut on Sunday, 41.2. Isaiah Rogers is 43.2. He's actually a new serve, TJ Carey, in the defensive backroom. TJ Carey did go on IR earlier today, so that might be the reason why he played so much on Sunday. Then you go to Kenny Moore, 48.7. Homoko Ture is at 49.5. He's really not flashed much at all outside of a snap or two so far since returning from his ankle injury even back then and during the 2019 season. He hasn't been the same. And then you have Zaire Franklin, 50.3, and Bobby Okereke, 53.1, rounding out a really, really bad grading scale for this Colt Back 7. That's all linebackers, all secondary guys, and then you have Kamoku Ture in there as well 49.5 that feels like it's pretty

spot on to me too the secondaries has been flat awful outside of Rocky Sin and Julian Blackman kind of being your steady guys back there and Bobby Okereke has not looked good so far this year Zaire Franklin has not been disciplined as well in the run game and you have Kenny Moore who's actually gotten beaten a few times he's had some tough matchups though you had Tyra Lockett week one Cooper Cup week two. Chester Rodgers being in last week was kind of a tough pill to swallow because obviously a former Colt getting Kenny like that was not good to see. But a lot of cornerbacks, a lot of linebackers here on this list.

Any surprises to you? I mean, I'm not surprised that all those DBs are on there, given how they've played so far this year. We talked about the DBs and saying that, you know, all those guys are better than Rock in terms of, like, what they've proven in the past. They haven't been that this year. And I think it's good to point out, though,

that Kenny has gone up against probably two of the most elite slot wide receivers in the NFL right now. Tyler Lockett, in my opinion, is probably the best slot receiver in the NFL. And then Cooper Cupp is right there in the top five. And you know that those guys are going to be tough. And another part that's tough is the Colts play a lot of zone coverage. And so, you know, you have all these coverage grades, and it's tough to see, you know, who's at fault for different receptions,

different tackles, everything like that. You know, I am surprised that Bobby Okereke is down so low. I thought he hasn't been necessarily great, but I wouldn't put him bottom five, bottom six in terms of the defense. Guys, I am surprised that – I guess I am surprised, but I'm not surprised that they're not down in the bottom five. Al-Fadi Mohammed, he had not a great first two games, but then played really well. Kind of like Carson Wentz.

The flip side of Carson Wentz is he had not a great first six quarters and then played really well the last six quarters. And so I think that probably has boosted his grade. But, yeah, the Bobby Okereke being that low is a little bit surprising because I don't think the linebackers have been necessarily terrible. It's just rough right now on this defense because they really have been shredded on the back end. So, like, the defensive backs being graded so low does not surprise me at all. It just, it feels like Xavier Rhodes might be falling off the cliff now.

Chris Ballard's got to figure out something in that defensive back room because they're dealing with injuries. They're dealing with all sorts of stuff and it doesn't seem like it's going away anytime soon. Did you know that Bilt Bar has so many delicious flavors? There's something for everyone with Bilt Bar. They have really just incredible flavors. I've had every single one so far, and it tastes nothing like a protein bar.

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Derek Stingley from LSU if they get a top 10 pick somehow. I think he'd be a perfect guy to throw in that secondary to get your alpha corner on an island there to replace Xavier Rhodes. But we'll obviously cover more stuff as we get later on the season about the draft. Of course, we're only three weeks in, but let's dive in really quickly, close out the show to, I think, an important stretch of games kind of for the Colts because they're 0-3. They have a huge matchup, potentially season on the line on Sunday when they play Jacoby Bursette and the Miami Dolphins in Miami the Dolphins are one and two obviously the Colts are oh and three if they fall to oh and four I am officially pushing that panic button I'm officially ruling

out this team really making any sort of noise this season they're probably out with Quinn Nelson on Sunday same for Braden Smith Quitty Paye likely won't play on Sunday either after re-aggravating a hamstring injury that's pretty crucial for a pass rusher. So you're missing some key guys on Sunday. And I have a lot of guys in the injury report that I covered earlier in the show as well. Outside this Miami game, though, I think a really critical stretch of games after Miami. At Baltimore, home against Houston. At San Francisco, it looks like a really good team this year.

And then home against Tennessee on Halloween. So that is a five-week stretch I think's going to decide the season because after that's the Jets and Jaguars and then after that's the Bills and Buccaneers so I think these five teams upcoming are kind of in the similar tier as the Colts if you want to put it that way Houston's I think it's an easy win but the other four games Dolphins, Ravens, 49ers, Titans that's really going to tell us how good this Colts team is if it was really just a slow start or if this team has really regressed and fallen off a cliff this year throughout the entire 2021-22 season. What's your thoughts heading into Miami, Stephen,

but also this really important month-plus stretch for this Colts team where I think we're really going to truly find out if this team can bounce back or not. I think you're right. This next five games, it's going to determine how this season goes. I mean, I know that's cliche to say because obviously the games decide how the season goes. But if they come out of this opening stretch in their 0-5, that I'm pressing the panic button.

Now, I do think that Miami is beatable, especially with Jacoby Jacoby at quarterback. I don't fear them necessarily. Baltimore is beatable. I mean, shoot, it took a Justin Tucker 66-yard field goal that bounced off the crossbar and through for them to beat the Detroit Lions. So Baltimore is beatable any given Sunday. And then you obviously like like you mentioned you have Houston and then you've got San Francisco and Tennessee if these next five games it's gonna gonna determine it if if they end up not if they don't win the majority of these games, if they don't at least go three and two through these games,

then the division might be quickly getting out of their, their view. Um, and if that starts to happen, you're going to start seeing some guys put on IR that maybe they have just minor injuries just to try to keep them from getting anything major. You'll probably see them, you mentioned earlier about the Colts looking at going with Stingley there from LSU, a corner in the top 10. The Colts are anywhere near the top 10 draft picks going into week 11 and week 12. I think Chris Ballard shuts Carson Wentz down and just keeps that first round pick because he'll need it. And if you want to get a shutdown corner or you want to get a left tackle prospect, you need to have that top 10, top 15 pick. And there's no way that

Chris Ballard will want to give up that valuable of a pick just to potentially, you know, finish two games out of the division and not make the wild card. It just seems like these stretch of games, specifically the next – I honestly think it's probably the next four games that are going to make the difference. But, yeah, that Tennessee game is huge. The Colts have got to split this split the series with tennessee so you've got to at least go two and two out of these next four games and then win it

win against tennessee if if you can't do that and you go two games down to tennessee and lose that lose that tiebreaker of the head-to-head tiebreaker yeah you you can pretty much kiss the division goodbye um at that point and that's it sucks because it's like halloween so it's by then you already know you you're out on it but yeah it's they're all winnable games don't get me wrong they're all winnable games but it's just if they lose them kind of like these past three you know they were all winnable games they were in it at the end it's just play calls weren't right you know players made mistakes officials were inconsistent you know sometimes the ball just doesn't bounce in your favor and that happens again a few times in the next couple games Colts are going to be in a rough spot.

Yeah, I think, honestly, what makes this so important, especially Sunday's game, because I'm looking at Tennessee's schedule right now, and somehow, someway, the Colts could still be in this if they even have one or two wins the next couple weeks because Tennessee's schedule, they're probably going to be 4-1. They play the Jets and the Jaguars. But after that, they have a five-week stretch where they could lose every single game yeah it's like kansas city and like it's kansas it's like kansas city the colts buffalo and it's like it's a murderer's row for them and i think i want to say it's the rams

in there as well like it's a really tough schedule for tennessee right there in the middle that their their middle middle part of their schedule for Tennessee right there in the middle that their their middle middle part of their schedule might be the hardest in the NFL yeah it is the Bills Chiefs at Colts at Rams home against the Saints so yeah there it is if the Colts want to somehow get this going I think they have to win on Sunday because if you go down oh and four I think you're gonna be oh and five if you go to Baltimore and lose that game. There's no way you can get back into this, but if you're 1-4

and Tennessee loses four of the next five games after they're 4-1, it could be both teams around 500 around October, and you could be in a real discussion of eight wins might win this division this year, which is just shocking to say, but it's probably going that direction how bad Houston and Jacksonville are.

But, Stephen, any closing thoughts here before we end today's show, just looking ahead to Sunday's game against Miami and also just the season kind of being on the brink already? Yeah, you know, keep your head up, guys. I think that, you know, if they can get some of the play calling cleaned up and don't make as many mental mistakes. I think the team will be okay. But if they end up losing to Miami and then potentially lose the Baltimore, they dropped to Owen five.

Don't be surprised to see some, some changes made in terms of personnel. As always Colton's appreciate listening in today on locked on Colts, but go ahead and follow us on Twitter at locked on Colts. We do great stuff over there daily on Twitter, but also go ahead and follow us on Twitter at Locked on Colts. We do great stuff over there daily on Twitter. But also go ahead and follow Stephen as well at Nice Reads. Stephen goes to his podcast as well over on Stampede Blue. Stephen, appreciate your time tonight.

Thanks, Evan. Have a good one.