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

Episode Date: December 30, 2021

On the latest Locked On NFL Crossover Special, Locked On Colts x Locked On Raiders gets you ready for a massive AFC matchup with so much playoff scenarios on the line. Who will come out on top between the Colts and Raiders on Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis?With the NFL's updated COVID-19 protocols, all of the Colts' key players should be back. Meanwhile, Las Vegas will be without star tight end Darren Waller. Will Derek Carr be able to keep this game close without his top target?From every angle, we preview the game alongside main storylines for each team taking place throughout the season. You won't want to miss this amazing 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 Locked On NFL Crossover special. I am Evan Sattery, the host of Locked On Colts, joined by your boy Q, the host of Locked On Raiders. We're here for a very intriguing matchup here on Sunday between the Indianapolis Colts and the Las Vegas Raiders. Q, how are you doing today? I'm doing well, man. I'm doing well. Looking forward to this game. I love the fact that the AFC is so bunched up and you really don't know who's going to be playing later in january as far as the

playoffs goes and these games are all going to matter down the stretch so this one should be an interesting one depending on who's actually out there playing for both teams yeah speaking of that there's a lot of interesting conversations about what's going on with coven 19 just to really quickly rehash what's going on from the coldts side of things, I'll ask you about the Raiders. Carson Wentz, Darius Leonard, Quentin Nelson, Mark Glowinski, pretty much the entire offensive line on top of that, with Kari Willis, Rakia Sin, half of their secondary, and also Zach Paschal, one of their wide receivers,

and a lot of depth pieces are all on the reserve COVID-19 list currently. But as of yesterday, Q, we saw the CDC and also the NFL and NFLPA quickly come to an agreement to follow the CDC's new rules where a quarantine period for either asymptomatic or symptomatic players is only five days instead of 10 days. And if you're showing no symptoms by game day, you could play on Sunday. And that really impacts this game because originally when I saw the news yesterday about Carson Wentz going on the COVID list, Q Q I really thought this game would be a lot different but

now there's a good sign from the Colts side that maybe all these guys could play on Sunday somehow so what's your reaction to that also is there any news from the COVID side of things with the Raiders this week yeah I mean it's it's interesting and one of the things that I said on previous podcasts is knowing that Carson Wentz was one of those unvaccinated guys and knowing how many people were coming down with it. I thought, man, I hope and I really do. I hope that he doesn't get it because you don't want to have this game played without your best guys out there. You just don't. You know, I don't care who you're rooting for. You want to see a game with the best of the best out there.

And so Carson Wentz is obviously the best option for the Colts at quarterback. So when I saw the news, I thought, oh man, that, that stinks. I knew there was a chance of it. And so then when all of a sudden the CDC and the NFL and the NFL PA, they kind of pivoted and changed the, changed the isolation time up. I thought, okay. And I know a lot of Raider fans got angry about it. Everyone thought all the NFL is just trying to make sure that the Raiders lose the game and all that. Well, I looked at it completely the opposite. I said, hey, you know what? Casey Hayward, Corey Littleton, Patrick Owusu, Denzel Perryman,

Darius Phylon, K.J. Wright, you know, guys like that, Marcus Mariota, Brian Edwards, Will Compton, guys like that that have just recently gone on the COVID-19 list for the Raiders also have a chance to get back. So, hey, I'll take it. You know, I'm okay with it. If Carson Wentz goes out there and has an opportunity to play and all those defenders that I just mentioned,

including Marcus Mariota and Brian Edwards, the wide receiver, they have an opportunity to get back and play, great. It'll make for a much better game. So as long as these guys out there are feeling healthy and feeling okay and don't feel like that they're setting anyone else up for failure, I'm all right with the situation and the way that they decided to make things happen. Yeah, potentially Q could now be two fully healthy teams pretty much on Sunday. But I want to hit really quickly on one more player and his status for Sunday

before we dive into some other key points about this Raiders team this year. Very intriguing team to follow along with this year. But what is the updated status? I know Colts fans are really interested to hear about this as well. The updated status on Darren Waller for Sunday that's a really good question Raider Nation is trying to get an updated status as well it sounded like when we met with Rich Passaccia on Monday that he's getting better but it felt to me and this is just my gut feeling that he's leaving it up to Darren you know if Darren's gonna feel okay and feels comfortable enough to go out there and

play he's gonna let him go but I think right now at this point it's a decision on where his comfort level is and so uh hopefully a little bit later on this week probably on Friday we'll get an update a final update of where he is as far as practice that's one thing that Rich Bisacci has said hey uh we want to see him out there on the practice field a couple times just to see if he can get a nice little rhythm going so really it's going to be able to it's going to be determined by what he does the rest of this week yeah it's gonna be really interesting obviously Darren Waller one of the best offensive playmakers in the NFL he's beaten the Colts a couple times at some big numbers in the past so we'll have to see if he gets it to go on Sunday but let's pivot over here Q2 I want to hang on the quarterback here Derek

Carr 20 touchdowns 12 interceptions this year, almost 4,500 yards, completing almost 70% of his passes as well. If you add in his miss Darren Waller for a good chunk the last month or so, add in the fact with the turmoil off the field with the John Gurin situation, now you have an interim head coach. What's it been like to watch Derek Carr this year kind of leading this team through this mess and having them on the doorstep? If they beat the Colts on Sunday, Q, they're in the playoffs when we look at the playoff picture and at the end of sunday yeah you know i think that he's the right guy for the job for everything that you mentioned that's gone on with the raiders this season it's been a roller coaster affair very emotional affair i mean it's just been one of those seasons that you could never predict it at the beginning that this is

how things was going to shake out but i think think with Derek Carr being the veteran that he is, his faith that he leans on really heavily, I think he's had an opportunity to really be a strong leader on and off the field for the team. And there's always going to be questions. Is he the guy? Is he not the guy? But you throw out the numbers right there.

I mean, he's the best guy for the job right now. And so I think that what he's done has been pretty incredible. And, again, for the team to be where they are and have an opportunity, like you mentioned, to make the playoffs, they win a couple games, some things go right for them, then yeah, they can be in postseason play. You've got to give them a big, huge tip of the cap because a lot of teams would have probably folded

with everything that the Raiders have gone through this season. Yeah, speaking of the potentially folding after our whole situation with John Gurin, how has Rich Passaccia really helped steer this ship in the right direction because I think if any other situation of any other guy stepped into this with all the distractions off the field the John Gern situation a lot of a lot of coaches wouldn't know how to handle that situation but it seems like Passaccia stepped right into the fold and really helped this team get right back on track yeah he did you know the thing about it I think because he's been in the league for so long I I know he's never been a head coach, but he's been in the league and he's worked with so many great coaches and he has a lot of former head coaches on the staff still,

you know, Gus Bradley, Tom Cable, Rod Marinelli. I mean, he's got multiple guys that have been head coaches at some point and guys that have been seasoned veterans. I think that's helped as well, not to mention some of the leadership just from the players. And as we mentioned, Derek Carr as well. So I think that it kind of all collided and worked together really well. And they've tried to keep the train on the track as much as possible. Now they've had some lulls in, in the season as it's gone along, but it's, I mean, that's expected from a regular season. Then you combine that with everything that's been going on.

So he's done the best he can. I think he's an interim head coach. I know he wants to be the long-term head coach. I think he's just that an interim head coach. And again, he's done the best he can. I think he's an interim head coach. I know he wants to be the long-term head coach. I think he's just that, an interim head coach. And, again, he didn't choose this situation, but the situation that he's in, and he's done the best job he can navigating through all the turmoil that's gone on all season long. Let me ask you about one of my favorite players to watch so far this year. He has really taken a leap forward.

When you look at the actual raw numbers, you might think it's not been a big breakout, so to say, but Max Crosby, the Raiders pass rusher, fourth round pick. If you swap the pick out with Cleland Farrell in the top, I think he would have been the top five pick the last couple of years, the way he's playing. 26 quarterback hits so far this year. He's just a monster number. He's just a pressure monster as well off the edge for the Raiders. What's been your impressions of Max Crosby so far this year and throughout his career because I feel like he's really flying under the radar still in the NFL amongst the best passers he could be he's got a big problem for this Colts team on Sunday I mean he really could be and he's had a heck of a season and you

know the thing about it is in training camp I saw him up close to personal and just seemed like he was playing at a faster speed you know a different level than he's played his first two seasons in the league and the thing about it is you know, a different level than he's played his first two seasons in the league. And the thing about it is, you know, he stopped drinking. He's been sober for over a year and a half now, I believe, or he it's been a very long time and he's very proud of that. And something that he credits, you know, Darren Waller for helping him get to that point.

And I think that that's also helped him. I think that's had him going into games, clear minded, no alcohol weight on him or anything. I mean, he's just – he's playing at a high level, plus he has Yannick Ngakwe across from him, and they're really tight with each other. So they push each other to be great, and they really have done a good job on those edges getting after the quarterback.

The sack numbers aren't out of the ballpark. They're not just hitting a home run every game. But, I mean, they're getting those pressures, like you mentioned, on the quarterback, which are huge. Again, they'd like to have their sack numbers up a little bit more. Both the guys would, but man, they are playing at a very high level, and those are really the leaders of the Raiders'

defense. That has been a really nice piece of the puzzle this season, as opposed to what we've seen for previous years, where the defense has been horrendous. Their defense has been really good this year. Last one I have for you, Keith, we're diving into the next segment of our show

talking about the Annapolis Colts. You can ask me some questions. We have on Crosby, I think one of the most underrated defenders in the NFL. We have on Derek Carr, the quarterback. For Colts fans out there

listening to this, who are some Raiders players to really keep an eye on both sides of the ball on Sunday that could really make a monster impact for the Raiders that could really flip things over to their side?

Well, you know, I mean, a lot of those guys are on the COVID-19 list right now, but we think that, you know, they should be able to come back with the new rules and everything that have been put in place. I'm assuming that they're going to get back in time for the game, but I'll tell you, man, Denzel Perryman, in particular, the linebacker, man, he really was a player that was out for a couple of weeks for the Raiders, and he returned last week and helped lead that Raider defense holding the Denver Broncos to 18 yards rushing. And we all know that Denver wants to run the ball,

and of course that would be huge going up against the Colts who are going to run the ball. I mean, there's no doubt about it. There's no way that you will even hold Jonathan Taylor to 18 yards. You just hope that you can slow him down a little bit because he's that stinking good. But Denzel Perryman is definitely one of those guys. Uh, of course, you need can Gawkway, like I mentioned, uh, you know, Nate Hobbs, he's a guy that I like a lot. I like what he's done

with the team or on the team so far this year, the, the rookie out of, uh, Illinois, the fifth round pick, uh, he plays in a slot a lot, but I mean, he's just, he's, he's a playmaker without a lot of numbers, but you could just see he's flying around the field, doesn't make a lot of mistakes. He's a guy that I like on the defensive side of the ball. And then you got to look over at the offensive side and look at Hunter Renfro. You know, Hunter Renfro is going to be a guy that's going to be a major factor in this game as well.

He's got over 90 catches for the Raiders. Only Jerry Rice, Tim Brown, and Hunter Renfro in the career wide receivers for the Raiders have had 90 plus catches in a season. So that's some nice company that he's in right there. So obviously he's a go-to guy for Derek Carr. So just a few guys to look at and pay attention to on Sunday in this game, depending on who's all out there due to COVID-19.

Yeah, Renfro is going to be a major mismatch problem for this Colts secondary. They're at the lockout on him on Sunday at Cuba. Let's go ahead and dive over to our next segment of the show, talk about the Indianapolis Colts. In the meantime, I want to give you guys a quick reminder of our sponsor of today's show, which is BetOnline. BetOnline's career for this holiday season with more props, odds, and lines than ever before as football continues its march

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don't wait to take advantage of all the amazing offers available for the 2021 season. BetOnline is the fastest and easiest way to bet on all your favorite sports, so don't wait to take advantage of all the amazing offers available to you right now. BetOnline, where the game starts. All right, Evan, let's get this thing cooking, man. It's opportunity now to talk about the Colts as they're the next opponent up on the schedule, the Raiders and the Indianapolis Colts in Indy. And Indy's had a heck of a season, man.

I mean, there's been multiple times where you thought, okay, maybe this team is going to take a couple of steps back and maybe they're not going to use that huge weapon, Jonathan Taylor in the backfield, but that guy is an awesome, he's obviously in the conversation for the MVP. I could clearly see them giving it to him and I have no problem with that, but just what is the net, the season been like, how has the season felt to you from, you know, your point of view covering the Indianapolis Colts what has this been like so far it's been a roller coaster definitely cute I mean you look at the start of the season 0-3 and at that point you look at Colts Twitter and just everyone that's watching the Colts it's reaching DEFCON levels saying oh the curse of winstrade isn't going to work out they need to bench him to save the draft pick Frank Reich's overthinking

things the defense taking a step back Jonathan Taylor hasn't 100-yard game yet in the first three games. The offensive line is not gelling together. The pass rush, the defense is not consistent right now. But man, over that stretch of games, I mean, they've won eight of their last 10 games since then, which really goes to show you exactly what's happened with this team. They just flipped the switch after their 0-3 start. In those three losses, Q, they've actually had a double-digit lead in all three of those games, the Ravens, the Titans, and the Buccaneers. So if they wouldn't have choked those games away in the fourth quarter, might be talking about a team that's 11-3 right now instead of 8-6

with the way they're playing. Just one of the hottest teams in the NFL. Their defense is stiffening up at a perfect time. Jonathan Taylor has taken a superstar leap this year. Like you mentioned, MVP race alongside Aaron Rodgers. He's on pace to have 2,200 scrimmage yards and 23 touchdowns this year. Just an amazing performance from Jonathan Taylor this season.

Carson Wentz, too. If you would have told me from the start of the season, he would have a higher QBR than Patrick Mahomes this year. I would have told you right away that trade worked out for him because he's played exactly how you want him to. He's avoided those situations where he's played hero ball it's come at the worst times for them in those games against Tampa Bay and Tennessee for example but more often than not Carson Wentz doing exactly what he's told to do 25 touchdowns six interceptions in 15 games so far this year

for the Colts being very efficient when he throws the ball down the field and that touchdown he had on on Christmas Day against the Arizona Cardinals, that was one of the best throws I've seen in the NFL this year. Just a special arm talent that Carson Wentz has. Frank Reich has really dialed him back and brought back the 2019 version of Carson Wentz, which has been an incredible feat for Frank Reich. I mean, I think he's right in the race for Coach of the Year, to be quite honest, alongside with Taylor, with MVP.

So this team has flipped the switch. I think they're one of the hot teams in the NFL. And I think on Sunday, it's actually going to be a really good game between these two teams because the Colts and the Raiders stylistically, if everyone's out on the field with the COVID protocols, I think it's going to be a really good game on both sides where it could come down to the last month because these two teams actually match up very well.

Yeah, no doubt about it. And it does feel like that a lot of these players that are out right now due to COVID-19 are going to get back. But how concerning is it for you and obviously the Colts with the guys that are out currently, even if they're able to play on Sunday, which it looks like they will be, just without them being able to go through the week of practice and their normal reps because they're still kind of in the isolation process?

How big of a concern is that? Or is it because it's so late in the season, week 17, that it should be a little bit easier to deal with? Yeah, I think it's a little bit of both there, to be quite honest. And especially if Carson Wentz, who is unvaccinated, if he can't go on Sunday, if he is still showing symptoms,

Sam Ellinger, the rookie out of Texas, it's definitely a big step down from Carson Wentz to Sam Ellinger. So if Ellinger suits up on Sunday, I'm definitely leaning towards the Raiders in that scenario. But I mean, this is maybe a cop-out answer here, Q, but they still have John Taylor

back there. He's perfectly healthy. He's perfectly fine. So, I mean, if Ellinger suits up on Sunday, John Taylor's going to get 40-plus touches in this game. I mean, he's just an incredible talent to watch. He's one where he could take 180 yards down the field, or he can carry two or three guys on his back for two to four extra yards every single time.

Never goes down down first contact. So that's the easy way of looking at it with this Colts team is that you have such a special player in the backfield that it kind of makes up for the other warts on your team, which really goes to show just how incredible this guy is only in his second year in the NFL. You know, I'll tell you this. Even if Carson Wentz is in the game, I'd find a way to get the ball to John DeTaylor 40 times a game.

I mean, the dude is – he is an incredible talent, like you mentioned, man, he's going to be fun to watch in the NFL for a very long time. Why was there a stretch of games where it felt like Taylor wasn't being fed the rock? Yeah, really interesting because you look at his numbers in the first six weeks of the season, he only had about 15 touches per game but ever since then here's the numbers over the last six or seven games 21 32 16 32 29 27 those are jonathan taylor's carries over that stretch where the colts have really caught fire here i think it's honestly looking back on it now i think it's a little bit of two things i think frank reich didn't really know what he had yet in jonathan taylor how special a talent he truly was i think the second part is he might have been saving Jonathan Taylor, giving him that heavy Derrick Henry-esque workload for this final stretch of the season because they knew they're

going to have to put him on his back the last two months of the season, which could be another valid point there as well. So I think it's a little bit of both there. But you look at the way that the Colts, I think if they would have given Jonathan Taylor this workload in the first six weeks of the season, they might have won an extra one or two games in that stretch. And they might have been fighting Kansas City right now for that number one seed in the AFC for home field advantage so it's just been unlucky breaks here and there I know Frank Reich I think he regrets not giving John Taylor a ball more to start this

season but you know the way he's playing now it's just truly truly incredible to watch a guy like this continue to go out there and just simply dominate defenders you know and when he's out there and able to dominate the way he is I mean that opens up the rest of the game that opens everything up for the the other wide receivers on the squad and there's some dynamic wide receivers obviously on the Colts so how much easier when he's cooking does that make Carson Wentz job or whoever's behind center I mean Sam Ellinger that's a different story just because he's a rookie and I know he has he, what, three carries so far this season, and that's about it. You know, that's got to open up the game, though, for Carson Wentz, being able to have

a guy like Jonathan Taylor kind of clear things out for everybody else. Absolutely. I mean, it opens up not only for Carson Wentz, but also Frank Reich, because Frank Reich admitted to the local media about a month or two ago to us that the playbook is fully open for him for the first time since 2018 with Andrew Luck. I think a lot of that's due to Jonathan Taylor, but also with Carson Wentz and his strong arm. In 2018, when the Colts went on that run,

when they were 1-4 and finished 10-6, very heavy run attack mixing into play action with deep shots down the field. That's exactly what the Colts are doing right now with Carson Wentz under center, just taking those shots when need be, being very efficient, relying on their running back. 2018 was Marlon Mack. Now 2021, it's Jonathan Taylor.

I think the balance is there for Frank Reich. It's what he wanted all along, and he's not putting the game in Carson Wentz's hands. So Carson Wentz, when he does have those opportunities, it's more so those quick, rhythmic throws, or if it's not, it's those deep shots down the field, off-play action. You have eight, nine, sometimes ten guys in the box,

and it makes Carson Wentz's job so easy to the point where he can just play pitch and catch with his wide receivers on the outside. You know, and now flipping over to the defensive side of things, of course, Darius Leonard is the stud linebacker. I mean, all world, of course, he was dealing with his COVID issues as well. But, again, I'm assuming most of these guys are going to be returning on Sunday and really have a full roster of guys. But led by Leonard, how is this defense shaping up right now?

Because it has been really cooking. Even the last couple seasons, this defense has been scary. Yeah, very opportunistic defense built around speed and length, the way GM Chris Bowers wanted it all along in this 4-3 Tampa 2 heavy zone defense like you mentioned Darius Leonard has forced 11 turnovers by himself this year forced fumbles fumble recoveries interceptions whatever you want to name in there Darius Leonard's done it all for this defense he is the backbone of this defense I think it's impressive too when he didn't play on Saturday against the Cardinals due to COVID that EJ Speed their backup linebacker stepped right up and got nine tackles

in his first ever start in the NFL. The way that Chris Bowers built this team on defense, just depth across the board. You have guys behind the starters who can come in and play in a pinch and play well. You have DeForest Buckner in the middle of this defense who has a game record in this 4-3 defense tackle position. Grover Stewart's one of the best run defense tackles in the NFL as well. Quiddie Paye, the rookie edge rushes coming to his own. Kenny Moore finally got the respect he deserves as a slot corner.

He got his first Pro Bowl nod this year. One of the most underrated corners in the NFL. It's unfortunate Julian Blackman is out this year. He got hurt in practice about two months ago blowing out his Achilles, but he's a game wrecker as well. They've really missed him in some games. But outside of that, you have the true spine of this defense. You have Leonard in the middle.

You have Kenny Moore on the outside. You have DeForest Buckner on the inside. Three young stars on your defense. You can just build around that. The way that Chris Bauer's gone around and overhauled this defense when he first arrived in 2017, it truly is remarkable how different this team looks and how they're really feasting off of how they're built. They have 31 turnovers so far this year,

tied for the league lead in the NFL, very opportunistic, built around speed. And, I mean, on Sunday, it's going to be a tough challenge for this Raiders offense to really find a rhythm and get going against them. Yeah, that's what I was about to ask you. I mean, right now, I mean, Darren Waller, he hasn't played in a handful of games,

so I'm not assuming that he's going to play on Sunday. So if I take him out of the equation, I'm looking at a run game for the Raiders that got cooking last week against Denver. And I'm looking at a guy like Hunter Renfro, a guy like Zay Jones, you know, potentially Brian Edwards, if he comes back, but I mean, Deshaun Jackson has got some speed. He's a 14 year veteran in the league. How does the Colts defense, in your opinion, kind of match up against those guys?

And do you see a weak link on an area, not a weak link, but really an area of the Colts defense that the Raiders may be able to exploit if they have an opportunity? Yeah, I think one area that might be a little soft is I would say, I know Rocky Sin and Isaiah Rogers have really proven themselves as far as yours boundary quarters, but Xavier Rhodes has really taken a step back this year after he got re-signed on a one-year deal to be their top quarterback this year.

Rhodes has really been out-snapped a lot over the last month or so this season by Rodgers and Yassin, those two young corners I just mentioned there. But they can be inconsistent at times. We saw it on Saturday. Isaiah Rodgers got beat down the field a couple times. Rocky Yassin has been very good this year, but in some moments he can be inconsistent. And then Xavier Rhodes, if you beat him down the field, more often than not he's going to allow one or two big plays per game. Whether it be Hunter Renfro or Brian Edwards, I could really see a big game from Brian Edwards

on the outside in this game because he's the guy who can take the top off the defense down the field. He can beat you in the middle of the field. Almost like Michael Pittman Jr. for the Colts in that same way that Edwards has built. So I really could see a big game from Brian Edwards if Darren Waller is not out there. If Waller is out there, it gets even tougher because Waller is just a mismatch nightmare,

as we all know. So if Waller plays, it's even more difficult. But I could really see an X factor for the Raiders side because I imagine they have Kenny Moore shadowing Hunter Renfro throughout the game in the slot, wherever he goes. But I could really see Brian Edwards having a big game, being kind of the X factor, so to say, for this Raiders team. You know, it should be interesting to see if, you know,

Edwards is able to return. Again, he was the COVID-19 guy. He hit the reserve list on Sunday. So I'm assuming he's going to get back again. There's a lot of assumptions going on here. But really, we have no idea. You know, we have no idea who's going to play, who's not going to play. But just kind of trying to look at it from all angles.

And I know I already started talking about the defense, but I did want to go back to the offensive line real quick because I know a lot of banged up guys and I know a lot of COVID-19 guys as well, as far as the Colts offensive line to the point where everybody from their starting offensive line is out or was out. So what's the status right now of the old line and how do you think that they square up and match up against the Raiders defensive line, particularly unique in Gawkway and Max Crosby?

Yeah, I think it's a really interesting matchup. Assuming that all these guys are back off the COVID list, Quentin Nelson, Mark Lewinsky, Ryan Kelly also comes back from his personal tragedy that he suffered a couple weeks ago, just an awful situation with Ryan Kelly where he lost his child during the process. But also you see those guys get back.

Eric Fisher, he's questionable for Sunday after injuring his knee against the Cardinals. But I do think there's a little bit of a soft spot on that left side Eric Fisher's been um if he's not playing on Sunday it's probably going to be Julian Davenport so either way I think Max Crosby and Yannick Ndakwe have an edge on the outside Braden Smith's been a rocket right tackle so I don't expect much out of him he should be able to go on Sunday after getting in COVID protocols as well so we'll have to see on that how much these guys are going to be back. But to be quite honestly,

I could easily see Crosby and Ndakwe having one or two moments each where they could really impact this game. Carson Wentz tends to hold the ball a long time too. So I could really see a moment where there could be a strip fumble or something along those lines to keep this game close. But this interior of the offensive line,

I could really see if Nelson's out there, if Lewinsky's out there, if Kelly's back out there, they're just going to bully Jonathan Taylor in this front four for the Raiders with Taylor, Nelson, Kelly, and Lewinsky because that's where their strength is. It's the interior. And you can just have Jonathan Taylor run behind number 56 all

night long. So I really see this game kind of being built around playing away from the edges because they have, I think, a mismatch advantage, the Raiders do, against this Colts offensive line on the outside. But on the inside, it kind of swings back the other direction completely with the way the interior is built. So I really think we're going to see a lot of quick pass from first and went

and a lot of inside runs to counteract that. It should be interesting. It really should. I mean, the Raiders, to their credit, their defensive line has gotten a lot better as far as slowing down the run. Again, nobody thinks that they're going to stop Jonathan Taylor because you just don't stop Jonathan Taylor. But they have been a lot better since the bye week on slowing down the run, and their defense has been keeping them in games.

They haven't been scoring a lot of points as of late, but their defense has been keeping them in the game. So it should be a very interesting game. Now, if you want to flip it on over and you want to start talking some, you know, some keys to the game, maybe even some predictions, I'm all for it. Absolutely. Let's go ahead and dive into it, Q. I mean, honestly, we just hit on just now. We've hit on it throughout the show. But Jonathan Taylor, it feels like an easy point to go here, Q.

I mean, you can't stop Jonathan Taylor, but how can the Raiders contain Jonathan Taylor? Because we saw the Cardinals actually do a really good job on Saturday. Maybe a lot of it was due to the offensive line issues for the Colts having four out of five starters out, but he only had two and a half yards per carry after that first carry of the game went for 43 yards. So how do you think this Raiders front four, front seven

is going to go against John Taylor? Because if Taylor gets hot and he gets consistently going down the field for big chunks of yardage, the Colts are going to pump a lot of points on Sunday. Yeah, and that's the thing about it. I look at what the Raiders have done, you know, stopping the run and really committing to stop in the run, because that's been their Achilles heel on defense all year long is, is committing to stopping that run. Usually in a Gus Bradley defense, they're always pinning their ears back, trying to get after the quarterback, but then they've been getting gashed by the ground

game, but they've gotten better each and every week since the bi-week and really have done a good job slowing down the run. And then know played Denver last week a two-headed monster that really wants to run run run and held on to 18 yards now I'd be foolish to think that they could do that again against John other Taylor but that's going to be probably my biggest key to this game if they could just try to slow down Taylor I mean he's going to get his no doubt but make someone else beat them that's what they're going to have to do so they're going to have to keep that commitment alive to hey not only trying to get after the quarterback but slowing down the run so you're looking at the defensive tackles in the middle I'm talking about Jonathan Hankins Darius Phylon

guys like that Solomon Thomas the former first round pick of the 49ers guys like that are going to really have to stay disciplined and committed to stopping the run. And again, I don't think you stop Jonathan Taylor by no stretch of the imagination. I think all you can do is try to slow him down and hope that someone else is forced to try to beat you and then take your chances with them. So I honestly think that the biggest keys of this game

is going to come down to the trenches, and it's going to start with trying to stop or try to slow down again, Jonathan Taylor. Yeah, speaking of the trenches, as we're recording this breaking news from the Colts, I think it's cute. Quentin Nelson, Rakia Sin, Mark Lewinsky, Kamoka Ture are all activated off the COVID-19 list.

So that interior of the offensive line for the Colts is going to be back in full action on Sunday. But another key to this game I really want to hang out with you, a guy we haven't talked about yet on this show, Michael Pittman Jr. He hasn't had a big game in a little bit, but he's become Carson Wentz's security blanket. He's easily, I think, 40-plus targets ahead of everyone else in this Colts team

in terms of targets right now for them. Just easily right now, the WR1, excuse me, for this Colts team. So how do you go about, what do the Raiders have that can stop Michael Pittman? Because I imagine he's averaging 7 to 8 targets per game. When Wentz needs him, he gets about 10 to 12 targets per game. If they could take Pittman out of the mix there, it's going to make the Colts honestly one-dimensional. You know, the thing about it is Casey Hayward, the veteran,

he's a longtime veteran in the league, and he was one of the last guys that the Raiders signed before the season started. He's been very familiar with Gus Bradley's defense with his time with the Chargers. He's been almost – it's almost like a renaissance man this year you know he's played uh at such a high level and hasn't allowed a touchdown uh completion yet uh and he's just he's just playing kind of out of his mind uh he's he's doing really good but right now he's currently on the covet 19 list so again assuming that he's going to return i would think that he's probably going to be uh tasked with the job of trying to slow down Pittman. But I mean, Pittman's a hell of a player, you know, and then across from Casey Hayward is

where the questions come in, because Trayvon Mullen, the starting defensive back for the season, he's out the rest of the season, he's on injury reserve, so he's not coming back. Brandon Faison, who the Raiders picked up from the Chargers practice squad, has done a good job, but he's on the COVID-19 list. He was put on last week, so I'm really assuming he's going to get back. But if he doesn't, then where do you go? You know, they had Desmond Trufant out there, the longtime veteran of the league. He was out there last week, and he actually did a really good job

against Denver, but then again, you're going up against Drew Locke. So you know how much of that was Trufant and how much of that was Drew Locke. So there's a lot of questions. I think Casey Hayward, if he returns, you feel pretty solid and feel comfortable about him, but then it's who's playing on the other side. And, you know, it's not like Pittman's the only weapon that the Colts have at the wide receiver position. So one side of the Raiders' corners could be a weak link. If, and that's only if they can get Casey Hayward back.

If they don't, then, man, you're really talking about a Keyshawn Nixon, maybe an Amik Robertson, maybe Nate Hobbs. I mean, there's a lot of youth that you'll be throwing out there and trusting that they're going to be able to hold their own. So that could be really in the favor of the Colts, depending on how it all shakes out with this COVID-19 situation. An angle from the Raiders I want to hang out with you, because he's actually had success against his Colts team the last couple years. I love that this has kind of become a yearly matchup,

just with the way it's drawn out between the Colts and the Raiders over the last couple years. But Derek Carr has has kind of become a yearly matchup just with the way it's drawn out between the Colts and the Raiders over the last couple years, but Derek Carr has really torched this Colts secondary the last few times they matched up, completing well over 70% of his passes. He's had a couple mistakes here and there, but more often than not, he's keeping the Raiders in these games. If Derek Carr gets going

and he finds a rhythm in this pass rush, can he go in for this Colts team? Derek Carr's going to put up points against his defense. I know the defense has been very good over the last few months of the season, but Derek Carr is kind of the perfect quarterback to go against his own heavy defense cue so what's your thoughts on Carr going against this Colts defense on Sunday because if he does get hot the Raiders are gonna put points and points themselves yeah he he's one of those guys that like you said if he gets into a rhythm and and that rhythm you'll probably see it early and you'll know what kind of day he's gonna have uh if you see him go out there and really try to get things cooking with maybe Deshaun Jackson and Hunter Renfro early,

then you know he's feeling pretty good about himself. I think that because he gets the ball out of his hands so quickly, you know, trying to help out that offensive line, which, you know, is still trying to grow. It's a work in progress for the Raiders. He's trying to get the ball out of his hands so quickly. He's able to, you know, kind of complete that underneath stuff and uh maybe take a shot here and there if given the time to be able to let that develop but uh when he starts feeling it man he starts feeling like he's dialed in he'll take a few chances as well down the field zay jones is one of his buddies so that's a guy that

he takes uh some some shots towards sometimes sometimes it works out great sometimes it doesn't but uh he's he's trusted him and so he's throwing the ball and giving him those opportunities to go make the plays. He really could. And again, he's the leader of the team. It's almost like they go as he goes. And if he starts cooking early, then maybe it can start to open up the run game because the Raiders honestly want to run the ball. They want Josh Jacobs. They want Peyton Barber to get cooking. But a lot of times it takes a while. It took till the second half of the game last week against Denver to get going. So sometimes the pass is going to have to open up the run instead of the opposite where the run opens up the pass. But the Raiders find ways to get it done, and it is led by Derek Carr.

So if he's in a rhythm early, it could be a heck of a game for him. Let's dive in now, Q, into our predictions, looking at the latest odds via BetOnline, our betting sponsor. As you know, you're the host of Locked on Bets. Well, go ahead and listen to Locked on Bets every week. They're hot right now. You're going to want to get on the actual queue and the boys over at Locked on Bets.

But, Q, it looks like the spread here at minus 6.5 in favor of the Colts over the Raiders just adds into the new COVID protocol issues for both sides. So 6.5 points, the Colts are favored on Sunday. The over-under is 44.5. What's your prediction here as we go into Sunday because honestly I'll get mine out first Q I think this is a very close game throughout I think we see like a 21-17 score in the middle of the fourth quarter but then there's a there's a drive late in the game where John Taylor just

takes over shows his MVP self and he leads the team down the field for a back-breaking touchdown here I'm gonna go 28-17 with that late touchdown from Taylor kind of put things away late for this Colts team. What's your thoughts, Q? Well, you know, it's funny. I kind of have the same feeling that it's going to be very close late. And my biggest concern for this game is, you know, that defensive line wearing down and the Raiders defense kind of wearing down and Jonathan Taylor being able to break out, you know, because a lot of times the Raiders defense plays really well throughout the course of the game, and the offense isn't able to – it doesn't help them enough. It doesn't compliment them enough, and so they're out there on the field,

and then they get worn down towards the end of the game. So in this one, I'm assuming with so much on the line, it's been an emotional year. It's an emotional week with the passing of John Madden as well. That's also something that the Raiders are – hopefully they're going to maybe use that as motivation to go out there and play with. I just – I don't know. I said earlier this week that my gut feeling was they're going to find

a way to win I think this is going to come down to special teams and and like the last drive of the game or maybe last two possessions of the game I've been talking about the Raiders just hanging around the game hanging around the game and hanging around and giving Derek Carr and that offense an opportunity to steal it at the end so I'm just going to go ahead and continue to ride that out. I'm going to say this is a 21-20 game. The Raiders are going to squeak out and get out of Indianapolis with a win. But, you know, I think it's going to be a close one. But yeah, 21-20 is what I'm calling.

Yeah, either way, Q, I think we're both spot on here. It's going to be one hell of a game on Sunday. Lucas Olisday between the Colts and the Raiders. Colts fans, go ahead and follow Q if you haven't already. The Locked On Raiders podcast is with you Monday through Friday. Raiders fans, I give out some great Colts analysis every single day for Locked On Colts as well. Make sure you're also listening

to the Locked On Bets, the entire Locked On NFL podcast network as well. We've got great content for you guys every single day, Monday through Friday, to get you ready for each week. Q, this is a lot of fun, man. I really enjoy these crossovers each week, but this is a lot of fun. Really appreciate the time. Yeah, no doubt about it, man. It should be a fun, interesting game. Hopefully both teams are fully healthy and then go out there and battle it

out on the gridiron and have the best team come out and win and have a deep run into the playoffs, man. It should be a fun game.