Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts' Anthony Richardson Saves the Day with Game-Winning Drive vs. Patriots

Episode Date: December 1, 2024

Indianapolis Colts QB Anthony Richardson led a game-winning, 19-play drive in Foxborough to beat the New England Patriots, 25-24, in Week 13. Richardson was far from perfect but his clutch gene showed... up again late. His three TDs (and key two-point conversion) were the ultimate difference maker in this game. The Colts have a lot to get right during the bye week, but it's nice to finish with a win. Become a Locked On Colts insider! Ask your burning questions and get prompt answers from someone who's around the team every day! Get special access from the locker room, practice field, and press box! JOIN HERE! Find and follow Locked On Colts on your favorite podcast platforms:🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/podcasts/locked-on-colts/📺YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLdpxJspi1hMh5HL7ExpWOQLocked On NFL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft & More🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/podcasts/locked-on-nfl/ Follow Jake and Zach's written work on HorseshoeHuddle.com, and give them a follow on Twitter @JakeArthurNFL, @ZachHicks2, @LockedOnColts, and @ColtsOn_SI, as well on TikTok and Instagram! Today's episode is brought to you by Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Omaha SteaksFrom legendary steaks to mouthwatering desserts and more, save 50% off site-wide for a limited time at OmahaSteaks.com. Plus, our listeners get an extra $30 off with Promo Code NFL.IceShakerCreated by and used by the Gronkowski brothers, IceShakers has sold over 1 million bottles.  They have changed the game with workout bottles, and this is the gift you’ve been looking for… go to IceShaker.com and use the code LOCKEDONNFL at checkout to save 25% on your order.Skylight FrameGet $20 off a Skylight Frame when you go to SkylightFrame.com/NFL.Mint MobileTo get this new customer offer and your new 3-month premium wireless plan for just 15 bucks a month, go to Mintmobile.com/lockedonnfl.  Cut your wireless bill to 15 bucks a month at MINT MOBILE dot com slash lockedonnfl. Disclaimer: $45 upfront payment required (equivalent to $15/mo.). New customers on first 3-month plan only. Speeds slower above 40GB on Unlimited plan. Additional taxes, fees, & restrictions apply. See MINT MOBILE for details.Hillsdale CollegeAll of Hillsdale’s courses are self-paced so that you can start whenever and tune in wherever. Plus, you can go deeper with readings, quizzes, discussions - or just enjoy the lectures. Go right now to hillsdale.edu/lockedon to enroll. There’s no cost, and it’s easy to get started.PrizePicksDownload the app and use code lockedonnfl to win $50 instantly when you play $5. You don't even need to win to receive your $50 bonus; it's guaranteed! Prizepicks. Run Your Game.Click Here: https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONNFLGametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms Apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.FanDuelYou can start the season with a big return on FanDuel. New customers can place a FIVE DOLLAR bet, and you’ll get started with ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS - if you win your first FIVE DOLLAR BET! Visit FANDUEL.COM to get started.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as non-withdrawable free bets that expire in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)

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Starting point is 00:00:00 the Anthony Richardson clutch gene shows up again as the Colts get the game-winning touchdown in Gillette against the New England Patriots. Let's get to it. You are Locked On Colts, your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Thank you all for tuning in and making us your first listen of the day. This is your daily podcast covering your Indianapolis Colts, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Today's episode is brought to you by GameTime. Download the GameTime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase.
Starting point is 00:00:45 Hello, everyone. My name is Zach Hicks, your resident film nerd over at HorseshoeHuddle.com. And my partner, as always, is Jake Arthur. Our credentialed Crocs on the ground there for the site as well. I'm going to have to send you some Crocs for Christmas here, Jake, just so we can make that work. Crocs or shocks, you know. Yeah, Crocs or whatever. Back in the 2000s. Wheelies on the ground or something, or Heelys on the ground.
Starting point is 00:01:05 That's what I'll do. But guys, we have a fun, fun game to talk about. It was not a fun afternoon for us watching this game by any means, but it was a fun finale in this Colts victory over the New England Patriots, 25-24. So today we're going to talk about how the Colts defense faltered big time in this one. It was a big reason why it came down to that final drive. We'll talk about how the Colts offense was a little bit sporadic, but the run game came alive. The offensive line bounced back big. But first, let's kick off today's postgame show
Starting point is 00:01:34 with Anthony Richardson. And Jake, before I kick it to you, I do want to put, take the rose colored glasses off for a second, take off the fan gear and everything for just a second here and say, this was not a perfect game from anthony richardson like all games are with anthony richardson there are misses there are miscues he had two interceptions in this game first one was a great play by the defense and trap coverage that richardson just didn't recognize second one was just late and threw it behind his receiver uh and and we all thought that was kind of the game when he threw that second interception you even wrote your post game article the second that second interception happened um so not a perfect game from anthony richardson still 50 completion
Starting point is 00:02:13 percentage had 150 total yards on offense he didn't really touch the ball much but again it wasn't a super productive day but that final drive from anthony richardson we have seen him do this a lot in the NFL I mean through 11 games that he has started and finished he's had what four fourth quarter comebacks two of which had led to wins two in the past three games have been led to wins we have the Rams game from last year the Houston game in week one this year this kid steps up late games no matter what's happening around him no matter what has happened earlier in the game, when the game matters most and you give him a chance to go down
Starting point is 00:02:50 and tie the game or win the game, this kid steps up. And this is why it's so hard to quit Anthony Richardson. You have the misses, you have the interceptions, you have the miscues, but this kid has so many good things. He doesn't take sacks. He delivers explosive plays.
Starting point is 00:03:05 He has a great running threat and he has that clutch gene. So, I mean, I'm, I'm so torn on him because there are reasons to be out and be discouraged, but then he goes out there and does things like this. It's like that dumb and dumber quote, you know, you know, just when I thought you couldn't get much dumber, you go out and do this and totally redeem yourself. I mean, it was totally redeemed on that final drive. An ugly day from the Indianapolis Colts from drops to penalties to turnovers from Richardson to the defense playing like they forgot how to play football. And it gets salvaged because their quarterback goes down the field, scores a game-winning touchdown, converts the game-winning two-point conversion. And that, I mean, it kind of changes the whole dynamic of this game.
Starting point is 00:03:49 So Anthony Richardson, man, I just can't quit him. I can't quit him. Like, he does things like this. He has that clutch gene, baby. And we saw it in this one. And it gets you excited about what he can be. I don't know if you'll ever get there, man. But he's got some things. He's got
Starting point is 00:04:05 some good things here. Jake, what were your thoughts on Anthony Richardson today? Yeah, I'm damn near to the point where I'm good to go with him into next year. You know, obviously with the benching, like there were problems with the benching, whether it was deserved or not, like there were problems. His game was at rock bottom. Everything was ugly. If there were questions about finer details of what it takes to be a quarterback, that was concerning. But now he has shown us things consistently now in the three weeks since he's been back that you cannot just go find in every quarterback. He can win you a game in the fourth quarter. You can win because of him. He can drag your team along. He avoids sacks. He was only hit twice in this game,
Starting point is 00:04:52 not sacked at all. If you look back at these few games, how many sacks does Joe Flacco take versus what Anthony did take? You know what I not not every quarterback is is built the same there um the completion percentage as long as the passing game is designed this way quite literally never will be pretty it's just not going to when you look at anthony you're really going to want to look at yards per attempt that's going to be the more accurate gauge because it at least kind of brings that average around um and his was four and a half today, which is not great because the passing game was, it was rough. Like his numbers again were rough.
Starting point is 00:05:31 But if you, if you look at everything in that fourth quarter, again, 19 play drive, he himself converted three fourth downs in that. Incredible. We saw all the gems he was throwing downfield. A.D. Mitchell drops that ball that was perhaps a touchdown or gets them down into the five-yard line. Kylan Granson, tight ends are ghosts on this team. They do not exist unless you're Mo Alleycox,
Starting point is 00:05:56 which it's like, do you want your best tight end to have that limited of a ceiling? But it doesn't matter. Drew Ogletree redeemed himself a little bit. He didn't get an opportunity for a touchdown, but he did everything he needed to in this one. But then Alec Pierce, like, I don't really blame anyone for that one. Like it was catchable, but that would have been a really, really hard grab. But Anthony was dealing late in the game and you see what it looks like and how those numbers can just kind of spiral when guys aren't catching those catchable balls. But no, I'm,
Starting point is 00:06:28 I don't need to see a whole lot more to be bought in for him being the guy next year. Again, it's like, I think part of his game will get smoothed out a little bit, but even if it never does, he's doing enough to where guys around him, if they just do their part, it, the product looks better. And I just don't know if you risk losing the it factor things that he brings to the table. Sack avoidance and the ability to rise to the occasion late in the game. Again, you cannot
Starting point is 00:07:01 just find that in everybody. Fr franchises go decades without being able to find that and you luckily found it in this kid who is super scattershot in his game like he has some pretty low lows still and some really high highs uh but i i think he definitely just keeps buying himself equity and and how much time he has to to developed. Yeah. And I will say this. I don't think he's been perfect these last three weeks by any means, but it has felt like a step up these last three games than what it was early in the season. Again, you're seeing more of the clutch gene from him in these past couple games. Unfortunately, we have to get these situations where the clutch gene has to come out,
Starting point is 00:07:40 but we are seeing it. He's not really sailing too many passes. I mean, a little bit when he's pressured and moving out of the pocket, but I think he has controlled some of these misses to where, you know, a lot of these misses last couple of weeks have been more so from his depth of target rather than, you know, depth of target and sailing the pass. So he has been better and more controlled there. The decision-making aside from the late throw to Pierce today, I think has been much better these past couple of Pierce today, I think has been much better these past couple of weeks. So I think if we got what we've seen these past three weeks from
Starting point is 00:08:09 Richardson all season, we would be in a much better place in terms of our evaluation on him, but we can't just ignore everything we saw early in the season. So I get some of the drawbacks and the concerns, but again, like you and I have kind of said here in this first segment, you have a guy who does some of these difficult things at quarterback at such a high level that it's so hard to quit him. It really is. Because really what it comes down to him is can he consistently hit the layups and consistently find the layups? And can he calm down a little bit under pressure and be a little bit more calm just in general in the pocket. If those things click for him, this is a very good quarterback. Like those are the only things he's missing. He has the sack avoidance. He has the rushing threat. He has the clutch gene. He has
Starting point is 00:08:56 the big play ability. He has all of it right there. It's just can those two essential aspects of playing quarterback in terms of just being relaxed and calm back there and not forcing things and finding the layups and hitting the layups and keeping the offense on track. If he can do those things, he can be the quarterback for the Colts. But I do think everything we've seen these last three weeks from him has been a big improvement. Again, you love seeing him finish games the way he has in this last three-game stretch. And the Colts are 2-1 in this stretch, with their only loss being to the best team in football, the Detroit Lions. So it's a positive showing from him these past couple weeks.
Starting point is 00:09:34 And hopefully he can keep building on that, keep stacking positive showings, and finish strong this season. But stepping aside from Anthony Richardson and his late-game heroics, we have the rest of the offense to talk about. Some good, Alec Pierce, the offensive line, Jonathan Taylor, and some bad, Kylan Granson, A.D. Mitchell. You know, some spurts of bad play. You know, we're going to talk about that here coming up in just a second. Hey, Locked On Colts fans. If you're like me and your holiday shopping list is, let's just say it, far from complete,
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Starting point is 00:12:02 And for me, working retail, doing the podcast, covering this Colts team who always falters late in the season, you know, I luckily have a great support system at home with my wife and my dog and just something I can step away from with all these hectic times and just hold up close and enjoy these winter months. But how do you guys stay cozy during the winter months? For some, wrapping up in a blanket with a mug of hot chocolate or watching a movie with the family is the best way to spend the month of December. Therapy is also a great way to bring yourself some comfort that never goes away, even when the season changes.
Starting point is 00:12:34 Guys, I have been very open on here about my struggles with social anxiety disorder, anxiety in general, and even ADHD. You guys can tell on this podcast, I struggle with ADHD regularly. If I hear something in the distance, I am looking over there while Jake's talking. But I have used therapy before as a crutch, as a way to get back on track, and as a way to straighten out some things that have been going awry in my life. If you guys are thinking of starting therapy like I have in the past, give BetterHelp a try. It's entirely online, designed to be convenient, flexible, and suited to your schedule.
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Starting point is 00:13:34 move to six and seven on the year, basically in the thick of it when it comes to the playoff race here in the AFC and a huge, huge win for Anthony Richardson. Let's talk about the Colts offense around Anthony Richardson real quick, though, Jake, because some good and some bad. We'll start with the good. And I want to shout out one player before I kick it to you. Quinton Nelson had his worst start, I think, of his career last week
Starting point is 00:13:57 against the Detroit Lions. It was a truly horrendous showing. I think PFF gave him like a 19 in pass blocking grade against the Detroit Lions. You snap forward to this game here. I don't know if you saw it, Jake, but I saw early in the game, he was limping around on the field with a bad back. And we know that back has hurt him the past couple of seasons. He's been dealing with back injuries since 2022, 2021, when his play started to fall off a little bit in 2022, that back has always been an issue.
Starting point is 00:14:27 And I saw him grabbing for that back. I saw him slow to get up on a couple plays. But when the Colts needed two points on that final drive to win the game, who was the player that cleared the way for Anthony Richardson on the goal line? None other than Quentin Nelson. Quentin Nelson came across the line delivered a massive hit which cleared the lane and Richardson was able to get into the end zone and that's that's just your hall of fame guard right there he can bounce back from a horrible performance still banged up
Starting point is 00:14:54 in this game had a really strong game today and then delivered the big play late to get the Colts the victory that's a difference maker right there that's a difference maker level player for your team I wish the Colts had 100 Quentin Nelson's you know you could always like even in his worst that's a difference maker right there. That's a difference maker level player for your team. I wish the Colts had a hundred Quinton Nelsons, you know, like even in his worst moments, I would still want to quit Nelson for every position on this Colts team. But I had to give some love to quit Nelson before I kick it to you, Jake, who were some other players that stood out on offense for you? Yeah.
Starting point is 00:15:19 So I kind of want to start by untangling this whole web. That is the offensive line right now. Just real quick. Cause it was a completely different group than we've seen. So Bernard Ryman returned. He was out a couple weeks with a knee injury. He returned. He had been replaced by Matt Gonsalves. And Zach will be back in just a moment, guys.
Starting point is 00:15:38 Gonsalves kicked over to the right side. Braden Smith was out. He had a personal injury that kept him out of this one. We obviously hope the best for him, but obviously Gonzalez goes from left to right. Tanner Bortolini, the rookie, was in the concussion protocol. He was already the backup to Ryan Kelly. They met Danny Pinter, the much maligned Danny Pinter. He came in there and played his natural position as center and I think did it pretty well today, given what we'd seen in general from him in the past, especially at right guard. And then at right guard, Mark Lewinsky, the move that we had been talking about now for about a week, kind of saw the writing on the wall on this one, but didn't know what they would do with Gonsalves, Bortolini factors in at some point.
Starting point is 00:16:25 So I don't, obviously when Braden Smith returns, he's going to come back, but I don't know if they're done tweaking this thing. I would imagine Glowinski still stays there, just out of, you know, he did a good job and they like to keep the continuity there. But really, it was a presser for the offensive line to rebound the way they did
Starting point is 00:16:45 after a trend of really ugly games, throwing out like a completely new lineup. But shoot, Glow, who got cut by the Giants this offseason and benched by them the year before, went right back in there with the Colts and pretty much looked like he did previously when he used to play in between Ryan Kelly and Braden Smith. Yeah. And we saw with the offensive line resurgence back to the standard that we expect from the Colts offensive line, we saw the run game come back. We finally had a rushing attack. And honestly, the rushing attack was kind of what carried the day for the Colts offense. The passing game wasn't there. Even, you know, even if they would have connected on a couple
Starting point is 00:17:24 of these deep shots in the fourth quarter, which we'll talk about in a second, like the passing game still was not going to be perfect today. It just was very ineffective for most of the game. And the Colts really didn't lean into the passing game. They leaned into that run game quite a bit. I mean, we saw the drive out of halftime. They wanted to run the ball back all week. That was like the point of emphasis is they wanted to be able to do that. Yeah, it was like seven straight runs out of halftime too with Taylor, and they went down and got that field goal. Richardson ran the ball really well too on his QB-designed runs.
Starting point is 00:17:54 I mean, they wanted to run the football, and they were able to do it behind this offensive line. So great showing from Jonathan Taylor. He also had a touchdown catch in this one. Good showing from Richardson running the ball. And then again, the offensive line actually creating the holes and getting some displacement this week. Just hats off to those guys. And also shout out to Alec Pierce, game winning touchdown catch or game tying touchdown catch before the two point conversion. One of the
Starting point is 00:18:17 few players that came out there ready to play at wide receiver because that segues real quick to our negatives with the offense what's going on at tight end ad mitchell with a huge drop i mean kyle and grants another huge drop i mean it felt like the players around richardson on that fourth quarter drive were like actively not trying to help him get that that win you used the word sabotage last week, and it wasn't much different in the fourth quarter of this one. Yeah. I, gosh,
Starting point is 00:18:47 I mean the 80 Mitchell drop, I was hoping that the defender got his hands in there. Cause even, even if the defender got his hands in there though, you could still be like Mitchell, you got to go up and attack that ball. Why are you waiting for it to fall to you? Don't rely on gravity to get that ball to you,
Starting point is 00:19:02 go up and get it. And, but even then when you show the other angle, it fell into his hands he just didn't catch it and then you go to the kylan granson one the announcers were desperately hoping that they could just blame that on the quarterback they were like let's see he kind of laid out for this one and then even amadola was like this is a play you got to make in the nfl and i feel like we've been saying that a lot about Kylan Grant in this season. This is a play he needs to make if you're in the NFL, and he has not made pretty much any of those plays this season.
Starting point is 00:19:32 So the Colts need a tight end. This offseason is arguably the biggest one on the entire team. We'll talk about that more during the bye week for sure, that the Colts' tight end play has not only been acceptable this year but it's been downright atrocious a lot of times this season and it's costing the Colts football games and I mean if the Colts don't score there we look at that Kylan Granton drop as you know a back breaker in the Colts season so I'm glad they were able to bail him out by scoring but again too many drops too many I mean another illegal pick play, regardless if you want to blame them on the
Starting point is 00:20:08 refs, like the Colts need to do something to not get the refs attention on those plays, like too many of these things each week. I know fans are getting really frustrated about that because it's like three straight weeks. The ref, these crews know to look for that with the Colts. So if they get suspicious about it at all, they're going to be a lot more trigger happy when it comes to pulling that. It doesn't matter whether you think it's legit or not.
Starting point is 00:20:32 The referees are looking for a reason to call it. So if they see it's even a close call, they're going to do it. But no, I agree that the tight end group is a mess. Luckily, this is an awesome tight end class coming into the draft, which is probably what we're going to wind up talking about this week. But, no, man, I don't even know. Like, the group top to bottom is just not great. Like, I'm also, like, a huge Will Mallory proponent, but, you know,
Starting point is 00:20:56 he had the play that, you know, came back today. Like, he, I think, as a pass catcher, would be an upgrade if you got him more involved. But, like, even think, as a pass catcher, would be an upgrade if you got him more involved. But, like, even that is to a limit. It's like this tight end group, you're just going to have to get through it for these final four games. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. But, guys, if you thought the negatives were going to stop there, don't worry.
Starting point is 00:21:17 We have the Colts defense to talk about coming up. And is it a coaching issue? Is it a player issue? Is it a player acquisition issue? Or is it everything? Like, is it just coaching issue? Is it a player issue? Is it a player acquisition issue? Or is it everything? Like, is it just everything with this defense? We'll talk about it here in just a second. Get ready to tackle the NFL action with FanDuel,
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Starting point is 00:22:01 You know, the over-under was also 42-and-a-half. This was an oddly high scoring game compared to what we thought it might be. But yeah, well, let's if you bet on this one, let us know how it went for you. But otherwise for next week, just go action out for the Colts two weeks. Just go and visit
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Starting point is 00:22:37 My grandfather took me to a college football game. I got to see Maryland versus Clemson. I was super excited because my grandfather guaranteed that I could go meet the Maryland players in the locker room after the game. I was so pumped, getting really excited because he knew a cameraman that was going to let me into the locker room to meet the guys. And then CJ Spiller happened to this Maryland defense. CJ Spiller went crazy in that game. And I was told directly by that cameraman, the players are not in the mood to talk to anybody
Starting point is 00:23:05 right now. And you know what? I would also not be in the mood, but the game was great. Regardless, I got to see one of the best college players of my life have a big game, albeit against one of my favorite teams in Maryland football. And that games that are possible because of game time, game time has a new feature too called gameTime Picks that makes getting tickets to see your favorite teams play live even easier. GameTime Picks filters out the fluff to show only incredible deals on great seats so you don't have to waste time searching through thousands of tickets. GameTime Picks makes curation so much easier so you can save more on sports, concert, comedy, theater, and anything near you. You also get seat views, a panoramic view from your seat in the app before you buy.
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Starting point is 00:24:17 Terms apply. Again, create an account and redeem code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off. Download GameTime today. What time is it? GameTime. All right, locked on Colts everydayers. We're back talking about this Colts victory over the New England Patriots, but this victory came at a cost, and that cost was we had to watch this Colts defense attempt to tackle
Starting point is 00:24:42 somebody in the cold. And I don't think the Colts are going to beat the dome team rhetoric with a game like this. They're not beating these allegations, buddy. Now I'm, I'm very curious to see what pro football focus will put as the Colts missed tackle number in this game,
Starting point is 00:24:58 because I want to say against Detroit lions, they had their second most of the season, which was like 16 last weekend. It was 15 last week. Yeah. yards yeah yeah and then their their season high this year was against the Jaguars when it was 645 I think in that game yeah 645 maybe just from the linebacker duo in that game against the Jaguars uh so now we get to this game and there might have been that many missed tackles on each run by the Patriots. A Patriots offense that was, what, 32nd in passing per game,
Starting point is 00:25:33 32nd in running per game, the worst in terms of yards before contact for their running backs in the running game, giving up like the sixth most sacks in the NFL. The Colts stood tall in the red zone, Jake, and they had a really awesome lucky interception in the cool line. And they had four sacks where Drake May slid before the line of scrimmage three times. So that's our positives, Jake.
Starting point is 00:25:56 What did you take away negative wise from this Colts defense in this game? Yeah, this could have been a wildly different outcome. If not for new England being two of six in the red zone, which granted the Colts have to kind of help them get into that. But no, I was paying special attention to the linebacker play. And I thought New England in the run game, New England's offensive line did a good job of moving guys on their blocks. But even when the linebackers were there and free to make a play, they took themselves out of the play. I thought Zyra Franklin in particular, I tried to pay special attention to him today because I always see the numbers and I always just see the, I see the general performance, but I really wanted to look at it today.
Starting point is 00:26:39 I was like, dude, there was like three or four plays where literally his momentum just took him out of the play. And the Colts' second level run defense is heinous. Like, the linebackers are supposed to clean things up if the line gets blown off. And it's just not happening. And they're there to do it. It's not like they are getting driven away either. So that was heinous. The Patriots'ots offense probably the worst in the league comfortably uh i i can spout off a bunch of different stats but in this game
Starting point is 00:27:13 they had their second most points easily their most yards um it was i think their most rushing yards and their third most passing yards in a single game for the Patriots. So, like, they had their probable performance, and it's a little too common for crappy offenses to come in and do, you know, the Colts are bend but don't break defense. They bend them all the way to their limits, and the Colts almost broke in this one. If not for Anthony Richardson putting together a five-and-a-half-minute drive at the end of the game, they would have broken in this one. But it was just – I don't for the life of me know why this team cannot put
Starting point is 00:27:54 together a complete team effort. Special teams I feel like has been consistent, but that's not what we're talking about. Either the offense has a really decent game and the defense is terrible the whole time or vice versa. They do not play complimentary football ever. I don't get it because either side is capable of doing it in any given game. They just can't do it together.
Starting point is 00:28:16 And it's so frustrating because this was a game they should have been able to win like 30 to 10. Yeah. And it took late game heroics just to get a win they shouldn't have even won yeah and i do want to put just a very slight stipulation here just i'll be the rose-colored glasses i guess in this segment the patriots offense has been better with drake may drake may has been a pretty big upgrade of jacob reset but it doesn't excuse a performance like this it really doesn't. It was the worst showing from this Colts defense since the Jacksonville disaster. The Colts defense had
Starting point is 00:28:50 been playing better since that disaster, but I think they regressed in a lot of ways in this game, and I saw a lot of conversation throughout the game about defensive coordinator Gus Bradley, and again, we go back to what we said after that Jacksonville game where, yes, he will ultimately be the guy who falls on the sword for games like this. And again, if the Colts miss the playoffs, he will be the guy who's gone. Absolutely. But again, a lot of this and we'll talk about it more this week with the bye week. A lot of this comes down to the complacency of building on that defense.
Starting point is 00:29:21 This defense, you are guaranteed a job the next season as long as you're not you know downright awful you know like they've had the same defense since the 2022 disaster aside from like two or three different starters they don't change personnel very often and we're seeing the same results every year man where it's just not good enough on that side of the ball so what like yes gus bradley's an issue and I'm sure he will be the guy who falls on the sword for it. But is Gus Bradley missing 30 tackles a game? Is Gus Bradley a linebacker who has no clue where he needs to be in coverage? Is Gus Bradley a defensive lineman who can't get off of a block from a guy who was on the practice squad for the Patriots a couple of weeks ago? Like, is Gus Bradley a Nick Cross who can't make any tackles in this game you know like i i
Starting point is 00:30:06 hate to single out him in particular but that was just a guy who came to my mind from i also had a very i had a ill-timed tweet a positive nick cross tweet and then his game just tanked so then it made my tweet look terrible so so it's just like like yes gus bradley is an issue when you have games like this they were sitting back too much the blitzes were very predictable and they were putting guys in bad spots to make plays on the ball and they didn't adjust to the fact that the only thing the Patriots were doing were throwing short and throwing over the middle of the field they needed to adjust to that they needed more man coverage they needed to adjust but even if they did say they whipped out some more man coverage even put a spy out there on Drake May with these
Starting point is 00:30:45 man coverage things. Again, your corners are Sam Womack and Jalen Jones. They're not the best corners in the world. How locked down are they going to be in man coverage? You go to the spy stuff. You put Zyra Franklin and a spy on Drake May. Is he making the one-on-one tackle with Drake May if Drake May scrambles? Probably not. Probably not. You go to the run game. No amount of scheme or anything you're doing there is going to make these linebackers good in run defense, is going to make these third-level defenders able to tackle in the run game. So yeah, we can blame Gus Bradley, and I'm all for it when you have a game like this. But something also needs to change with the personnel on defense when you have games like this.
Starting point is 00:31:25 And we talked about it last week when it came to accountability, Jake, how other players besides Anthony Richardson need to be held accountable. Anthony Richardson served a three-game benching for lack of professionalism or performance on the field and all those things. Where are we going to get these issues and these things with the defense? Where are we going to have any kind of real conversation with this linebacker duo? What about with the defensive backs? If you can't make a tackle, why are you on the NFL field? I will take anyone out there. I don't care if you can't cover,
Starting point is 00:32:01 just make a tackle. Make a tackle. Stop falling off guys. Like how did the Colts have the two most unlikely rushing touchdowns allowed of any team in the NFL this season with the Gibson one, this one and the Tony Pollard one against the Titans. Like that only happens when you are low effort and you can't make a tackle. Like things need to be changed. We need accountability for these defensive players as well. When you have games like this, there needs to be accountability. And it can't just be Gus Bradley.
Starting point is 00:32:26 And then you bring back all the same guys the next season. You know, what does that change? Oh, Gus Bradley held them back. Gus Bradley was the one telling them not to tackle on the field. Like, come on, you missed me with all that kind of stuff there. Yeah, I would like to think I'm always very optimistic when it comes to giving players the benefit of the doubt and like waiting for them to develop and this and that. But there are some players I just I don't know.
Starting point is 00:32:55 I think this is going to have to be if the Colts are serious about getting better. This is going to have to be a very difficult offseason for them. I don't know what changes in leadership are going to be made, but like in terms of players, the leadership that's still here does have the power to make decisions on guys who just are and are not playing well enough. And some of these guys are veterans where it's like, you are who you are at this point. If they're serious about getting better, man, they've got a, there's guys who make a lot of money who they're gonna have to make way for younger more productive players this this cannot be a roster where the common starting player is just safe because you like them and they're a good
Starting point is 00:33:38 leader or anything like there there has to be accountability like you mentioned like we've seen a little more in-season accountability like Dalton Tucker was replaced in the lineup as well. That's one we felt was obviously coming. I don't know if they're going to be changing any defensive starters the rest of the year. I don't know if they have the depth to do it. That may be part of the reason. They just don't have anyone adequate enough behind them
Starting point is 00:34:02 to actually replace them. It doesn't help that Jalen Carlisle is injured. We may have seen more Carlisle at this point if he hadn't gotten injured. I don't know. But yeah, the defense, it's a little different because there's just not the depth to make some of those moves. But this offseason has got to be about getting better. Yeah, and we'll talk about this week with the bye week coming up and then obviously
Starting point is 00:34:22 the offseason right around the corner as well. So we'll talk about these big picture issues for sure coming up, guys, on Locked on Colts. But one thing I will say really quick is, you know, when you look at this Colts team on offense and defense, there's not many irreplaceable guys. But the way the Colts operate, there's not many ways to replace them. Your whole way of replacing guys is first and second round picks. And even those guys take three, four, five years to maybe be at the level where they're replaceable. You know, so I don't know. I don't know what direction the Colts are going to go with who they have at GM and the way that he likes to operate.
Starting point is 00:34:57 But we'll talk about that more this week with the bye week coming up and us getting a little bit of a breather from this Colts team. We do want to thank you guys, though, for making Locked on Colts your first listen today and every day. Now for your second listen, go find the new Locked on NFL now with two shows every single day. First, the Madman Tyler Rowland kicks off your morning with a double shot of NFL espresso, and then stop by the barbershop with Tony Wiggins
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