Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts Implode in Season-Ending Loss to Denver Broncos

Starting point is 00:00:01 An insane Colts 2024 season has come to a merciful end. Well, there's still three games left, but their shot at the playoffs is officially gone. We're going to talk about it here in just a second. Let's go. Colts lose out of the playoffs. Let's go. You are locked on Colts, your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast, part of the Locked On Podcastts, your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day.

Starting point is 00:00:35 Thank you all for tuning in and making us your first listen of the day or first post-game listen of the day. This is your daily podcast covering your Indianapolis Colts, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. And we want to remind you guys that you can start the season with a big return on FanDuel. New customers can place a $5 bet and you'll get started with $150 in bonus bets. If you win your first $5 bet, visit FanDuel.com to get started. Hello, everyone. My name is Zach Hicks, your resident film nerd over at HorseshoeHuddle.com.

Starting point is 00:01:00 And my partner, Jake Arthur, is here as, looking great at 8.30pm. Right now, Jake, we're having fun. This is a little late for us, but we are amped up following this dreadful, dreadful game. Amped up with so many different emotions right now that we're going to throw in your face here on today's post-game show. So we are going to talk about the Colts' defense having arguably their best game in years despite giving up 31 points like on paper like I thought this is one of the best defensive performances we've seen from the Colts in years then we're going to talk about the offense and how that great defensive performance by the Colts didn't matter in the end because the Colts offense put together one of the biggest travesties we've ever seen but first but Jake, we have to start with main storylines and big picture.

Starting point is 00:01:47 Now, I know the Indianapolis Colts are not officially eliminated from the playoffs, but I mean, come on, they're eliminated from the playoffs with this. It's like, I don't know what the numbers are going to say, but it's officially done in my book. So this will be the fourth straight season that the Colts have missed the playoffs. This will be three of the last four seasons where they had a shot late in the year to win a pivotal game.

Starting point is 00:02:12 Last year, it was in week 18 against the Texans. 2021 with Carson Wentz, it was any of the last couple games, but especially that final game against the Jaguars, who were a terrible team. And then this year against the Denver Broncos. And they've produced duds in pretty much every one of those games. So I don't want to go on too big a rant here, Jake.

Starting point is 00:02:30 I do want to kick it to you. But at what point do you look at this roster that has basically been the exact same roster through all four years of this, of missing the playoffs, including three times falling just short late and one time being an absolutely dreadful team in 2022 at what point do you look at this roster and say maybe it's not just the quarterback like I know Richardson wasn't good in this game we will certainly talk about that but at what point do you look at this roster and say you know what maybe if we miss the playoffs every single

Starting point is 00:02:59 year with pretty much the same team maybe there's something more going on here than just the quarterback or just the coach. Maybe the team also has an issue. Yeah, just recently we were talking about how this roster looks eerily similar to the 2022 disaster clown show season. A lot of the same guys involved. And at this point, you know, what do you,

Starting point is 00:03:25 what do you feel attached to going into next year? I think you would come away with very little. There's some young players who you maybe want to put some patience in for, you know, see what they look like to begin next year. But there's a, there's too little too late. I think there's been a lot of faith requested in things that are not coming to fruition whatsoever. Some of those guys we've been asked to be patient about have not panned out or they're taking an excruciatingly long time to get to where they need to be. You've got a lot of money tied into guys that are not performing very well

Starting point is 00:04:05 or adequately or not showing up when they need to. But, yeah, it does start at the top, man. Like this roster, how it's been put together, it obviously isn't working. How much longer can we blame Andrew Luck? Look at – you could probably come up with four or five examples of other teams across the league right now who have been able to reset and get back on track way quicker than the Colts have been trying to do since 2017. You can even say 2019 if you want to create a new era with Andrew

Starting point is 00:04:37 Luck, but that by no means was a rebuild. It was just trying to replace your quarterback. And something has to change. Something huge has to change because obviously this team is, it's the same story every year, mediocre. And like you said, fighting for the playoffs at the end, not getting there, and then leaving fans incredibly furious by the end of the season because there is so much potential there that is just not being met. And it's wildly frustrating. And again, what do you feel attached to going into 2025?

Starting point is 00:05:12 No, and I'll even build off that where last year when the Colts missed the playoffs by one game, you had your backup quarterback starting that game. Your young, exciting quarterback wasn't in there. So you had that kind of out. It was the first year of your head coach. You had some players overperforming. And despite missing the playoffs last year, it felt like a bonus season where you could still find some things to feel good about. What is there to feel good about going into this next offseason? Your young quarterback finally got some games in. And by and large, it has not been a good season for him. Now, I do think he's

Starting point is 00:05:43 been better since the benching, but this was a dud. You know, this game was a dud from him. It's not that he wasn't the only player with a dud in this one, which we'll talk about in our other segments, but this was not a good game from him. And overall, most of this season has not been good from him. So you're not feeling great about your young quarterback

Starting point is 00:05:59 going into next season. Your head coach seems like he took a step back. All your star players that you just paid a bunch of money to were either hurt or took major steps back. I mean, Michael Pittman Jr. and Jonathan Taylor, we're not even just talking about this one game, but when you look at the overall season with those two players, I know Pittman's dealt with some injuries, but this has not been an $18 million per year receiver this year. Jonathan Taylor, I mean, yes, the offensive line's been banged up, but this has not been a star running back this season. Outside of Quinton Nelson and DeForest Buckner, who are your star players on this team? I don't think you have any. I don't think there's any other star

Starting point is 00:06:33 player on this team besides your left guard and your 30-year-old defensive tackle. That's a problem. When you are a build through the draft team and you're not finding stars or difference makers in the draft, that is a major problem. And we are seeing it on Sundays. And again, the quarterback play this season was not good for the Colts. I'm not going to sugarcoat it and say it's been perfect. There have been some games where it's been good, but for the most part, the quarterback play has not been great this season. But still, they are one in seven against above 500 teams this year. You can point at the quarterback play all you want in some of these games but that just tells me your roster is not ready to play against teams like

Starting point is 00:07:10 that they did not like they it's there's so many things i want to say right now jake because it's not even just the fact that they can't compete in these games it's just they don't have the discipline or the awareness i don't know what it. I don't know what it is. I don't know what it is because this game should have easily been won by the Colts. And they kept shooting themselves in the foot over and over and over again until they lost and gave the game to the Broncos who were also shooting themselves in the foot. They just stopped by the time the fourth quarter happened. So I don't know, man.

Starting point is 00:07:40 I don't know where you go with this team going forward. Who do you feel good about? Like you said, who are you feeling good about? Who are the pillars of your team? Do you even have leadership on this team? Do you have young players you're excited about? Leatu Latu looks like the fourth, like third or fourth best pass rusher from this past class,

Starting point is 00:07:56 which is still a decent young player, but you took him 15th overall. Jared Versus lapping him in everything right now. A.D. Mitchell, where are you feeling good about going into next season with A.D. Mitchell? Like he got open a little bit early in the season, but whenever he started showing positives, he reverted back to negatives. So, I mean, you're a build through the draft team. You're not hitting on your draft picks.

Starting point is 00:08:17 You're not bringing in outside help. Your players are undisciplined on Sundays. What are you leaning onto with this team going forward? Like, I'm not going to sit here and say, fire Shane Steichen, fire the whole staff, get rid of Anthony Richardson. But I'm also not going to push back on people who say that. Because I think you're well within your rights to have that opinion. Like, I truly think you have, you're rightful to have that opinion because this is not good enough. And I mean, it obviously goes up to the top with Chris Bowd, which we'll talk about a lot this week and the rest of the season, because that's going to be the big talking

Starting point is 00:08:51 point. But I don't know where you go with this team right now. It's not a particularly young and exciting team. It's a lot of guys getting paid that aren't playing well to that contract. And then your young quarterback's been very inconsistent at best your coach looks like he's regressing like I don't know what you're leaning into with this team going forward yeah you mentioned you know the undisciplined part of it and it's those just repeated mistakes and everything and throughout most of the season they were one of the least penalized teams But now you had five offensive holding calls just on the offensive line in this one.

Starting point is 00:09:29 That's not counting anything else. That's just five calls on the offensive line. Penalties have really been a problem over the last several games. You know, the turnovers, like, just comically bad stuff. That's, like, just stupid things that are happening on the field. Jonathan Taylor doing literally my least favorite thing any player ever does on a football field, which is dropping the football in front of the goal line, which is honestly, you look at that.

Starting point is 00:09:56 We've gone kind of big picture in this rather than this game. But the game changed in two ways, that play and then the Marvin Mim 61 yard punt return. Those two plays totally changed the game. But yeah, obviously much bigger conversation to be had about the big picture stuff later this week. But guys, here in a moment, we're going to talk about the offense and what kind of, you know, started out really nice, but ultimately went wrong. And we'd like to remind you guys that Locked On Colts is sponsored by BetterHelp. Now, guys, my favorite part of the holidays is not having to worry about the playoffs. The Colts make it so I don't even have to work through the playoffs.

Starting point is 00:10:35 I get some nice off time and I get to relax with my family, the ones I love that are closest to me. And I don't have to turn on football on Sundays and watch the Colts come playoff time because the Colts aren't in the playoffs. It's such a relaxing time. And guys, BetterHelp can help you find that zen that I find every single playoff season when it comes to covering this Colts team.

Starting point is 00:10:56 So how do you guys stay cozy during the winter months? For some, wrapping up in a blanket with a mug of hot chocolate or watching your favorite football team in the playoffs is the best way to spend the month of December and January. Well, guys, if you are missing out on some of that stuff, therapy is a great way to bring yourself some comfort that never goes away. Even when the season changes, I have used therapy in the past to, you know, find my proper footing, find a crutch that I can really lean onto. And places like BetterHelp are

Starting point is 00:11:22 fantastic for just finding peace of mind and really just figuring out things that work for you and get through this crazy life and through this crazy season for sure. So if you're thinking of starting therapy, give BetterHelp a try. It's entirely online, designed to be convenient, flexible, and suited to your schedule. Just fill out a brief questionnaire to get matched with a licensed therapist and switch therapists at any time for no additional charge. Like the Colts therapist and switch therapists at any time for no additional charge like the colts get switched gms at any time for no additional charge but we'll see if they end up doing that find comfort this december with better help not with your colts but with better help visit betterhelp.com locked on today to get 10 off your first month that's better help help.com locked on And it's that time of year, guys.

Starting point is 00:12:06 Playoffs. The college football playoff is back. There actually is playoff. IU and Notre Dame. Guys, lean into that. Go with the positives here. But the college football playoff is back. And with the newly expanded 12-team format,

Starting point is 00:12:21 it's guaranteed to be bigger and better than ever, bringing you all the hard-hitting and high-flying excitement that you love. TNT sports coverage of the college football playoff begins December 21st, starting with the college football playoff kickoff show presented by AT&T at 11 a.m. Eastern, leading into our first matchup, the Southern Methodist University Mustangs battling the Penn State Nittany Lions at noon. Then the Clemson Tigers look to upset the Texas Longhorns in a showdown at 4 p.m. Eastern. Don't miss a moment of the action. Watch the college football playoff presented by Allstate live on TNT, True TV, TBS, and Max.

Starting point is 00:13:00 All right, so we got to start with the top pillar here on the offense, Zach. We're going to talk about Anthony Richardson real quick. Pretty standard stat line for him, you know, 17 of 37, which is below 50%. 172 yards, no touchdowns, two picks. As a rusher, I thought this was a really good game from him, though. Seven carries for 46 yards and a touchdown. Obviously, the meat of that done in the first half, you know, he had the 23 yard touchdown run and then he had a nice 12 yard run for a first

Starting point is 00:13:31 down, like right up the middle earlier in the game as well. But as a passer, he of course had issues where guys could not catch the ball or get to the right spots for it. But by and large, this wasn't one of those games that I feel like we could point to a lot of every other things. He was just not accurate in this one. I didn't feel like he was super scattershot and not composed whatsoever, but this was truly not a good game for him. He was under duress quite a bit.

Starting point is 00:14:05 Obviously, Denver has the number one, you know, pass rushing unit in the league. They lead the league in sacks coming into it with 47. But yeah, this, this was not a good performance whatsoever, you know,

Starting point is 00:14:15 and those stats didn't even look that good until like later in the fourth quarter. So it was kind of even worse than, than what it appeared. So not a big performance from the top and uh really not a great performance from just about anyone on the offense no uh this was certainly not a game to write home for for anthony richardson it's not even a game like you said that we can like pick and choose some things i mean he had a couple good throws early in the

Starting point is 00:14:38 game like his first throw of the game to michael pitman or to no to josh downs early in the game was a fantastic throw it looked like it was going to be one of those good Anthony Richardson games like through the first quarter and then from the second quarter on it was just a dreadful performance from him and he's certainly a player where and I think this is something that he really needs to work on is aside from those like like gotta have it like down by one score with two minutes left type drives in the fourth quarter when he starts having bad moments they compile they they really do compile he struggles to compose himself again again unless it's like a game-winning drive at the end he somehow finds his composure then but when it is like in the second quarter in the third quarter when he has a couple misses or a

Starting point is 00:15:19 couple bad plays it starts to compile so that's where you see these games where he'll start like three or four passing for like 60 yards and it's's like, okay, cool. Like we're off to a good start with him. And then he'll miss like two or three passes and he'll be like three of six, three of seven. And then it turns into three of 14 or three of 15. And it's like, okay, like, dude, we got to relax a little bit here. And I think that's one of the biggest issues with him right now is just that, that I don't want to say lack of composure but just that ability to the inability to like rebound off of those those poor mistakes and poor stretches even when the poor stretches aren't fully on him I mean there will be plays where a free rusher gets in his face and he'll fight off the sack

Starting point is 00:15:58 and throw the ball away and that somehow builds into his inconsistencies and rushing things and he just needs to calm down so again I think he probably is the cold starting quarterback next season and he will be for these final three games so we'll see if he can improve upon that but certainly not a game to write home for for Anthony Richardson I think it doesn't take away too much from how he's looked since the since the benching but it still is another data point that we have to consider. And these last three games are going to be big for him to build some consistency and some momentum going into the offseason. So even if the Colts are out of the playoffs, at least Richardson gets more reps these final three weeks. So that'll be one thing we can watch, I guess, in these final

Starting point is 00:16:40 three weeks. Yeah. And, you know, the shame of it was it's, it kind of sucks that this was one of his, you know, messier games because he did do some truly special things in terms of escaping pressure. Like he had some of the Broncos defenders pissed that they could not bring him down, but those didn't really lead to anything. You know, there were drops or just errant throws or what have you, but it just, it just was not a fruitful endeavor. And then, You know, there were drops or just errant throws or what have you, but it just, it just was not a fruitful endeavor. And then, you know, you look beyond him, this was, you know, Jonathan Taylor had a pretty strong performance, but unfortunately it was wasted by one ugly moment, 22 carries for 107 yards, which was just under five yards per carry.

Starting point is 00:17:22 Like if that play is completed to how it's supposed to be, then this is kind of a vintage Jonathan Taylor performance. You know, he had the 41-yard touchdown, but of course just the biggest bonehead gaffe possible. The ground game altogether, 149 yards is the most that Denver has given up all year, and they were a legitimately good run defense. I think they were top three in yards per carry and top five in yards per game. So when you marry those two things together,

Starting point is 00:17:50 like that's a really good front and we obviously know that they can rush the passer. So this is like a truly, truly top notch front seven. And there was just like some big things wasted about that. Again, Anthony was not able to finish things that he started out really well and then obviously that that drop just kind of set the tone for the rest of the game because they never rebounded from that whatsoever they carried that 13 to 7 lead into halftime the defense gets the interception off Bo Nix to start the second half and then boom two plays later that's what happens. I

Starting point is 00:18:25 even tweeted. I was like, it looks like the Colts are running away with this one. And then, oh, it's not a touchdown. It's actually a touchback. And then here you go. Luckily, the Broncos offense was not able to really get their footing for quite some time until later. So it bought the Colts offense some time to get their act together. But of course, they never did. Yeah. I had someone say, like, if Taylor doesn't drop the ball, do the Colts win the game? Well, if I were a Bills podcaster, I'd be a little bit happier, I guess, right now. Like, we could say if's all we want. Like, if, if this, if that. Like, you know, the thing is, it happened. You know, he dropped the ball short of the end zone, and it cost this team a lot of momentum.

Starting point is 00:19:05 Now we can talk about how there has to be a coaching issue or something with the players to where if you can't mentally rebound on offense following a moment like that and it just crumbles your entire game from that when you're still leading in the game. Heck, your defense got you another turnover like a couple of plays later.

Starting point is 00:19:21 Like if that derailed your entire offense, then yeah, there's some other conversations we need to have. Maybe the super young coaching staff isn't up to task when it comes to the offense, but it's just an inexcusable. That's a team captain. That's a team captain pulling something like that. A guy who held out all of last off season

Starting point is 00:19:40 because he needed his new contract and his bigger money and you have a chance to run the team into the playoffs or at least put them up 13 in a game where your defense is playing lights out. And I mean, honestly, again, I can't really say what happens if he crosses the goal line there, but maybe we're having a happy post game right now if he crosses the goal line, because it looked like 20 to 7 in the middle of third quarter felt like an insurmountable lead with how the Colts defense was playing so I don't want to put everything on Jonathan Taylor but look you're a team captain who's

Starting point is 00:20:16 getting paid a ton of money like it just can't happen and then to have the Pittman fumble to another team captain getting paid tons of money I mean again this just kind of goes to what we said in the first segment like these are your star players these are your difference maker players your players who are supposed to make the average play into something phenomenal the players who bail out your quarterback and make your quarterback look better make your offense look better because they can do these superhuman things they are getting paid that kind of money. They're getting paid money to make big plays in big games like this. And to have one of them drop the ball at the goal line going in, which changed all the

Starting point is 00:20:53 momentum, and then have the other one, you know, fumble a very basic hit on the sideline. Like, it's just inexcusable, man. And we can point fingers at a thousand different people here. But the two star players on the Colts offense, the two star players let the team down in this game and it spiraled from there. So yeah, there's plenty of blame to point out Shane Steichen for his play calling and Richardson for his performance. It wasn't good. The offensive line wasn't good in this game either. Really, frankly, nobody was good on offense, but at the end of the day, Taylor and Pittman are captains

Starting point is 00:21:25 who are paid tons of money to make big plays, and they let the team down in a huge playoff must-win game. And that's my biggest takeaway is, how do you feel about those guys going forward? I mean, those are supposed to be your big-time players. And we've seen a whole year of just nothing from them, and then to let them down like this in the biggest game, it's it's it's bad man it's really bad yeah honestly that those guys like that underperforming is one of the biggest reasons i think some people want to just

Starting point is 00:21:56 hit the reset button and again feast or famine on this thing five turnovers one trip to the red zone it's this this offense is all or nothing and, and that's been the case all year. But, guys, we're going to get a little bit positive. If there's any silver lining in this, the defense really held up well until the dam broke, and then it just kind of got out of control. But some pretty good performances. All right, get ready to tackle the NFL action with FanDuel, America's number one sportsbook. Because right now, new customers, you guys can bet $5 and get 150 back in bonus bets if

Starting point is 00:22:33 you win. The FanDuel Sportsbook app gives you everything that you need to play slide bets on the NFL all in one place. So when you get the hunch in the middle of the game that you got to go with, you can check out the latest stats, do like play-by-play, and so much more all on the same page where you place your bets. Going into this one, FanDuel had the Broncos as four and a half point favorites. Nice. Very well done, FanDuel. Hopefully, you guys indulged in that as well. The total point over under was 43 and a half, and this was 44. So, wow. Okay. That was very razor thin margin.

Starting point is 00:23:11 So hopefully that panned out for you guys. Whether you're voting for or against the Colts, just visit FanDuel.com to join today. You'll get started with $150 in bonus bets. If you win your first $5 bet, that's FanDuel.com. Never waste a hunch and make every moment more with Fanduel, an official sportsbook partner of the NFL. All right, so the defense started out really hot and really kept it up all the way up until about

Starting point is 00:23:40 midway through the fourth quarter when they just, as we've seen multiple times this season, could not carry the weight of the team on their back. You know, there were some conversations I had this week where it was like, you know, the Colts don't particularly match up well with Denver. What is a path to victory for them? And it was kind of Bo Nix turning into a pumpkin, you know, and finally having a bad game. And that happened. Three interception game, did it throughout the first and second half.

Starting point is 00:24:13 This was Bo Nix's worst performance. And the defense made him pay for it. Again, three picks. They had him moving around quite a bit. They held the run game in check. I mean, this isn't a prolific run team anyways, but, you know, just 72 yards on 27 carries. That's not even three yards per carry. You know, Cortland Sutton was held in check until the end of the fourth quarter. Like, the defense was doing great.

Starting point is 00:24:39 And, you know, we've been accustomed to the bend but don't break defense that has both bent and broke at times lately. But they didn't do either until late in the game in this one. They were shutting it down. And, you know, if you get an offense that's capitalizing on that and you're playing complementary football, then you can start changing your strategy and pinning your ears back and getting after the passer even more and creating more distance in the score. And once again, this team cannot play 60 minutes of both sides of the ball functioning properly.

Starting point is 00:25:13 No, if we learned anything about this Colts team this season is consistency is not a word that applies to this team whatsoever, or even even just stringing together good play. Like you'll never see that with this team this season. And that's why we call this a merciful ending to this season, because we don't have to, we don't have to worry about that anymore. But no, I thought honestly, for a majority of this game, I thought this was one of the best defensive performances we have seen from the Colts in years. I would go as far as to say the best of the Gus Bradley era, I think is, I mean, they showed up in a playoff game, in a playoff caliber game, they showed up. I mean, I said in

Starting point is 00:25:53 our Friday show, my keys for the defense was give me something and run defense, please tackle for the first time this season. And we need the turnovers back. This defense cannot survive without turnovers and what did we get in this game fantastic tackling performance from this defense I thought I mean there were a couple missed tackles here and there but that's that's normal that happens I thought they were did a really good job rallying to the ball making plays getting a lot of run stops the run defense was really good in this one and the turnovers were there and you know what we have been very critical on the linebackers this season i thought zyra franklin had his best game of the season

Starting point is 00:26:29 like by far and away i thought he looked like a legitimately very good linebacker in this game so big shout out to him i thought he he really showed up in this one deforest buckner showed up uh cross and womack made those big plays uh for interceptions in the back end kenny had a big performance i thought kenny had a big performance, I thought. Kenny had a really good game. Like, the defense came to play in this game. But again, I mean, how many times can we say it this year? One side came to play and the other side didn't.

Starting point is 00:26:54 We had the Jaguars lost early in the year. The offense came to play. The defense didn't. We had the Vikings lost in primetime. The defense came to play. The offense didn't. It's just kind of the tale of this season. So, yeah, I mean,

Starting point is 00:27:05 it's all for naught, you know, that the defense put together this fantastic performance, but their offense and then their special teams as well. I mean, we don't have time to talk about their special teams, but yes, let's kick right back to Marvin Mims after he had two other big returns. Let's kick it back to him a third time. Maybe this time you won't have a big return. But yeah, I mean mean i thought the defense was constantly put on their back they were put in horrible situations over and over and they stood on their head and gave the colts a chance to win until you know it all came apart late in the game but uh yeah big credit to gus bradley defense and you know what i do want to end today's episode

Starting point is 00:27:40 talking about it like this jake we have been big proponents of saying that if the colts make any change this offseason, regardless of how this season ends, it'll probably just be Gus Bradley fired and bring everybody back, including all the players that are starting and bringing back and they'll just change Gus Bradley and say that that's their accountability type thing. You know, that's a change they have to make. But is there I mean, we're looking at this playoff game right here and does anyone is anyone gonna buy that just firing Gus Bradley and bringing somebody else in changes everything for this team I mean I'm not saying Gus Bradley has done everything to deserve keeping his job or anything but like in the biggest game of the season the defense wasn't the problem and the defense doesn't

Starting point is 00:28:20 have that much talent especially I mean the offense again how many big time players you got paid on offense how many high draft players you got paid on offense? How many high draft picks do you have on offense? On defense, they're starting a waiver wire outside corner, a seventh round corner, a third round corner. Nick Cross, he was on the bench for a couple of years. What? I mean, Franklin and CJ have been here for a while. But yeah. Speed's a fifth rounder.

Starting point is 00:28:41 They're not starting these high end draft pick guys. These are guys that they had to find a plug in and play. and they put up a great performance in a game that they needed to win so i i am not gonna fall for the trap this offseason of when they if or when they fire gus bradley and that's the only move they make of being like okay now now it's serious time with this defense we're gonna change things up it's like yeah the defense was an issue for a lot of the year but like come on really that's the only issue is just gus bradley like i'm not going to let them talk me into him being the scapegoat for this season i'm not saying he deserved to keep his job but i'm not going to let him be the scapegoat for sure there's one every

Starting point is 00:29:17 year and it's yeah i'm not going to buy the chris ballard we are close you know oh we're close especially if they finish nine and eight this year he's going to be like, oh, we're kind of close. Richardson takes a step and we change up the defense. Then we'll be a playoff team next year. I'm not buying it this next offseason. That's what they sold everybody heading into this year. And they didn't even believe it because they yanked Anthony Richardson. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:29:42 So, I don't know. Like, again, man, I don't know. Like, where do you go with this team? Where do you go with this team, man? I don't know. I don't know. I just I'm picturing the gif of Ron Swanson marching to the dumpster with his computer and tossing it in. I think I think a lot of people are feeling that way right now. Yeah, like honestly, I, again,

Starting point is 00:30:05 I don't know if I can say get rid of everything, like blow everything up and fire everybody and all that. But if anyone says that, I don't have any pushback. I think, I think a reset is way more reasonable than last offseason's approach. Yeah. Like, if you have to lean one way or another, you have to lean way closer to the rebuild. And I'm not necessarily saying hit the nuclear button, but there has to be drastic changes made. Like you said, Gus cannot be the only thing that happens. He's been the reset button or, like, push all, like,

Starting point is 00:30:40 this is not me saying it in a joking way, but, like, actually push some chips in to try to get some star talent with this team. Like get somebody that is a difference maker this offseason. But one of the guys, like two of the guys they were trying to go get in free agency were Xavier McKinney and Daniil Hunter. But, oh, they were just a little too expensive. Like we couldn't shell out the cash for that stuff. What? I mean, I'm not saying they fix everything, but they've been stars for their respective teams this season. Maybe go out there and get a star player in free agency.

Starting point is 00:31:07 Maybe, I don't know, hit on a draft pick for the first time since 2021 or 2022, whatever it was with Bernhardt, Ryman. Like there needs to be some kind of change, though. Like I don't I don't think any like I know none of us really bought it last year or anything but is anyone really gonna buy it this offseason especially if Chris Ballard says we're close like and they bring in like you know a punter on like a two-year deal and that's their only free agent signing and they re-sign EJ Speed and everybody else like there is there's no excuse this time there's no we're close there's no anything like that like there is no there's no argument that I can hear outside of major changes, whether that's a major change in philosophy or a major change in roster, major change in coaching,

Starting point is 00:31:52 whatever it's going to be, major change in quarterback even. I need something to change. It can't just be this exact same thing over and over again. So man, I don't know. I'm just frustrated. I know I'm ranting right now, but it's just embarrassing but that's what everybody's doing at the moment. Let it breathe. Yeah. They're one in seven this year against above 500 teams. They just can't be on the same field with these teams right now.

Starting point is 00:32:16 I think the most, the worst, I don't want to say the worst thing that can happen, but they have three doormats they're going up against in these next few weeks they could very well go three and oh not necessarily going to win comfortably but when three and oh let's say one you know one score victories what cannot happen is look how we finish the season Things are looking up this and that like cannot do it. The, the summation of the season ended today. Yep. Yeah. Like you cannot really take anything else that happens the next few games,

Starting point is 00:32:54 unless it's even uglier play to just like keep adding padding to that argument. But victories in this, when it's three of the worst teams in football, like you cannot use that as as the arrows pointing up by any means yeah and guys going forward we're going to focus more of this show on the on the macro of the team it's not going to be oh what the colts need to do to beat the titans because who cares who cares what they need to do to beat the titans we're

Starting point is 00:33:22 going to talk about what needs to what's going forward with chris ballard going forward with gus bradley shane steichen anthony richard like we're going to talk about the big picture stuff on this show like sure our friday episodes and our thursday episodes we'll still be looking at the upcoming game but we're going to use the early weeks these next couple weeks to early week episodes to really talk about this team because that's what matters right now. This team and stuff going forward, it doesn't matter the rest of this season because they're not going to sell me on beating the Giants and Tommy DeVito or Tim Boyle was out there again. We could see him for the second time this season.

Starting point is 00:33:54 If they beat Tim Boyle in New York, you're not going to sell me on momentum, okay, with this team. So we have a lot to talk about, obviously, going forward. We do want to thank you guys, though, for making Locked on Colts your first post-game listen today and for making us your first listen on all those other episodes coming up in the future. Next, go find Locked on NFL with the madman Tyler Rowland and Tony Wiggins for some real NFL talk.

Starting point is 00:34:16 Find Locked on NFL on YouTube, wherever you listen to your podcast. And if you guys want to become a Locked on Colts insider and chat with us directly and get that insider scoop, follow the link in our show notes. And if you guys don't already, follow at Locked on Colts, at Jake Arthur and a film at Zach Hicks to all on Twitter. Also subscribe to us on YouTube, where we list your podcasts. We love your guys ratings reviews,

Starting point is 00:34:32 and we'll catch you guys back here tomorrow afternoon, or maybe Tuesday afternoon. We'll see one of these days in the afternoon.

Your Ad Here

Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts Implode in Season-Ending Loss to Denver Broncos

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.