Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts Crossover Special with Locked On 49ers

Episode Date: October 21, 2021

On today's episode, Locked On Colts x Locked On 49ers gets you prepared for a must-win game for both sides as the Indianapolis Colts square off against the San Francisco 49ers? Hosts Evan Sidery, Brian Peacock and Eric Crocker get you all ready with an in-depth breakdown of every angle!What are the biggest storylines coming out of Indy and San Fran? Will DeForest Buckner have a revenge game? Who holds the edge in different positions? All of this, plus so much more, in a jam-packed Locked On NFL Crossover Special! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You are Locked On Colts, your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome to another Locked On Podcast Network crossover episode. Brian Peacock and Eric Crocker here from Locked On 49ers with Evan Sidery of Locked On Colts getting ready for week seven primetime Sunday night football in Santa Clara at Levi's Stadium. The Colts at two and four coming in to visit the two and three 49ers. Evan, how are you, man? I know you're double dipping on the network as we are covering multiple sports though, not just football, but basketball too.

So yeah, thanks for carving out the time so we can do a little crossover action here before this game. Absolutely. Hey, I've been diving into this matchup the last couple of days and honestly, I'm really excited about it. I think these two teams match up very well

and we're going to be obviously diving a lot into it throughout to this show. Absolutely. And I have a lot of questions about the Colts. Croc and I will grill you in segment three we'll give you segment number two to ask us about the 49ers but i think we got to get the elephant in the room out of the way or the the defensive tackle in the room out of the way and that is deforest buckner the revenge game and just hearing some quotes today from deforest buckner about his exit from the 49ers and it was

such a huge move um when the 49ers traded DeForest Buckner to the Colts. And here was the quote from DeForest Buckner. He said, quote, I'm willing to meet in the middle, but didn't want to take too big of a pay cut. I had a baby on the way. I had to take care of my family. He also went on to say that there wasn't much wiggle room with the 49ers and called the trade a numbers thing he said it kind of sucks for the whole salary cap situation so he didn't want to leave but he didn't want to you know leave too much money on the table as well and the 49ers had the offer from the Colts which was a huge offer and I feel like uh and correct me if I'm wrong Evan from the Colts side

he's a really good player and he's a really good player for the 49ers. But I almost feel like this is one of the lose-lose type trades because I feel like the Colts gave up too much, and it was so much that the 49ers had to do it, but the 49ers lost a cornerstone player at the same time. And even though they got a draft pick for it, and even though they didn't have to pay the money, I think the 49ers would absolutely take over the car payments there on DeForest Buckner and trade the Colts, the defensive tackle.

They drafted him in his place as a first-rounder in Javon Kinlaw. And I don't know if there might be some regrets from the Colts' side just because of how many resources they put into one player. $22 million a year, I think, on average it was, plus a mid-first-round pick. This wasn't a late first-round this is number 13 overall uh how was I mean 49ers fans hate this trade they're upset at it and I almost didn't want to put that quote out there from DeForest Buckner because I knew it was going to stir up some emotions but how do the Colts feel about this thing with DeForest Buckner yeah honestly I think the Colts are completely fine with the price they paid uh

the way their defense is run it's a 4-3, a lot of heavy zone, and you put a lot of pressure on the pass rush up front. DeForest Buckner is the three-tech that drives this thing. That's a direct quote from GM Chris Ballard when he got Buckner on board. And last year, he was just a monster. I mean, we saw that viral clip against the Vikings where he threw Drew Samia about five yards back in the air. That was just an incredible thing to watch.

But he changed the whole defense last year. Him and Darius Leonard were such a dynamic duo in the front seven. Buckner really has taken a little bit of a step back this year because I think a lot more teams are focusing double, triple coverage on him up front. And the lack of edge rush around Buckner is really hurting his stats right now. But he's still a major disruptor. I mean, he's the engine of this defense. I know Darius Leonard gets a lot of love there for obvious reasons,

but Buckner is the key to this defense and to its success. And I think, honestly, the Colts will pay that price, even the $22 million, every single time because they've never had a defensive tackle like DeForest Buckner in their franchise history. I think already he's the best one they've ever had in the last 35 years of the Indianapolis Colts. So I think they do that price every single time.

And quite honestly, I think he's in for a big game on Sunday because he even mentioned the quote to the Colts media after practice today, mentioning he smirked and he said, I'm looking forward to this one. Like when someone asked about it. So he's definitely, he has that motivation that chip on his shoulder.

So I think we're going to be maybe seeing a scary sight from DeForest Buckner on Sunday night. Definitely some revenge game vibes from DeForest Buckner coming back to play against his old team. Kroc, are you a little bit worried about seeing Defoe annihilate the middle of the 49ers offensive line? I mean, definitely. That's a weakness of the 49ers when you look at the center

where Alex Mack, he's kind of been manhandled. And then obviously Brunskill. So I'm hoping he lines up more on the other side and against Lincoln Tomlinson. I think Tomlinson at least will be able to hold his own to some extent. But I do have a question for you, Evan, because I was reading through some of the comments when he did say his quote about, you know, looking forward to this game. And a couple Colts fans were saying he might need this because he hasn't been playing as well. Has there been any type of drop off from DeForest Buckner's game, you know, between last season and then heading over to this season?

Yeah, I would say a little bit. I mean, he's we put such a high pedestal on the performance of him. He's an all pro player and everyone expects every single week for him to be an all pro. He just hasn't been that so far this year. He had a couple of flashes in week one. He really kind of disappeared for a couple weeks after that. But then last week, he really showed up again against Houston. Obviously, it's the Texans, the worst team in the NFL, or at least one of them. But I think DeForest Buckner,

he just needs to get his legs under him a little bit, get more chemistry with these guys up front because it's a completely different front four up there in Indianapolis right now. You have Grover Stewart in the middle. Those two are stalwarts inside on the defensive line for the Colts, Buckner and Stewart. But you have Quiddie Paye, a first-round pick rookie who actually missed the last two weeks with a hamstring injury. He's just now getting back on board. Tyquan Lewis is getting back. Al-Quidi Muhammad. These are all young players the Colts bet on because they let Justin Houston walk.

They let Danico Autry walk. We saw him in football. He had a huge turnover play on Josh Allen. You're missing these two veteran presence edge rushers alongside Buckner. I think those two guys took a lot of pressure off them last season. I just think a lot of offensive lines around the league respect what the Colts have on the outside right now. And it's putting a lot of double and triple pressure on Buckner. And that's why you're going away from seeing the monster numbers from Buckner is because you have two or three hats on him at one time. And no one has shown up outside of him to be a consistent edge rush where he can take less pressure off Buckner's shoulders so I think it's more so not Buckner not playing up to that high standard I

think it's more so everyone else around him we're kind of failing right now we're gonna get a little bit deeper into these teams coming up but just big picture Evan how did the Colts arrive to this two and four record and how do they end up where they are and where exactly are they in in week seven because I feel like these two teams are sort of a vibe around them where it's like we don't quite know who these teams are quite yet yeah if you would have asked me right after the Monday Night Football loss where they just had a complete fourth quarter collapse against Lamar Jackson allowed to have 505 total yards I would have said the season's over they just look like they hit rock bottom in that game with the way they collapsed but the I would say the offense

overall has looked really good throughout this season Carson Wentz dare I say he's not broken I mean he looks like a legit average quarterback and that's all you need for in this system for the Annapolis Colts Carson yeah Frank Reich's going to scheme things up for him he's making it easy for him right now Jonathan Taylor we're seeing right now that he's a superstar running back. He's taken that leap from star to superstar already in his career. He has, I believe, 450 scrimmage yards the last two games and five touchdowns. So he's just the bell cow of this offense. You have a running game.

The offensive line is now getting finally healthy for the first time. Braden Smith is questionable for Sunday. Quentin Nelson's going to be officially back on Sunday after missing the last three weeks. So that's going to be a huge on Sunday after missing the last three weeks. So that's going to be a huge boost for the running game and for Carson Wentz as well. The more so the worrisome thing is the defense. And a lot of it's due to that pass rush that we talked about. DeForest Buckner obviously is a big piece there.

He's going to be back there every single week. But you need Quitty Pay to step up. You need Taekwon Lewis and Abkhazian Muhammad to step up. If not, this defense is going to be in trouble I think the rest rest of the season because you're going to be in so many good schemes that you need this pass rush to work out, and Buckner can't just be a one-man wrecking crew. That's where my worry is with this team right now. With the AFC South, though, I

do have to mention that maybe seven or eight wins or even nine wins wins this division this year, just with the way it stacks up because Tennessee, the next three weeks, they play Kansas City, they play at Indianapolis, then they play at the Los Angeles Rams before actually playing the New Orleans Saints as well. So that's a gauntlet the next four weeks compared to the Colts

who have the 49ers, and they play Titans, Jets, and Jaguars. So we could be sitting here next month. If the Colts go on a run here, they could be 6-4, leading the AFC South around Thanksgiving. That could be a huge turn of events for this team. So I'm not ruling things out yet. I imagine for the NFC West with the 49ers, you have undefeated Cardinals, you have the Rams.

It's a lot tougher slate to climb out of for them compared to the Colts. There's absolutely some work to do for these two teams. Evan, next I'm going to turn it over to you. You can grill Croc and I about what's going on with these San Francisco 49ers heading into week seven. Then we'll flip the script a little bit and make some predictions

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or an e-gift card for Amazon or other brands. Just download the free GetUpside app right now and use promo code TOUCHDOWN for your bonus. The second segment of our crossover special, I am Evan Sutter, the host of Locked on Colts, joined by Eric Crocker, Brian Peacock, the great duo of Locked on 49ers. And let me start off with you, Croc,

because I want to get your thoughts on the quarterback situation. What's going on right now with the injuries with Jimmy Garoppolo? It sounds like he's going to play. What was your impressions of Garoppolo, but then Trey Lance when he played for that one week? Do you feel like if Garoppolo struggles again

when he comes back in and Trey Lance gets healthy, do you think we're kind of seeing the point where maybe they should just pivot to Trey Lance at some point? Yeah, definitely. I think if you talk to a lot of fans, even the fans are kind of split 50-50. And I think Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch are as well. I think heading into this season, you expected some level of efficiency, like a high level of efficiency from Jimmy Garoppolo. He's a guy that's going on year four with the 49ers, year four and a half, because he came in halfway through the season in 2017. And you'd expect him to have this tremendous grasp of the offense and really be able to execute. And that was one thing that they were pushing throughout all of the

offseason training camp. This is the best Jimmy Garoppolo we've seen. He looks great. He looks amazing. He's being efficient. He's completing passes all over the place. But we get into the season, and it looked like maybe he is headed that way against the Detroit Lions. It looked good. But now we know Detroit Lions, the defense just kind of sucks.

So you see the next game, week two against Philadelphia Eagles, and I was there for that game. 49ers started off with three straight three and outs and really didn't get a touchdown until the last drive of the first half. And that trend continued throughout the following weeks where the 49ers just weren't able to get many points in the first half and a lot of stagnant offenses until Jimmy Garoppolo actually went out and then Trey Lance took over. And one thing about Trey Lance, when you watched him against the Arizona Cardinals, I think there was a lot of things to be optimistic about with where he was headed,

especially after watching some of the other rookie quarterbacks and their initial appearances in games. I think Trey Lance, he moved the ball extremely well between the numbers where it was eight out of 10 of his drives resulted in going into the Arizona Cardinals territory. The points just weren't there. And I think you assume if he continues to play kind of grows in the offense a little bit more, all those drives would turn into points, but Kyle Shanahan,

he's going back with Jimmy Garoppolo. Garoppolo is coming off of that calf sprain. And you also have Trey Lance, who has like a knee sprain. He hasn't participated in practice yet. So really curious to see where they are. It's a very weird space. I'd say if I had to guess, if Garoppolo continues to kind of play how he's been playing,

which is kind of underwhelming in the sense of what you were expecting, I think at some point they do end up going back to Trey Lance. Yeah, I'm definitely on board Trey Lance. I was on Twitter throughout the offseason saying before they got Carson Wentz, that's my guy. I hope they trade off for him, but the 49ers made the big move and got Trey Lance number three overall in the draft. But Brian, let me ask you about flipping it to the wide receivers, their weapons. Obviously, George Kittle's a mainstay at tight end. He's just coming off. I don't know if he's still on injured reserve

or not. He's going to play this week, but he's injured. Debo Samuel, Samuel of course I think is a really underrated wide receiver but I wanted to ask you about Brandon Ayuk because this is the guy that I was high on from Arizona State in the draft and he's kind of in the Kyle Shanahan doghouse for some reason first round pick I loved him in the pre-draft process a year or two ago what's going on with the 49ers of Brandon Ayuk and also is their weapons overall it's a tough question to answer when it comes to Brandon Ayuk Evan because I think most 49ers fans have the same question and he's not quite snapping off his routes the same way he was last year he did have a little bit of an injury in training camp but he's been 100 he's been healthy and he's just not been a part of the offense he wasn't even

starting in week one and he's getting more snaps now but he's just an afterthought. It's been pretty much all Debo on offense for the 49ers, even when George Kittle was healthy. And yeah, he is on IR right now. He still wasn't a huge part of the passing game for the 49ers. It's been really all Debo Samuel. And it seems as though Kyle Shanahan is coaching as if he's afraid of almost every playmaker he has on this roster that's not named Debo Samuel and I think a lot of it is clearly on Brandon Ayuk you want to blame the coach like come on you've got this talented first round guy you traded up to get him you must have really liked him what's going on where's the development you know so there does there does deserve to be some blame on that side but with Ay IUK, John Lynch has said it locally on the radio

and in interviews, and Kyle Shanahan has kind of danced around the idea, and when you watch him play, he's not quite getting the separation that he was last year. There's definitely something going on there in the way he's running his routes, and they won't say exactly what it is, but basically he's taking a step back. And that's not a good situation because he was supposed to be 1A to Devo Samuel's 1B at minimum this year. And Kroc, I don't know, have you been able to pinpoint one thing with Ayuk? Like you watch him play and say, ah, he's worse now. He's flat out worse.

Or do you think he looks pretty much like the same guy he did last year i recently saw a breakdown on youtube where it was kind of showing you know kind of you know what he was doing last year as opposed to this year and i guess there has been kind of a lack of separation with his route running maybe he's not selling things hard enough or not getting the landmarks the interesting thing is he's been we've been told that he's not selling things hard enough or not getting the landmarks. The interesting thing is he's been – we've been told that he's kind of not in the doghouse, but then he is in the doghouse and he needs to improve. But, you know, he has – some guys are really good behind him. But when you look at what's going on, he's on the field. He's just not getting the targets for whatever reason.

Or the plays aren't being designed to go to him. Or, you know, whatever it is that's going on. I think some of it might be with him and maybe having to build that rapport with his quarterbacks, whichever quarterback is going to be, but he's on the field. It's just, it's been very inconsistent with, you know, utilizing him. It is very odd, really weird, especially for someone that showed so much talent and potential as a rookie.

We're not seeing that year, too. Another aspect I want to hit on, just going back to DeForest Buckner for a moment, is the 49ers defensive line. Obviously, Nick is a star player in this league. He's been on and off with injuries throughout his career. But you replaced Buckner with Eric Armstead again in that contract as well. You drafted Javon Kinlaw at 13th overall, who probably the Colts would have taken at 13, if not for that trade with Buckner.

Either one of you can start this off. I mean, what's your impressions of the 49ers past rush? Do you think they missed DeForest Buckner about a year and a half later after this trade went down? Yeah, they absolutely missed DeForest Buckner up front. And Eric Armstead, I thought was going to be the one to really take over for him inside because they're similar players. They're both five technique, you know, three, four defensive ends coming out of college.

And that's what they were early on with the 49ers. And they've still utilized, and they ended up drafting Javon Kinlaw number 13. And Kinlaw's been a huge disappointment. He's had knee injuries that just won't go away. He's had setbacks with his knee, and even this week he didn't practice on Wednesday, so he might not even be out there for the 49ers. And he's been a very flash player and inconsistent even when he was healthy and on the field. So Kinlaw's been a huge disappointment, so it's a big drop-off there, and then Armstead's been sort of out of position as a pass rusher, as a defensive end. He's really

good against the run on early downs as an end, but he needs to be inside and rushing the passer from there. I think that's his max value, and I thought that's what was going to happen when they moved on from Buckner, and it didn't really turn out that way. But otherwise, they still have some talented players, and they have a good rotation on the inside that has been pretty average, but they've been okay for the most part. And, of course, Bosa's got five sacks in five games, and he's still rounding into form after his torn ACL and is one of the best defensive ends in the league.

And you might see him move around a little bit. So look out for that on Sunday night, because it sounds like the 49ers during the bye, watch some film and are tired of seeing him getting chipped and doubled all the time. And they're going to try to hide him a little bit and maybe move them around. So teams like the Colts don't know where he is all the time.

Cause he's clearly the, the straw that stirs the drink on defense and he is a difference making player. I want to ask really quick as well before we dive in to our next segment just about the 49ers looking ahead a little bit past this matchup just into next offseason because if the 49ers let's say are a disappointing seven eight win team and like less than that and jimmy garoppolo's trey lance plays second half of the season and these guys at Ken Law and IU don't progress what does the future hold for San Francisco because this is an interesting team to me where obviously the quarterback's going to change long term but this team feels

like it's kind of pushing their chips in a little bit in the middle of the table just Trey Lance trade you're giving big money on defense as well like what's the next step after this if they don't really improve this year Kroc you want to take this one? I have some thoughts about Kyle Shanahan. I haven't really seen eye-to-eye for the most part with Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch with the way they've drafted and developed, and I think that's a problem right now. It's a bad time for a bye week for the 49ers, for 49ers fans and media

because they came off of three losses in a row. Then you have a bye week, so now it's just like, just like oh everything's bad and let's focus on the bad things you know um so they have a chance to turn that around but really it's all about Trey Lance at this point they give up so much to go up and get him it's all about Trey Lance he has to become good and he has to start looking good by 2022 right now everything's status quo they're going to go through the draft go through the free agency process if we're sitting here in October of 2022 and Trey Lance doesn't quite look ready, doesn't look very good, then I think it's fair that you have to start talking about hot seat situation if the 49ers don't win a lot this year because then he's been, you know, out of five years, had four bad seasons so far and then the Super Bowl season.

And it's funny because you nailed it earlier when you said that Carson Wentz has been a legit average quarterback. And I thought that was a hilarious way to put it. And like 49ers fans know what you're talking about with Jimmy Garoppolo. He's kind of been that and good enough to win with when you have a good head coach and things are going right. But even now the offense hasn't been as good as it could be with a legit average quarterback.

And so that's what's a little bit concerning is the defense is still the thing that's carrying this 49ers team and they need to start looking a lot better on offense. And when Kyle Shanahan's an offensive mastermind and they've spent all these resources on the offensive side of the ball on just about every position group, and they're still a very, you know,

pedestrian offense, then I think it's fair to start pointing some fingers and asking where the improvement is going to be and when that's going to come because you don't have forever in this league. I agree. I think the seat for Kyle Shanahan is actually getting warm right now.

I guess he's in a good situation for him because he has like no offset in his contract. So if they were to let him go and another team picked him up immediately, 49ers would have to continue to pay him. So he's safe, but I think he is starting to feel the heat. We just listened to John Lynch and Matt Maioco, one of the 49ers beat writers, and they had an interview.

And you can kind of get the sense of, even with John Lynch, that there is a different level of urgency kind of going on right now with Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch and they understand they hear the noise on the outside the fans they're not happy with what's going on right now and you head into a season where you're having turnover on the defensive side of the ball uh you know you you lose your defensive coordinator Robert Sala to the New York Jets and he takes over there as the head coach. And you're assuming, well, the 49ers, the offense is going to be able to carry them throughout this transition.

And that's Kyle Shanahan's baby, right? That's why you're here for the most part, right? You are the quote-unquote offensive genius and the guy that's supposed to be able to make something out of nothing when it comes to the offensive side of the ball. And it's been the opposite. He hasn't been the guy that's held this team afloat. Really, the defense has kept them in games.

And like you said, three straight losses. And I think a lot of it has to do with the offense and it being a little stagnant. And like, Kyle, if you can't get that right, what are you here for? Because that's what you hang your hat on. I think there's been a lot of mismanagement with players. You talked about Brandon Ayuk, what's going on with him,

trading DeForest Buckner. A lot of this falls on the shoulders of Kyle Shanahan. So if things don't turn around quickly and start to result in wins, I think those grumblings from the fans get louder. And Jed York, he is someone that spends a lot of time on Twitter and he listens to the fans. I'm pretty sure he'll start to kind of get a little anxious as well. Well, that's all the questions I have.

We can dive right into our next segment of our show, our crossover special, Locked On Colts, Locked On 49ers. We'll be back with a quick word from our sponsors. This episode of Locked On Colts is brought to you by McDonald's, proudly serving communities since 1965. McDonald's has always been more than just a place to get tasty, affordable food. It's a place where friends and family can come to reconnect. A place where classmates can meet up for a study group known to have a dependable Wi-Fi and end up supplies of French fries and McFlurries. Win or lose, it's a place where teammates, competitors, the home team or the away team

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And I want to start with the defensive side of the ball, and you brought it up a little bit. And obviously DeForest Buckner, and in a lot of ways, I think the Colts team is being built in a similar fashion that the 49ers are they clearly want to be really good up front on defense they want to have a good offensive line they want to be able to run the ball and they want to get you know a professional quarterback in there that can you know help you win some games and and hopefully not lose some games I know we talked a little bit off the air about his,

Carson Wentz's touchdown to interception ratio, which is huge. And that's dogged both Garoppolo and Wentz is throwing interceptions. So nine touchdowns, one interception. That's pretty good. I think he's passing the test so far. And I think people are probably pretty happy over there about Carson Wentz. But on the defensive side of the ball, is that defensive line carrying its weight? And what's Quiddie Paye developing into right now after six weeks of his rookie season? Because

he's so explosive, and I've seen a couple of flashes of some serious talent from him, but the stat book would say that maybe the Colts' defensive line hasn't been really fantastic yet this year. No, I would say it's honestly been their weak point on the entire teams with their defensive line. DeForest Buckner, like we talked about, has not been playing on an all-pro level. He flashed it last week to be able to be more consistent now moving forward. But Quidipe, obviously a rookie pass rusher, the Colts bet so much on a rookie pass rusher to be a legit stud right off the bat. And I think it just, it was a bad investment or excuse me, a bad projection from the Colts.

As far as Quiddy Pay being a seven, eight sack guy right away, he has zero QB hits, zero sacks through the first three games of his career, missed two weeks due to a hamstring injury, which is really going to play any pass rusher. A guy with that explosiveness too, but Quiddy Pay,

even though it won't show on the box score, he has had a couple of good rushes here and there. He had a couple of last week against Houston where he pushed the guy back into the quarterback, and he got rid of it right at the last second, so it wasn't going to count in the box score there. But it's a great rep there from Quidipe. He actually, I think, is number five overall on the Colts in PFF grading for the first six weeks of the season.

So he's definitely showing up. It just doesn't show up in the box score there. Yeah, that reminds me. Sorry to interrupt you, but my scouting report for Quidi Pei was everything was very straight-line-ish. He's so explosive right ahead, but I was worried about his ability to sort of turn and get around the corner and be that type of pass rusher. And so he seems like the guy that's going to be –

and I think the 49ers kind of had a similar type of dude. They were built differently. But Solomon Thomas was the same way where he's rocked up and he's somewhat explosive, but everything's in a straight line. And when you ask him to turn the corner, he couldn't really do that. And I saw a little bit of that in Quidipe, which worried me, even though he was a super explosive guy when you look at him as a straight line explosive athlete. Yeah, absolutely. And honestly, what gives me hope about Quid Pei in the future is, like you mentioned,

his freakish athleticism. A guy that runs a 4-3-1-3 cone reportedly at Michigan's Junior Pro Day a year and a half ago that was faster than Tyreek Hale. That just immediately just pops out to me like this guy's different. And just the way he moves around. He almost had a pick last week, dropping back in the coverage. So this guy's just a freak athlete. The Colts are molding him and just having him pin his ears back.

Something that wasn't like that at Michigan, where he had so much duties on his hands as far as a run defender and doing other things. But outside of Quidipe, Taekwon Lewis hasn't really flashed much. Kamoko Ture has been hurt a lot. Al-Qadi Mohammed's been just a veteran journeyman, a young veteran journeyman. But he's honestly been their most consistent pass rusher outside of Forrest Buckner this year, which isn't a good sign for this Colts defensive line. So they definitely have been carrying their weight. Quite honestly, it's really hurting this defense overall with how much they put pressure on that front four to generate with how much zone they play. So hopefully they can turn the corner here soon. If not, I think it's going to be a really

long season and a lot of games where they saw it against Baltimore on Monday Night Football. This Colts team's probably going to put up 25, 28, 30-plus points with Carson Wentz to win games. Looking at the rest of the defense, is there – I love Julian Blackman. Is there sort of a secret superstar, maybe a player that's not getting a lot of pub? I know everyone knows Darius Leonard by now, and he's getting paid, and that's usually the thing that helps everyone realize how good a player he is when when a league wants to drop a lot of money on a guy but is there like a super a secret superstar on the defensive side of the ball that 49ers fans should probably

know and be looking out for his number on Sunday yeah you mentioned Julian Blackman um like we've talked about before on the national show Brian he's just a really underrated safety in the NFL he's a hard hitter former cornerback at Utah, transitioned right over the safety and looks like just a pure stud at that position. Another guy I want to just nationally, I feel like he's really slept on. He had a rough start to the season, but he's really picked up the last three or so games. Kenny Moore, the nickel cornerback. He's a really good

nickel. He does everything for this defense. He can blitz. He's a great tackler. He drops well in the zone coverage. He's a team leader as well, just a very vocal leader. I mean, honestly, Kenny Moore is the one guy to watch out for there with Julian Blackman. Outside of that, with DeForest Buckner, Darius Leonard, there's not much there.

But the positive spin of that is that all four of those guys are 26 years old and younger, I believe, or Buckner's 27. So all these guys are super young and developing together. All three levels of the defense, you have at least one guy there. So that's good. They have a really solid foundation in place in Indy. How about the offensive side of the defense you have at least one guy there so that's a good they have like a really solid foundation in place in indy how about the offensive side of the ball well how is the development of michael pitman gone and i have him in a bunch of fantasy leagues i was really betting on him uh ty hilton made his way back recently which was cool to see is is this

sort of offense hitting their stride a little bit being healthy and and looking like an offense obviously john jonathan taylor is is the dude on that offensive side of the ball at running back for the colts but um is this passing game now coming into its own is it is it a receiving group that carson wince can count on yeah i think so i mean, Michael Pittman Jr. is taking the leap this year over the first six weeks of the season. He's looked like a legit number one wide receiver. I just love the little things he does, though. He's just a buck kicker and run blocking like that guy will just take you down the field and put you in the dirt. Like he's one of those guys with that dog mentality that I love to watch. He's a great route runner, too. We saw that deep shot

against Baltimore. He had going over two defenders. He's taking the leap this year. I love MPJ. I think he's a really underrated receiver in the NFL. Having T.Y. Hilton back as well is going to take away some pressure off his shoulders. But as far as the receivers go, Paris Campbell, who had a huge touchdown last week, actually had, from Frank Reich, a severe foot injury. He suffered in that game. So he's going to be out potentially for the rest of the season, according to Frank Reich. So that's another huge blow for the Colts because Paris Campbell now three years in a row it potentially sees an end

to injury where at this point I don't know if you can trust him at that point just to see like long term if he's in their picture or not because he's a 4-3-1 speed guy he was just finally being utilized down the field like we saw against Houston last week on that 50-yard bomb from Carson Wentz and actually hurt his foot on that touchdown play so it's unfortunate with Paris Campbell because he's a guy I really love to watch too but overall this offense Carson Wentz. He actually hurt his foot on that touchdown play. So it's unfortunate with Paris Campbell because he's a guy I really love to watch too. But overall, this offense, Carson Wentz, I think the Colts have realized this since the Baltimore game. I think it was a realization. We can beat a lot of teams down the field with a lot of guys with big bodies. Michael Pittman Jr., Molly Cox, a tight end. Carson Wentz is averaging 11 and a half yards

per attempt the last two weeks. They're just airing the ball down the field. They're probably going to do the same thing against the 49ers as well so this is a really fun deep passing attack that we haven't seen in indie probably since andrew luck in 2018. quentin nelson he's eligible to come off ir right is he going to return anytime soon and uh hopefully maybe the week after you guys uh visit uh santa clara in the 49ers yeah unfortunately maybe for 49ers fans quentin nelson is back this week. He's going to be playing on Sunday, so that's going to be a huge test. Him and Jonathan Taylor

are running behind that left side, and Quentin Nelson, we all know, is an all-pro generational left guard, and having him on the field is going to boost everyone around him. The offensive line has really struggled over this entire season, but having Quentin Nelson there is the true stabilizing force, and he's going to definitely be a load to handle for San Fran. croc you got any questions about this uh this matchup

before we make some predictions here yeah real quick i mean we haven't really talked about a lot about the cornerback so what's the cornerback situation i know they've thrown resources there over the last few years but i was watching a coach game recently i'm like man i can't really name these guys i know uh recently they drafted uh rakin out of Temple, but what's going on there? And kind of how do you feel like those secondary matches up against a guy like Deebo Samuel, who's been like, you know, he's top five in the league in receiving yards right now. And that's without even playing an extra game. You know, he just come off a bye week and he's still top five. How do they match up against a guy like Deebo Samuel? Yeah, I think they're in trouble there because this Colts cornerback room

Kenny Moore obviously at nickel I imagine he might try to follow him around he's their most consistent corner but Xavier Rhodes after a big year last year he looks washed up again it looks like 2019 2020 Xavier Rhodes and I think it was just a flash in the pan last year in a new system but honestly Croc I'm surprised Chris Bout hasn't called you yet because this this cornerback room is in a dire dire straight so many injuries rakia sin got hurt and isaiah rogers is a guy from umass too that really flashed last week he's a six round pick in the 2020 draft but he had an interception last week and honestly it's very similar down the right sideline right yeah yeah very athletic corner and honestly i might say he's better than xavier rhodes right now which says a lot about how

rhodes is and where this cornerback room is so honestly i'd probably say isaiah rogers plays a lot on sunday kenny moore obviously is the mainstay at nickel but i think we're approaching territory here where rocky has sent as leapfrog xavier rhodes same for isaiah rogers and i think the colts bet a little bit too much on Xavier Rhodes to be good again this year because I think last year was a flash in the pan and he's back to Minnesota version of himself. Well, it might come down to which defensive back

gets that interception, gets that turnover in this game. And we'll see if Carson Wentz and Jimmy Garoppolo, it looks like Jimmy G is going to be the starter here if they can keep from throwing the ball to the other team. The 49ers are favored by four at home in this one. We'll let the away team go first. Evan, do you have any vibes on this one? How do you think this is going to turn out?

I think the Colts' offense found something in the last couple of weeks. I think whether it be Jonathan Taylor having 450 plus yards the last two weeks or Carson Wentz being super efficient, I think whoever wins this game is going to be the one who wins the turnover battle. I think Jimmy Garoppolo is going to make that turnover. DeForest Buckner is going to have a huge game, in my opinion. So I'm going to go 27-20.

The Colts win out right here. I just like the matchup for the Colts. I think Jimmy G is not really a guy who's going to test the secondary that much. Debo Simo is going to get his numbers, but I don't know much outside of that. So I'm going to go 27-20. Carson Wentz wins the QB battle and DeForest Buckner really has a revenge game. Kroc, what do you think? Man, you know, I've picked against the 49ers a couple of times on this show. I think this is one game where I do feel confident with the matchup that's going on there with the 49ers. Get back on track offensively, especially if the Colts can't generate a mean pass rush. Guy like Jimmy Garoppolo, when he's comfortable, he's able to play well and be efficient.

And if that's the case this weekend, I think it'd be a long day for the Indianapolis Colts, especially with Kyle Shanahan coming off of a bye week and having a full week to prepare for the Colts. So I'm going to actually go with the 49ers. Still not in a high scoring gameoring game, but 24-21. Excuse me, 24-20. And there might be some weather involved with this game, too. It might be wet on Sunday.

The real heavy rain that was supposed to come this week, we haven't quite seen it yet. But Sunday, it looks like there is going to be some potentially windy and heavy rain going on so this might be a ground game and I think that would be an advantage for the Colts right now especially getting Quentin Nelson back Jonathan Taylor um I think both teams are going to try to run the football that scares me a little bit I think the 49ers can win this football game I think both teams really have to win because they don't want to fall too far back of those teams that are at the top of their division, especially

with how far back the 49ers would be at two and four with an unbeaten Cardinals team at the top of the division. The Cardinals, by the way, have the Texans next week, so they're going to be seven and oh, most likely. So four, I don't like the 49ers favored by more than a field goal here. I think they can win this game and if they win, it's going to be tight. So I do expect a close one, a close game, something like, I don't know, 20, 19, you know, 23, 24, something like that. I'll give the advantage to the 49ers because I think Kyle Shanahan is going to have some things dialed up. I think this team is going to be fired up coming out of the bye week and well rested and healthy and, and be able to do some things here.

But this Colts team could be laying in the weeds a little bit because one thing, Evan, the last thing here, the Colts record is wild because they've lost to four really good teams that were playoff teams last year. And then they've won against two awful football teams with a combined two wins right now. So they haven't really played a team that matches up well. And I think these two teams do.

And they're both those two teams that are trying to figure out, are we a good team? Are we a bad team right now? So this one fascinates me. No, this is a true litmus test. Not only for the Colts, but for the 49ers is to see like,

can we beat a similar team than ourselves? And whoever wins this game, I think it is going to be in a really good spot to make a little bit of a run here the next month or two because if the Colts win, they might be leading the AFC South within a month's time. If the 49ers win, they might be in a spot fighting for a wild card spot later on. So that's a really important matchup for both sides. That is Evan Sidery of Locked On Colts,

Brian Peacock here of Locked On 49ers with Eric Crocker. Evan, appreciate you jumping on with us and doing this week seven crossover. I hope everybody enjoys the game Sunday night. Evan will be back tomorrow with you guys on Locked On Colts. Croc and I back tomorrow right here, Locked On 49ers. And thanks for making us your first listen every single day.