Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts Could Make Things Interesting Against Dallas Cowboys On Sunday Night

Starting point is 00:00:00 It's time to cross over once again this week as we preview the Indianapolis Colts and Dallas Cowboys on Sunday Night Football and whether or not the Colts have a snowball's chance in the underworld to leave with a win. 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. Welcome back to the Locked On Cowboys and Locked On Colts Podcast,, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day.

Starting point is 00:00:50 Thank you for making us your first listen of the day. We are free and available on all platforms. Today's crossover show is presented by our friends at PrizePix. PrizePix is so much fun and it's so easy to play. No competing against other players. It's just you versus the projections available. All you have to do is pick two to five players and if they score more or less than their PricePix projection,

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Starting point is 00:01:38 He is Jake Arthur from LockedOnColts. Follow him on Twitter at JakeArthurNFL. Jake, how are you doing today, sir? I'm awesome. It's always great to have this couple day hangover from a Colts Monday night affair where they just do not show up and show out, to put it lightly. Yeah, so we are going to be talking about this Sunday night football game. Sunday night football. I kind of can't believe you didn't flex this game out in favor of like Chiefs Bengals or Dolphins 49ers. But here we are. Let's talk about the biggest storylines for both of these teams.

Starting point is 00:02:16 Jake, I kind of think we have of a normal interim head coach hire. It catches lightning for a week or so. Guys are playing higher than expected. They're fired up. It just kind of levels out. Yeah, exactly. He's a former player. He can relate to these guys in the locker room. Them losing a head coach that they loved in Frank Reich,

Starting point is 00:02:46 really, I think, it put a sense of urgency in them if there wasn't one already. And they realized, oh, wow, heads are rolling. Like, we need to get going. And so they went out and they beat the Raiders. They went and they really should have beat the Eagles last week. They controlled that game for 58 and a half of 60 minutes and then just came out and looked totally flat against the Steelers, who are a lot closer to the Raiders than they are the Eagles.

Starting point is 00:03:10 So you really don't know what this team is anymore under Jeff Saturday. It seems like they've kind of regressed back a little bit to the team that they were under Frank Reich, and it brings up a lot of issues why they moved on and moved on and brought in Saturday in the first place. What about Matt Ryan? He was inserted into the lineup. Once Jeff Saturday was made the interim head coach. There were moments against the Steelers where he had some really nice throws. He did a good job of not taking a ton of sacks, but how has that been now that he's back into the lineup for a second time?

Starting point is 00:03:48 Yeah, it's so really for the whole season, not much has changed. He's turning the ball over a little less in these last couple of games since he's been reinserted into the lineup, but not much has changed in the season overall. He's not really the guy you thought you were going to get. And I think a lot of that is, is issues with his protection. He's just been shell shocked at this point. And even when he does have time to throw the ball,

Starting point is 00:04:12 it seems like that's when he makes some of his worst decisions or worse throws. And so, he's just kind of a guy with a weaker arm. Now the ball doesn't, doesn't slide into those tight windows very well. And defenders know that. And so they can jump those passes and, you know, get a hand on them. And man, I mean, it's, it's good to have a guy who's been there, done that and seen everything, but at the same time, you know, they're kind of missing obvious pre-snap blitzes and things like that. And it's, it's a really,

Starting point is 00:04:45 it's just really curious to see because you're just not getting the performance you would think you'd be getting from a 15 year veteran. And there's no playmaking there at all anymore, right? Like if the play is designed to go for seven yards and Michael Pittman's open for seven yards, pretty good chance. They're getting seven yards, right? There's no, Hey, I'm getting outside the pocket and Paris Campbell streaking down the

Starting point is 00:05:09 sideline. I'm going to hit him on a 50 yard bomb. Like that part of the offense just isn't there. And it's why, I mean, please correct me if I'm wrong. It's just why this offense can look good at times, but it's not terrifying at all.

Starting point is 00:05:23 Yeah, no, it really shouldn't scare anybody. They've, they've done nothing to, to earn that, that respect so far. But the, the thing is they have guys and there's opportunities there to make those big plays. Uh, we've seen it last week was a good example. Um, you know, there's really no downfield passing game. Ryan just doesn't really have the arm and it doesn't seem like he wants to test defenses deep regardless uh michael pitman jr is not a burner but he's one of the better contested

Starting point is 00:05:51 catch guys in the league and alec pierce that was his bread and butter at cincinnati we dropped he had a target down the field that he dropped he has a couple of those but like if you put it up high for him and you know the 50 50 rebound type of play he usually comes down with those um those guys can make those plays downfield like what what like pitman may lack in downfield speed you know he could beat the guy you know when it comes down to either you or i are catching this it's usually going to be him so there's a way to to work in the downfield stuff it's just not always going to mean there's a lot of separation there. Paris Campbell, that's a guy.

Starting point is 00:06:30 He's usually going to be the fastest guy on the field or one of them. He could be used downfield more. Jonathan Taylor, he catches a handful of balls every game, but they're all dump offs there. You know, they're little comebacks. A guy with that speed and he can catch the ball, you could get more creative with him as a pass catcher. So the guys are there to be utilized.

Starting point is 00:06:51 They're just not really doing it. And on the Cowboys' side of things, the biggest storyline is, is this team a Super Bowl contender? We've seen them dominate the Vikings. They took care of business on Thanksgiving against the Giants. But then they played down to their competition. They lose to a bad Green Bay Packer team. I know it's Aaron Rodgers, but they lose to a bad Packers team

Starting point is 00:07:12 just a couple weeks ago. This is a game that Dallas should win. Do they play with their food a little bit and let the Colts hang around and all of a sudden is Chris Collinsworth getting really excited about Jonathan Taylor runs late in the third quarter? Or is this game over at halftime and is it 28-3 and all of a sudden, you know, you're seeing Cooper rush to this game? That's the thing.

Starting point is 00:07:38 If you are a true championship caliber team, I don't think you let the Colts hang around, right? Like the Colts are ready. I don't want to say they're ready to lay down because that's, that's not fair, but the talent differential in this game is so massive. The rest differentials huge, right? The Colts coming off a Monday night game,

Starting point is 00:07:58 have to travel to Dallas on Sunday night. The Cowboys are coming off a Thanksgiving game at home on Thursday, playing at home on Sunday night. This is the game that the Cowboys are coming off a Thanksgiving game at home on Thursday, playing at home on Sunday night. This is the game that the Cowboys need to dominate. I'm curious to see if they will. Yeah, I totally agree. I really don't see much of a scenario where the Colts win unless the Cowboys just inexplicably come out flat

Starting point is 00:08:20 and just completely play down to their competition. I mean, I'm sure you remember. Oh, yeah, go ahead. I was, I'm sure you remember. Oh yeah. Go ahead. I was going to say, which has happened. The Eagles almost did the same thing just a few weeks ago against the Colts. So it can't happen.

Starting point is 00:08:31 Yeah, no, it for sure. Can the Colts do have these odd wins? They beat the chiefs earlier in the year. They should have beat the Eagles, arguably the top two teams in the league at the time of each game. And I'm sure you remember 2018 quite well. Colts win 23 to0 against the Cowboys. Like kind of out of nowhere.

Starting point is 00:08:49 I kind of feel like the roles should be reversed in this matchup. I just. I look at the Colts offensive line. And I look at like Micah Parsons. And I just cringe. Like the Colts offense has shown that they could be totally dominated and lifeless. And I think the Cowboys are a defense that could force that once again. All right.

Starting point is 00:09:10 Let's talk about the biggest matchups in this game. And I got a feeling, Jake, we're going to be talking about that one that you just mentioned. But before we do that, we want to let you know this episode is brought to you by Audible. Audible is releasing a new slate of football podcasts that we know you're going to love because you're listening to this football podcast right now. Fine, think like a champion. Now, wherever you get your podcasts, Think Like a Champion is a brand new podcast

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Starting point is 00:10:39 The Cowboys have done a really good job of moving Micah Parsons around to exploit matchups. Where do you want to see him least line up in this game? Yeah, so assuming they use him most off the edge, I would really least like to see him over left tackle Bernard Ryman. Ryman's honestly coming off his best game in his young career last week against the Steelers. But opponents have known when they need a pressure, when they need a sack, they know where to go. And whether they bend the edge or they just bull rush them back,

Starting point is 00:11:15 they've been able to get it. The Eagles, Hassan Redick and Brandon Graham, two savvy veterans, they both knew where to go and attack. And the sacks that those guys both got near the end of the game kind of killed the Colts totally. And then same thing with the Steelers last week, Alex Highsmith, he had nine sacks coming into the game. Ryman had done a pretty good job against him.

Starting point is 00:11:35 And then Highsmith just knew he was going to be able to get it, blew Ryman up, got the sack fumble against Matt Ryan. So Ryman might, might put up some good tape for a bit, but then once Parsons knows it's time to eat, I think that's where he's going to be able to attack it. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:11:54 And what's going to be interesting to see how the Cowboys decided to attack Ryman because what they might do and what I wouldn't be surprised to see them do is keep somebody like Dorrance Armstrong over on that side or Sam Williams or Dante Fowler and then use Lawrence and Parsons on the right side of their offensive line. Believing we can use those two guys in some stunts. It's Brad Smith back out right. Tackled now, I believe. Correct. Yeah, it's it's Smith.

Starting point is 00:12:21 He did a pretty good job against TJ Watt last year, but he's had. Yeah, he's had his lumps this year too so maybe we see parsons more on that side to just try to maximize the pass rush but i wouldn't be surprised either if you just see the cowboys using a bunch of different looks and a bunch of different players so ryman can't get a beat on what parsons is doing he's gonna see a 242 pound edge on one snap and the next snap, you might see them play. Oh, so Digizua, their 300 pound defensive tackle over there. So I would expect the Cowboys to do a lot of different things to keep this offensive line thinking.

Starting point is 00:12:57 I will say the other matchup that I'm really excited to see is Stefan Gilmore against all the Cowboys receivers, but specifically CD lamb. And my question for you is the Cowboys like to move CD lamb around a lot. He's playing in the slot, like 55% of the time. Do you expect Gilmore to travel into the slot to follow CD? Probably not.

Starting point is 00:13:24 They don't necessarily travel a whole lot lot they kind of stick to their own sides like Gilmore was on Devante Adams with the Raiders quite a bit but they also allowed Isaiah Rogers to take care of of Devante Adams so I don't really anticipate that Gilmore will travel along um Gilmore tends to stick to the right side of the defense. So he may see plenty of CD lamb throughout the game, but no, they're, they're an equal opportunity defense for better or worse. For some reason, Brandon face on kind of out, you know, outperformed Isaiah Rogers last week.

Starting point is 00:14:02 They didn't have Rogers on the field as much in the second half. They said so they could save him for more special teams, which Rodgers has been an outstanding corner this year. He's been almost as good as Gilmore, very rarely targeted. So if they have Brandon face on out there, that's I would I would circle that I would target it every single play. Well, I also have to ask about Kenny Moore. So Kenny Moore, I'm trying to think of a nice way to say this. I was a huge fan of like of Kenny Moore, like in 2019, 2020, I thought he was one of the league's most underrated corners, but he struggled a little bit this year.

Starting point is 00:14:36 And then he got banged up in the sealer game. Do you expect him to play? I would think so. We'll see those guys. They tend, they allow them time off during practice, and then as long as it seems like, as long as it seems on, like, Friday that they're physically good to go, they'll probably let them play. Kenny has struggled this year.

Starting point is 00:14:58 You know, with Matt Eberfluss' scheme, it was a lot more free. It allowed guys to play based on instincts and athleticism and not as many rules and assignments. But now, Gus Bradley's scheme, there's a lot more thinking and things that have to be done. And it took him a while. He started to play better. He's a really instinctual player, makes a lot of big plays that way.

Starting point is 00:15:20 He'll tackle like crazy too. It's unbelievable. He will. Little guy, but he's not afraid to to go up and get someone like derrick henry so um it's tough he he doesn't always play well when he's banged up so that could be a real problem if he does play but yeah what i also noticed last week against the steelers is that they were fine letting kenny guard like Pat Fryermuth out of the slot, which is very interesting considering the size differential there.

Starting point is 00:15:50 So I wonder if the Cowboys will look at their tight end situation with Dalton Schultz and Jake Ferguson and say, hey, if they're going to allow Kenny Moore to stay on these huge tight ends, that's a matchup that we're fine exploiting over and over again. I'm just really curious to see what the Colts do with Kenny Moore this week. Yeah, they're fine to let him play in a mismatch of size because his arm length and his leaping ability can kind of counter it. But if the guy he's lining up against has a lot more power than him,

Starting point is 00:16:23 that is when it can be a real problem. So if Schultz or Ferguson, any of those guys want to get physical with him and maybe bend the rules a little bit and get a little more physical in their routes, I think that could be an advantage for them. One matchup that I do think really favors the Colts that I'm really excited to at least watch from like a football nerd. I'm standpoint is a divorce Buckner. We don't have to spend a lot of time on Buckner. He's an amazing player, right? Absolutely. Fantastic.

Starting point is 00:16:51 A Grover Stewart. I don't know how many people around the league know who Grover Stewart is, but if you want to watch like one of the better interior defensive linemen in the league, go watch Stewart. And I, as a Cowboy fan, I'm nervous about this match.

Starting point is 00:17:05 And if the Cowboys lose this game, it's going to be because Buckner and Stewart inside just wreck havoc in the run game. How do you think they're going to match up against the interior offensive line of Dallas? Yeah, those guys have been outstanding. You could say both of them would deserve a pro bowl nod this year easily.

Starting point is 00:17:21 And it's, it's one of those things where they play off each other because you can't really double team both. You got to figure out um stewart's just an elite run stuffer he can also put some pressure on the pocket but buckner is you know they're obviously their best interior pass rusher i mean it looks like the cowboys can be susceptible to some pressure up the middle which obviously bodes well for those guys so someone like or tony pollard might do well running outside they might be able to take care of zeke up the middle um i would expect pollard to probably have a little more of an impact both as a pass catcher and outside runner

Starting point is 00:17:56 but i those are two guys you trust to do their job every week they've been banged up especially buckner he's had a litany of injuries throughout the year, but he's still played through them. Yeah, it's going to be the linebackers that are going to be in charge of really stopping the run, and they did not play well against Pittsburgh, especially Zaire Franklin. You're noticing now the impact of Shaq Leonard, just how good of a player he is when somebody like Zaire Franklin has to play more snaps. I think that's where between Dalton Schultz and Jake Ferguson in the middle

Starting point is 00:18:31 of the field, Tony Pollard on wheel routes, Tony Pollard on some of these wide zone runs. That's how the Cowboys are going to be successful on offense is targeting the linebackers and maybe targeting the corners not named Stefan Kilmore. Let's talk about some predictions for this matchup because I think you and I might have a little bit of a different opinion on how this game goes. But before we do that, we want to tell you about BetOnline. BetOnline.net is your number one source for sports betting info, stats, news, and analysis. Get the latest odds and trends for every professional in the amateur league

Starting point is 00:19:06 out there from football to basketball to soccer and esports. They've got it all at betonline.net. And if you love sports podcasts, and we know that you do because you're listening to this one right now, you can find those at BetOnline as well. We are the fastest and easiest way to get your betting fixed. Head to the website today or use your mobile device to learn more bet online where the game starts over on bet online right now i believe the cowboys are 10 and a half to 11 point favorites uh just depending on when you're

Starting point is 00:19:35 listening to this jake how do you envision this game going yeah the the colts are the biggest underdogs of the week over there at betOnline, and I can see why. It tends to not go well when I give the Colts credit and show them confidence in that they'll do well. So I'm going to go against that this week. I just really don't see them being able to match up well with the Cowboys. I have the Cowboys at 24-6. The Colts have really struggled to score points at times. It appears the Achilles heel of the Dallas defense is the run defense and the

Starting point is 00:20:11 Colts will try to establish that. But if they can't, then Dallas is past defense. I believe they're, they're the top ranked or right there near the top. It could get ugly. They're, they're pass rush.

Starting point is 00:20:22 They've got a really good group of pass rushers. The Colts haven't protected well, almost regardless of who they're playing. it could get ugly. Their pass rush, they've got a really good group of pass rushers. The Colts haven't protected well, almost regardless of who they're playing. So this could be one that's ugly. Like you had mentioned, there's kind of some hidden factors. Short week for the Colts on the road. The Cowboys have had the rest, home and home. Stuff like that can matter.

Starting point is 00:20:49 And man, I mean, the Colts have some times where they can, again, like we mentioned, Chiefs, Eagles was a game they should have won. So this is one they could randomly surprise people and do well. I just don't envision it happening. If it's gone to my head, I'd say 24-6 Cowboys. So we've seen the Cowboys over the last month or so just let teams hang around. The Giants had a lead going into halftime against the Cowboys. The Bears, despite the Bears being not a great football team,

Starting point is 00:21:17 they hung around against the Cowboys despite Dallas scoring, I think, six straight possessions. Detroit was close with them in a game early on the cowboys will do this they will allow teams to to either have leads or be within a score for most of the game and typically by the third quarter like mid to late third quarter they start to pour it on but if the colts can run the ball and jonathan tay Taylor can rip up a few big runs and if they can get a lead and if they can avoid the silly sacks and the turnovers, I won't be shocked Jake,

Starting point is 00:21:51 if this is a 17 to 14 game that the Cowboys are down by going into the fourth quarter, like that would shock me at all. And it also would shock me if three drives later, it's 35 to 17 something like that so i think this game is going to be close for a while i don't think it's going to be one where you can go to bed at halftime knowing what the outcome is going to be i think this is going to be a tighter game than we maybe should expect that's that 11 point spread is pretty massive

Starting point is 00:22:20 though it is it is um i mean that, that's been the Colts ball game all throughout the season though. Those tight, those tight games into the teens, you know, into the late third quarter or so. So what you just said, that's, that's been very reminiscent of the Colts entire season. So one surprised me either. I w I would just expect the Cowboys offense to have a little more firepower. The Colts defense has been great, but last week against the Steelers, they did show signs of beginning to crack. You can only carry the team for so long. If the Colts offense keeps having these three and outs, these turnovers,

Starting point is 00:22:55 giving the defense a short field, keeping them on the field constantly, then it could get pretty ugly. It just totally depends if the colts play to what their potential like sometimes they do but a lot of times they do not and you just never know what team you're going to get on a on a given day all right just to recap uh we're really curious to see how the cowboys perform as a double digit point favorite in this one if you are super super bowl caliber team go take care of business. Don't let the Colts hang around.

Starting point is 00:23:27 For the Colts side of things, it's just can they play better under Jeff Saturday? Can they figure out a way to keep things close? Can the offense get a little bit better? Keeping an eye on that. For the matchups, we're really watching the offense and defensive lines for both teams in this game. How does Micah Parsons perform?

Starting point is 00:23:46 Where does he line up? Can the Cowboys block the forest Buckner and Grover Stewart? The answer is no. Jake, you and I think maybe this game does end up being a little tighter than expected. We both think the Cowboys will win. I'm a little bit more optimistic that the Cowboys will be able to blow them

Starting point is 00:24:02 out. You have them winning 24 to 6 is this the last Colts primetime game for a while please tell me the answer is yes it's not they have they have the Chargers coming up as well and then you know I think they have one or two that could be flexed which I mean they're nothing nothing will go go go their way on that but it is not going to be the last time they grace your TV on primetime, which is rough because Jim Rosse really has fought for those primetime games in recent years because it's been a while.

Starting point is 00:24:32 I think Monday night was the first Monday night home game since 2015. And, man, this was just not the season to get all those games because they had like four or five primetime games this year. So not the best to get all those games. Cause they have like four or five primetime games this year. So not, not the best time for that. No, this is the last Cowboys primetime game for a while. They played the Jaguars and then the Texans in the next two games.

Starting point is 00:24:55 We're gonna see lots of 1. PM starts for the Cowboys. Yeah. It should be a lot of fun. All right. That is it for today's show. Thank you for making lockdown Cowboys and lockdown Colts. Your first listen for your next listen, check out it for today's show. Thank you for making Locked On Cowboys and Locked On Colts your first listen.

Starting point is 00:25:05 For your next listen, check out the Locked On Sports Today podcast, the biggest stories of the day, plus instant reactions, big game recaps, and the take of the day, available on the Odyssey app, YouTube, and wherever you get your podcasts, all the same places that you would download Locked On Colts and Locked On Cowboys. Go check out Jake on Twitter at Jake Arthur NFL. I am at Marcus underscore Mosier. Jake enjoy Sunday night football.

Starting point is 00:25:29 Enjoy this matchup. And I can't wait to talk to you again. Yeah. Thanks man. You too. Should be a good one. Maybe.

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Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts Could Make Things Interesting Against Dallas Cowboys On Sunday Night

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