Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts fall to 0-2 as Carson Wentz's injury status looms large

Episode Date: September 22, 2021

On today's episode, Evan is joined by The Herald Bulletin's George Bremer to recap the Indianapolis Colts' 27-24 loss to the Los Angeles Rams. After falling to 0-2, plus Carson Wentz getting hurt, should the panic button for the 2021-22 season close to being pressed?Evan and George dive deep into all angles on Colts vs. Rams before previewing a pivotal Week 3 matchup against the Tennessee Titans. If Wentz can't play, does Indianapolis have any shot in a potential must-win game in Nashville?All of this, plus so much more, in a jam-packed episode! 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 to your latest episode of Locked On Colts for the Locked On Podcast Network. Today as always, your host Evan Seri joining us on Tuesday night here by Indianapolis Colts B-Rack for the Herald Bulletin, George Bremer. George, how are you doing today as the Colts now 0-2, as we were just mentioning off the air? Hysteria amongst Colts Twitter, I imagine, in your mentions.

Yeah, no, it's been crazy. I've been lucky. I got my foster daughter, who will soon be my adopted daughter. It was her birthday today, so I was able to kind of get away from all of it for a day. But yeah, the first half of the show talking through the Rams game. It's our first time really going deep in on it. In the last part of the show, we'll talk about the Tennessee Titans, Carson Wentz's injury, what that can mean for week three and beyond for this Colts team. But let's go ahead and dive into it. 27-24, the final score, the Colts barely lose to the Los Angeles Rams.

They were helped out a little bit by that special teams gap on the Rams side of things, but a lot of issues still pertaining to this Colts offensive line, this Colts secondary, a lack of pass rush. Let's start with the offensive line first off, George, because once again they allowed Carson Wentz to get hit over 10 times. This time it was 11 times, and he didn't make it through the entire game. Knowing Carson Wentz's injury history, it was going to be coming soon enough

this offensive line wasn't able to get it fully together. And Aaron Donald, just a really awkward landing person, Wentzman Donald hit him on a third down attempt, and he missed the last drive of the game when Jacob Eason came in and threw an interception to Julian Ramsey. So let me ask you this, George, just how surprising is it, or maybe it's not just because of the lack of a cohesion right now, Eric Fisher, Breein Smith being out, but this offensive line,

two weeks in a row now, has been thoroughly dominated up front outside of Quentin Nelson, Mark Lewinsky, Julian Davenport's allowed 17 pressures in two games. Brian Kelly has not lived up to his contract in the first two games. What's been your overall opinion of that? Because the lifeblood of this offense is the offensive line and really dominating up front. And if the Colts offensive line is not doing that,

this Colts team is not going to win a lot of games. No, absolutely. I think there's no question the offensive line has been the most disappointing element of this team so far. Defense hasn't played up to snuff, but I think the issues that are prevalent on the defense right now were foreseeable. You know, there was a lot of high expectations for this defense, but people knew that the secondary was pretty thin and that there could be problems back there. People knew that the pass rush was young and that there could be problems there. This offensive line was supposed to be a veteran group.

They were supposed to kind of carry this offense while Carson Wentz got used to things, while the chemistry built with the skill guys. And it's been anything but. And I think part of the problem is that you can look at the tackle spots. There's no doubt about that Eric Fisher making his you know Colts debut and not even playing the whole game still being on a pitch count coming back from that Achilles tendon issue and then Julian Davenport showing why he's been a backup for most of his career in the NFL in these first two weeks but I think even more concerning is the play of the interior. Because Mark Lewinsky, Ryan Kelly, Clinton Nelson,

that's supposed to be a really solid group. And when you go back to that series, the sequence, that probably sticks with most people the most from that game, when they try to get in four straight times on, you know, the one-yard line on the opening drive, and they can't open up enough space to get that one single yard, there's a lot of reasons for it. You know, Kelly was hurt.

He missed a lot of time. Nelson was hurt. He missed a lot of time. Fisher still hurt and coming back from that. But there's no two. And, you know, one thing I think that's good about that is Kelly and Nelson have said that you know they they have not hid from it they've not tried to couch it in you know softer language they said that their play so far has been unacceptable and it to me

you know maybe they're not 2-0 if the line plays better but I think you'd have a much better feeling about where this football team is if the offensive line was playing to the standard that it set for itself. I totally agree with you there. And just looking ahead for a second with this offensive line to Tennessee, you have to imagine, especially what Quentin Nelson and Ryan Kelly said postgame, and especially Carson Wentzman this time. We're going to cover here in just a second.

But this offensive line in week three, I think we're going to find out an awful lot about them, George, just to see if they're in a potential regression stage or if they're going to bounce back pretty good because this Titans defense has allowed over 30 points the first two games of the season. They're not good against the run. They're not good against the pass. This was like a game to me, George, upcoming where if the Colts offensive line is truly elite, this is the game where they can get back on track

and kind of announce themselves again to the NFL like, you know what, those are just a blip on the radar, and we're going to help potentially our backup quarterback just do the run the damn ball thing against the Titans for 30 times, Jonathan Taylor. Yeah, you know, Taylor hasn't been able to get things going either, and some of that is on him, and a lot of that is on the line. And, yeah, if they don't get things rolling on Sunday with this line and this running game, for one thing, they'll, they'll definitely be 0-3.

But secondly, you know, I do think it would just really put some dark thoughts in your head about the rest of this season. The line is embarrassed. I mean, I don't think there's any other way of putting it. They know that, you know, they're a big part of the reason that Carson Wentz was on the sideline at the end of that game. They know that they're a big part of the reason that this offense has not been able to find any consistency. And they know that they've got to pick it up, that it all starts with them.

And as you said, you know, Tennessee in many ways kind of ripe for the picking there. If they can't get it done Sunday against the Titans, you really have to wonder when they will. Looking at Carson Wentz, we're going to dive into his performance on Sunday and look ahead to potentially how long he might be out with this ankle injury, two sprained ankles. But he was 20 of 31 for 247 yards.

That really ugly shovel pass was an interception thanks to Aaron Donald just harassing Jack Doyle near the line of scrimmage, and that led to that interception. But he was under duress pretty much the entire second half, almost every single play. When he's had time, I mean, we saw the numbers in Philadelphia. He just wasn't good even with a clean pocket last year. But in the first two games, George,

Kirsten Wentz has shown if you give him time, he's actually getting the ball downfield and giving these weapons a chance and making some big explosive plays. He's been missing this offense for the last couple of years. What was your assessment of Wentz on Sunday before the injury? Because he was like Houdini out there. It really reminded you of 2012 to like 2015 Andrew Luck, where the pocket was collapsing around him almost every two seconds,

and he was making things happen down the field. And like Andrew Luck, I mean, eventually something's going to break as far as the DM goes and it was his ankle. But what was your assessment of Wentz on Sunday? He definitely once again showed last week, he was nowhere close to being the problem. Yeah, no, he's one of the least of the Steve's worries right now. I think that's ironic because I think if you had told me, you know, back in March when the trade happened,

that the offensive line was going to struggle the way they have in these first two weeks, then Wentz was going to be under duress, I would have told you that he was probably going to have four or five interceptions because that's what we saw last year in Philly. You know, bad decision-making, kind of forcing things, rushing things, trying to do too much. He hasn't done that. He's made, for the most part, good decisions.

The shovel pass looked awful. But, you know, I really don't think that was on him him i mean frank reich kind of explained that one pretty well there was an option in the flat with a running back that was really the first read uh but the defensive end didn't play it the way that they kind of expected that he would and so option two was a shovel pass and unfortunately everything on that play set up for the touchdown, except for Aaron Donald, who Quentin Nelson rightfully called the best player in the NFL, blowing up the play. And so Jack Doyle falls at the exact moment that Carson Wentz is releasing the ball. It's a huge interception.

It's a second straight trip inside the five with no points. It's a crushing blow for this team. But you really can't put a lot of that on Wentz's shoulders. It was things beyond his control that kind of led to it, and we really haven't seen him trying to do dangerous things with the football. There's a lot of talk this week

about him needing to kind of rein in his style a little bit, and I understand that in a big picture role. We saw it here with Andrew Luck Pittsburgh had to kind of do it with Ben Roethlisberger at some point you've got to you know step out of bounds a little bit earlier you got to slide a little sooner you got to take you know a few less hits than then maybe Carson Wentz has throughout his career but I think blaming him

for the injury right now it just doesn't make a lot of sense to me it goes back to this line I thought he was brilliant at times on Sunday getting them you know out of really bad situations even the 42 yard throw to Pittman Donald was coming around the right end on that and you know Wentz if anyone was going to kind of see ghosts and kind of flinch and that to me is the thing, like you wonder, the year that he went through last year, was that going to be the case? Was he going to be shy on the trigger? Was he going to be, you know, looking for contact?

He stood in there. He knew Aaron Donald was going to blow him up. He fired that ball downfield to get a 42-yard gain. You know, it helped kind of jumpstart the offense at one of the times that they were kind of slumbering in that game. there things that he can do better absolutely you know can he get rid of the ball faster can he make better reads at times can he do some things pre-snap better 100 but i think what he's done to this point to kind of save this team from even worse trouble has really been noteworthy and

the the really I guess frustrating thing about that game on Sunday is you're always going to wonder what would have happened if he could have come back out for that final two minute drive yeah I'm right there with you on that I think if Wentz could have came out there they would have driven down the field potentially gotten in the field or into a regal blankenship and potentially made this an overtime game of course Jacob Eason on second attempt did throw an interception of John Ramsey so let's talk about that injury for Carson Wentz it was look ugly when you're watching the broadcast and if you're there live in person just the

the twisting of his ankle we found out also Frank Reich that he had a moderate ankle sprain and his other ankle we suffered earlier in the game Wentz obviously toughed it out and then the high ankle sprain looks like was what occurred to Aaron Donald, a trapping of his ankle underneath Donald when he was making the tackle on him as he threw the ball away. So a high ankle sprain on one ankle, George, a moderate low ankle sprain on the other. According to Ian Rapport and Tom Pelo, Sarah Bunkle Network, Carson Wentz is in a walking boot and he is using a scooter to get around the facility right now. Not surprising, just trying to keep the weight off that a little bit.

But we're going to find out even more about stats for Sunday and beyond later this week. I think he's going to try to test out those ankles throughout practice this week. But what's your assessment on this, George? At a really worst-case scenario time, I have to imagine, going three straight games on the road, Tennessee, Miami, Baltimore, three teams that won 10-plus games last year. Baltimore looks like one of the best teams in the AFC after beating Kansas City on Sunday. If Wentz misses Sunday

or even potentially past that, this could be a sinking ship kind of feeling for this Colts team because Jacob Eason has shown he's not ready and really going against a fire here, George, against three legitimate defenses, especially for Jacob Eason against Tennessee, even though their defense isn't great.

They're going to definitely disguise coverage and make him kind of bait him with some interceptions. Oh, absolutely. I mean, this was a tough stretch no matter what. I mean, everybody talked about these first five games and how difficult they were going to be, even in a best-case scenario for this Colts football team. This has been anything but the best-case scenario.

Injuries, guys being in and out of lineup. You know, there's so many things that, that, that have led to adversity already for this team. And if they can't go with Carson Wentz on Sunday, I don't really see a path of victory. I mean, you never say never in this league. Crazy things happen every week. Uh, but the Titans will absolutely know that they're going to have to lean on the running game. They'll force Jacob Eason to throw. I don't think that would be a good situation for the Colts in any way, shape, or form. And you wonder, even if Wentz can go, you know, he's not going to be as mobile as he was in these first two weeks. There's no way he's going to be able to escape the way that he has. And so, you know, the offensive line continues to play the way it did in the first two weeks. Will he have any success if he can't get away from that rush? You know, and just changing your game anyway. I mean, you see that with players all the time.

Guys who are mobile quarterbacks who extend plays, you kind of anchor them into the pocket. It doesn't end well. You know, not very often. I'm not saying he can't do it, and I'm not saying that wouldn't be the better option than jacob eason uh but it's not an ideal situation even if he is able to go uh because there's no way he's gonna be 100 or anywhere close to it you're not wearing a walking boot and then riding around on a scooter because things are fine

and you know there's no question on how bad the ankle is if it was something he could play on he would have come back in Sunday. I mean, that was a critical situation in that game. And I think the fact that he wasn't able to come back in and play tells you, you know, pretty much everything you need to know. Doesn't mean he won't play on Sunday, but I think it has to make you pessimistic. We're back and better than ever. All eyes are on the great ironers.

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when you see Tennessee, you see Miami, you see Baltimore, it makes you wonder just exactly what could happen with this Colts team. Carson Wentz isn't out there. And it makes me think if he does miss the game Sunday, maybe the Colts and Wentz try to gut it out when they play Miami in two weeks. Because, I mean, definitely Carson Wentz,

nowhere like Andrew Luck, and this defense hasn't shown the consistency yet. But if you dig yourself an 0-5 start and your quarterback misses a couple weeks, the Colts might already be dead in the water about Halloween, George. It's kind of a sinking feeling. But if you put it in season 0-5, they don't have Andrew Luck on this team. Carson Wentz is not Andrew Luck, and you're kind of betting on this team to make a miraculous run where they go 10, 11 wins and lose one or two games, even be in wildcard contention.

This stretch here for the Colts to have to at least get one win here, George, makes me think maybe next week if Wentz doesn't go, just for the Colts' season to be on the line in Miami and Baltimore, he might have to give it a go. Yeah, well, I think you're almost there now. I mean, the Tennessee game is so big for so many reasons. You're already down a game just in straight-up record. They're 1-1.

The Colts are 0-2. You're really down two games because one of the big tiebreakers that doesn't get talked about a lot is common opponents. So the fact that Tennessee beat Seattle, they've got a game up there now on the Colts as well. You lose on Sunday. You're two games behind them. You're 0-3.

You've got a really tough schedule ahead of you. Even this game, I think that there's reason for them to tough it out. I think Frank Reich's kind of alluded to that already. He's talked about how tough Wentz is, how much he's seen him play through in the past. He's talked about how big this game is. But I absolutely agree with you. If they can't get him ready on Sunday,

and there's every reason to believe that's a very likely possibility, you know, it's not one of these things where they're going to sit him back for four to six weeks like you would with a normal high ankle sprain and just kind of hope that you survive during that stretch. Because like you said, you get to 0-3, 0-4, 0-5, even a wild card starts to become a really crazy proposition. And the only good thing in all of that would be he wouldn't reach the percentage of snaps that he needs to make that a first-round pick.

They'd still have the first-round pick, and it probably would end up being a pretty good one. Let's hit one more thing on offense here, George, and we'll dive into the defense and look ahead to the Titans game on Sunday. Obviously, the Wentz question will loom large throughout this week, but Michael Pittman Jr. had a big game, his best game as an Annapolis Colt in his young career. Eight catches, 123 yards, a team high, career high for Pittman, 12 targets. After seeing what he did on Sunday, George, I really hope moving forward here, this is kind of

the volume we get for Pittman. He's shown he can win down the field last week. He's shown he can win over the middle throughout his career so far and in short concepts. This feels like kind of a coming out party moment for Pittman. He was using confidence on Sunday as well. Once T.Y. Hilton's even back to around October, November, I think this might be the time, George, where Pittman's shown consistently

he's really the only three-level threat for the Colts wide receiver group Paris Campbell obviously was injured on Sunday Zach Paschal is a great route runner but he's not really an explosive guy down the field I think this is kind of the point where maybe it's a realization of Frank Wright where Pittman should be getting eight to ten targets each week because he's showing on a high volume that he can get those numbers yeah no I know it was especially a big deal, given the fact that T.Y. didn't play. You know, the Paris game was hurt, and Hilton wasn't in the game.

It wasn't difficult math for the Rams. They knew that they had to stop Michael Pittman in this passing game, and they had to stop Zach Paschal. There wasn't really a whole lot else out there to really threaten them. The tight ends, you know, will do their thing. But it was a pretty easy game plan for L.A. and for Pittman against that to come out and have the kind of game that he did, I think that's really a good sign.

It's also telling that he and Carson Wentz are starting to build that trust a little bit that's so important between the quarterback and the wide receiver. And I agree with you. I think he's a guy who's showing, you know, it's ready, maybe not straight up time. We're getting close to time to pass that torch, you know, and let him be the new kind of leader of this wide receiver group. He's got to do it now consistently.

I think that's the thing. A great game, a big moment. There for a while in the first half, he was almost the entirety of the Colts offense. I know at one point, he had 65 yards on three catches, and the rest of the team had like 34 yards on 13 snaps. So, you know, that's how big of a game he was having. And I think that that's what they expected when they drafted him. You know, there's every reason moving forward to try to get this guy to football. And I think that that's what they expected when they drafted him. You know, there's every reason moving forward to try to get this guy the football. And I still would like to see them take more 50-50 shots with him

and, you know, utilize him more in the red zone. You really haven't seen him really take advantage of that size yet. That's the other element. You know, we've seen the speed. We've seen the run after catch. We've seen the physicality at times. We really haven't seen him used as that kind of big wide receiver. That's the other element. You know, we've seen the speed. We've seen the run after catch. We've seen the physicality at times. We really haven't seen him used as that kind of big wide receiver.

It'll be interesting to see if that happens more going forward as well. Let's go to the defense here, rounding things out from Sunday's game, George. Then we're going to dive into our quick Tennessee preview. But looking at this defense, once again, a lot of over 100 yards rushing, 101 from the Rams rushing attack. Stafford was very efficient. He did throw a pick, but outside of that, just force-feeding Cooper Cup and Robert Woods, and they did their damage on the outside and the inside. The secondary did not do well, in large part due to the front four

not getting pressure once again for back-to-back weeks that much consistently. How worried are you, George, about this defense? We knew it was very bend-but-don't-break-with-the-heavy-zone concepts, but another week now where a quarterback who's potentially a top-ten quarterback kind of did whatever he wanted to against this Colts defense. And I think a lot of blame should go to the secondary, George, but we all know the front four is what really makes this defense go. And outside DeForest Buckner having a few flashes here and there,

their pass rush was pretty nonexistent on Sunday. What was your opinion of that pass rush against the Rams, George? And is it starting to concern you a little bit as they get into the smear of the schedule with these young, unproven guys that they can't really get rhythm going? Yeah, oh, absolutely. I think it's very concerning. I mean, you talk all the time.

You hear the only thing that Iberflue says as much or close to as much as his lineman assignment key and technique is rush and cover you know that's exactly what this is about rush is the first part of that defense and it hasn't been there I thought Quiddie Paye was was pretty telling when we talked to him on Monday about kind of the chess game that goes on out there and how he sort of has to learn to set up things early in the game so that he's got more success late. And that's part of the process for a young pass rusher. I think the Colts were really excited about what these kids could do. And it hasn't translated for a lot of reasons.

Quitty's had the snaps. There's been moments here and there. But he obviously hasn't gotten home and made that big play yet. He's done a pretty good job in the run game. But that's not enough. That's not what he's here for. That's not why you take him 21st overall. I think there's still a lot of reason to be optimistic about him moving forward.

He's kind of finding his, his way, getting his feet wet here. But one of the biggest concerns about this defense coming into the season, there was a lot of, you know, hope and optimism and high expectations. But one of the biggest concerns was losing those two veterans on defensive end spots, and Justin Houston and Denico Autry, and whether or not the young guys would be able to step in and do the job. Training camp made it look like, hey, you know, maybe this is possible. But the first two weeks of the season, we still barely seen Ben Banigou. Kamoko Ture has been dealing with injuries again, not 100% again. And, you

know, Quinny Pace being very open and honest about his process and his struggle. I think he's going to get there. But it was always kind of optimistic to think that he would come in and be a 10, 11, 12 sack guy. I think, to me, what's, I guess, a little bit concerning, you know, they talk about wanting to rotate guys in, playing eight guys, keeping fresh legs in. Maybe they need to do a little bit more of that. You know, I don't know that they've gotten enough guys in there. I don't think this is going to be a team that gets –

I mean, maybe Buckner ends up with nine or ten sacks, but I don't think that's going to be the way that this defense works. I don't think it's going to be a team with one big sack guy. They need to be a team that has five or six guys with five or six sacks. And, you know, I just think right now, Banigou deserves more opportunity. He deserves the opportunity to show that that growth in the preseason was real. I think they need to get more up front.

I mean, plain and simple, they're not getting any pressure on these quarterbacks. And when that happens against a zone, you see the result. Darius Leonard, I want to hit on him real quick, George, before we dive over to the Titans preview, because to me, he looks nothing like 100% Darius Leonard. He looks more like a 75% or less Darius Leonard. He's not really moving side of the sideline at the full speed that we've seen the last couple of years. He has those one or two plays per game that are impactful, but usually it's about three or four. And this lack of lateral speed right now due to that ankle surgery, George, I think is looming

pretty large here. How concerned are you about Darius Leonard? I know he's going to probably bounce back later on, but not much rest time. The bye week for the Colts is until week 14. I'm kind of worried myself, George, that we're not going to be maybe seeing 100% Darius Lerner for a little bit. And if that's the case, this defense will regress a little bit because they rely so much on 53 to do so much work on the middle of the field. Absolutely. I mean, he's one of the biggest parts of this defense, and they're always waiting for him to make the big plays.

He had the strip in week one that the Colts really didn't do anything with, and he came very close to getting an interception on Sunday against the Rams, but you're right. He's not been the maniac. He hasn't been the guy flying all over the field, affecting everything about the offense, and I don't know when we'll see that because of, as you said, that ankle injury. It seems to be pretty serious. He didn't practice most of the week last week with it. It's not something I think is going to get a lot better until there's rest, and that rest isn't coming for a while.

And I also think, you know, along with that, Bobby Okereke's been disappointing here early in the year. He's a guy that really had a good training camp. They're expecting a big jump from him, and it just hasn't happened yet. You know, he's not in there making those kind of impact, difference-making plays that they need from him. And that, I mean, when you look at why the defense is struggling, all three levels are underachieving right now.

The pass rush isn't anywhere near where it needs to be. The linebackers, who should be a strength of this unit, are not playing at the level that they're expected to play at. And the secondaries have letdowns as well. So, you know, if you're bad at all three levels of the defense, pretty good bet you're going to be bad on defense. This episode is brought to you by Rock Auto. With the ever-increasing numbers of makes and models,

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cover. This could be a pseudo two-game lead for the Titans or potentially a three-game lead for the Titans if they were to win on Sunday and drop the Colts to 0-3 for the first time since 2011 when Curtis Painter was the starting quarterback and they went 2-14 that year. What's your biggest keys for the Colts on Sunday, George? And do you personally think that Carson Wentz could be playing on Sunday?

You know, I don't know on Carson. We just don't have enough info. Everything logically tells me no. I mean, you've got two sprained ankles, and the right one was bad enough to keep him out of the last eight minutes or so, seven and a half minutes, you know, of a game that was a three-point game on Sunday. But at the same time, Frank Reich seems pretty confident.

For a guy who has two sprained ankles, he seems pretty confident that Wentz is going to go out there and give it everything he has. Like I said before, I don't think you're going to see him at 100%. You know, I don't think you're going to see the Carson Wentz we saw in the first two weeks. If he does play, it's going to be a more pocket-bound Wentz. He's going to have to play more like Phillip Rivers.

You know, and that's not the strength of his game. He's got to get rid of the ball quick, you know, kind of guess what that defense is doing early and take advantage of some things that way and rely less on his athleticism. And I think either way, you know, obviously if he doesn't play, that's bad for the Colts. If he plays and he's not himself, that's not great for the Colts. The keys to me, obviously they've got to stop the run. You play Derrick Henry. It all starts with him on that Tennessee offense. The run defense has not been good the first two weeks. They've got to turn that around.

They have got to stop the run. They don't have a real good history of that against Henry. You let him get rolling, and Ryan Tannehill starts taking those play-action shots, and he gets A. gets AJ Brown and Julio Jones involved it's game over you know they have got to do everything in their power to stop that run and then to get pressure on Tannehill who's another guy who can move he's underrated I think with his athleticism they haven't done a good job they didn't do a good job at all keep Russell

Wilson in the pocket uh and they really let Matthew Stafford out a couple of times. So I think that's another big element. They've got to get that pressure consistently on Ryan Tannehill and stop the run. And offensively, it's going to be absolutely imperative that the offensive line protects the quarterback, whoever it is. You know, Easton's going to struggle no matter what, but if they let the pressure in on him that they let against Wentz, it'll be an

outright disaster, and if Wentz back there, and he's not able, he's got a bum wheel, then you absolutely have to get everything you can for the line standpoint to protect him, and they've got to get the running game going. The running game has been non-existent in these first two weeks, you know, highlighted by that inability to get in from the one-yard line. I don't know what the answer there is. You know, maybe a little more Marlon Mack, maybe a little more Naheem Hines, getting the outside a little bit more. But, you know, the tackles have been the weaker spot, so I don't know if going to the outside is really the answer.

But you would think, on paper, the formula for this week, for any success from the Colts, run the ball, milk the clock, keep that Tennessee offense off the field as much as you can, make your quarterback make as few plays as possible, and win kind of a squeaker 17-14 type of game. I think that's – to me, that's the only path to success they've got on Sunday. I'm totally there with you. And just looking at this matchup, I'm probably leaning towards assuming Jacob Easton starts on Sunday. If that's the case, like you mentioned, Jonathan

Taylor's got that huge game. The offensive line has to keep him or a bum wheel Carson Wentz protected at full strength as well. And the defensive line, you obviously have Derrick Henry stacking the box, or you want to go AJ Brown or Julio Jones. Just right now, George, with the way this Colts team looks with how banged up they are, this just feels like a really bad matchup to me. I'm going to go 24-13 Titans, like you mentioned, like the first one to 20 wins this game. But if Tennessee can get Derrick Henry going early on, if they can force the Colts to stack the box,

get A.J. Brown and Julio Jones on the outside against their cornerbacks. If Xavier Rhodes doesn't play on Sunday, I think this cornerback group is in trouble as well, going against Brown and Julio. But you add all that together, you add in probably the Titans defense stack in the box of seven or eight guys almost every snap against either Carson Wentz, nowhere close to 100%, or Jacob Eason disguising coverages on him as well.

This just feels like a really bad matchup at this point of the season for them already, George. I'm going 24-13 Titans. I think it might get really ugly, especially if Wentz doesn't play on Sunday. What say you? I'm 100% with you. I think there's a good chance that this game gets away from them. If they play the way they played the first two weeks on defense, and if the offensive line has the struggles that they had in the first two weeks, it could get really ugly. I'll say 27-10, but, you know, this is where they're at right now. And I think it's going to be gut check time.

And as you said, you know, I think Sunday is definitely a huge gut check because of the way things have gone so far and because they know that they've got guys banged up and they've got to dig down deep and find a way against a divisional opponent. But I think it's a really, really tough hill to climb this week. If they lose, George, we'll be back again talking here on Sunday. But if they're 0-3, are you pressing the panic button for this Colts team for their potential chance to make any sort of run in 2021, or is it too early?

Would you be pressing that button already if they lose on Sunday? I'd be awfully close to it. I mean, it's early, obviously, and it's the longest season in NFL history and all those kind of things. You'd still have 14 games left. But with the injury situation the way it is and just the pillars of this team not showing up, you know, not having that play from your offensive line that you thought you would have,

not having the linebackers as big playmaking parts of this defense, not getting the young pass rush. You know, these are things that are week in, week out problems. I know the first two weeks were really tough matchups, and I know this week's really tough matchups. The problems the Colts have had with pass protection and run defense and big plays in the passing game, it doesn't really matter who you play in the NFL.

All 32 teams are going to take advantage of that. George, as always, enjoy having you on. I know our listeners always enjoy having you on as well on Locked on Colts. Colts fans, go ahead and follow him if you have not already, at GMBremmer on Twitter, and go read his work. He does excellent coverage over on the Herald Bulletin. George, appreciate the time to be talking to you again next Tuesday. No problem. Thanks a lot, Evan.