Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts Crossover: Redemption Coming vs. Tennessee Titans?

Starting point is 00:00:00 It is crossover Thursday. We have a really awesome divisional rivalry game coming up between the Tennessee Titans and the Indianapolis Colts. The Colts look a little different than the first time these two teams played. The Titans are going to be a little bit healthier than the first time these two teams played. So a similar matchup, but still a different matchup. Excited to break it all down before we get into it. Want to let you know that today's Crossover Thursday is presented by PrizePix. PrizePix is daily fantasy made easy.

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Starting point is 00:01:15 last time on the crossover Thursday so it's nice to have the other half of the new host of Locked On Colts, Jake, here with us. So Jake, with that being said, what's kind of the biggest storyline with Indy right now? What's the word on the streets with the Colts? Yeah, so it's a totally different vibe than the last time.

Starting point is 00:01:35 You know, after the Colts lost to Titans a couple weeks ago, it was a low point. You know, we're ready to put them in the dirt and who's getting fired, who's this and that. Now they got a couple of wins their offensive line had their first good performance of of the season uh and it turned out you know they had their their best offensive output of the year as a result so momentum is really the key here like are they going to keep it up you know is is that same starting five including dennis kelly at tackle, which you guys are very familiar with,

Starting point is 00:02:05 is that the right recipe for this to happen? And, you know, if the offensive line lives up to it, we've seen that Matt Ryan can have time to get everyone involved, but they might also be getting Jonathan Taylor and Iheem Hines back. So, really, this is just a 180 from the last matchup. Whether that means the Colts can actually beat the Titans who knows because the Titans have owned them the last few years like they they've split the away matchups a few years but there's there's not much you know you can't say the Colts are the better team yet because the Titans just time and again have have proven

Starting point is 00:02:41 otherwise but it feels a lot more optimistic coming into this matchup. Yeah, finally, it only took 20 years for the Titans to go on a nice run against the Colts, but you're 100% right. And before I get into the biggest storyline for the Titans, I did want to ask you one question because Titans fans obviously know Dennis Kelly had a pretty good year for the Titans at right tackle. The Titans cut him for cap reasons, and he doesn't really seem like he's been the player he was starting for the Titans since, but he looked pretty good at left tackle for the Colts and moving Matt Pryor into guard. It looked like the Colts found their best five offensive linemen. Was that the biggest difference that you saw that led?

Starting point is 00:03:23 The Colts, going into the week, had the lowest points per game of any team in the league at like 13.3, and they put up 30-plus points. Was the insertion of Dennis Kelly the major factor that turned things around? It looks like it. The last few weeks, they've really been tinkering with that line. They had the same starting five through the first four weeks, and it just was not working. So Bernard Ryman actually started the last two weeks. He played

Starting point is 00:03:49 through most of the first quarter last week, and then Kelly took over late in the first quarter, played 70 snaps, only allowed one pressure. And left tackle has been just a mess. That and really all over the line. you know you have your pillars and Quentin Nelson Ryan Kelly Braden Smith who you don't really have to worry about but Kelly really gave them the stability on that left side that they needed right guard is still an issue though so the Titans are good all along the front it seems they can give the Colts problems everywhere and we've seen that they will move guys around to take advantage of those matchups so while Dennis Kelly seems to have things held down really well on the left side I still would be concerned about the Titans smelling

Starting point is 00:04:34 blood in the water and and taking advantage of that right guard spot because that's really still not good yeah well obviously the offensive line improved, but how real that is, how consistent that's going to be, and I'm sure we'll talk about that offensive line-defensive line matchup here in just a moment. But on my side of things with the Tennessee Titans, Tyler Rowland locked on Titans here with Jake Arthur from Locked on Colts, the Titans, it's all about can they close the door? Because if they sweep Indianapolis and they have a game the week

Starting point is 00:05:08 after against the Texans and if the Titans can not only get a lead in terms of their overall record but have that 2-0 you know head-to-head and then the divisional record for Indy at that point becomes such an issue if they lose that because of the loss to the Jags and the tie to the Texans. They really only have a chance to go, what is it, 2-3-1 in the division. And if there's a tiebreaker scenario, which the Titans and the Colts will probably both be around 10-7, 9-8 is my guess. That tiebreaker scenario is so important. So for the Titans, this is at home.

Starting point is 00:05:47 The fans are expecting them to win. You already beat Indianapolis. You've beat them a lot recently. This is the chance to really take a stranglehold on the division before the Titans go into a really tough stretch of games. So really, the vibes around the Titans are, yeah, this looks good. We don't really know if this team is good, though.

Starting point is 00:06:06 Let's see if they can at least win this AFC South, and how much better are they than Indianapolis. I think if the Titans were to lose this game to Indy, there would be some real anxiety in Tennessee, and it would flip the vibes almost immediately, kind of like what happened from the last time the Colts and Titans played on the Indy side. I think it's very interesting to see what kind of team the Titans truly are and if they can kind of close the door, even if it's a little early,

Starting point is 00:06:33 if they can find a way to close the door on Indy pretty early in the season. But either way, a lot riding on this matchup. We're going to dive deeper into the game, look at some matchups to watch in this contest. And as Jake already talked about, and I'm sure we'll talk about more, that offensive line from Indy against the defensive line of the Titans will be a key one to watch. Before we get into that, though, I do want to tell you guys a little bit about our sponsor, Blue Nile. Whether you're looking to pop the question, have a milestone to celebrate, or you want to let your love sparkle, Blue Nile can help you make your celebration even more memorable.

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Starting point is 00:08:34 Jake Arthur, one of the hosts of Locked on Colts. We just broke down kind of the biggest stories for both teams going into this game. Now we want to get into the matchups. Jake, I will start here because I kind of let you take things off. So I'll do my part and lead off this one. The biggest matchup for me, I know we're going to hit on the trenches, but I'm looking at the Titans middle of the field players

Starting point is 00:08:59 against the tight ends of the Colts. And you could even throw Michael Pittman in there because one thing that I noticed that the Colts did a ton in that game against Jacksonville last week is crossing routes, going across the field, across the formation. And they were pretty smart the way they do it. They'd have a tight end on the inside. They'd release him vertically.

Starting point is 00:09:19 They'd bring Michael Pittman on the drag route right underneath him to kind of clear that linebacker. They would get people in man coverage and just run drag routes and mesh concepts and crossing routes across the field to get matchups they want. A guy like Devin Lloyd, the rookie, got abused over the middle of the field by the Colts. So I'm looking at the Titans safety group. Last time they played, they had Andrew Adams and Josh Kalou out there who no Titans fan really want to see out there.

Starting point is 00:09:46 They're getting Amani Hooker back from concussion. They'll have him in this game. Not only that, but Joe Sjobert played a ton in the second half against the Colts the first time they played, instead of Dylan Cole, who really struggled on pass coverage over the middle of the field. So Kevin Beyer, Ugo Amadi at nickel cornerback, Amani Hooker, David Long, Joe Schober, Dylan Cole.

Starting point is 00:10:11 Can these guys over the middle of the field shut down those crossing routes for the Colts? I mean, the Colts in that game had a ton of success with their tight ends crossing the field, especially in the red zone. I think two touchdowns on that. Those are the only two touchdowns the Colts scored, I believe, were on those plays.

Starting point is 00:10:30 So can the Titans find a way to cover the middle of the field, cover those tight ends, specifically in the red zone, on those crossing routes? What they do to do that, I would expect zone coverage from the Titans. At the end of the game last time when the Titans and the Colts played. The Titans went to a ton of, I actually don't have the NFL high level knowledge to tell you exactly what this play or this coverage is called, but it's essentially a cover for coverage, a quarters coverage, where the Titans outside corner and the inside safety communicate who's

Starting point is 00:11:02 taking the vertical route because the Colts love running people vertical from the inside to clear out those under the middles. The Titans ran a ton of cover for and the safeties and the cornerbacks just communicated who's taking the vertical route and then the other guy dropped down back into the middle to help cover that. So I expect the Titans

Starting point is 00:11:19 to do a ton of that rather than man coverage and when they do that, those guys playing in those zones over the middle of the field, they're going to have to match up well with those tight ends or Michael Pittman across the middle, or the Titans are going to get cooked just like Jacksonville did. And honestly, just like the Titans did in the first game. So the tight ends again,

Starting point is 00:11:38 the tight ends of the Colts against the safeties and the linebackers of the Titans over the middle of the field. That's the biggest matchup that I'm watching for. I'm glad you mentioned that because I wanted to make sure to say something on that as well because Mo'Ally Cox had really his only productive day of the season, 85 yards and two touchdowns. Like you had mentioned, it was actually, to that point, I don't know if any team has bested it, but in that matchup, it was the best tight end group performance in the NFL to that point, I don't know if any team has bested it, but in that matchup, it was the best tight end group performance

Starting point is 00:12:06 in the NFL to that point, yardage-wise. And like you said last week. Branson and Mo Alley-Cons. Yeah. Jelani Woods is a freaking monster, man. Yeah, those guys are on fire. Woods is only getting better. One guy I actually want to highlight, though,

Starting point is 00:12:22 and he actually kind of started his hot streak against the Titans, is Alec Pierce. He's become, beyond just looking like a rookie, One guy I actually want to highlight, though, and he actually kind of started his hot streak against the Titans, is Alec Pierce. He's become, beyond just looking like a rookie, he actually looks like a true weapon in the passing game now. And they're using him like Cincinnati used with him collegiately, those 50-50 balls, downfield shots and everything. Matt Ryan fully trusts Alec Pierce at this point. And, you know, that's great for taking attention off Pittman.

Starting point is 00:12:48 Cause as you know, Pittman can, can clear out things over the middle. So I really want to see, you know, size on size, the Titans have some size on the outside of the boundary corner, boundary corner as well. Alec Pierce, you know, he had four for 80 in the last matchup. I kind of expect something similar cause they really want to get him more involved. Marcus Brady, the Colts offensive coordinator, said on Tuesday, you know, he's not playing as many snaps as Pittman and Paris Campbell,

Starting point is 00:13:18 but they are going to continue increasing his role. It's been a big thing lately. Reggie Wayne is working really hard with Alec Pierce. So I really want to see if Pierce has even more of a coming out party after scoring his first touchdown, almost in walk-off fashion last week. Right, right. And honestly, that's a great place to attack the Titans defense. Christian Fulton has done pretty well against Michael. Now, Michael Pittman's had his numbers, but Christian Fulton's done pretty well against Michael. Now, Michael Pittman's had his numbers, but Christian Fulton's done pretty well against Michael Pittman in some recent matchups.

Starting point is 00:13:50 And I think that if you look at Christian Fulton, you look at the Titans safety group, and then you look at that other outside cornerback spot, you got Terrence Mitchell or Caleb Farley. And Caleb Farley is basically going to give up a huge play every single time that he's out on the field. That's that, you know, he may be 6'2". And in theory, they drafted Caleb Farley

Starting point is 00:14:11 because you're looking at Pittman, and you're like, we need some bigger corners for the division. You know, Nico Collins down in Houston, they have some tall guys. In a perfect world, Caleb Farley was drafted for this Alec Pierce matchup. Like, that would be the perfect situation. But unfortunately, he just hasn't shown that he's capable.

Starting point is 00:14:31 He hasn't shown that he's an NFL player right now. And that leaves Terrence Mitchell as the other guy who's going to be out there. And if I'm the Colts, and I saw what Terrence Mitchell did against Matt Collins in week three, I'm attacking Alec Pierce and Terrence Mitchell all day long. So yeah, that's a great point out by you. And if the Colts are smart and they do have a smart coaching staff, then that's what they'll do.

Starting point is 00:14:55 One more matchup that I'm going to talk about, like you mentioned earlier, that right guard position of the Colts is still in flux. I think they had Matt Pryor there. And even Quentin Nelson struggled in the game against the Titans with Danico Autry specifically. Autry really did some work on him a few times. So can the Titans' interior defensive line in the rush package of Danico Autry and Jeffrey Simmons get in the face? Because we know Matt Ryan is not going to run outside the pocket a ton

Starting point is 00:15:25 and kill you like Josh Allen, Pat Mahomes. These got younger guys. And Matt Ryan's done pretty good. Last week he had like a third down pass where he barely could throw it and toss it up to Paris Campbell. It was impressive. So Matt Ryan can move around and get the ball out of his hands maybe a little bit more than people want to give him credit for.

Starting point is 00:15:44 But he's not the playmaker that some of these younger guys are so I'm less worried about giving up breaking contain on the edge with Matt Ryan I'm much more worried with those older older quarterbacks you want to get pressure from the interior in their face and force them to run out because they don't feel comfortable there so if Jeffrey Simmons and Danico Autry can win on the interior against Ryan Kelly, Matt Pryor, even Quentin Nelson, then that'll go a long way to helping the Titans win this game and create some opportunities. So I'm looking at the interior offensive line

Starting point is 00:16:16 against the Titans' interior defensive line in rush situations as my final matchup. Yeah, you absolutely nailed that because in my history of watching Quentin Nelson since 2018, the, the teammate in practice he has struggled the most with has was Danico Autry.

Starting point is 00:16:33 Right. And that's carried over to when Autry has joined the Titans. You can clearly tell that Autry has these matchups circled because I feel like he kills. I feel like he kills the Colts every time. Yep. So the teammate he struggled with with and then the opposing player I have seen Nelson struggle with the most is probably Jeffrey Simmons so this matchup against the Titans always worried me for

Starting point is 00:16:54 those two huge reasons and then like you said with Matt Ryan uh it did surprise me how much he's able to move around he's kind of a man he is he's a pocket manipulator he moves up how much he's able to move around. He's kind of a... Shifty, man. He is. He's a pocket manipulator. He moves up and through. He's not the outside guy. But that play you were talking about with the short arm thing, he does stuff like that a lot, it seems.

Starting point is 00:17:15 But if you're getting that pressure up the middle, that's wiped out. Yeah, it's going to be tough to do that. That's a really good one as well. I think you and I were thinking on the same lines because Colt's tight ends and Colt's interior liner were kind of the two things positive and negative I was focusing on in this matchup so I think I think it's pretty clear those are two areas that are going to be critical in this matchup yeah it's funny too because like the teams themselves they play so much that they like know exactly what's going on in each game

Starting point is 00:17:46 it's just about who's gonna win we're like yeah that's a great point i was looking at that too yeah that's like there aren't a lot of surprises at this point with these two teams we know them yeah we know who they are what are they gonna do so that's gonna i mean it makes the games even more compelling and even more fun but we're're going to give our game and score prediction in this matchup to cap off this crossover Thursday before we get into that. I do want to tell you guys a little bit about our sponsor, Simply Safe. Here's a sports analogy for you guys.

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Starting point is 00:19:40 There is no safe like SimpliSafe. Titans fans, Colts fans, we are going to cap off this crossover Thursday edition of the Locked On Titans and the Locked On Colts podcast. We've gone over our biggest storylines. We've gone over our matchups to watch. Now it's time to put some skin in the game

Starting point is 00:20:00 and make some predictions. You know, Jake, no matter what happens here, someone is going to get praised. Someone is going to get crushed for being wrong. So we're just going to throw it all out on the line here and get into them. Before we do, I want to thank you guys again for making Locked on Colts, Locked on Titans

Starting point is 00:20:19 your first listen every day. Remember, it's free Monday through Friday content on your team all year round on all platforms, including Locked on Colts YouTube, Locked on Titans YouTube. Subscribe. Make sure you never miss an episode. But getting in here to our game

Starting point is 00:20:35 and score predictions. Jake, I'm not going to lie to you. I'm a little worried. Although the Titans are playing at home in this game, I picked the Titans to win against the Colts. But even though the Titans are at home in this game, I'm more worried that the Titans are healthy. But the Colts are a good team.

Starting point is 00:20:56 And I said this in a Twitter argument with another Titans content creator. I put a $100 bet that the Colts would win more than six games. That is the most free $100 I that the Colts would win more than six games. That is the most free $100 I've ever gotten in my entire life. The Colts are going to win more than six games. They're a well-coached team. They get better

Starting point is 00:21:16 as the season goes, as all well-coached football teams do. Look at a team like Arizona. They suck at the end of the season because their coach is Cliff Kingsbury. Frank Reich and Mike Rabel, though frustrating, are really good coaches. That's what we know for certain. So with that in mind, I feel like the Colts stumbled upon a new identity

Starting point is 00:21:38 throwing the football. And I feel like the Titans have almost gone backwards on offense from where they were with the Colts in that game. So for me, I'm real worried about it. I've been going back and forth. I think the Colts win this game. 27 to 21. I don't believe that the Titans can score more than 24 points in a football game. I just don't believe it.

Starting point is 00:22:13 And I think that the Colts will find a way to score more than 24 points. I just do. Now, the Titans may surprise me and have another touchdown or play some more offense. But I'm taking Colts 27 27 Titans 21 in this game. Yeah. I kind of echo that. I think it'll be a relatively close game to a one score game.

Starting point is 00:22:35 I'm also not confident in the Colts. If this was a survivor pool or a confidence points thing, it's not my favorite matchup. I'm going to give the Colts 23 to 20. I really, I think Tennessee's defensive front will be violent like they always are against the Colts. Right. But I want to give them some credit in finally starting to get something rolling on offense. I'm glad the offensive line is finally doing something. Something that definitely scares me though is the run game. Jacksonville went nuts last week, like over 200 yards. And I mean,

Starting point is 00:23:12 it's Travis Etienne and James Robinson and Jermichael Hasty. So it's not Derrick Henry. And Derrick Henry gashes the Colts even when the Colts are like a top five run defense. So he's going to get his, I think that will propel them to about 20 points. Uh, but the Titans passing game doesn't scare me and the Colts have done really well in that area. Um, and I've gotta, I've gotta imagine if they can get Jonathan Taylor and or Niheem Hines back, that'll give them a boost. They didn't do anything in the last matchup. They combined for 42 yards on 21 carries. That's not going to continue.

Starting point is 00:23:49 Surely the reigning rushing champion can do something if he comes back. So I think if Taylor and Hines are back and with how the line is performing and the offense is clicking a little bit, I think the Colts eke out a narrow win. Yeah, I'm with you. I think both defenses are pretty good and will have their moments, but I just trust Indy's offense more than I trust the Titans' offense. So that's basically where I come down. But just a little recap of things for you guys here.

Starting point is 00:24:19 For me, the biggest storyline for the Titans is can they close that door on Indy? Indy has some struggles in the division early in the year. The Titans can really get a sizable lead, even if it doesn't look like it on paper. When you look at the division tiebreakers and the division standings, the Titans could get a sizable lead with this win at home, so they really need to handle their business. Matchup-wise for the Titans, I'm looking at,

Starting point is 00:24:46 can the Titans' middle-of- of the field defenders take away the tight ends in the passing game for the Colts and all those intermediate crossing routes over the middle of the field? And then I am personally have more confidence in the Colts offense than I do the Titans offense. So I'm going to go 27-21. The Colts find a way to beat the Titans on the road and keep this division interesting. Yeah, and then I just kind of echoed the same thing. The Colts are looking for some momentum. You know, they've got two wins in a row. The offensive line, which has been their backbone for years now, has finally found some sort of gumption.

Starting point is 00:25:22 Do they have the right five combination now? Let's hope so for their sake. It's a tough matchup. They struggle a lot with Tennessee's defensive front. Danico Autry, Jeffrey Simmons, Bud Dupree, those guys probably will give them trouble, but they can maybe still withstand that. Colts tight ends could take advantage. That's an area the Titans defense has struggled with a little bit. But in the end, it just really comes down to that Colts offensive line. Cause that's what almost always is their reason for winning or losing. And again,

Starting point is 00:25:50 it's especially been the case against Tennessee. But in the end, I also trust the Colts offense a little bit. And Tennessee's offense to me right now is just run base. They're, they're passing him. It's not scary enough. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:26:03 I like Stefan Gilmore and the safety group. Those guys have really stepped up lately. I think the Colts win just slightly 23-20. Well, those are interesting predictions. This is going to be a very important game for how things shake out. All I know is in week 17

Starting point is 00:26:21 when we look back, we're going to be talking about these two games and how they went with however the division breaks out. Well, that's Jake Arthur, one half of Locked on Colts. I am Tyler Rowland, the host of Locked on Titans. Thank you guys so much for tuning in to a crossover Thursday here on the Locked on

Starting point is 00:26:38 Podcast Network. Hopefully you guys all enjoy the game.

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Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts Crossover: Redemption Coming vs. Tennessee Titans?

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