Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts Crossover Special with Locked On Jets

Episode Date: November 4, 2021

On today's episode, Locked On Colts x Locked On Jets gets you ready for a fun Thursday Night Football matchup at Lucas Oil Stadium. Who holds the edge in certain matchups? What's our predictions?Before we dive into that at the end of the show, we dive into how both the Indianapolis Colts and New York Jets fared so far this season.This is a must-listen for our latest 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. Hello, everybody. Welcome in to your latest crossover special here on the Locked On NFL channel. I am Evan Sattery, the host of Locked On Colts, joined by John Budzko, the host of Locked On Jets. And we are here a little early this week, as we're on Thursday Night Football, Indianapolis Colts hosting at Lucas Oil Estate and the New York Jets. John, how are you doing today? Doing well, Evan. Looking forward to the game.

Yeah, absolutely. I think it's going to be hopefully an entertaining game. The Colts are coming off of just a back-breaking loss where they lost their AFC South Divisional hopes. well, Levin, looking forward to the game. Yeah, absolutely. I think it's going to be hopefully an entertaining game. The Colts are coming off of just a back-breaking loss where they lost their AFC South Divisional hopes in an overtime loss against Tennessee Titans on Sunday. The Jets, though, we're going to head off talking about the Jets the first seven or eight minutes of the show, John. And I want to get your thoughts on the Mike White experience because that was one hell of a game on Sunday for Mike White,

400 passing yards. He also threw a couple touchdowns in there as well. Just like the Jets were really galvanized around White in that game. I mean, what was it like watching White kind of command the offense and with Zach Wilson being out? Well, it was amazing, Evan. And one of the big reasons it was amazing is through the years, I have frequently been wrong about assessing Jets, but usually it's I'm expecting them to be good and they're not good. Whereas Mike White,

if you listen to Locked On Jets last week, it was pretty much a week full of shows with me saying the Jets have no chance in this game because Mike White is going to be terrible. And he goes out there and throws for 400 yards. The first Jets quarterback to do that since Vinny Testaverde in 2000. It's amazing because the Jets have used, since that time,

six picks in either the first or second round to take a quarterback. And none of them threw for 400 yards. Mike White did. Now, is this sustainable? I mean, it's difficult to say. You'd like to think yes. I think that it's an open question, but it gives you hope. I did not expect to be heading into this Thursday game even wondering, could Mike White possibly lead the Jets to victory? And, you know, maybe he'll go out there and play poorly,

but even if he does, at least in the lead-up to the game, you have some hope. Yeah, quite honestly, that really was one of the biggest shockers of Sunday's slate where they went out and beat the Cincinnati Bengals, one of the best teams in the AFC at that point, and the Jets just controlled it the whole way through with their offense being so explosive with Mike White under center. But a little off topic here, I just want to get your thoughts

because I know a lot of Colts fans were intrigued by Zach Wilson during the draft process. Unfortunately, we're not going to be seeing Zach Wilson, of course, on Thursday due to that knee injury. But what's been your assessment of the number two overall pick so far this season in his first NFL season? He's been up and down, and to be honest, more down than up so far. Most of the rookie class has struggled to some extent this year,

so it's not a great surprise. I think Wilson has flashed some of the playmaking ability that made him the number two pick outside the structure of plays where he can get on the run, look down the field, use that big arm. He's made some explosive plays. And that most notably those happened in the Jets upset when their other victory against Tennessee, when he's been in the pocket, it's been a bit of a struggle. I think he's still learning the pocket, it's been a bit of a struggle. I think he's still learning

the speed of the NFL game. Things need to speed up for him. So I'd be lying if I said it wasn't a little disappointing. I don't think anybody would look at his stat line at this point before the season and say, that's what you were hoping for. But there have at least been a few flashes that make you think, okay, maybe this guy can put it all together at some point. Yeah. Zach Wilson has the arm talent, obviously, just the way for the team to be built around him. And let me ask you that as well, John. Obviously, the quarterback long-term is set with Zach Wilson, hopefully in New York, but a couple of young weapons that went ahead with you as well that really stood out to me the last

couple of weeks. Michael Carter at running back is one to me out of North Carolina he's really flashed last couple weeks for the Jets and then as far as the receiving game goes we already know the weapons like Corey Davis our new additions Jameson Crowder still there Elijah Moore another rookie who's flashed a little bit as well what's been your assessment of the Jets' weapons so far this year around Zach Wilson? Inconsistent. Corey Davis they brought in as a free agent from Tennessee, a guy Colts fans are probably familiar with. You used to see him twice a year.

He's had some very good games and some very bad games. There have been some games where he's made a big difference in a positive way. And then there are a couple games like New England Week 2, Denver Week 3, where he has not come up with some catchable balls that could have turned into big plays, potentially changed those games. Now you look at Elijah Moore. Evan, let me tell you something. In training camp every single day, all you heard about Elijah Moore is lighting it up. Elijah Moore looks great. Comes out and he got hurt near the end of training camp.

So he missed the entire preseason. Also a few weeks back, missed a game due to a concussion. It's been slower for Elijah more than we were expecting based on those reports. Now, last week he had his best game. I think he caught six passes. He got involved in the run game a little bit. So he is beginning to progress.

As you mentioned, Michael Carter coming off his best game 95 receiving yards last week over 70 rushing yards he's been up and down I blame the offensive line though I think the line blocking has been inconsistent but again you see flashes out of these young guys especially Moore and Carter that give you some hope for the future yeah I told I'm totally there with you you have the young core a little bit going off in place and Carter that give you some hope for the future. Yeah, I'm totally there with you. You have the young core a little bit going off in place. You have Corey Davis, who's been a little up and down,

but he's one to be in free agency where I hope the Colts went after him. Obviously, he got a good payday from the Jets in that scenario. I think Davis' long turn is going to be a really good weapon for Zach Wilson. But let's flip it to the defense now, John, because speaking of defense, they've been really up and down for the Jets so far this year. Has there been any real standouts on the defensive side? And luckily for the Jets, I know trading away Jamal Adams for what looks like a potential top 15 pick in this year's draft, I know that's going to pay huge dividends down the road for them as well on the defensive side. But overall this season, what's been your impression on that side? It's been a bit of a struggle.

The interesting thing with the defense is, outside of maybe last week against the Cincinnati Bengals, the defense has been awful at the beginning of games. And it really has kind of flown under the radar because the Jets' offense prior to last week was even worse. But they got off to really slow starts. And then they started to improve as the game progressed. And I think that's one of the things that made people pay a little bit more attention to the early game offensive struggles.

Now, the Jets on both sides of the ball are very young and very inexperienced. They are the youngest team in the NFL. Their defense, they'll blitz on third downs, but it's a pretty soft conservative defense on the early downs. They are playing a cover three and it's a very soft cover three. In fact, one of the big complaints you get out of Jets fans is why can't they defend running back screens or check downs? Well, it's because the second level defenders are dropping so deep to try and constrict the passing lanes in the intermediate zones that they're just willing to surrender underneath completions.

And they hope that their guys rally to the football and tackle the receiver to minimize the gains. If you're looking for one guy who's been kind of a standout, I'd say Bryce Hall, second year corner out of Virginia, fell to the fifth round last year. And he could have gone higher, but due to the pandemic, he was not able to visit teams and get medically checked out because his college career ended with a serious ankle injury. He's been very good. Now, again, the Jets aren't asking him to do the stuff they asked maybe Darrell Rivas to do a decade plus ago. He's not following around the

other team's best receivers. They're giving him plenty of help. But I got to tell you, Evan, heading into this season, corner looked like a huge question mark for this team. I was surprised how little they did in free agency. They were going with a bunch of young players. And this corner group has held up pretty well. Another guy I'll give you, Michael Carter II.

He was the second Michael Carter the Jets drafted on day three this year. They drafted Michael Carter the running back out of North Carolina. Then they drafted Michael Carter II. I call him the sequel. He's a slot corner out of Duke. He's done a really good job controlling things in the slot. And then you also have Quinnen Williams,

third-year player out of Alabama. He was the number three pick a couple of years ago. It's been up and down. There have been some games where he's been kind of quiet, but Williams, third-year player out of Alabama. He was the number three pick a couple of years ago. It's been up and down. There have been some games where he's been kind of quiet, but he's on pace for about nine and a half, 10 sacks. He is making impact plays, including a sack that ended early Bengals drive on fourth and goal on Sunday. So there's some guys playing well. Some guys you may expect, other guys you may be surprised by. It's a young defense. You see some very good moments. You see some guys playing well. Some guys you may expect. Other guys you may be surprised by. It's a young defense. You see some very good moments.

You see some very bad moments. But, again, there are pieces that give you hope for the future. Great stuff there from John the Jets. We're going to be diving in now into our next segment, talking about the Indianapolis Colts. John will pepper me with some questions. Then we'll close out the show afterwards, talking about our keys to the game and predictions.

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I'm John from Locked On Jets, along with Evan from Locked On Colts. We're here to talk about Thursday night football. The Jets will be visiting Indianapolis, and in this segment, I'm going to ask Evan some questions about the Indianapolis Colts. And Evan, I think I have to begin at the quarterback position. In the last segment, we talked about Mike White. We talked about Zach Wilson. What are the early returns on the Carson Wentz trade for the Indianapolis Colts? Yeah, if you would have asked me before Sunday's game against the Titans, I think fans would have been over the moon with Carson Wentz so far. But I think last game against the Titans was the first time we saw the 2020 version of Carson Wentz.

It was just quite easily his worst game as a Colt so far. Just in clutch moments, he really shriveled under pressure. That really awful interception near the back of his own end zone. And over time, he throws in the triple coverage against Michael Pittman Jr. when he had Jonathan Taylor wide open and Jack Bulley and Wally Cox instead. He just wants to play it risky on first down and make the bad read to throw the MPJ down the field when he didn't need to do that at all. But so far, if you put the whole season in perspective, John, Carson Wentz had a really

good year for the Colts. 14 touchdowns, three interceptions. He came into the last game with only one pick so far, and that was on a shallow pass to Aaron Donald. Donald blew up right away, and he couldn't really do anything about that. So Wentz has played really mistake-free football outside of Sunday's game. He adds a really explosive element to this offense that's been missing since Andrew Luck with the strong arm, the mobility outside the pocket as well. It really helps open up the deep passing in the offense.

Michael Pittman Jr. is thriving with the quarterback of Carson Wentz, and that's great to watch. But overall, I would say Carson Wentz has been a great average quarterback. I wouldn't say he's been elite or above average, especially for Sunday's game, but he's more so in that top 15, top 16 tier quarterbacks right now. I think the Colts can still win games, but now they're backed up against the wall, literally.

We're going to have to go on a massive run here the rest of the season, and potentially probably 8-1 or 7-2 to make the playoffs. Now, Evan, anybody who's followed the NFL the last couple of years has known that the Colts have had a great offensive line. I know there have been a few maybe injury issues this year. How is this line holding up? Yeah, honestly, for this offensive line, it's been up and down they look really good though on Sunday against the Titans only allowing one sack and that was from backup right guard Mark Lewinsky

who's been usurped now by veteran journeyman Chris Reed who's taken over that right guard spot and ran with the from the Carolina Panthers last season he looks awesome at right guard Braden Smith's finally back and healthy Eric Fisher's looking better by the week he's been inconsistent though I would say, in pass protection. Quentin Nelson, we all know, is an all-pro. Ryan Kelly's a Pro Bowl talent at center. But as far as the injury news goes in the offensive line, Quentin Nelson actually missed today's practice for the Colts

in a walk-through setting. He's dealing with a toe injury, according to Zach Kiefer of The Athletic. And it seems like he's very questionable for the game on Thursday. So if Nelson misses the game, that's a huge blow for the Colts. That probably means that Chris Reed very questionable for the game on Thursday. So if Nelson misses the game, that's a huge blow for the Colts. That probably means that Chris Reed slides back over the left guard where he was when Nelson was out in the first place when he was on short-term IR, and he put Mark Lewinsky back in a right guard. But potentially missing Nelson on Thursday, that could open up opportunities for a guy like Quinton Williams inside.

Now, who are some of the names to know for the Colts on the defensive side of the bowl? Yeah. Darius Leonard, of course, he's been up there in turnover so far this year is eight turnovers through the first eight games of the season for the Colts. He's been making things happen, punching the ball out,

forcing fumbles, making timely interceptions all on a bum ankle. He's getting healthier by the week as well. But what Darius Leonard does is a special talent at linebacker, his speed, his ability to read the game, make these game-changing plays when it's necessary. That's why he's one of the best linebackers in the NFL and why the Colts paid him like it, paying him over $20 million per year over the next four years. But outside of that,

I think an underrated name to watch out for is Kenny Moore, a cornerback. He's really running in the form at nickel. We all know he's a great tackler, a great leader in the locker room, but around the NFL, he's still, I think, too slept on. And another all-pro I want to hit on, too, is DeForest Buckner inside a defensive tackle. The Colts traded for him last year at their first round pick. He's been up and down so far this year just because a lot of teams are double or triple teaming Buckner inside because the Colts just have no consistent edge rush right now. They bet, I think, incorrectly on a young trio of edge rushers. Quiddy Paye, their first round pick, is still running in the form. Ben Banning, who looks like he's a bust.

Same for Kamoko Ture. Taekwon Lucena out for the year after blowing out his knee on Sunday in the Titans game. So they're thin there. They're young. And that's why probably Buckner's having a down year. But those three guys run the ship on defense. Darius Leonard, Kenny Moore, and DeForest Buckner. Now let me ask you to take on the role of offensive coordinator.

If you were designing a game plan to attack this defense, what would you do? I would take deep shots down the field, utilizing Michael Pittman Jr., and I'd run the damn ball with Jonathan Taylor. As they say in Indianapolis, run the damn ball is their mantra. They've gone away from it a little bit over the last couple weeks and I don't know why they've exactly done that because Jonathan Taylor is second in the NFL in rushing yards. I believe he's first now in scrimmage yards, which just says a lot about what he's doing so far this year. With Derrick Henry now out potentially for the rest of the regular season, Jonathan Taylor is likely going to finish with the NFL rushing crown in his second season,

which just says about him, he's taken a leap from starter to superstar already. So I would feature Jonathan Taylor very heavily in this game, around 20 to 25 carries, take some play action deep shots to Pittman Jr. down the field, to Zach Paschal as well. And outside of that, I think you have a really good game plan. If you utilize your best weapons down the field against this Jets defense, I think it's going to be a tough sledding for them to keep up. And that's why I think in this game, the Colts really hold a significant advantage, whichever way you want to slice it. My last question is just your impressions on Frank Reich a couple of years into his job. Yeah, Frank Reich has been, this year especially, very up and down. And it's been

very frustrating to watch him go away from the run game for no reason. Jonathan Taylor is the engine of this offense. But Carson Wentz, obviously he knows him from Philadelphia. He traded a first-round pick and a third-round pick for him. He wants to utilize him more. But I think Frank Reich has to have a moment where he realizes Jonathan Taylor is like a Derrick Henry type of running back. Utilize him as such, not just like a feature weapon.

He's your primary weapon. And then sometimes he just makes some really bad mistakes in the red zone as far as play calling goes and on third downs. It's been very up and down for Frank Reich. A lot of Colts fans are getting very frustrated with Frank Reich this year for obvious reasons. And if this keeps going down the tubes this season, John, let's say they lose on Thursday, for example,

I think the Seek gets very warm for Frank Reich, and then he's signed a five-year extension. And if the Carson Wentz situation doesn't work out, I think he's tied to the hip with Carson Wentz. So if this doesn't work out the next year or two with him at quarterback, I think Frank Reich's seats could be hot either way. So I think this is definitely a huge moment in Frank Reich's coaching career, not only the rest of the season, but also next season as well. All right. Well, you've heard about the Jets. You've heard about the Colts. All that's left to do is for Evan and I to pick this game ahead here on our crossover episode between the Jets and the Colts here on the Locked On Podcast Network. In life, we're all bound for different things.

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Evan Cedri locked on Colts, John Buchko locked on Jets. Let me toss it your way, John. You asked me the question before we ended the last time about what the Colts should do to beat the Jets. If the Jets want to go out and win their second game in a row in shocking fashion and beat this Colts team on Thursday Night Football, what do you think has to happen here?

I think Mike White is going to have to throw the ball down the field more than he did against the Bengals, which was not at all. And part of the story of that game, as good as Mike White was, he was making great free snap reads. He was getting the ball out quickly. The Bengals did not adjust to what the Jets were doing at all. White's average depth of target was 4.2 yards. He did not throw a single pass that traveled more than 20 yards in the air. So I presume that the Colts have, even on a short week where it may be tough to game plan, I assume the Colts are going to force White to throw the ball further down the field. And

White's got to do it to keep them honest. I'm not saying Mike White has to be a great deep ball thrower, but I'm saying that he's probably going to have to hit a big play or two in this game. I don't think the Colts are going to let the Bengals do what, I don't think the Colts are going to allow the Jets to do what, what the Bengals allowed the Jets to do, to do to them on the other side of the ball. It's pretty simple.

The Jets want to eliminate the big plays and get stops in the red zone. I mean, that's what the defense is predicated on to bend, but don't break style defense. They're willing want to eliminate the big plays and get stops in the red zone. I mean, that's what the defense is predicated on. It's a bend-but-don't-break style defense. They're willing to give up the completions underneath. They just want to avoid the big play and want to keep you out of the end zone when you get into the red zone. Yeah, that's a very fair assessment there, and I think the Jets are going to have to have a lot of things break their way. I think, honestly, if they want to keep this one closed, you have to see the bad version of Carson Wentz for a second week in a row.

Just was an awful game for Carson Wentz on Sunday against the Titans where he was barely above 50% completion percentage. He had multiple turnovers in this game. Almost had a forced fumble loss as well. It could have been three turnovers to three touchdowns for Carson Wentz. If the Jets get pressure on Wentz, I think they can keep this one close. And I don't think this one should be a close game, quite honestly, John. The Colts are fair by 10.5 points, according to Vegas sportsbooks. And I really think this is going to be one of

those games where the Colts flex their muscles, show they're the better team, and get this one over early. But as we saw, anything can happen in the NFL with the Jets beating the Bengals on Sunday in New York. This time around, though, I really love the Colts, John. We can lock in our predictions now to close out the show. I'm going to go with the Colts winning this game 34-9. I think it's going to be a very big blowout loss in favor of the Colts. I wouldn't be surprised if the Jets can be close in the first half, but having Jonathan Taylor, having Michael Pittman Jr. around the form as well, these two young weapons in the Colts' offense, I think really control this game.

And in the Colts' defense, too, DeForest Buckner in the middle, Darius Leonard in the middle of that defense as well. This Colts defense has a lot of team speed. They have a lot more speed than the Bengals did. So I think they have a better matchup against Mike White in this passing attack and the rushing attack than number one in rush defense in the NFL so far. I think this Colts defense matchup very well against this Jets offense. Same goes for the other side of the football with the Colts offense

against this Jets defense. So I'm going to go 34-9 here, John. I don't think it's particularly close. What say you? If you'd asked me Sunday morning, I probably would have said the same thing, but how can I, how can I say Mike White's going to get blown out? I don't think the Jets are going to win this game. I think this is going to be a tall order. As you said, I look at the way the Jets match up against the Colts and I don't love it. I think the Colts will win this game, but I'm going to try and be positive from the Jets' perspective. Say Mike White plays well again, the Jets hang in there.

I'll say Colts 24, Jets 17. If that's the case, I'm very excited about the game. Either way, I think it's going to be just one hell of a matchup here, and I appreciate everyone listening in on our latest Locked On crossover special on the Locked On NFL channel at the Locked On Podcast Network. Colts fans, go listen to John's podcast every single day on Locked On Jets. He does great work. Jets fans out there, you can go ahead and listen to Locked On Colts from yours truly as well.

And then listen to the entire Locked On Podcast Network. We're here every single day, and we're hopefully your first listen as well. But in the meantime, thanks again for everyone listening on today's Locked On crossover special between Locked On Colts and Locked On Jets. We'll be back to you guys tomorrow to recap our show.