Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - How the Indianapolis Colts can rebound from 1-4 start with George Bremer of The Herald Bulletin
Episode Date: October 13, 2021On today's episode, Evan and George Bremer of The Herald Bulletin go over the Indianapolis Colts somehow losing on Monday to the Baltimore Ravens. What happened in their 31-25 overtime collapse?Evan a...nd George dissect the defensive woes, Frank Reich's decision making in key situations, plus the positives from the offense. How will the Colts escape from this worst-case scenario 1=4 start to the season?This is a must-listen, as it is every Tuesday, as George goes in-depth reviewing and previewing Colts football for the Locked On Colts audience. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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You are Locked On Colts, your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast,
part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day.
Hello, everybody.
Welcome into your latest episode of Locked On Colts, part of the Locked
On Podcast Network.
I am your host as always, Evan Settery, joined by George Bremmer, the Colts B-Rite for the
Herald Bulletin on a Tuesday night, discussing a little over 24 hours ago, George, the Colts
really just had a massive epic collapse where they were up 25-9 and they ended up losing
that game.
What was your assessment of exactly how the Colts lost that 31 to 25 game
where I thought it was a game where I mentioned it last night
where I thought, quite honestly, George,
this is a season-changing moment for this team
where if they go in and dominate the Ravens like they were
and finish that game off, all of a sudden you can put the Colts
in discussion next to the Titans for the AFC South. You can put the Colts in discussion next to the Titans for the AFC South.
You can put the Colts in discussion among these teams fighting for a walker
spot down the line where the Colts, that would have just changed the entire
script of their season so far.
They would have pulled off that win last night.
And now all of a sudden with that big fourth quarter collapse,
we're right back where we started, potentially even more with the panic
that I've seen so far amongst Colts fans in the last 24 hours since then.
Yeah, I mean,
they were on their way to a big statement win against one of the better teams
in the AFC. Everything was lining up.
It was a season turning kind of moment and then just a complete collapse.
And I think there's so many things that you can point to, you know, as,
as is the case, anytime you lose a game, there's plenty of blame to go around.
I know that, you know, Frank Reich's taking a lot of heat for settling for a field goal there late in the fourth quarter.
And, you know, and then that field goal getting blocked and that leading to the tying touchdown and two-point conversion.
Obviously, Rodrigo Blankenship's under a lot of fire.
He had that
strange kind of injury. We're still not really sure what's going on with that or what that's
going to lead to here as the week rolls on. But, you know, he obviously wasn't right, wasn't himself.
They leave seven points on the field in the kicking game. That's another huge moment.
But to me, you know, those things, I'm not going to downplay them. I'm not going to
kill Reich too much because in the moment, I was thinking the same thing, and that's kind of always my way.
I try not to second guess.
I try to do what I was thinking, you know, at the moment.
And my thought process was kind of along the same line as his at that moment.
You've got the three points.
Don't do something dumb and turn the ball over.
You know, just get that field goal, get the 11-point lead.
There really wouldn't be enough time for the Ravens to come back at that point especially with the onside kick rules being changed the way they
were and then Clay's Campbell just breaks through and blocks a field goal but at the end of the day
you know there's a mentality in the NFL these days that's probably necessary that I was ignoring
that Reich was ignoring about just trying to finish games out when you can they did have a
first down at the 17, you know,
before those two runs that set up that third and eight.
And if you're a little more aggressive there,
maybe you finish in the end zone.
We're having a big different conversation right now.
I don't want to let Blankenship off the hook either.
Those were obviously huge points.
And clearly the last one goes through.
We're having a different conversation right now.
But it's still hard for me to fathom how the defense collapsed the way it did.
And I know I've heard a lot about injuries over the last few days
or last few hours here.
But to give up four straight touchdowns and two two-point conversions,
that's the kind of thing you see in an overmatched college football game.
It's not the kind of thing that should happen on an NFL evening especially not when you just need one stop to win a game so to me you know there's
a lot of places to point the blame the biggest one is that defense just completely and utterly
failing to show up the final 18 minutes or so of the game yeah it really was a big collapse by this
defense especially when you put in the context context that might have been one of the best
performances we've ever seen from Carson Wentz in his entire career.
Little have we seen so far with the Colts.
He had 402 yards, two touchdowns, 11.5 yards per attempt,
which is just an absolutely elite number for any quarterback in the NFL.
You saw Pittman have a great game, once again,
really establishing himself as the number one wide receiver for this team.
Jonathan Taylor had some special moments mixed in there as well.
Even Paris Campbell, the Cox showed up in this one as well.
And the offensive line held up pretty well to go on top of that.
So the offense really wasn't an issue, George.
With that defense, this is something we talk about, I feel like,
every single time the Colts play an elite quarterback in the NFL.
Again, it happened once more where Lamar Jackson just shredded this team.
I think many teams are picking up on if you have an elite
or an above-average quarterback, you don't have to run the ball against them.
You can just throw it against a soft zone coverage,
and you're going to complete around 80% of your passes
and go for over 400 yards, which is what Lamar Jackson did last night,
442 passing yards, 504 total yards from one person last night, Lamar Jackson.
He only had, I believe, seven incomplete passes throughout the game as well.
The Ravens in the second half just realized, hey, we're not running the ball that well,
but this Colts second year is going to keep playing soft shell against us,
and why not just take advantage of that?
And that's what they're doing now.
We've seen Russell Wilson do it in week one, and now Lamar Jackson do it in week five.
What's your assessment of what's gone wrong here?
Because every single time we've seen this against an elite quarterback,
George, it continuously keeps happening.
The definition of insanity, George,
is to keep going back and forth with the same thing over and over again.
And it's what's happening again with Lamar Jackson against an elite quarterback.
Yeah, you know, the thing is they mixed up a lot.
They didn't just stay in one coverage.
They threw the kitchen sink at him in the fourth quarter,
and I think that's another problem here.
Nothing they did worked, and that really makes you wonder what's going on back
there when you can't – you know, you played quarters.
You played quarter half.
You played your zone.
You brought blitzes.
You brought disguise blitzes.
You did a little bit of everything, and nothing so much as slowed them down,
which I don't know if that speaks to personnel,
if it speaks to what they're doing in practice during the week,
if it speaks to calling the wrong play at the wrong time.
You know, whatever the problem was,
it showed up a little bit at the end of the Miami game.
You know, when Jacoby Bursette was able to put up two pretty easy pretty quick
touchdowns at the end of that game you saw it again from the moment it was 22 to 3 with 306
left in the third quarter on the Ravens had four more possessions in the rest of that quarter into
the fourth quarter into overtime all of them in in the end zone two of them tack on two-point
conversions which is incredible when you think about it they walk away the 31 to 25 win and you know there were so many things in there that went wrong
I think if you're going to pinpoint one area that needs to improve immediately
it's that two minute defense and I think that's what you were talking about earlier
when they get into that hurry up defense defense, they tend to lay off, they don't press, they give cushion to these receivers,
and the quarterbacks are more than happy to just stand back there
and take the yardage that they're given and just go right down the field.
And you saw it four straight times, four straight drives.
They changed coverages in terms of what you know, what they were doing,
but that cushion was always there.
And it always is.
It feels like it.
It's something that they need to correct.
But it's not just the defensive backs.
It's the linebackers as well.
I mean, two of those touchdowns are passes over the middle of the field
to the tight end and both of the two-point conversions down there
near the goal line. And Bobby Okereke just has to get in there and disrupt that you know it was too easy
literally I think Anderson or Andrews was walking in on the last two-point conversion
you can't let those things happen and to see it happen so consistently and I know you know the
injuries I'm sure played a role with the
Ravens forcing the tempo they weren't able to rotate as many bodies as they could in there
but it's all three levels of the defense I mean the corners obviously have to do a better job
stick with their guys the linebackers have got to be better in coverage they've just not been
getting the job done pretty much all year long and the pass rush has to get home and maybe they
need fresher legs in there.
Maybe they need to get these guys back, get them healthy so they can rotate them in.
But I think it was just a total system failure for about 18 minutes there.
And I don't think it was really a doubt in anybody's mind.
The moment Klay's Campbell blocked that field goal,
I think everybody expected the Ravens to go right down the field
and tie the game just as they did. We're back and better than ever.
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Let's hit on the pass rush, too, because we
went on the secondary a little bit in-depth there, George,
and they definitely share a lot of the blame,
and they were just ravaged by injuries last
night as well. Xavier Rhodes went out for a little bit.
Isaiah Rogers went out for a little bit as
well. Kari Wilson, I think, was splitting reps
with Anderson Dayhill. I don't know if he's fully 100%
back from his injury as well, but what aboutis, I think, was splitting reps with Anderson Dejo. I don't know if he's fully 100% Beckett from his injury as well.
But what about this pass rush, George?
You talk about it, I feel like, every week now at this point.
They're definitely missing Quidipe, who they definitely banked on
making an immediate impact.
He's been out the last two weeks with a hamstring injury.
But I don't even know if Quidipe would have made that much of a difference
last night, quite honestly, George, because Taequann Lewis had a great game,
one and a half sacks, a couple QB pressures and hits.
Al-Khadi Muhammad had a half a sack and a couple QB pressures and hits.
The Forrest Buckner, though, did not show up much at all.
I know a lot of teams are just going to double Buckner at this point
with the lack of edge rush presence by the Colts.
But this pass rush is what the Colts built this defense on
to take some pressure off that back seven, George.
Just the front four for, I think, a month in a row now
just quite simply hasn't gotten it done.
What can the Colts do to change things up here?
Is it just hoping and banking on Quidipe coming back
and giving them some sort of jolt and a miracle there at pass rush?
Or are they in trouble here?
Because DeForest Buckner hasn't looked like a $100 million guy
the last couple weeks, but he has a lot of pressure on him
just to make things work here up front.
Kamoko Ture flashed a little bit last week.
He didn't do much this week.
Ben Banigou is not really turning in much at all anymore.
What's your thoughts here on this front four, Jorks?
I feel like this Colts unit, and the front four especially,
is starting to sink.
No, absolutely.
They're in trouble.
I don't know if there's any question about that.
They gambled that these young guys were going to develop
and that they were going to, you know, take steps forward this year
and make big plays for them, and it hasn't happened.
They let Justin Houston go.
They let Denico Autry go.
And those guys accounted – they may not have been elite players in this league,
but they accounted for double-digit sacks together.
And it was, you know, the vast majority of the sacks they had last year came from those two guys.
And then DeForest Muttner, there was a bet placed by Chris Ballard,
basically, that these young pass rushers would take step forwards,
that collectively they would get it done,
that they might not have one guy with nine or ten sacks,
but they might end up with four or five guys with four, five, six sacks.
And that, you know, the accumulation of all that would be enough.
And it simply hasn't happened.
I mean, Muhammad's been Muhammad.
He's given you what you expect from him.
He's pretty stout against the run.
He occasionally makes flashes in the pass rush.
But he's not a guy that you're ever going to expect to go out
there and be a difference maker coming off the edge and putting pressure on the quarterback.
Tyquan Lewis is a very similar player. I think he's very similar to Autry. He'll have his sacks
here and there, and he'll have flash plays there, but again, he's another guy that probably
does his best work against the run, and you needed Kimoko turi to really step forward this year and be the guy
that they think that he can be he showed some flashes of that against miami there was some
optimism he frankly looked lost last night you know he was one he was part of the problem there's
no question about that not being able to get in there and make a difference they're hopeful they're
going to get quitty payback but you know relying on a rookie to that degree is always dangerous,
especially at this position.
It takes a while for pass rushers to come along most of the time.
It's very seldom you get a Nick Bosa who comes in and, you know,
lights the world afire right away.
They usually need a year or two under their belts to learn kind of how to set
things up against pro tackles and make plays.
And, you know, relying on a rookie to this degree
always had a high level of danger.
And I think you're seeing it now.
They think, they hope they're going to get Dayo Odengo back
before the season's over.
But he's going to be in an even worse situation than Quidipe is
because he's going to be a rookie coming in with no training camp
and maybe about half a season or so left to try to get things right I don't see you know some miracle on the horizon
the only thing they can hope for right now is that when pay comes back you do kind of get that
rotation you can throw some different kind of looks in terms of style technique at these offensive
linemen and then of course the the schedule is going to get a little better,
you know, after this too.
They're going to play Tom Brady later in the season.
But I don't know if they've got – outside of him,
I don't know if they've got another elite quarterback, you know,
on the horizon.
And so maybe those things collectively,
there's a chance to build some confidence over the next few weeks.
But that pass rush is a serious problem,
and I don't think it's one that's going to go away.
Yeah, look at the schedule here.
The Colts probably play only three elite quarterbacks,
and two of those come in back-to-back weeks, Josh Allen, then Tom Brady,
and then Christmas Day you've got Kyler Murray.
So outside the rest of these games for the Colts,
only three of the games are against, I would say, top-flight quarterbacks.
So you can maybe make some hay here and make some noise
as far as trying to get that pass rush going.
But I just want to throw this question out to you, George,
because we're kind of speaking about this here and maybe seeing
if this pass rush can get itself together.
Do you think there's any possibility, George, if the Colts, let's say,
are tied with Tennessee around a trade deadline
and they feel like they need to make a move,
do you think there's any possibility that Chris Bauer gives up like a late
draft pick for like a veteran pass rush,
like a Ryan Kerrigan or something along those lines,
someone like a Justin Houston last year,
where if Trey and Banigou aren't showing you much and obviously betting on
Dio to come off in a torn Achilles to give you a boost, like a,
like a veteran would,
I think it's a big mistake to make as far as a risk at risk goes there.
Do you think that's any possibility, George?
Do you think that the culture is going to roll with what they got?
Yeah, I mean, there's always a small possibility.
You never say never in this league.
But it's not something that I anticipate.
I mean, they had that opportunity repeatedly throughout the offseason.
Even, you know, right up to the start of the season,
there were a couple guys still out there.
But guys like Kerrigan and Justin Houston were available very late in the process when they weren't going to cost you a lot and if you didn't sign those guys then
maybe you're willing to give up a draft pick now but it's I doubt it you know I think that's a move
that that had to be made a few months ago and they made the decision. They kind of cast the die at that point.
I think they're going to roll with what they've got,
and that's why I don't see really much change on that front coming.
You know, there's always the possibility that one of these young guys
that a light bulb goes off and that they, you know,
really pick things up and finish the year strong.
But that really, I think, is the only hope that you have to see things change up front
right now.
I think it's a problem area.
It's one that a lot of people could see coming.
And I don't think it's going to get fixed.
Let's hit on Frank Reich for a second, George, because obviously the offense had a really
good game last night.
But I want to hit on two moments.
I imagine your Twitter mentions are blowing up as well about these two moments.
Just the end of
halftime adjustment from Frank Reich. I know
it paid off with a field goal at the end, but
them kind of just milking the clock
and it seemed like they really didn't have much
urgency to get down the field.
They obviously got converted into a field goal late to make it
10-3
at halftime, but then the
late game situation, third and eight, a lot
of people are saying, you should have put that in Carson Wentz's hands
to officially put the nail in the coffin there,
not play conservative for a field goal there when you knew your kicker was hurt.
What's your assessment of Frank Reich in those two situations last night?
I know the first one really not is that bad because you still got a field goal
out of it, but the last one, I mean, I want to focus on more here, George.
Third and eight, with the game on the line, you're up by eight.
Do you feel like Frank Reich should have gone for the kill there,
or do you think he made the right assessment kind of banking on them
playing conservatively, taking the timeouts away from the Ravens?
Yeah, I like that on the first half.
You know, I think the offense was in a different spot there, too.
They were really still kind of – I don't want to say struggling,
but they weren't getting a lot done in that first half
as far as finishing drives.
You know, I think they had had two 10-play drives prior to that.
They came away with no points.
They had the fumble on the third down that really cost them early in the game.
It felt like they could have – they left some things on the field there.
They could have had a much bigger halftime lead than they did.
I think that probably played into them not being as aggressive
at the end of the first half.
The offense wasn't really clicking yet at that point.
Second half, you know, kind of talked about it at the top of the show.
In hindsight, absolutely, you know, go for the kill.
At the moment, I thought he was making the right decision.
I thought they were, you know, milking that clock
and getting the Ravens into a position where they were going to be hard-pressed
to tie the game.
If, you know, if that field goal comes off and it goes through, we're having a different conversation right
now.
It obviously didn't.
It honestly looked like somebody fell on the offensive line where Clay's Campbell came
through.
Looking at the replay, it looked like somebody kind of slipped.
I know they didn't get out of their break right or what happened, but he pretty much
came through unblocked as a result of that.
Kind of a freak situation.
But that being said, you know, I think if you get the touchdown there,
obviously even with the field goal, you're still banking on, you know,
them taking a little bit of time to go down and score,
and then you recovering an onside kick and being able to run out the clock.
You get the touchdown there, the game's over.
There's no question about it.
And I think, to me, though, that goes back before the third down.
It goes back to having third down it goes back to
having first down at 17 that's where if you're going to be aggressive you want to be aggressive
there you know they run twice before that to get the third day who knows you know another quick
pass or two in there maybe you're dealing with a goal line situation still burning time and still
making the ravens call timeouts but having a much better chance to punch it in the end zone.
And then, you know, if it's third and goal from the four
or something like that, you're probably much more likely
to throw the ball than you are from third and eight at the 15.
One thing Wright said today that I thought was really interesting
is that, you know, he and Wentz were kind of signaling back
and forth there right before the huddle,
and there was one pass play that was sort of on the menu in
that situation and they obviously went against it they went for the run but he said the look that
Baltimore came out in that pass play really wasn't going to work anyway and so they spent a long time
on the plane he and Carson talking about hey if we get in this situation again something similar
and we do want to pass what do we need to be looking at there? Because
they don't feel like even if they had called the pass, they don't feel like they had the right
pass play up. I think that's an interesting thing. It shows you how deep they go in their thinking.
And I think a lot of times we as outsiders, we're just looking at the end result. And if the run
play didn't work, you should have passed. If the pass play didn't work, you should have run. have run you know it's interesting because all year long they've been burnt by being too aggressive
going for these fourth downs and having them not work they finally decide to lay it up you know do
the conservative thing and kick the field goal that backfires as well but i think it shows you
just how much depth there is it wasn't just just simply, hey, throw it, be aggressive.
It's them actually saying, look, even if we are going to throw the ball, we need a better call than the one we were going to make.
That played into it.
If they had a better pass up, maybe they make a different decision there.
It shows you how much and how complicated these situations really are.
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Last point here, George, before we dive into a quick preview of the next couple weeks,
especially the Texas game on Sunday, where it's, I think, obviously, a game where you have to get back right and rebound and really
blow that team out of the water. I know they were competitive against the Patriots, but it's a game
where you should win big at home against the Houston Texans. But before we dive into that,
I want to hit on the offense real quick, George, because I think this is the most yards ever in a
Frank Reich offense since 2018. They had over 500 yards of offense. Jonathan Taylor looked like a star last night.
Michael Pittman Jr. over the last couple weeks,
really since week two, George,
looks like he's taken that leap to a potential wide receiver one star
in this league.
He looked incredible last night to me.
Carson Wentz had one of his best games of his career,
like we mentioned earlier in the show.
Paris Campbell looked great.
Molly Cox looked great.
Kylan Grant even got involved in the offense as well.
Even though they lost this game, George, this offense,
how they scripted this game, chunk shots down the field in the passing game,
taking risks, really a good running game, passing game balance.
This feels like hopefully a game, George,
where the Colts offense can go back and watch this and be like,
we should do this every single week against a Raven defense
that's legitimately a top ten unit in the NFL to go and do that against them.
This should be a building block moment for this offense,
especially once T.Y. Hilton returns, George,
and Quentin Nelson and Braden Smith for the full offensive line.
This could really be a situation where they can go
and try to play this every single Sunday.
Yeah, and you're absolutely right about the total yards.
I think it was 513, most since 2014. So not just the most for a Frank Reich offense, but the most since,
you know, they had a healthy Andrew Luck in his third season. So, and that was at Jacksonville.
That was week three of Jacksonville that year. So that was against a far less intimidating defense.
I am much more optimistic about this offense moving forward
than I am the defense.
I think, you know, one guy that really we haven't talked about a lot
and with good reason, but a big difference maker for that team
on Monday night was Matt Pryor.
He got the start at right tackle.
I think that helped solidify a problem area for them.
You know, everybody knows the struggles that Davenport had had. He went in there.
It allows them to have a little more confidence to have some of those,
you know,
longer developing plays and take some more shots down the field.
And I think that's the thing about this offense, getting healthier.
You know, Carson Wentz, his ankles are healing.
You can see that he's a much different quarterback,
even than he was against Miami night and day from Tennessee, but he was much better than he was even against Miami in his
ability to move around and make plays. That's a big factor here. You mentioned getting T.Y. Hilton
back. I think it's going to be tough for defenses, you know, when he's back to decide what to do.
I think they are starting to shade more towards Pittman now because it's four straight games with
six catches for him. That opens some things up for Paris Campbell, for Mo Alley-Cox.
But you get T.Y. Hilton out there,
and I think it's going to be even more ability to spread that field
and to take shots downfield.
You get Quentin Nelson back.
You get Braden Smith back.
You know, there are reasons to believe this offense can continue to improve.
You know, this was this was what the fifth game
uh with Carson Wentz in this system and none of them have come with all of his weapons and with
the offensive line that they expected to have in front of him and only I think three of them have
come with him actually being healthy or you know 90-95 percent of where he should be so as pessimistic
as I am about the defense moving forward,
as much as I think the problems that we're seeing there are going to be
year-long problems and they're just going to have to figure out ways
to work around them, I think the offense is definitely on the upswing.
And I think they should, and we'll see how it goes.
This season feels cursed in a lot of ways, so I'm scared to even say this.
They should just keep getting
better from here theoretically you're going to be adding pieces you're going to be getting healthier
they should just get better and better as they gel together and move forward before he closes out
George wanted to hit on the next few weeks of the Colts schedule and looking ahead with Houston game
a little bit on Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium one o'clock kickoff there the next five games George
for the Colts and the Titans,
I know the Colts are technically around two and a half games back of the Titans since they lost their first game against them.
But Tennessee, I think, might have the toughest schedule in the NFL
in the next five weeks compared to the Colts.
Might have one of the softest schedules in the NFL.
And here's the next five games for the Colts.
You have the Texans at 49ers.
It could be without Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo.
It could be Nate Sudfeld, the former Indiana Hoosier,
starting that game.
Then they play home against the Titans, then home against the Jets,
and then home against the Jaguars.
Meanwhile, the Titans play the Bills, Chiefs, Colts, Rams, and Saints.
So that's three of the best teams in the NFL.
They're going to be going against over the next five weeks.
And the Colts game is obviously going to be a tough one,
and the Saints who are really up and down each week,
but they could give them a run for their money in that one as well. I mean, this is a situation, George, where for the AFC South,
you could be looking at around Thanksgiving or at least November, where these two teams are around
500 battling for that divisional spot, because these next five weeks could be a situation where
it wouldn't be crazy to say that Colts could be leading the AFC South by them.
I think that's what's critical now about this week.
The biggest thing the Colts can't do, this loss on Monday was obviously devastating.
We talked about it right at the top of the show.
You were poised to have a statement went on the road that really turned your season around.
Instead, you have an epic collapse, soul-crushing defeat.
You now can't let that linger.
You can't let that carry over.
I think that's going to be one of the keys to this week.
Houston is obviously struggling as everyone expected them to be.
They were competitive, as you mentioned, though,
against the Patriots on Sunday.
And I think this is one of those games where you need to come out.
You need to have a fast start.
You need to take away the Texans' will to compete early in that game.
Because I think if you let them hang around and you let that doubt linger and you let sort of the aftermath of this game
bleed into it you risk you know blowing a game against a division opponent that you have to have
I mean that's I think we talk every week is this a must win Sunday absolutely is a must win
everything else that's happened up to this
point this season, the Colts can't, they have no more margin for error. They have got to go
and beat this team. And as you said, beat them probably convincingly. It should be,
you know, a pretty convincing win on Sunday. And set yourself up to take advantage of just
what you're talking about. This is a stretch in the schedule after that five-game start
that everybody knew from the get-go was going to be a terrible gauntlet.
And then when you throw in the injuries and everything else they've dealt with,
a slow start was expected for this team.
One and four is probably on the worst end of that.
But I don't think anybody expected anything more than three and two
or two and three at this point.
Just looking at the injuries and who they were playing,
now you're entering a spot where you need to make some hay.
You need to win some winnable games
and hope that some teams give you some help
when the Titans struggle a little bit
is absolutely realistic that they could get into November
very much in contention for this division.
But it all starts with this week
and somehow putting that horrible loss behind you
and getting reset for Houston on Sunday before I let you go here George because you'll be back
on next Tuesday recapping Texas game and looking ahead to the 49ers game what is your prediction
for the game on Sunday looks like Vegas has the Colts there about nine and a half points
I feel like quite honestly George this is a game where the Colts should be able to just put the
same formula in place that we saw in the first half of the Ravens game on defense and the entire game on offense.
I'm going 31-13.
If it's any closer than that, if it's like, let's say, a touchdown game late in this game, I'll be very concerned about this team moving forward.
This should be a blowout game from the beginning.
I mean, this is a motivated Colts team where you have to really show we're sick and tired of losing.
We want to go out there and just make a statement.
I'm going 31-13, and this one's pretty much over by the end of the third quarter.
What's your prediction, George?
It's funny because I think a lot of times you share your score,
and it's so close to what I'm thinking in my head.
It's kind of scary from time to time here.
I'm leaning 34-10.
You know, I think they need – again, though,
it all comes down to the start on Sunday.
I really think they need to again though, it all comes down to the start on Sunday. I really think
they need to come out in the first half and take it to the Texans on both offense and defense and
put the game out of doubt. You're talking about being over at the end of third quarter. It needs
to be no doubt about who's going to win at halftime. I think the longer you let Houston
hang around and the more doubt you let the creep in and the more you let this loss of
the Ravens linger that's where I think you get in the danger zone I absolutely agree with you
you cannot let this game be competitive on Sunday go out there get a fast start and and come away
with a win and maybe start to feel better about yourselves George appreciate it as always coming
on each Tuesday throughout the season here on Locked on Colts and And it's been a rough start for sure, one and four.
But like we just mentioned, there's a soft part of the schedule coming up where they could really make some noise here
and maybe get back in the AFC South discussion.
So go ahead and follow George Vann already on Twitter, Colts fans, at GMBremmer.
And go read his excellent work, as always, covering the Colts for the Herald Bulletin.
George, appreciate the time tonight.
Thanks, Evan. It's a pleasure. Every week.