Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts Break the Curse, CRUSHING the Pittsburgh Steelers, 30-13!

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Indianapolis Colts break the Steelers curse with an emphatic 30 to 13 win in prime time. 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. What is up, everyone? Thank you for tuning in to the Locked On Colts podcast and making this your first post-game listen of the day.

Starting point is 00:00:40 We are here Saturday night live streaming the Colts victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers. Just a fantastic team win for the Colts. I can't say enough about this game, but we're going to try to talk all about it for 30 minutes here. Before we jump into it though today, today's episode is brought to you by LinkedIn Jobs, which helps you find qualified candidates that you want to talk to faster. Post your job for free at linkedin.com slash locked on NFL. That's linkedin.com slash locked on NFL to post your job for free. Terms and conditions apply. Hello, everyone.

Starting point is 00:01:13 I'm Zach Hicks, your favorite host here on the Locked on Colts podcast and also your resident film nerd over at thehorseshoehuddle.com. Jake is obviously out celebrating right now, so it's just me here tonight. But what a massive, massive win for the Indianapolis Colts. We're going to break down this game in detail, talk about the offense and the defense in the subsequent sections. But in this first section, I really want to make it all about Shane Steichen. Colts head coach Shane Steichen has just been phenomenal this season. I mean, there is not, I really don't know what to say about this guy anymore.

Starting point is 00:01:43 I mean, look at this. Coming into this game, the Colts are coming off their worst loss of the season, down 34 to 14, or lost 34 to 14 to the Cincinnati Bengals, a playoff game basically last week that they just no-showed for. They come into this game down 13 to nothing. I mean, again, just a horrible start. It all looks like it's going to just spiral out of control like it did last week. And the Colts are somehow able to get back on track despite losing wide receiver one, Michael Pittman Jr., despite losing Zach Moss after his first touchdown in this game. All that just piled up against this team. And they come out and they rattle off 30 straight points against the Pittsburgh Steelers to win 30 to 13. To break that horrible curse that goes back, what, 15 years,

Starting point is 00:02:23 whatever it is, here against the Pittsburgh Steelers. I mean, this is just a phenomenal coaching job. And I really do think if the Colts finish this off and they win two of their last three and get into the playoffs this year, Shane Steichen needs to be the runaway head coach of the season for the league. I mean, there is not a coach doing more with less right now. Going into every game with Gardner Minshew as a starting quarterback, which I'm not here to say anything bad about Gardner Minshew.

Starting point is 00:02:46 We're going to praise him actually in segment two of this game as well. So I can't really say anything bad about what Gardner Minshew did in this one whatsoever. But having all the Jonathan Taylor stuff go down with all the injuries and the whole offseason stuff, losing players left and right all year. I mean, Shaquille Leonard was supposed to be the face of the defense, and obviously that doesn't work out. Grover Stewart suspended. And the Colts are still sitting at this thing eight and six. They've beaten some good teams. I mean, look, they beat the Steelers,

Starting point is 00:03:11 who were a playoff team going into tonight. They've beaten the Houston Texans badly as well, who the Texans are a French playoff team, and they beat the AFC one seed earlier this season, too, in the Baltimore Ravens. It's not like they're only beating bad teams. They are beating quality teams along with obviously taking care of the bad teams as well. So look, this Indianapolis Colts team is rolling. I think this is just a huge testament to Shane Steich and his entire coaching staff to get them ready for this type of game. Because look, in years past, we've seen this with this Colts team, especially back in 2021 with the Carson Wentz season, where the team just kind of folded in December when they needed to make that run to make the playoffs. This entire team

Starting point is 00:03:48 folded, the coaching staff folded, the offense obviously folded in that stretch there. But what we're seeing right now with this Colts team is, again, they're on the heels of their most embarrassing loss of the season, 34-14 against the Bengals, and they were not in that game whatsoever. For them to come back in this one against one of the more well-coached teams in football, look, I know Mike Tomlin gets a lot of heat in media, especially with how well their team is performing or how not well their team is performing this season and all that. But look, Mike Tomlin is a Hall of Fame head coach, a fantastic head coach,

Starting point is 00:04:18 and that team always finds a way to get above 500 or get around 500 every single season. For the Colts to come out and have this kind of statement game in prime time to just beat them down like they did. I mean, look, the Colts won 30 to 13 in this game. If they don't drop two touchdowns and miss two field goals, I mean, this is a blowout. Like this is a not, it's not as bad as the Raiders and Chargers game the other day, but it's an absolute beat down blowout. If the Colts don't make a couple mistakes there on offense. I mean, they won this game without Michael Pittman Jr. They won this game with Tyler Goodson and Trey Sermon rolling all over the Pittsburgh defense, which is the top

Starting point is 00:04:54 10 defense in football. This is a really, really well coached Colts football team. The players stepped up obviously too, but I really wanted to make this whole first segment about Shane Steichen to have this team coming back from where they were last year. I mean, they were a four-win team last year. They were horrendous last season. And it's not like they have this massive upgrade at quarterback compared to last year. I mean, look, Gardner Minshew's better than Matt Ryan. I'm not going to argue that whatsoever at their points in their careers, but it's not like Minshew's in these games throwing for 400 yards and carrying a bad team to victory. Look, the Colts basically brought back a four-win team roster from last year,

Starting point is 00:05:29 except maybe added a couple players here and there. But they basically brought a four-win team from last year to this season. And they're eight and six with four games left in a good chance, or with three games left in a good chance to make the playoffs. So Shane Steichen should be coach of the year if the Colts finish this off and make the playoffs. He's been fantastic for this team. And just starting off the Shane Steichen era with a positive season like this is so, so big for the morale of the team. I mean, the team needed this after whatever the heck last season was. They needed this kind of morale boost. They needed this

Starting point is 00:05:59 bump in play. They needed all of what Shane Steichen is bringing them. They're energized. They're hungry. They're a physical team. It's been fantastic to watch. And honestly, what I love about Shane Steichen the most is, you know, outside of not breaking either of the Jacksonville curses or breaking the week one in the Jacksonville curse, which hopefully next season he's able to do, he's 4-0 against Mike Vrabel, Bill Belichick, and Mike Tomlin this season.

Starting point is 00:06:21 When have the Colts ever had success against those guys? I mean, if you look at the Frank Reich era, Frank Reich struggled like fantastically against Mike Vrabel and Bill Belichick and obviously Tomlin because every Colts coach has struggled against Tomlin. Frank Reich got fired because of a game against Bill Belichick. You look at Shane Steigen this year, they're 4-0 against those three coaches. I know that none of them are really having a great season by any means, but still 4-0 against coaches that typically have been the monkey on the Colts' back. I think that's just another testament to how great Shane Steichen has been. But yeah, Shane Steichen, just a fantastic, fantastic head coach,

Starting point is 00:06:55 doing some great things for the Colts. I love some of his aggressiveness, too, on some of these fourth down calls and plays. It's just great to see. It's great to see. As our guy here says, Indy beats New England and Pittsburgh in the same season. I mean, when's the last time we've seen that? I mean, obviously, they haven't beaten Pittsburgh since, what, 2011? But when's the last time they've beaten both these teams in the same season? It hasn't been since Peyton Manning. And they're doing it with Gardner

Starting point is 00:07:19 Minshew this year. And again, Gardner Minshew, we're going to talk some positive things about him in the second segment. But it just speaks so much to Shane Steichen as a head coach. The Colts absolutely got their head coaching hire right. That's the biggest takeaway from this entire season. No matter what happens, if the Colts fall apart and they miss the playoffs or they run into the playoffs and they somehow make a run in the playoffs or whatever it is, a wildcard loss, whatever it is, the Colts made the right hire with Shane Steichen. This is their coach. He has passed all the head coaching challenges with flying colors. And for them to come out here and beat the Steelers like this,

Starting point is 00:07:53 behind Tyler Goodson and Trey Sermon and DJ Montgomery leading the way on offense, for the Colts to beat the Steelers like this, just my hat off, obviously, to Shane Steichen and everything he's been able to do with the Indianapolis Colts. Just a fantastic hire. The Colts absolutely got it right. I'm glad they took four years to make that decision or whatever it was, that whole long off season of, oh my gosh, who are they going to hire? Are they just going to make Jeff Saturday, whoever it is? No, they picked the right guy. They picked Shane Steichen, and he has been everything the Colts hired him to be. But coming up, guys, we're going to pivot away from obviously this big macro talk about

Starting point is 00:08:26 Shane Steichen, talk about this game, how the Colts offense was able to find success without Michael Pittman Jr., without Jonathan Taylor, without Zach Moss against a very, very good Pittsburgh Steelers defense. But first, when you guys are hiring for your small business, you want to have as many top tier candidates as possible to interview. That's why we have to check out LinkedIn Jobs. It has all the tools to help you find the right professionals for your team faster and for free. LinkedIn isn't just another job board.

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Starting point is 00:09:34 We can actually have it all written out there in that job description. Post your job for free at linkedinjobs.com slash locked on NFL. That's linkedin.com slash locked on NFL. To post your job for free. Terms and conditions apply. All right, Colts fans, we're here Saturday night after a big victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers. Every day as we are enjoying just a fantastic win over the Steelers that pushed the Colts

Starting point is 00:10:00 to eight and six with the playoffs right in front of them. They got to win two of their final three games, preferably the two AFC games. But look, I'll take three of three, too. I mean, I'm not picky. I'll take all three wins. But we're celebrating tonight. We're talking some really good things about the Indianapolis Colts. And we're going to talk about this Colts offense where, again, Michael Pittman Jr.

Starting point is 00:10:18 goes down early in this game. He had four catches for 78 yards before leaving. So he was going to have a historic game before a very unfortunate hit on a very, very nasty hit by DeMonte Kazee, the safety for the Steelers. Just a brutal, brutal hit. And luckily, Pittman Jr. did tweet out after the game that he is OK. So hopefully they're able to get him back next week or the week after that, whatever it is. But wide receiver one seems to be doing OK, despite leaving the game with a concussion, but looking at this Colts offense, Gardner Minshew finished the game 18 of

Starting point is 00:10:49 28 for 215 yards and three touchdowns. Now, I know the passing yardage wasn't super high in this game, but the Colts really took the ball out of his hand in that fourth quarter and didn't really have him, I think he threw one pass in the fourth quarter, and it was an incomplete pass to Alec Pierce, but Gardner Minshew did what he could in this one. I mean, 18 of 28, he had a couple drops in there. Probably should have thrown five touchdowns in this one. Moelle Cox dropped a touchdown, and DJ Montgomery had the very infamous drop at the end of the first half. But yeah, 18 of 28, 215 yards, three touchdowns.

Starting point is 00:11:19 A couple misses here and there, but overall, you have to say, one of the better games for Gardner Minshew in this one. I thought he did a good job of just getting the ball out quick and letting the guys run after the catch. Had a really, really nice touchdown pass to Mo'Ali Cox, one of his better throws of the year on that corner route against the linebacker. Linebacker had no chance, and Minshew put it on the spot there. You know, some other ones, I mean, obviously, Zach Moss catches the one, runs it in, and same with D.J. Montgomery, but look, at the end of the day, Minshew had an operational offense against a really good pass rush and a really good defense. I'm not going to ever complain about that. So very operational offense, did some good things, got the ball out of his hands. Didn't take too

Starting point is 00:11:57 many sacks in this one, despite going against TJ one, Alex Highsmith, two really, really good pass rushers. So yeah, Gardner Minshew, one of his better games of the season. It's exactly what the Colts needed in this type of game. Again, he didn't need to be super cyan, didn't need to be this perfect quarterback going crazy and throwing for 400 yards. But just to come out here and keep the offense operational, converting on a couple red zone trips, again, should have been five touchdown passes in the red zone for him in this game. He did everything that the Colts need him to do to win this game. And he didn't turn the ball over. He did not turn the ball over.

Starting point is 00:12:29 The Colts alone turnover was the block punt. So really, really strong day from Gardner Minshew. Really can't complain whatsoever about his performance. And look, if they get this over the last three weeks with him, they will be playoff bound. So Gardner Minshew, you know, I've been tough on you this year, man. I've been tough on you. Everyone knows I've been pretty tough on him all year long, but this was exactly what the Colts needed for him. But the two stars of this game, or I guess I should say like the seven stars, but we'll talk about the two players who get the stats to go with it. Trey Sermon and Tyler Goodson, two running backs where unless you're a draft nerd, you probably don't know who these guys are. Trey Sermon, obviously with Ohio State, I think he was the one that went from Ohio State to

Starting point is 00:13:10 Oklahoma or maybe Oklahoma to Ohio State, one of those two. I think he went to both those schools. I could be confusing him with a different Ohio State running back because there's so many of those big bruiser Ohio State running backs that bounce around in college. But Trey Sermon, obviously someone everyone loved, third round pick of the 49ers a couple years back got cut went to the Eagles followed Shane Steichen from the Eagles after the Eagles caught him this year he had 17 carries for 88 yards was running really strong in this game looked like Zach Moss out there just bowling over defenders and on that big drive late in the game where the Colts had 13 straight rushes you know it was Trey Sermon mostly carrying the load and putting that game away.

Starting point is 00:13:47 They had nine minutes. It was a nine minute drive, like 13 straight rushes to go from their own 20 all the way to the other side of the field. Really, really great drive. Really, really great drive. And Trey Sermon led the way. So he was great in this one. And then Tyler Goodson.

Starting point is 00:14:00 Everyone loved him as a draft prospect out of Iowa. I believe he went, I want to say he was undrafted and went to Minnesota and then to Green Bay. I believe that's where his stops were. Obviously, we're going to all be looking that up this week because now he's a big part of the Colts going forward. But Tyler Goodson, nice little elusive pass catching back out of Iowa a couple years ago. He had 11 carries for 69 yards in this one, had a 31-yard run behind Quentin Nelson on a really, really nice power play. Nearly scored his first touchdown of his career on a nice little pass catch from Gardner Minshew, where he was tackled just short of the line. And what ended

Starting point is 00:14:35 up being another red zone trip that didn't result in a touchdown for the Colts because they threw the ball to D.J. Montgomery two plays later and didn't score. But Tyler Goodson and Trey Sermon, I mean, oh my gosh, who would have expected these guys to break off for what, 28 carries for 150 yards combined in this one? I mean, it was supposed to be Zach Moss leading the way, and Zach Moss was getting a good 90, 90 plus percent of the carries since Jonathan Taylor got hurt. Moss goes down with that injury early in the game,

Starting point is 00:15:03 and it's all Trey Sermon, all Tyler Goodson. And those two stepped up. Those two stepped up in a huge way. I wouldn't be shocked if Goodson gets signed off the practice squad this week by the Colts just to get him on the roster before anyone else wants to grab him. But yeah, really, really strong day by both those players. And they were big X factors in this game. Another player who scored a touchdown.

Starting point is 00:15:22 And I know he had a very a very up and down game, obviously, for Colts fans, and that's DJ Montgomery, wide receiver at the Colts signed off the practice squad. He got the call up to the roster officially this week. He had two catches for 48 yards and a touchdown replacing Michael Pittman Jr. Now, he did have four targets, two drops, two catches. So, you know, you can look at that however you want. One of those drops is obviously in the back of the end zone for what would have been a touchdown, but DJ Montgomery, man, look, look, it's, it's tough. It's tough going out there in your first game like that and, or not your first game, but getting some, his first time getting real snaps in the NFL, it's tough getting, going out there and catching the ball with all the bullets flying,

Starting point is 00:16:01 but having those two catches for 48 yards, having his redemption touchdown as well, really, really happy to see that for him. And then the biggest story, obviously, in this game, the Colts offensive line was simply fantastic, was simply fantastic this entire game. I mean, I know early on, they had a couple of issues blocking TJ Watt, which, duh, everyone has issues blocking tj watt which duh everyone has issues blocking tj watt uh blake freeland obviously was getting beat a couple times but for the most part this colts offensive line came to play in this one after two really lackluster performances against the titans and the uh and the cincinnati bangles last week so coming out in this game and just letting these colts running backs just run right down the stealer' throat constantly in this entire game was really speaking massive, massive volumes to this Colts offensive line.

Starting point is 00:16:49 They came out and they played their best game of the season. They were dominating the trenches. Ryan Kelly, Will Fries, and Quentin Nelson were absolutely bulldozing players up front. And then Bernhardt, Reimann, and Blake Freeland were holding their own in the past game as well. So really, really strong game from the Colts offensive line. They really got after it in this one. And it was just nice seeing them get downhill and establish their will in this game. You know, the Colts run game the last two weeks, I felt like their offensive line was just getting beaten at the point of attack way too often.

Starting point is 00:17:21 In this game, they were taking the attack to the defense. They were really getting after them. They were just driving down on these defenders, and the Colts running backs were just able to do with their thing. So, I mean, look, if we're looking at Shane Steichen's pillars for offense, where you're going to throw to score and run to win, that's exactly what happened in this game. They threw to score early, and then when they needed to run the game out in the second half, they ran to win. They definitely ran to win behind Trey Sermon and Tyler Goodson. They ran to win behind this Colts offensive line. So really good day from the Colts

Starting point is 00:17:50 offense. Obviously it could have been better without the two drop touchdowns and the two missed field goals, but I'm never going to complain about putting up 30 points on the top 10 defense. Can't complain whatsoever about that. Like, okay, look, it could have been like 50, so I can complain a little bit, but overall 30 points against the Steelers defense. Pretty, pretty good day by the Colts offense. Coming up though, we're going to talk about the Colts defense and how they started slow, made us all pretty concerned at the beginning of the game. And then they completely shut the door there in the second half. But first this show is sponsored by BetterHelp. Guys, I know this time of year is just brutal for mental health. I mean, depending on what it is with your family, with shopping, when it comes to gift giving, I anxiety and stress to my life. So if you're thinking of starting therapy to help you with that anxiety

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Starting point is 00:19:26 Visit BetterHelp.com slash locked on today to get 10% off your first month. That's BetterHelp, H-E-L-P.com slash locked on. All righty, guys, we're talking about this Indianapolis Colts victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers in primetime Saturday night. It was great to watch. We got to see the Colts break the dreaded Steelers in primetime Saturday night. It was great to watch. We got to see the Colts break the dreaded Steelers curse behind, obviously, what the Colts offense is able to do. But the Colts defense deserves a lot of credit for stepping up in the second half. You know, it was a really

Starting point is 00:19:54 ugly start down 13 to nothing to start this game. Obviously, you know, they were given some really bad field positions, so it's hard to really blame them too much for that horrible start. I mean, one of the drives literally started on the one yard line going in. So it's hard to really blame them too much for that horrible start. I mean, one of the drives literally started on the one yard line going in. So it's kind of tough to blame the defense too much there. But the Colts defense really shut the door in the second half. I mean, the Steelers overall on offense in this game average just four yards per play, which is downright dreadful. Again, the Colts defense started out kind of slow,

Starting point is 00:20:22 but didn't allow any points in the second half to the Steelers. Did some really good things. Nick Cross and Julian Blackman both had interceptions. And I know a lot of you guys who are watching the show right now saw me put it on Twitter going into that final drive that Julian Blackman was going to seal the game with a pick. And lo and behold, it happened a couple plays later. Now, I will say my thought process for that was basically Julian Blackman is one of their best playmakers. And Mitch Trubisky is known for being Mitch Trubisky in sailing passes. So it wasn't too hard to put that prediction out there. I feel like I was taking the easy route by saying that because it was the most likely

Starting point is 00:20:55 scenario that was going to end the game. But, you know, it still feels good to get the serotonin levels up when everyone's retweeting and calling you out for predicting a play like that. But Nick Cross's interception, we got to talk about that one. Nick Cross going up there against George Pickens, one of the best jump ball receivers in all of football. You have Mitch Trubisky trying to test Nick Cross over the middle of the field, really deep throwback pass that I have no clue why Trubisky tried to throw it. But again, when you have one of the best jump ball receivers in the league and you're throwing against a second-year player

Starting point is 00:21:26 who has had very few defensive snaps, maybe that's when you want to take your shot. Nick Cross gets a better jump, looked a lot more athletic than George Pickens on that, and just ripped the ball away for a nice little interception. Fantastic, fantastic play to get his first career pick. Kind of a game-changing play, too, because, look, the Steelers were up 13-0 in that point, and they were driving, yet again, Cross goes up and takes that ball away,

Starting point is 00:21:49 and it changes the entire dynamic of the game, the Colts go down and score right after that, and that's all she wrote, I mean, it was just all Colts from that point on, so I mean, if you really want to look at one player that really changed the game, it's Nick Cross, and Nick Cross really changed the game, and I do think he,, like the Colts have a really good thing going with him and Julian Blackman at safety. They still need to figure out some things at corner because Jalen Jones and Juju Brents are struggling a little bit with communication, just overall play of late.

Starting point is 00:22:16 I mean, Brents just got back this week, but especially with Jalen Jones, I do think the linebackers in general are not having their best year in coverage at all, but I think they have something at safety with Blackman and Cross. Cross is playing some good football the last couple weeks getting out there on defense, and then Julian Blackman obviously since like week five has just been on a tear for this Colts team. So we're seeing a lot of good things from this Colts secondary. It just needs to be a little more consistent, but Nick Cross, Julian Blackman, two really, really good games in this one, and both came away with interceptions, which was great to see.

Starting point is 00:22:46 One of the most game-changing plays in this game as well was also EJ Speed's forced fumble. Beginning of the second half, the Colts go three and out. They punt it back to the Steelers. EJ Speed forces a fumble. Colts score on the very next play just to really put some distance between themselves and the Steelers. EJ Speed was on a tear in this game. Led the team with nine tackles, had multiple tackles for a loss, a couple pressures, had the fourth fumble. I mean,

Starting point is 00:23:11 EJ Speed was awesome. EJ Speed looked like that playmaker linebacker the Colts have been missing since the Shaquille Leonard prime a couple years back here in Indy. So EJ Speed was really filling that void at a really high level, played some really great football, and was a big part of the Colts run defense really stepping up for the first time in a while as well. So EJ Speed, that was a game right there. That was one heck of a game by EJ Speed. One of the top three performances, I think, overall in this Colts game. The Colts also had a couple sacks. They got back onto the sack board. I know that they fell off the sacks last week. They didn't get any against Jake Browning, and they only had like two QB hits.

Starting point is 00:23:48 This one, it felt like every Trubisky throw he was getting hit. It looked like he got sacked multiple times as well. DeForest Buckner had a half sack. Grover Stewart had half sacks. And then Dayo Dangbo and Samson Ebukom each had a sack and a half. Ebukom gets to 10 sacks for the season, which I believe is the Colts' first 10-plus sack player since Justin Houston in 2020. So yeah, this Colts pass rush is coming alive. Dio Dangbo looked unblockable there for like half the game. Dio Dangbo was just

Starting point is 00:24:19 killing dudes up front. Samson Ebucom did his thing as well, where he was constantly putting pressure on that left tackle, forced a couple of holds on the left side, and then had that big sack late in the game as well on fourth down to get the Colts the ball back. So yeah, this Colts pass rush, I mean, look, they are living and dying by their front seven. If their front seven is stopping the run and then getting after it in the pass rush on third downs, this defense is a very, very good defense. The problems come when the pass rush is inconsistent downs, this defense is a very, very good defense. The problems come when the pass rush is inconsistent and teams are getting in a third and short because they can throw on this defense constantly because the Colts secondary is just not perfect right now.

Starting point is 00:24:53 But when they are keeping teams behind the sticks and they're getting this pass rush after it, I mean, this is the best pass rush that the Colts have had in the Chris Ballard era. Because like we've been saying on this show for weeks now, it's not that they're just reliant on DeForest Buckner right now. Samson Ibukam is killing dudes on one side. DeForest Buckner is doing his thing and constantly pressuring the middle. Then you have Dio Dangbo and Quidi Pei giving their occasional high spurts of big time plays. Then you have guys coming in like Taequann Lewis has been very effective in relief as well. So the Colts have a really deep pass rush that are getting after it. As long as they're keeping teams back behind the sticks into third and eight,

Starting point is 00:25:29 third and nine, third and 10, they're able to get after and really get teams off the ball or get off the field. And that's what we saw in this game. I mean, this pass rush and this defensive line really dominated the Steelers couldn't run the ball. And then when they threw the ball, like they had a couple chunk plays, but for the most part, they had to keep it short and they had to force things down the field if they wanted it deep, which led to interception. So this Colts defense, look, if they can just perform how they did in this game down the stretch here, the Colts are going to be playoff bound, but it's just, you know, what kind of Colts defense we're going to get down the stretch here. But I really liked, I really liked what I saw overall. You know, again,

Starting point is 00:26:01 you don't want to see third and 20 converted. You don't want to see fourth and tens converted. But the other day you'll take this, you'll take a 13 points allowed when one of them again was off a block punt that had the offense starting at the one yard line. So a really good day from the Colts defense. Colts defensive line got after it. Colts safeties came in with interceptions and EJ speed was playing out of his mind. I did want to shout out Han here with this comment. Dio Dangbo's highs are just so, so high. They are, man. Like, Dio Dangbo, if he can just get, like, he doesn't have the effort sacks yet. And I'm not saying that he's not showing effort out there on defense, but all of his sacks are, like, high-level sacks. Like, they are sacks where he's just beating his

Starting point is 00:26:41 guy in, like, a split second and getting back there and getting a sack like if he were to also combine it with those those effort sacks that the top pass rushers get every year where you know if you're a top pass rusher you're going to get like five or six like high level effort sacks or just running a quarterback down one yard behind the line of scrimmage he can be like a 16 sack guy i mean he's he's what like nine right now or eight eight and a half right now despite all the sacks being like high quality wins up front, like Dio, Dio Dangbo is playing some great football. And when he's on in a game, he is on like, there's no in between. It's either he's going to be quiet for most of the game, or he's going to just be destroying your offensive line when it comes to the pass rush. So Dio Dangbo was certainly on in

Starting point is 00:27:24 this game. And you could see in the second half. I mean, I was, pass rush. So Dio Dangbo was certainly on in this game and you could see in the second half. I mean, I was, I was typically watching Dio Dangbo on these snaps because it was like, oh, here it comes. Like here, here he comes. And him and DeForest Buckner were just wrecking, wrecking life up there, like up in the middle on those third downs. And then Quidipe and Samson Ebukom were just closing down the outside. I was really, really good to see this Colts pass rush getting after it again, after what they did last week against the Bengals. But yeah, guys, I mean,

Starting point is 00:27:48 this was a blast. I feel really good. I'm sorry about my voice here. My voice is a little bit lost in this game because it was just an exciting game overall to watch. But yeah, I mean, big, big win for the Colts. They control their own destiny now when it comes to the playoffs. Win two of three and they get in the playoffs. You know, win two or three, especially those two AFC games and they'll be in the playoffs. So been really, really fun watching this Colts team this year. And I think that this 30 of 13 victory over the Steelers put it put a big cap on that. Now, again, there's still more work to be done. The Colts need to make the playoffs.

Starting point is 00:28:19 Now you can't blow this now. Like it's one thing if you blow it when you're at seven and six, because it's like, OK, you still had a whole month to play left, but now you are in the driver's seat to make this playoff race. You got to make it interesting. You got to get in the playoffs now. Win out or win two or three, whatever it is to get into this playoffs, and let's go from there, baby. Before we close out today's show, I do want to remind you guys to check out the Locked On Sports Today channel, which is our first ever national sports 24-7 streaming channel here on YouTube with Locked On. It's a really cool channel where it covers a wide range of sports. So I'm sure you guys will love it over there.

Starting point is 00:28:50 If you guys don't already, make sure you're following at Locked On Colts, at JakeArthurNFL, and at ZachHicks2 all on Twitter. Also subscribe to us on YouTube, wherever you list your podcasts. We love your guys' ratings and reviews. And we'll check you guys back here bright and early on Monday morning.

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Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts Break the Curse, CRUSHING the Pittsburgh Steelers, 30-13!

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