Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts' Anthony Richardson Much Further Along as a Passer Than Expected

Starting point is 00:00:00 Rookie quarterback Anthony Richen proved to be ahead of schedule as a passer this past Sunday. Let's get to it. You are Locked On Colts, your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast your first listen of the day. This is your daily podcast covering your Indianapolis Colts, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Today's episode is brought to you by Jace Medical. Empower yourself when you purchase a Jace case,

Starting point is 00:00:46 providing you with a personal supply of five antibiotics that treat 50 plus infections. Get yours today at jacemedical.com. That's J-A-S-E medical.com. I am Zach Hicks, your guys' favorite host here over the Lockdown Colts podcast. I'm without my best friend, Jake Arthur. Unfortunately, he is not on the show today. He's dealing with a sick child at home, so there's not really much time to record for him. So we got to wish his child the best, you know, recovering from this, this flu that she has. You know, you guys know how it is when kids get back to school. It just becomes, you know, everybody in the house gets sick. So that's how it's going right now. So Jake's dealing with all that. But you guys get me and my ADHD madness today on the Locked On Colts podcast. Today, we're going to be discussing Anthony Richardson's promising debut this past weekend.

Starting point is 00:01:35 Shane Steichen's game plan that drew a lot of complaints from fans. We'll talk about that in segment two. And then finally, we're going to finish it off by talking about the Colts defense and how they kind of had an underrated performance despite the 31 point bombardment from the Jacksonville Jaguars. But first let's talk about our boy, Anthony Richardson. That is our first segment today. Anthony Richardson quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts had his debut start this past weekend against the Jacksonville Jaguars. And honestly, look, if I told you guys going into this game that Anthony Richard was going to complete 65% of his passes

Starting point is 00:02:09 for over 200 yards passing, throw for a touchdown, plus add 40 yards rushing and a touchdown. If I just told you that without any other context going into this weekend, I feel like 99.9% of Colts fans would be more than happy with that stat line. It was a very promising day from the young quarterback. I think he did a lot of really good things out there. Sure, there's room to improve, but if we're talking about just for a first start, the way that he looked in his first ever game in the NFL,

Starting point is 00:02:38 this was as good as it could get probably. I mean, look at the other rookie quarterbacks across the league. Bryce Young and C.J. Stroud just did not have the best rookie debuts. And Richardson looked like he belonged on the field out there. I mean, given on the other side of the field, there was this superstar quarterback in Trevor Lawrence who's really coming into his own. But Richardson didn't look like a quarterback who is this 50% passer from college who just wasn't ready to start from day one. He looked like a rookie quarterback, given a rookie quarterback, but he looked like a rookie quarterback who deserved to be out there. He did a lot of really good things. And in today's show, we're going to talk about the

Starting point is 00:03:13 good, the bad, and what we'd like to see going forward from this young quarterback. So starting off with the good, you know, the pocket movement, the pocket presence for the most part was really, really good. I think there were some moments where he was a little bit skittish and he didn't really want to hang in the pocket too much. And again, that comes with just the lack of experience and lack of comfortability right now, early part of his career. But there were some really good flashes of him climbing up in the pocket, not trying to bail out the back door every single time pressure was in his face and working to get the ball out of his hand and downfield, despite moving around in the pocket and moving within the pocket. So that was a big plus. Obviously, that's an area that he

Starting point is 00:03:49 excelled at in college. Again, the accuracy wasn't perfect when he was moved off his spot. But for the most part, you know, getting that quarterback that's moving in the pocket, moving around and still keeping those eyes down the field. And then, hey, when it's not there, take off for a couple yards and get some positive traction there for your offense. Very, very positive sign to see in the rookie quarterback. But probably the most surprising thing was just the efficiency in the short game. That was an area where, again, people were kind of concerned coming into the NFL. Can he hit the layups? Can he lead an efficient offense? And yes, this Colts offense was not perfect. It was not even very good this past weekend, but he was quite efficient in the short game.

Starting point is 00:04:26 He was 21 to 25 passing under 10 yards down the field on the average depth of target under 10 yards, I believe for 178 yards and a touchdown. Obviously, that screen pass going for 39 and a touchdown makes that look a little bit better, but I think he was really efficient and really effective in that short passing game, especially on those throws where he was able to quickly set to his target

Starting point is 00:04:47 and get the ball out of his hands quickly. He was really accurate. He put the ball where it needed to be, protected his receivers at times from big hits, aside from that Alec Pierce one at the end of the first half. But yeah, for the most part, it was a really efficient short game, short passing game from Anthony Richardson in this one. And honestly, I wanted to see it be a little more cohesive in the second half. The first half, I think it was rolling pretty well. There were some really good moments, especially after those first two drives.

Starting point is 00:05:13 Then it kind of hit a bit of a road bump in the second half, and then it got back on rhythm on that last drive. Obviously a little too late there though with that last drive. So, you know, you want to see a little bit more cohesivity with that. But for the most part, the short game was rocking. He was moving well in the pocket. And we saw some good flashes on intermediate throws. You know, you guys are listening to this on Wednesday morning. If you go over to the Horseshoe Huddle YouTube channel, I actually broke down his three best throws

Starting point is 00:05:39 from this past weekend and his three best throws in the game. And they were all three like intermediate, you know, in that eight to 12 yard passing range where he was really ripping that ball out there and layering it over, over linebackers, getting it to that second level, put really good velocity on those passes, as well as really good spots on,

Starting point is 00:05:59 on just targeting those passes down the field. So they were high level quarterback plays. You guys want to check that over on a horseshoe huddle.com or horseshoe huddle YouTube channel, some really good stuff there. And then on top of that, just the rushing potential, obviously the rushing potential is there with him. You want to see a little bit more in this past game, but for the most part, he was able to get to the edge when he ran the ball. And he honestly did a good job protecting himself on most of his runs. It's just that very first run out of the gate, he took a hit they didn't need to take, and that's where he rolled

Starting point is 00:06:28 up his ankle. And then obviously those last two hits that he took near the end zone at the end of the game, he was just trying to make a play happen. He was trying to get in the end zone for his team. That's just a young kid competing a little too much. We see that with Josh Allen and Buffalo as well. It's just what these kind of guys do. But for the most part, he did a good job protecting himself. And I'm happy that he made some good decisions with the ball in his hands. So again, the 40 yards rushing, very positive sign to see. If we're talking about areas where he really needed to improve

Starting point is 00:06:55 or areas where he struggled, I think the biggest shock was how much he struggled in the RPO and the read option game. We saw a lot of decisions on just read option decisions where he elected to hand the ball off instead of pulling it out and getting to the outside. The Jaguars were basically daring Richardson to carry the ball 20 plus times in this game. And he passed up some situations where he really should have pulled it out and got a good 10 yard gain and just jumped out of bounds. I think part of it is that ankle injury kind of muddied that a little bit. I think another part of it was not trying to do too much in his first start.

Starting point is 00:07:29 He didn't want to take all the carries away from the running back, but as a result, it led to more run stops because that crashing defensive end was crashing in. He was able to stop the rushing attack early, and Richardson could have pulled those out. There were a couple read option decisions like that too where he had the numbers advantage on a bubble screen option on the read option pass or on the RPO pass.

Starting point is 00:07:49 And he just didn't pull it out and get it to that, that bubble option. Some minor things you can clean up. If that's his biggest issue is just decision-making on read option and RPO game. I'm feeling great right now. He was a little cautious overall. You want to see him be a little bit more aggressive down the field. There were a couple of times where he could have worked back to the back side and maybe attack the dig over the middle of the field but for the most part there weren't too many of those and then he was still pretty inaccurate in some moments there were some high passes when his internal

Starting point is 00:08:16 clock got sped up it wasn't perfect which we kind of expected coming into this when he got moved off his spot when he had to get to a second or third read or he was on again on the move uh the accuracy did struggle he was throwing some on the ground he threw some a little bit high but again we kind of expected that we expected that to be like a 40% passer maybe in week one or a 50% passer in week one the fact that we didn't really see too many of those issues and he was still a 65% passer in week one. I think that's a really positive thing. So I think going into next week and just going forward with this season, you want to see better decision-making on the RPOs and the read options. That's the immediate thing that can be fixed like right now. Just watch that film with him and say, hey, we need you pulling more of

Starting point is 00:08:58 these because if you don't, our running backs are going to get stuffed. But I think that's something that's really easy to clean up. Obviously, the accuracy is going to be a work in progress throughout the whole year. And then just gaining confidence in those intermediate to deep shots. You know, again, he was a little bit cautious. He kind of was a little skittish in the pocket. He moved around a little bit more than what you would like. There were some moments where he could have taken a couple more shots down the field. But again, that's just a comfortability thing.

Starting point is 00:09:25 Once he gets past this early part of the season, and he's seen that the short game is working, he's being efficient in the short game, then he can build out and build to the deeper passing game. So overall, I think this is a really solid day. If I was not grading him on a curve, I would probably say it was a C plus to B day for him. If I am grading him on a curve, because again, as his first career start as a 21-year-old quarterback in the NFL, I would probably give him an A for this game. It's what you want to see out of your young passer in day one. So very, very promising start for quarterback Anthony Richardson against the Jacksville Jaguars. Coming up though, we're going to talk about head coach Shane Steichen, how he did in his debut as the Colts play caller. But first, our partners at eBay Motors have teamed up with locked on fantasy football

Starting point is 00:10:08 host Vinny Iyer to bring you some of the best fantasy picks each week all season long. Whether you're prepping for daily draft or scouting the waiver wire, every week we're going to provide you with players that are guaranteed to fit your roster. So let's see who Vinny has picked out for us this week on eBay's Guaranteed Fit Fantasy Pick of the Week. If you're looking for a sweet matchup to exploit for a big game at wide receiver in Week 2, turn to Chargers wide receiver Mike Williams. Williams was quiet and banged up in the run-heavy opener

Starting point is 00:10:40 against Miami in Week 1, but he draws a beautiful spot against the Titans secondary, which struggled to handle any of the Saints receivers downfield, including Chris Olave and Rashid Shahid. Look for Justin Herbert to hit on at least one big scoring play to Mike Williams this week. Vinny Iyer from Locked On Fantasy Football is going to help you win your fantasy championship, and eBay Motors knows a championship team is about every player being a perfect fit. Same with your vehicle. With over 122 million parts for your number one ride or die,

Starting point is 00:11:11 you can make sure your ride stays running smoothly. Brake kits, LED lights, roof rack, bumpers, whatever your baby needs, eBay Motors has it. And with eBay Guaranteed Fit, it's guaranteed to fit your ride the first time, every time, or your money back. Plus, at these prices, you're burning rubber, not cash. Keep your ride or die alive at ebay.com slash motors. eBay guaranteed fit only available to U.S. customers. Eligible items only.

Starting point is 00:11:35 Exclusions apply. And every day, or don't worry, Jake will be back tomorrow with Crossover Thursday. He'll be talking with a host of locked-on Texans to get the lowdown on this upcoming divisional matchup with the Houston Texans. So make sure you guys are jumping on here tomorrow morning for Crossover Thursday with Jake and locked-on Texans. All right, guys, so getting into Shane Steichen's overall game plan for this first weekend's Jacksonville Jaguars, there's a very nuanced approach

Starting point is 00:12:07 I want to take to this, and I hopefully have the time to really go through this whole nuanced approach. So I know some of you guys are a big fan of that. I'm really going to dive into it now. So when it comes to grading Shane Steichen this first week, I think you kind of have to give him a grading curve as well. Yes, he has more experience in the league than in Anthony Richardson, so you have to give him a grading curve as well. Yes, he has more experience in the league than in Anthony Richardson, so you have to give Richardson his curve, but when it comes to Shane Steichen,

Starting point is 00:12:29 it's really not about the individual weeks right now as a play caller. It's more about what he's building Anthony Richardson up to be. He's not going to be throwing the whole kitchen sink at this young quarterback and demanding him to be perfect on full field reads and be perfect on exploiting defenders weak spots with rapid eye movement and all this gorgeous stuff that we're seeing from Pat Mahomes. He's not asking that from Anthony Richardson in week one, and that's a good thing. We don't want him to ask Richardson to be Pat Mahomes or Josh Allen in week one of his rookie season. The flip side of that, though, is you're going to get a fairly limited passing game of just a fairly limited passing plan of

Starting point is 00:13:10 attack. You're going to get a lot of half field reads. You're going to get a lot of throwing to the same side. For instance, you know, Richard threw a lot of passes to his right in this game. That was more so by design than Richardson not knowing how to throw to his left, like some people were insinuating it's kind of just what Shane Steichen was designing in this game it's a very limited passing attack to isolate reads for his young quarterback to make life easy so yes Richardson did a great job at setting his feet to those quick reads and and ripping them and layering passes over the middle and did a really good job being efficient in the quick game

Starting point is 00:13:43 but I think if this were like a real NFL game plan in terms of like throwing the kitchen sink at him, we would have seen a lot more struggles. So Steichen had to tailor this game plan to Richardson while also trying to win a football game. So it's a very difficult line to approach as a play caller because obviously you want to do enough to win a game, but you don't want to do that to sacrifice your young quarterback by killing his confidence early. So it was a fairly conservative play, play their game plan in this one, just to kind of ease Richardson in. There were some really, really interesting elements though. Pistol formation. We got the wing T in there a little bit. We had some QB powers out of empty and out of just bunch sets in the red

Starting point is 00:14:25 zone. I thought that red zone touchdown was phenomenal. Really, really gorgeous play design. We saw some no huddle when the offense was moving. We saw some empty personnel, some really good variations that I think Steichen's still trying to work out the kinks on right now. But again, it was a very, just not very complex game plan. A lot of the passing designs were formulaic to a degree. And I think when the Jaguars were sitting back in their deeper zones, they were able to take away a lot of those passing designs because it just wasn't too complex to really put too much stress on the defense. That's just expected right now with what the Colts have at quarterback.

Starting point is 00:15:03 And one thing I will add is when we were talking about in the first segment how Anthony Richardson made a lot of, not like a lot, but he had some poor reads on read option calls and RPO calls. I sincerely believe if Richardson makes the right reads on a couple of those calls, the Colts probably have five to six more explosive plays in this game, probably like four more big carries from Richardson, probably a couple of bubble screen catches from downs that go for 10 plus yards.

Starting point is 00:15:30 Like there were plays out there that the Colts just needed to execute and Steichen's players just didn't execute them. And Richardson being one of those players, again, a rookie quarterback, there's going to be struggles early on. And that's kind of what happened into some of those moments there. But yeah, for the most part, I think Steichen had a good game play calling. I don't think it was anything too crazy. I will say with the fourth down decisions, I know some people go crazy and say, ah, take the points, but that's very, very hindsight approach. I think anytime you're in

Starting point is 00:15:59 fourth and inches, no matter where you are in the field, well, unless you're on like your own goal line, but for the most part, if you're in fourth and inches and you have a 250 pound quarterback, a QB sneak is not a bad call by any means. That's like a 99% conversion play that just didn't convert because I don't know. It just didn't convert. A lot of things went wrong on that conversion there.

Starting point is 00:16:18 So I love the aggressiveness. I think all analytics and all just hindsight, like I think everything points to going for those fourth and short things. I just don't you guys will never convince me that you shouldn't go for those fourth and shorts, especially when you're in that that questionable territory of like 41, 42, 43 yard line. Now, there were a couple of play called decisions on those fourth downs that were just not great. You know, there were the pass play. I think that was like on the 42 or something early in the game.

Starting point is 00:16:48 There really wasn't a win there. Like maybe they should have hot routed Alec Pierce to like a slant or like a quick, quick hitter. So he could have got it. But for the most part, there really wasn't much there. And it was just a natural drop back pass. I don't want to do a natural drop back pass with Anthony Richardson on fourth and two. I just don't see the value in that.

Starting point is 00:17:06 The toss play to Deion Jackson was a very poor call. I just I don't understand doing that with the situation in that game and why we're trusting Deion Jackson to get that one yard with what's happening in the run game. But for the most part, again, I think Shane Steichen did a really good job. I think there were some good quick hitters. I think they mixed in just enough of the Florida stuff that Richardson was doing to get him comfortable again a lot of that wing tee a lot of that pistol formation stuff was what we saw at Florida with Anthony Richardson a lot of the pre-snap motion I haven't been able

Starting point is 00:17:37 to see what the Colts rank in pre-snap motion right now but I guarantee it's much higher than what than what Shane Steichen's Eagles were at last year. Shane Steichen's Eagles were like 29th in pre-snap motion last season. I guarantee they're in the top 10 or top 15 after week one. They did a lot of pre-snap motion, and that's because that's something that Richardson is very comfortable with. He's comfortable with pre-snap motion, making linebackers and cornerbacks move and identify the coverage for him. And I think Richardson was able to feast off that to some degree.

Starting point is 00:18:07 So a lot of this offensive game plan from Steichen was to make Richardson feel more comfortable and look better than probably what he is right now. So you have to tip your hat to that. But on top of that, again, it also limited the Colts' chances for victory because it was tailoring so much to Anthony Richardson. So I think you just have to take it all in context here. I don't think it was, I think I saw somebody say that it was like a Jeff Saturday-like game plan, which it wasn't. It wasn't by any means. It was very much

Starting point is 00:18:37 designed to not put too much on Richardson's plate. And again, a lot of the run game issues came from Richardson making the wrong decision on read options and RPOs. And it came down to the offensive line still adjusting to a completely new system. So there's a lot of context here, a lot of nuance in this. I do think to a degree, Steichen could have done a better job, especially in half two of scheming up quick win passing options, especially with more empty personnel and more quick win like wide receiver screens and and quick hitters to Granson and Josh Downs because of their ability after the catch but again it's week one rookie head coach rookie rookie quarterback they're trying to make things simple they're trying to keep things easy for him and then build him from there so this is

Starting point is 00:19:20 where we kind of come into our that that like, yes, wins and losses matter. But what matters more is Anthony Richardson's development, because 2023 is probably not a playoff season for the Colts. But 2024, 2025, if you get Richardson up to where he needs to be, then those could be big seasons for the Colts there. And that's what matters more than 2023, even to a degree. So it's all about being methodical and developing Anthony Richardson without burning him out early on in the season. So I think he's still trying to manage that. And I think he did a mostly pretty good, like mostly did a pretty good job with that this past weekend.

Starting point is 00:19:54 So I'm not going to lambast him for this like horrendous game plan because it was very, very strategic in this game plan. It was working things in, giving his young quarterback confidence and letting the kid do his thing out there. So overall, I think it was a solid debut from Shane Steichen. Again, could have done some things better,

Starting point is 00:20:11 but I'm not complaining. I, Anthony Richardson looked good. The Colts were competitive with a really good team and in his show. I mean, I think it was a good coaching game. So we're going to continue this conversation about the Indianapolis Colts coming up in a second.

Starting point is 00:20:24 We're gonna talk about the Colts defense and how, despite what the scoreboard says, the defense played pretty well out there. But first, everyone should be empowered to care for themselves and their loved ones during the unexpected. That's why Jace Medical offers the Jace Case. The Jace Case provides five life-saving antibiotics for emergency use and gives you peace of mind so that you are not hoping, so you're not just hoping that you have access to medication in an emergency. Jace Medical makes sure that you have the medication in hand. Jace Medical is simple. They handle everything from the online evaluation to licensed pharmacy medication delivery and ongoing consultation and care. Don't get caught unprepared. Save more than $360 by getting these life-saving antibiotics with Jace Medical,

Starting point is 00:21:10 plus an additional $20 off by using code LOCKEDON at checkout on jacemedical.com. That's J-A-S-E medical.com, promo code LOCKEDON. And guys, testing my skills on PrizePix this football season has been the most exciting way to play daily fantasy sports. If you have the skills, you can turn $10 into $250 with just taps. PrizePix is really a simple way to play that I can make my picks and submit my entry in less than 60 seconds. My attention span is that of a goldfish, so this is perfect for me.

Starting point is 00:21:44 Quick withdrawals, easy game plan, and an enormous selection of players and stat types are what make PrizePix the number one daily fantasy sports app. Go to prizepix.com slash locked on NFL and use code locked on NFL for a first deposit match up to $100.

Starting point is 00:22:00 PrizePix, daily fantasy sports made easy. Alrighty, my beautiful everyday everydayers we are back with our final segment of today's show and we're going to talk about the colts defense i know all the talk and all the love is going to this colts offense and anthony richardson that's where all of our tension really needs to be but the colts defense played fairly well in this game and i'm not ready to to crush them for allowing 31 points in this game to the Jacksonville Jaguars now again 31 points is not what you want to see you want to see that number come down you want to see them be a little bit better in red zone defense and turn some of those touchdowns

Starting point is 00:22:35 into field goals but I mean for the most part they were dealing with their own offense had their issues where they had a three and out on 63 percent of their drives a lot of the average field position starts for the Jaguars was near the middle of the field, near the 50-yard line. So they were just backed up against the wall for most of this game. There were multiple turnovers by the Colts that were backing the Colts defense up. But despite all that, I think they played really well against one of the top quarterbacks in football. The big four, the big four guys here, Zyre Franklin speed deforest buckner and grover stewart all earned extremely elite grades from pro football focus i think they were all like over 90

Starting point is 00:23:11 with their grades so like they're like four of the highest graded defenders in all the nfl right now according to pro football focus so obviously take it with a grain of salt it's pro football focus i get it but those are four defensive players that individually played some phenomenal football this past weekend and then for looking just at like the corners and looking at how the coverage was I know Trevor Lawrence had a really strong day overall but man Trevor Lawrence was completing everything like if you're watching a lot of these completions there are so many like high like high high likelihood of just not completing the pass that just were completed passes. I think NextGenStats released a video where it was like half a dozen throws that Trevor Lawrence had like an under 40% chance of completing it that ended up being completions.

Starting point is 00:23:58 Whether the Colts defensive back just missed it or it was a tight window and the receiver caught it or Lawrence just put it where the only like centimeter it could have gone and then there were a couple were just phenomenal catches by these Jaguars wide receivers as well Zay Jones touchdown catch was phenomenal positioning by uh Daryl Baker Jr. is a really good uh coverage from him it's just a perfect pass with a perfect catch what can you do against that there's just so much you can do in that. The Evan Ingram catch down the sideline against Darryl Baker Jr. as well. Sure, Baker Jr. could have got his hands in there maybe and knocked it away, but a perfect pass where the receiver was pinched all the way to the sideline with a quarter of an inch out there to make a catch,

Starting point is 00:24:39 and he's able to make the catch because of a perfect throw and catch. Like, I don't know what you can do there. Kenny Moore had a phenomenal play on that bootleg play where he pulled off of his zone, got right in the way of Calvin Ridley, and easily could have picked that ball off. But the pass came out with just enough velocity, with just enough placement to where Ridley was able to catch it as Kenny and Dallas Flowers ran into each other.

Starting point is 00:25:03 Like, it's just plays like that. These aren't coverage mistakes. These aren't examples of a defense just breaking down and losing track of a guy. A lot of these big plays were just really good offensive football, like really, really good offensive football. Now, I'm not saying the Colts were without mistakes. A couple of the rushes from the Jaguars were just too efficient and kept them on track. Trevor Lawrence did have a couple rollout plays and rollout passes where he was able to find an open receiver. But, man, for the most part, I feel like the Colts' defense played within position. They played to their scheme.

Starting point is 00:25:38 They did a really good job of holding the Jaguars at times when they needed to hold them. It's just they didn't get enough offensive help on one side and on the other side Trevor Lawrence just put together a phenomenal performance and you just got to tip your hat to that but even even then like despite that they like Trevor Lawrence gave them three plays that they could have taken advantage of there was the Julian Blackman dropped interception which you would have loved to have seen him come down with that but you know those happen you're not going to catch every single intercept to a ball. Then there was the Tony Brown interception,

Starting point is 00:26:08 which a mistake by that running back that bounced up in the air. Tony Brown gets the pick and gives the Colts offense great field position. And then DeForest Buckner fumble return for a touchdown. Of those big plays that they had a chance of making, they made two of the three of them. And in a normal game or with a Colts offense that was not in like the early phases of what they're doing, that's probably enough to win the football game or enough to have it a little bit closer towards the end there.

Starting point is 00:26:34 So I think it was a very positive game from the Colts defense. They did enough to give their Colts offense a chance to win this one. It's just the Colts offense is still trying to figure some things out. But one positive sign that I really liked was what the Colts defense did on third down and on fourth down. The money downs, what you really graded defense on are how effective they are in third down, how effective they are on fourth down, obviously, and how effective they are on the red zone. Now, again, you want to see a little bit better red zone efficiency there, but on third down, the Jaguars were three of 12. They just were really, really struggling to get those there but on third down the Jaguars were three of 12 they just were

Starting point is 00:27:05 really really struggling to get those first downs on third down especially third and short third and short the Colts defense was hounding them was just killing them in third short and the Jaguars were also one of three on fourth down as well and that's a trend that we saw last year with this Colts defense and one of the most positive trends of the Gus Bradley era here in Indy so far is just how good they have been on third downs as a defense. Last year, they were seventh in the NFL in third down defense. So this is something that we can logically assume is going to stay a strength of this Colts defense. They're going to be really good at getting teams off the field when they get them to third down. It's just making sure that these offense are staying behind the sticks and not having successful drives before they get to third down. So I do think, again, there's,

Starting point is 00:27:49 there's some things they need to clean up, but for the most part, it's as good as you're going to get against a really good offense. Again, this really good offense that the Jaguars have, they have Trevor Lawrence, who's a budding star quarterback. Travis Etienne is a really good running back, obviously. Evan Ingram, Zay Jones, Christian Kirk, oh, and Calvin Ridley, who is the number one, like bonafide number one wide receiver. It's a very, very talented offense and that's a playoff bound team.

Starting point is 00:28:12 And I feel like the Colts defense did enough to win this game for the Colts. Again, they had the big turnovers. They got them off the field on third downs. They had fourth down stops as well. It was a solid, solid game from the Colts defense. I'm not going to say that they're the 85 bears or anything here, but I think it was a really solid outing from them. And solid game from the Colts defense. I'm not going to say that they're the 85 Bears or anything here,

Starting point is 00:28:26 but I think it was a really solid outing from them. And I think if the Colts offense just was a little bit further along than where they are right now, then I think we'd be talking about a Colts victory. And that's how well this Colts defense played. So, yes, there are some concerning points on both sides of the ball for the Colts, but overall, it's a very, very optimistic week for the Colts. I'm excited that we get to see them go against the Houston Texans team next week

Starting point is 00:28:49 and really get a gauge of just where the Colts are at. So every day is, again, tomorrow, Jake will be back. He'll be talking with the host of Locked on Texans to break down the Colts' upcoming matchup with division rivals Houston Texans. So make sure you're here to listen to my guy Jake battle it out with Locked On Texans. And if you don't already, follow at Locked On Colts, at JakeArthurNFL, and at Zach Hicks too, all on Twitter slash X, whatever the heck you call it now. Also subscribe to Locked On Colts podcast on YouTube or release your podcast.

Starting point is 00:29:19 We'd love your guys' ratings and reviews. And we'll see you guys back here bright and early tomorrow morning.

Your Ad Here

Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts' Anthony Richardson Much Further Along as a Passer Than Expected

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.