Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts' Anthony Richardson vs. Tennessee Titans' Will Levis: Vol. 1?

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Colts might be getting a huge shot in the arm on Sunday as they take on the Tennessee Titans. 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. All right, thanks 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. And today's show is brought to you by FanDuel.

Starting point is 00:00:37 Place your first $5 bet and you'll get started with $200 in bonus bets guaranteed. Just visit FanDuel.com to get started. All right. Welcome to the show, everybody. This is Jake Arthur from Horses just visit fanduel.com to get started all right welcome to the show everybody this is jake arthur from horseshoehuddle.com your resident credentialed media member from the site and today we are putting our our final look into colts and titans this sunday week six uh this this game has potentially gotten a whole lot more interesting just within the last few hours. So for starters, Anthony Richardson upgraded to a full participant in practice yesterday. He'd been a limited participant throughout last week and into this week,

Starting point is 00:01:16 but guessing he was a full participant again today, he was out there. We won't know that officially, you know, whether it was limited or full until the practice report comes out. But he certainly is trending in the right direction with his oblique injury. The Titans' Brian Callahan, head coach, just announced like just a second before we came on here, Will Levis is going to start for the Titans. So this might be the first edition of Anthony Richardson versus Will Levis, certainly an AFC South division full of young quarterbacks and potentially nice little rivalries going out through hopefully long careers

Starting point is 00:01:55 for all these guys. Jonathan Taylor is the only player that's been ruled out for the Colts so far. He's got his high ankle sprain. He hasn't practiced since leaving the week four game high ankle sprain. He hasn't practiced since leaving the week four game against the Steelers. He hasn't practiced yet. So that was a no-brainer for a guy who has had a long history with this specific ankle. With high ankle sprains, you obviously want to sit him out as long as is necessary. Let's see. Michael Pitt Jr. uh was potentially a disaster scenario earlier in the week it was reported by multiple uh national media guys that Pittman uh you know had a back injury

Starting point is 00:02:34 that could even land him on IR which obviously that makes him week to week if you know the potential to miss at least four games is on the table. But Pittman was back out there today at practice, catching balls and you got to imagine it was on a limited capacity, but Steichen wouldn't rule him out already. Said he's, you know, one of the toughest guys to be around. So we all know that like in a week where, you know, there's been a lot of talk about A.D. Mitchell, not necessarily wanting too much contact.

Starting point is 00:03:05 Michael Pittman Jr. is a guy who has never shied away from it and is even willing to deliver his own blows from time to time. So incredibly tough guy there. I don't know if he plays. I don't know if you would already if you would go from a potentially I.R. worthy back injury to playing him this week. So we'll see about that. Probably going to be a game time decision, or maybe it's one where, you know,

Starting point is 00:03:29 the Colts update on Saturday that Pittman's downgraded to doubtful or out one. That's perhaps even more noteworthy because, you know, you didn't really expect Pittman to play Josh Downs. Downs was back at practice today. He had been out Wednesday and Thursday with Turf Toe, I believe it was, but he was back out there. That's going to be huge for the Colts offense

Starting point is 00:03:50 if he's out there, whether it's Anthony Richardson or Joe Flacco starting at quarterback this week. Downs, since he's been back in these few games, it's very clearly he's a huge part of establishing rhythm in the passing game, has caught so many short to intermediate balls and kept the sticks moving. He obviously can make difficult catches, had that one-handed catch last week. So downs being out there would be huge for the Colts. Ryan Kelly looks like he may be on track to play as well. He's been able to practice. He practiced Wednesday and Thursday, but was not out

Starting point is 00:04:25 there today. Now, this could be something the Colts are just doing with a couple of these veteran offensive linemen, because Braden Smith has had the same routine basically the last couple weeks, out Wednesday, in Thursday, out Friday, but he hasn't missed a game yet. So Braden Smith, it was the same for him today. So Ryan Kelly, we'll see. Obviously Tanner Bortolini would get the nod perhaps if Ryan Kelly isn't able to play. With Will Fries, the right guard being out for the year now, it should be Dalton Tucker,

Starting point is 00:05:01 but maybe the Colts go with Tanner Bortolini. That one, we'll keep an eye on that. We'll see. But again, I don't really have much indication that Kelly won't play since he wasn't outright ruled out last Friday. So he might have been close to playing, and he's been able to log a couple of full sessions this week. So that's pretty much it for the Colts offense in terms of injuries. A lot of their

Starting point is 00:05:25 injuries right now are on that offensive side. So with Jonathan Taylor out, Trey Sermon and Tyler Goodson would obviously share the load. Trey Sermon had his own injury earlier in the week with a collarbone, but he's been able to play or practice the last couple of days. So I don't think any of us necessarily feel bad about, you know, having Trey Sermon and Tyler Goodson out there. They're certainly a capable pair. We saw it, you know, last year against the Steelers. I thought they looked pretty decent, you know, last week against the Jaguars. I didn't really have any complaints. You obviously missed the explosiveness and vision of Jonathan Taylor, but they're both decent runners. Like I

Starting point is 00:06:06 think Trey Sermon is a hard runner that can gut out some tough short yardage stuff. He's hard to bring down. Tyler Goodson is pretty explosive and can get to the outside quickly. And both of them probably are better at, you know, pass catching than Taylor is. And certainly Trey Sermon is better in pass protection. So you miss the big play threat and the ability of getting 80 yard touchdown on any play with Taylor, but having Sermon and Goodson out there to share the load, it's at least an average backfield. Like there's really not much to be concerned with there. So when you're looking at Tennessee, on paper, this is a really tough matchup because they are first overall defensively, but they're 15th in points allowed. So in yardage, they're giving up the fewest,

Starting point is 00:06:57 but they're just totally middle of the road when it comes to points. They're number one against the pass as well. They're not getting, they're not really getting sacks. They're tied for the fifth fewest amount of sacks this year. Uh, and they're also tied for the least takeaways. I think they've only got two takeaways this year. So, you know, on paper, just at first glance, it's a pretty good defense, but there are some critical areas where you're like, Oh, maybe not, you know, points. They are giving up some points um not

Starting point is 00:07:26 it's not gaudy by any means but when you're first overall in yardage but 15th and points that kind of tells you something and they're not getting sacks or takeaways so i think that's huge and on third down you know one of the biggest issues on third and fourth downs is a pass rush you know disrupting the the opponent and not allowing them to get those short yardages on third and fourth down, and they're not really doing that. So I don't think this is as terrible of a matchup for the Colts as it seems on the surface. Certainly if Joe Flacco's out there, you know, you're limited in mobility, even if he's running for those 21 yarders. But I think this is a game where the Colts really need Anthony Richardson

Starting point is 00:08:07 to be that explosive difference maker. Whether it's those plays he finds deep downfield where it's just a shot play where the defense has broken down, or he just needs to be a linebacker around the edge to pick up third and two, third and three, and get the first down, I think Anthony is going to have to be that difference maker for the Colts. So, I mean, I don't want to diminish what Tennessee has done. I've previously said, you know, I don't think any team in the league has done more for their defense in the offseason than Tennessee did. I really like

Starting point is 00:08:42 the combo with Kenneth Murray and Ernest Jones linebacker. They've obviously got, you know, Quandre digs is someone that a lot of Colts fans wanted. Uh, we know I'm on a hooker is always a thorn in the Colts side. Uh, they do have some guys in the front seven, obviously Landry.

Starting point is 00:08:56 He is, he is who got to Anthony Richardson and put them out for the year last year. Uh, Jeffrey Simmons is an elite defensive tackle to Vavondre Sweat has been better than a lot of us thought he would be. And then obviously, LeJarius Sneed, who a lot of Colts fans wanted him as well. But again, I give them a little credit, I guess, pull it back a little bit. They haven't really faced a gauntlet of really tough offenses. They faced Chicago in Caleb Williams' first start

Starting point is 00:09:24 when people were saying Caleb Williams may not be as good as everyone thought. They face the Jets, and the Jets' offense obviously has not clicked yet. It cost their head coach their job this week. Green Bay without Jordan Love, and Miami without Tua. Without Tua, that Miami offense has been useless. So this Colts offense is probably, you know, with Anthony Richardson and I mean, Jonathan Taylor not being out there kind of sucks for this terms of this matchup, but this might be the best offense that Tennessee has faced so far, given what they're capable of with who will be out there. So that's it for the offensive side of the ball with the Colts. Here in a moment, we're going to go ahead and look at this defense that there's really

Starting point is 00:10:12 no pretty way to paint it, how the Colts defense has been. We obviously have talked a lot about it this week, but we'll see how they match up with this Tennessee offense. With Robin Hood Gold, you don't need a silver spoon to eat up the financial favors of the 1%. Robinhood Gold allows others to get the rates and perks usually reserved for the high society. Now the resourceful individual with Robinhood Gold can earn the very liberal rate of 4.5% APY on uninvested cash, receive unlimited 1% deposit bonuses, and be rewarded with a handsome 3% retirement boost on an IRA account. Robinhood Gold provides the privileges and high net worth

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Starting point is 00:12:07 Which ones aren't? Make your picks in less than 60 seconds and turn your sports opinions into real money all season long on prize picks. Download the app today and use code LOCKEDONNFL to get $50 instantly after you play your first $5 lineup. That's code LOCKEDONNFL to get $50 instantly after you play your first $5 lineup. Price picks. Run your game. Okay, so Colts defense. Let's talk about it. So let's get the injuries out of the way first.

Starting point is 00:12:40 So Quidipe, he's been able to practice on a limited um limited basis with his quad injury he's another one that left that pittsburgh steelers game early so did kenny moore he's got a hip and a shoulder injury he was in wednesday out thursday but was back on friday so i mean we'll see what that means for him i don't know if the colts are being intentional with how they bring some of these veterans in and out of the injury, your practice on the injury report. If they just bring them in for the most critical days or what they're doing. I mean,

Starting point is 00:13:13 and it could just legitimately be, he felt good enough to practice Wednesday, not Thursday, and then good again on Friday. So I don't know. They could really use Kenny more in this one because Titans quarterback Will Levis has been he's been diet. Carson went so far this season, six interceptions. He and Anthony Richardson tie for the lead league with with those interceptions.

Starting point is 00:13:39 But Levis obviously had just a low light reel of comedic mishaps early in the season. And, you know, Kenny Moore is historically a defensive back that can bait even some of the smartest quarterbacks into big mistakes. So if you've got Kenny Moore back there, you've got Julian Blackman back there. Those are guys that can make a guy like Levis, you know, number one, read things incorrectly or fool him into bad plays, but just really make him play for or pay for errant throws and things like that. So I think Kenny being out there would be huge. Chris Lamont hasn't been bad by any means. His replacement, he's even been able to scoop up a couple of fumbles.

Starting point is 00:14:20 That guy seems to be right there in the action whenever the ball hits the ground. But obviously, Kenny Moore is just like a different breed. They don't really make them like him. Mentally, he's one of the smartest players I've personally covered. But this Tennessee offense, it is basically the Colts defensive. It's a match made in heaven, essentially. The Titans have the fewest yards accrued this year. So they already had a bye week, but through the first four games, they only had 1,025 yards, the fewest in the league, and they're scoring just under 20 points per game. That's about middle of the road. Now, so Will Levis richardson both have too many interceptions this year the difference is anthony isn't really getting sacked very much but will levis is taking some sacks i think that's

Starting point is 00:15:15 leading to some of his mistakes um you know he's he's also he's been very you know gift giving with the ball uh the titans have given away the ball nine times. Those nine turnovers are the second most in the league. I think this is going to be a very, very interesting game for the Colts because there's really nothing the Titans offense does so well that it scares you. The offensive line is what it is. It's probably a little better than the offensive lines we've seen from Tennessee in the past. And they do have some good

Starting point is 00:15:48 players like DeAndre Hopkins, Tyler Boyd. Those guys can still go out and do some damage against the Colts. We've seen them do it. Like I'm convinced DeAndre Hopkins is going to be making big plays and having a hundred yards against the Colts until he retires. So it's even been the role players. We've just seen the Colts get smoked by the most random Titans players. So you really can't take them lightly. TyJay Spears, the running back, he gashed the Colts last year. We'll see what it looks like with the combination of him and Tony Pollard. They've been pretty productive.

Starting point is 00:16:22 And Pollard has created a lot of his own yards. And if the Colts' defense is going to be missing tackles like they did last week against Jacksonville. I mean, this isn't Travis Etienne and Tank Bigsby, but I mean, Spears and Pollard is still a decent duo. So Tennessee's got a capable run game. I do think the Colts should be able to handle it, though. I mean, I thought Zyra Franklin had a decent game last week and honestly, EJ speed other than one bad missed tackle early in the game. I didn't think his day really started to go Orion to the fourth quarter.

Starting point is 00:16:56 So we obviously know these guys can really get it done. They just, you know, said earlier, I think it was Zyra Franklin earlier in the week, when it comes to missed tackles, just grab a body part and come away with it. You cannot keep missing those tackles. Nick Cross was doing it too. Julian Blackman did it as well last week. I mean, uncharacteristic for a lot of these guys. Now, the tackling for the Colts was awful in the first couple games of the year, but they really turned it up against the Bears and the the Steelers so whatever happened against

Starting point is 00:17:30 Jacksonville I mean they got to reverse it back to what it looked like the two weeks previous because this just seems like a game where the Colts defense is bad no matter how you look at it but this is so much a matchup that you can take advantage of like if they get made to look foolish in this one too then there's going to be little to no hope for for this defense to really rebound this this year it's not that the titans offense can't be productive it's the mistakes uh especially the turnovers, you know, giving giving up sacks and everything. We know Will Levis is going to cause a lot of those issues as well. He's a very volatile player.

Starting point is 00:18:10 Now, he had some big plays against the Colts last year, and he's still capable of big plays now. Like he's not he's not going to be the worst quarterback they faced all year, but he'll make you pay. But he also will do some of the most boneheaded things we've seen a Colts quarterback do since Carson Wentz. So you kind of have to just force him into Carson Wentz mode. So how's this thing going to turn out? Who's going to win? We are going to look at more of that here in the final segment. Hey, NFL fans, you guys can start the season with a big return on FanDuel, America's number one sportsbook. So when you get a hunch in the middle of the game, you can check out the latest stats, view life play by play,

Starting point is 00:18:50 and so much more on the same page when you place your bets. You'll get started with $200 in bonus bets guaranteed when you place your first $5 bet. So the line on this one has been pretty interesting. Just in the last few days, when Zach and I talked about this matchup last time, uh, the Colts were favored by a point and a half and the total point over under was 43 and a half for the game. Since then it shifted all the way three points.

Starting point is 00:19:17 Uh, the Titans are now two and a half point favorites. They go from the one point, one and a half point underdogs to 2.5 favorites, and the point total has dipped to 42.5, though. Obviously, I think injuries have probably caused that to be the biggest thing here. I mean, Anthony Richardson is certainly trending towards being there. He's going to be a game-time decision, but no Jonathan Taylor,

Starting point is 00:19:42 no Michael Pittman Jr. Probably like maybe he plays, but like, God, does it seem worth it? Like if he's got a back injury that was perhaps going to land him on IR, it seems maybe you don't play him yet this week. But the defensive line injuries as well. But a lot of those things are getting better. Like it didn't look as grim as it did earlier in the week. So we'll have to keep an eye on that. But again, go visit FanDuel.com for more.

Starting point is 00:20:14 All right. So everybody go ahead in the comments now, you know, the drill. Colts, Titans, week six, who do you got? I think I'm going to go with a narrow Colts win on this one. I think this is the type of game. It's probably not going to be as much of a shootout as Colts-Jags was late last week, but I think it's going to be higher scoring than people think. I have 27-24 Colts.

Starting point is 00:20:41 I think the defenses are going to be a little vulnerable. I think if Anthony Richardson plays it, this is mostly based on, on if Anthony plays, I still think the Colts could win if Joe Flacco is the starter, but I think it would be lower scoring just because they'd be pretty one dimensional. Cause you know, just like last week,

Starting point is 00:21:01 you're out Jonathan Taylor, obviously Joe can't move around all that. Well, Anthony is just the ultimate X factor. just like last week, you're out Jonathan Taylor, obviously Joe can't move around all that well. Anthony is just the ultimate X factor. Even if he's not sharp as a passer in this game, there's, there's just really timely plays he can make with his legs that we've seen him do throughout the season. So 27, 24 Colts. I mean, Alec Pierce is going to have to step up. A.D. Mitchell really has to step up. The elephant in the room right now for the Colts passing game is A.D. Mitchell. I think everyone would feel so much better about this whole thing if some of these plays were just being converted.

Starting point is 00:21:39 Now, a lot of it's A.D. Mitchell and a lot of it is the quarterbacks as well. But they just haven't been on the same page. Like, I think, you know, Mitchell has probably taken some liberties in his route running. Reggie Wayne this week when we were talking to him described, you know, he kind of he kind of said A.D. Mitchell's route running is a little unorthodox, but it's super effective. Like, I think he leads the NFL right now in average yards per separation per route. So like Reggie said, no one's really getting more separation than Mitchell, but he's not finishing the plays. If it does see like he's sensing contact and not going for it, like a Michael Pittman Jr. would,

Starting point is 00:22:21 but also the passes just haven't been really crisp to him all that well either. We've seen Anthony sky some passes to him. We've seen even he's not on really the same page with Joe Flacco yet. But the most frustrating thing is like once they start to click, like Mitchell could be a monster. And it feels like it's coming any week now. And if Pittman doesn't play this week, which why would he, then God, is there no better? There's no better week for Mitchell to have his breakout than this week. The Colts need it, number one,

Starting point is 00:23:00 because let's say Pittman and Downs play. They're still banged up and didn't get to practice for the entire week. You know, they got some stuff in today, but they really need someone to step up. And Alec Pierce, I mean, even with Downs and Pittman, Alec Pierce leads the team in receiving. Like, he's easily been the biggest playmaker in the whole offense all season. So defenses know that.

Starting point is 00:23:22 So, you know, you need the tight ends to step up. You need A.D. Mitchell to really step up you need ad mitchell to really step up hopefully him and the quarterbacks can be on the same page whatever they do effectively together in practice they've got to try and get that going on the field because whether whether it's like you know kind of deep fade routes you know things along the sideline throwing him 50 50 balls or something. The go balls are not working yet. I mean, that'll come, I think, but throw him a jump ball or something, just see how it goes. But it is just so frustrating because this is a guy that at Texas,

Starting point is 00:23:58 he led all receivers, I'm pretty sure in this rookie draft class in cat and like the lowest drop rate. So he didn't really drop balls at Texas. So he normally is sure handed. He's getting separation every time he goes out there, but he's just not on the same page with the quarterback. So like once that comes down, that could be a big one.

Starting point is 00:24:20 It could like, we've seen out Pierce have these enormous games three times. Now they've got another guy that could do that. So if the Colts can go out there, they have Alec Pierce doing his thing. A.D. Mitchell does his thing. Really shows any semblance of kind of life in the passing game. Then this could be a super explosive Colts offense. Again, they should have time to throw. This isn't a Titans defensive front that super gets after you. I think the run game is going to be really hard to get going though.

Starting point is 00:24:49 You know, Tavondre Sweat, Jeffrey Simmons, it's tough teeth to run into for the Colts. So we'll see how it goes. Again, throw it in the comments. I have 27-24 Colts, 1 p.m. Sunday there in Nashville. So that'll be an entertaining one. Thank you guys for making Locked On Colts your first listen today. Now for your second listen, go check out the new Locked On NFL Now with two shows every day.

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Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts' Anthony Richardson vs. Tennessee Titans' Will Levis: Vol. 1?

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