Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts: Josh Downs' Return Can Help Bring Stability to Jekyll-Hyde Offense

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Colts should get a major boost this week with the return of Josh Downs. There's several ways that he can help this Colts offense that desperately needs it. Let's get to it. You are Locked On Colts, your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. All right. Thanks for tuning in and making us your first listen of the day. This is your daily podcast covering your Indianapolis Colts.

Starting point is 00:00:36 Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. And today's show is brought to you by FanDuel. Now through September 22nd, all FanDuel customers can bet $5 and get a three-week free trial of NFL Sunday ticket from YouTube and YouTube TV. Just visit Fandle.com to get started. What up, what up, everybody? This is Jake Arthur and Zach Hicks of HorseshoeHuddle.com. I'm your resident media member for the Colts for the site, and Zach is your resident film nerd. And today we are getting to some hot Colts topics of the moment. You know,

Starting point is 00:01:06 we're right smack in the middle of the week and we've got injury stuff coming up. We've got guys coming back. We've got, you know, sour grapes still from the last week or two that are still relevant. So today we're talking about the very welcomed return of Josh Downs. Should he be able to return this week? We're going to talk about what the Colts can do in DeForest Buckner's absence. And then we're going to bring up the Jonathan Taylor thing. I feel like there's been two sides of the coin here. There's some, it's really me versus Zach. I think that's a very large conversation overall, but some people, it's fine for Jonathan Taylor not to be out for a

Starting point is 00:01:45 while. And then others are like, Hey, he was about the only good thing for a while. He can't be off the field for that long. So we're going to kind of find some common ground there and talk about how he can really be used more efficiently. Cause again, I don't think that necessarily worked for everybody. So let's go ahead and talk about, you know, the good stuff with Josh Downs returning, Zach. So he was a full participant on Friday. He was back to full participant on Wednesday today. Talked to him in the locker room today. I didn't, but he said, you know, he's expecting to return and he's ready to get back out there. Sounds much more optimistic than he did last Wednesday when he spoke. And we've talked for a bit now. When he comes back, this can really kind of help smooth out the offense,

Starting point is 00:02:31 especially a guy like Anthony Richardson. It's been boom or bust in the passing game. Right now, he is comfortably first in the NFL in average depth of target at 11.9. Or no, he's 14-0, the next closest 11.9 trevor uh trevor lawrence so richardson is delivering the ball downfield more than anybody and that's just not sustainable we saw it kind of worked you know week one the colts offense was good but there still wasn't any middle ground they still didn't have a rhythm on offense and we've got to think having josh downs come back and really help that yeah i mean look i love a high a dot as much as anybody i love high

Starting point is 00:03:11 yards per attempt like we had in week one but at the end of the day it's such a boomer bust offense and what we saw this past week is when it wasn't fully clicking it was more bust than it was boom for your offense and it led to zero points through halfway through the third quarter. And they kind of had to be in this mad dash to the finish line to try to catch up to the Green Bay Packers. So yeah, just having an underneath guy, and I always call them pace setters. You know, I said it last year with Michael Pittman Jr. And obviously Josh Downs falls in this as well. I just call it pace setters, you know, staying ahead of the sticks, promoting high success rate for your offense and getting to third and manageable getting to second and

Starting point is 00:03:49 manageable so you can just maintain the flow of your offense and maintain that pass run balance too and just staying ahead of everything so you don't get into such you know pass happy modes like we've seen with the colts the last two weeks where it's like when in doubt we've had to go so pass happy because one we're trailing in but two, we're not sustaining drives early on, which is leading to like these frantic comebacks late in the day. So just getting Josh Downs out there, just having an option where it's like, hey, we have a second and 10, let's go empty. Let's isolate Josh Downs on the backside with a linebacker, a safety, or even a slot corner.

Starting point is 00:04:24 And let's just dump it off to him at a four yards depth of target. And he can maybe turn that into five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, whatever it's going to be. And just getting that flow going in your offense. It helps your quarterback have confidence, seeing the ball come out of his hand and connect with the wide receiver underneath. It gets your offense moving on an easy completion. And it's kind of what we've been saying, where this offense kind of has the deep threes going the intermediate game has been a little hit or miss

Starting point is 00:04:49 but you know they've had a little bit of mid-range going with the with the intermediate game there's no layups in this offense right now whatsoever like outside of a couple screen passes they've hit that have gone a little bit long like they have nothing underneath right now so getting josh downs back and honestly I think making Will Mallory active but that's another that's a conversation for another day right there but just getting Josh Downs back I think it just opens up this offense so much and it brings Anthony Richardson his favorite target back from last season I know Michael Pittman Jr. is obviously paid to be the top guy but he loves Josh Downs Anthony Richardson I mean we didn't even see it

Starting point is 00:05:24 just in the short game last year we saw its, Anthony Richardson. I mean, we didn't even see it just in the short game last year. We saw it in the vertical game too. I mean, he had what three completions to Josh Downs that were like over 20 yards down the field. Like he loves Josh Downs at all areas of the field. So just getting Josh Downs back for the security blanket underneath and just having one of his favorite targets back, I think it's going to be massive for Anthony Richardson and this Colts offense. Yeah, pretty much everybody I've talked to inside or outside the organization, anyone talking about the Colts offense right now has talked about just being more productive on first and second downs, making third down more manageable.

Starting point is 00:06:00 I think Josh helps everywhere. And you know the Colts are a team that will, they go four downs. Like, he can help on each down in any scenario. Like, I think it's just so beneficial for them. It can keep drives alive for them to continue trying to establish the run as well. Like, at the end of the day, it's about establishing, you're about keeping drives alive, moving the chains, and getting points. And just flat out, he helps with that. I mean, think of how many times he bailed out Gardner Minshew last year. I mean, there were a couple, two or three times in games where maybe

Starting point is 00:06:34 the Colts didn't even win, but Josh Downs being there to make a huge play for Gardner Minshew really bailed them out of the situation. And so we talk about it being a lot of the quick stuff and the traditional slot stuff, but just like you mentioned the downfield stuff downs is his abilities. They're really do get unlocked with someone a little more aggressive like Anthony. Yeah. And you think about what this quotes offense this year,

Starting point is 00:07:00 we've only seen what one drive this year where they've started on the wrong, like the other side of the field and driven down into the red zone and converted in the red zone where they've like actually methodically driven down the field and it was that fourth quarter drive where they finally scored a touchdown against the Packers this past week because Texans game every drive was either a long completion or a long touchdown throw it wasn't those methodical drives down the field so you kind of want more of that. You know, I'm not saying that long touchdowns are bad by any means. Like there's nothing wrong with scoring quickly, but you do want those methodical drives because it just wears down

Starting point is 00:07:35 an opponent. It keeps your defense fresh and keeps them off the field. It improves just overall morale for both sides of your team. So I do think having a player like Downs, again, to keep those drives consistent and going, such an important thing. But yeah, like you said, Downs is such a good security blanket because I think he had what one or two drops last year. I think it was only like two drops. I think a pro football focus gave him last year, a second leading wide receiver on the team, really reliable hands. A dot was actually higher than what I expected it was going to be because I did use him a little bit downfield a lot of broken plays like you mentioned with Gardner Minshew think about all the big plays he had with Minshew were plays where Minshew's getting out of

Starting point is 00:08:14 the pocket and Downs is breaking vertical and getting big big yardage I mean he had one against the Raiders I believe he obviously had the touchdown against the Cleveland Browns the game ceiling one against the Patriots he earned near game ceiling one against the Patriots. So yeah, if Downs can do that with Richardson, where Richardson has one of the higher time to throws in the pocket this year, but is also not taking many sacks. So he's taking, what, a sack on 13% of his dropbacks this year. He's throwing it like average around three seconds in the pocket,

Starting point is 00:08:42 and he's not throwing the ball away. So the ball is going to receivers when he's hanging back there in the pocket and a guy like downs who he'll hit his mark and then he'll keep moving with his eyes, getting back to the quarterback. As of right now, the only receiver we've had actually doing that so far this year has been Alec Pierce. So getting a player like downs who is consistently working to get open,

Starting point is 00:09:03 consistently making himself available to his quarterback and showing that high motor on every play, I think getting another guy like that out there is massive for Anthony Richardson and for his completion percentage. I mean, look, I don't care that much about completion percentage. We've talked about it on the show, but it does kind of factor into keeping drives alive so just getting downs out there and getting that target that can convert some of these opportunities into catches it's just so so massive for this team like i would love to see a day from downs where it's like seven catches eight catches 55 yards something like that like it like it doesn't have to be like don't get me wrong i'd love it to be a hundred yard game but even if it's like one of those like old Cole Beasley type stat lines where it's like 10 for 55, 10 for

Starting point is 00:09:49 60, whatever it is, like get him the ball underneath, let him work after the catch and, and let him just be that pace setter for your offense and, and be that missing ingredient that you haven't had the first two weeks. I think it'll give Shane a little more leeway on his motion stuff as well. So coming up soon, we're going to talk about something that's not so chill, and that's DeForest Buckner landing on IR. What that means and what they can do other than, you know, trot out a certain somebody that we've talked about a lot here. Football is back.

Starting point is 00:10:23 And for me, and I'm sure a lot of you guys too, it means even more reason to lean on doordash uh you know it could be college ball saturdays sundays obviously i don't i can't go anywhere on sundays but uh saturdays you know you go and watch iu purdue notre dame what have you a lot of times you know you don't want to cook because you're actively watching the game or you're going over to someone's house and what there is to eat is kind of out of your hands. But, you know, whether it's your buddy didn't make enough food or they said, don't worry about the beer I got. And they have, you know, three beers for a house full of people or, you know, their battery or their remote runs out of batteries, whatever.

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Starting point is 00:11:24 Now to order your game day favorites. Must be 21 plus to order alcohol. Drink responsibly, alcohol available only in select markets. And also guys, you have heard us talk about our friends over at FanDuel, America's number one sports book. Well, we have something a little more, a little different for you now through September 22nd. All FanDuel customers can bet $5 and get a three-week free trial of NFL Sunday ticket from YouTube and YouTube TV. Then with a YouTube TV base plan, you'll be able to watch every regular season Sunday afternoon out-of-market game.

Starting point is 00:11:56 So don't worry, you can follow all 42 of your fantasy players and fantasy teams throughout all Sunday long when you are watching with YouTube TV. All you need is a Google account and a current form of payment, plus you can cancel at any time. The Colts are 1.5 point favorites this weekend, which kind of means it's a pick-em game because the Colts are the home team, but make sure you're picking your Colts. We love to turn this thing around right now. 43.5 over under. They're 4- six at home since last year jake that was offensive to put that in here but that that's what the colts are four and six no confidence at lucas oil no confidence no confidence but just visit fandle.com and download america's number one sports book all right jake so we are talking my favorite subject on this show, Taven Bryant. Now we're

Starting point is 00:12:46 talking to Forrest Buckner's injury and what this means for the Indianapolis Colts going forward. And, you know, all jokes aside, because I know we always bring up this guy mostly for jokes, but it's very likely the Colts are going to trot out Taven Bryant as they're starting three tech during this. And he's going to see like a 60 65 percent snap share on the defensive line what does this mean for the Indianapolis Colts I know you have the the upcoming opponents listed here Jake but honestly it doesn't it could be little Mary's sisterhood school of the blind or whatever they're running for 400 against this this defensive line with with Taven Bryan out there you know so you got Bears Steelers Jag, Titans, and Dolphins coming up.

Starting point is 00:13:28 Those are games where Buckner is either going to be out or questionable for. Honestly, you can even add the game after the Dolphins too, because this could be, you know, five, six, seven week type of injury here with the nature of a high ankle sprain, especially for a defensive tackle. So what does this mean? Well, the worst run defense in the NFL by a wide margin got a lot worse. It got a lot worse if Taven Bryan is starting. We can talk about what we would do on the defensive line, which would include not starting Taven Bryan, but the Colts are probably going, like, it doesn't even feel like, I've had a lot of people

Starting point is 00:14:05 comment this Jake and you can weigh on this too a lot of people have been like oh this is like Matt Pryor again this is like Brandon Faison again this is like Daryl Baker Jr. again and like to a degree yes because it's like so egregious but like also this is so much worse like like Matt Pryor like was fine the year before at least. And he was just really bad to start the next season at a position where like it's hard to find anybody at corner. Those were guys that Gus had faith in, or even with Daryl Baker jr.

Starting point is 00:14:36 Last year. It's like, he had a lot of young kids. Like it was hard to put anybody else out there with Taven, Brian. Like he's been in the league for a long time and he's never been a good run defender ever never ever been a good run defender he is a sub pass rusher at best that you never play on rundowns but the Colts keep trotting him out there on rundowns just to get bulldozed and

Starting point is 00:14:58 and what we saw the first two weeks is what teams are doing is they're running a lot of gap and power stuff right at that three tech, which is Taven Bryan. They are pinching off Grover to the backside. They're using tight ends and they're using just, you know, cut blocks and all that on, on Grover Stewart on the backside. And they're making sure that that duo block, that double block is on Taven Bryan because he can't withstand that block. He's being driven 10 yards off the ball on every one of these run snaps. And part of it is like, look, I know we joke about Taven Bryant, but like, it's also the Colts putting him in a bad situation to succeed. He's not that kind of player. He is a sub pass rusher who can't play rundowns. And he's out here asked to eat 600

Starting point is 00:15:39 pounds worth of double block, dual blocks in the middle. Like, what are we doing here? So, you know, I'll let you weigh in on Taven Bryant potentially starting and then we can talk about other guys on the roster that we would start but like this is probably the most malpractice thing I have seen from a Colts team that since I've been covering here and like I saw them roll out Bo Peet Keyes at corner for a game back in the day and Lindsey Pipkins at corner for a day. This is still more egregious than any of that. Like I really have no words for if Taven Bryan

Starting point is 00:16:14 starts another game for this team going forward. Yeah, I unfortunately feel like I've said or heard someone say this is the most egregious thing they've done in the last so years and it's been about something different every time but no I mean I I cannot fathom what they are seeing in this it's so obvious and numbers back it up I mean you wrote about it today if you guys haven't gone to horseshoeuttle.com not to interrupt you jake but 97th ranked run defensive defensive defensive tackles this year with minimum 20 snaps 97th out of 116 on pro football focused and then last year he was 116th out of 147 graded defensive

Starting point is 00:16:57 tackles he's been horrible run defending defensive tackles whole career Like this is not like a new development. So it's like, Oh gosh. Yeah. It's, I mean, does that seem like the most likely scenario? Yes. Because we saw them do it where he was at nose last year behind Grover. And it's like,

Starting point is 00:17:18 what the heck? But it's like, you have other options. I still don't think he's the best one. Like Rayquan Davis has not performed well so far, but like, don't you have to try something else other than something you've seen 13 or so times by this point that it's not gonna work. Like, and that's the they had this love affair with the big defensive ends who could go inside and out try Dio there uh try Taequann Lewis there do a rotation of guys I don't care but the the option can't be all right Taven Bryan you are DeForest Buckner's direct replacement this will go well it's not going to it never has and it's like everybody

Starting point is 00:18:07 can see it and you you put it perfectly can you really can you really blame brian for that yeah like like it's hard to even like again i i hate going so hard on players like this because they're real people and like it's not like a video game thing so it's like this is a real person we're talking about i'm frustrating because it keeps happening yeah i have no hate for tave and brian the person or anything like that it's just like look he can't do this we gotta stop doing this so even if atatomi wa adebore is not good either against the run which he's not he's at least a young player where there's some benefit to playing him you know maybe he can learn on the fly we know what tave and brian is rayquanwon Davis would be better in this role uh Adam Gosses who they just signed to

Starting point is 00:18:49 their practice squad who was not on a team the first couple weeks would be better in this role heck the Philadelphia Eagles I remember uh what was it like last year two years ago I think it was two years ago I remember they were they had a lot of injuries at defensive tackle and they weren't getting done they brought in Linval Joseph and like yeah and Damakensou who were just like on their very last legs of playing football and like that was like if the Colts did they could go get one of those guys honestly and I would feel better about their run defense than Taven Bryant I would feel better if they started Grant Stewart at nose tackle than than starting Taven because stewart's at least a psychopath like this is so egregious like i i saw jeff saturday get hired mid-season and this is more egregious more egregious than

Starting point is 00:19:32 i don't know okay i don't know about that might be a little too far i'm getting a little crazy at the hyperbole here but like i truly do not understand it put look the best option put dio dengo there start dio denango it's time to get him going at that spot you drafted him high for a reason throw him out there second second best put Raekwon Davis put Adam Gostis and then Adetomiwa Adebore like he's at least been better like he can at least shoot gaps and be disruptive Taven Bryant's just going for a ride down the field every time he's out there at three tech like at some point it's just like unfair to the player too to put him out there and and i don't even just blame gus bradley i also blame chris ballard like why are we bringing this guy back right because he

Starting point is 00:20:13 had to get re-signed in the first place yeah like it's on gus too like because gus is ultimately putting him out there and and charlie partridge like i don't want to i don't want to excuse him in this, too. But, like, why? What are we doing here? Like, it is so egregious. I will say it kind of came to me today when I saw him in the locker room. But I think Adam Gatsas is going to be playing soon. Like, that's his bread and butter is defending the run. He doesn't give you anything as a pass rusher. But you've got a couple interior guys who all they do is pass rush you know ade and

Starting point is 00:20:47 and tave and brian you don't have one that's just a hired gun as a run defender that's what you need right now like i think gots is going to be playing pretty soon anything you can do to stop the run right now because look you can survive as a bad pass defense and a fine run defense you cannot survive in the nfl as bad at both. Pick one. Pick one to be good at. And there's no way you're going to be a good pass defense this year. So you might as well just try to focus all of your energy on being a good run defense. Get Grant Stewart out there.

Starting point is 00:21:13 Get Saguna Luby out there if you have to. Get Gostis in here. Get any 300-pound man that you can find and put him on the interior and we're fine. I am willing to eat more often and put on the weight. I'll give it my all but i mean in all seriousness if this was gonna happen this is the stretch to have it i mean the steelers game is not gonna be cool but the bears can't run it the jaguars offensive line is terrible the titans have kind of a couple scat backs they can't run it until they face Indy. And the Dolphins are not a power run team. So, I mean, maybe they will be in that week.

Starting point is 00:21:48 But if there's going to be a stretch for this to happen, I guess the silver lining is this is it. So coming up, we're going to talk about another fun topic. Jonathan Taylor, of course, didn't sniff the field in the fourth quarter last week. And, you know, there's two schools of thought on that. On some sides, that's okay. Some sides, it can't happen. But we're going to try and figure out, like, what is the best course of action in that type of scenario? All right. Summer is winding down, and that means outdoor live events maybe dwindling a little bit. But you just move your concerts and your

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Starting point is 00:23:42 the Colts offense was pretty lifeless against the Packers. It's, you know, the back half of the third quarter. They finally find life with Jonathan Taylor. He's about the only thing that's going right offensively in terms of guys with the ball in their hand. You know, he racks up 103 yards on 12 carries. He did have some hiccups in the past game with pass pro and did have a drop or two, but even when he caught the ball, he's kind of explosive. He had an 18 yard reception, 32 yards to the air. So here comes the fourth quarter. The Colts are facing third and one and Taylor's on the sideline. And here comes Treyon on the receiving end of a speed option and it gets stuffed does not

Starting point is 00:24:27 go well um and it's it's odd because just the week before Taylor was not very effective just three yards per carry but he was in the Colts backfield 95.6 percent of the time so you go again to week two Taylor does not sniff the field field in the fourth quarter at all. So explanation wise, Shane Steichen is not really elaborated, but he's been like, we wanted to get Trey Sermon some looks, which I'll be honest, sounds like nonsense. So when pressed further, you know, he said they were kind of planning for fourth down. And if that play wouldn't have gotten stuffed, Taylor would have been in on fourth down. And then hopefully they convert that. Hopefully they put points on the board.

Starting point is 00:25:08 This is me adding to this. You know, they put points on the board. Maybe they're not in this scenario where they feel like they have to pass, pass, pass, pass, pass. But when that got stuffed and then Matt Gay misses the field goal, then it completely shifts for them to be pass only. I think they had 21 plays in the fourth quarter, 19 of them were passes, I think, Zach. So yeah, from then on, they were solely

Starting point is 00:25:34 focused on passing the ball. And Jonathan Taylor is not their passing down back. He definitely has his deficiencies. My problem is he's your best offensive player. And even just the threat of him being on the field next to Anthony Richardson, even if you're not going to use him has to be worth something because it's not like you used the other running backs. They were just on the field. You know what I mean? So it's like, how does your best, how does your best player not be on the field for an entire quarter when you're trying to come back and win? Yeah.

Starting point is 00:26:07 So I will, I will obviously in this argument, I will give you two things here. One use him more earlier in the game when he's rushing 12 for a hundred, three, get him more carries. Yeah. I'm with you on that.

Starting point is 00:26:19 And then yes, the third and one call, just the call itself questionable, but also not having Taylor on the field for it. Questionable as well. Now, it doesn't change the result of the play, regardless who's on the field, because that run was completely stuffed. But I digress there. I think when it comes to the situation, though, they get the ball back with like 10 minutes left in the fourth.

Starting point is 00:26:39 They have to drive the whole field down two scores. I think if you want Jonathan Taylor on the field here's the most important factor don't get down two scores late in the fourth quarter that's really the whole the whole thing there because I think when when you say something like they weren't even using these other guys in the field uh when you know when you have sermon out there he's a much better pass blocker like much better pass block you look at the first interception earlier in the game and who were the people who blew blocks on that first, on that first interception, it was Quinton Nelson and it was Jonathan Taylor. Taylor completely whiffed on the linebacker that

Starting point is 00:27:14 was blitzing. Linebacker gets pressure. Richardson throws off his back foot, sails it to the free safety interception. Like when you have a mistake like that in past pro it it's recognizable you know you see it you have two drops throughout the game you have other mistakes in past pro at some point when it comes down to like the late part of the game you have like what like a six seven percent win percentage like very very low you're going to be throwing the ball vertically down the field i do think that's the point where it's like the guy who has cost you multiple times in the past game, like earlier in the game, probably shouldn't be on the field. And they did this with A.D. Mitchell too in the third quarter,

Starting point is 00:27:54 where A.D. Mitchell had a first half from hell, like a truly atrocious first half. And they benched him for Ashton Doolin for most of the third quarter. He came back a little bit in the fourth, but it was mostly Ashton Doolin. Like, I do think, especially in the early part of the season, when guys aren't playing up to par, you know, you don't reward that. You know, so I think when you look at the overall day that Jonathan Taylor had, yes, rushing the ball, he was fantastic. In the passing game, he was so dreadful.

Starting point is 00:28:21 Like, so dreadful in the passing game. That it's kind of like yeah get get goodson out there who at least has more of a speed like i think goodson has better long speed than taylor at this point because taylor doesn't have that that third gear anymore i don't think um so you get like goodson is a little bit shiftier and a little bit longer speed out there to run those those extra routes you have sermon out there to pass protect and provide better chips than what taylor would and again the ball's not going to the running back anyway like i don't i don't know just the fact of having taylor out there because even if even the demons had to respect taylor out there

Starting point is 00:28:57 they know that you have to throw the ball vertically to come back like i don't think it does like they're still just going gonna drop back you know like it like they might do like an extra double take at taylor in the backfield but i think my overall take with this is it really didn't matter much either way like the game was out of hand like not out of hand like they still had a chance at winning but like odds are if you're scoring three points before the fourth quarter you're probably not going to score the other 13 you need in that fourth quarter we've seen crazier things but um so i think that was a good time to where it's like a guy who's cost you so big in the passing game earlier in the game yeah get him out

Starting point is 00:29:36 of there like you know and hopefully he can be better like like again the best the best case scenario here is you're not down two scores in the fourth quarter because then Taylor can play every single snap. We saw in week one, they closed that gap early in the fourth quarter by scoring to make it a one score game. And Taylor played 95% of the snaps. So let's keep it a one score game or hopefully have a lead for once because Richardson's never had a lead in the fourth quarter in his career at this point.

Starting point is 00:30:04 Let's have a lead in the fourth quarter so Taylor can play every single snap. I think that's the biggest part here. But yeah, I mean, I think in a game where you have 50 other issues to complain about, I think Taylor not playing in the fourth quarter is so minor to me. Like, and of those 50 other issues, 49 of them are tape and brian getting snaps like i had to bring it back to tape and brian but like i don't know it's such a minor thing to me um jonathan taylor's great like i'm i'm really not trying to hate on him by any means like fantastic runner and i would love for the colts to have a lead in the fourth quarter so they can truly lean

Starting point is 00:30:39 on him in one of these games but um yeah i think in the in the way this game was going the script of the game i think it was fine taking him out i don't think it really factored in too much and overall it's just kind of like i'm not trying to be nihilistic here but kind of pointless to me well i i think one of the biggest things it was so noticeable and so jarring because it was like the back half of the third quarter where he was just killing them. And then it's like a switch went off where he just was not there anymore. And mind you, if,

Starting point is 00:31:11 if the drive goes how they want it to go and you know, they maybe convert on that third and one or get to fourth and one. And if they make the really is in there, if they make the field goal, he comes back out for the next drive. They're only down seven. Right. Like if the field goal. If they make the field goal, he comes back out for the next drive. They're only down seven. Right. Like, if the field goal is made, yeah.

Starting point is 00:31:33 I think I have probably just, like, an unflinching faith that he is, like, a lightning in a bottle playmaker. And, like, yes, he did. Like, I think he's a better – he didn't show it in this game, but I think he's a better receiver overall than he's kind of given credit for. Cause like he has had some seasons or really one or two where he has had to catch more balls than you would expect. And largely I think it's gone well, but what he can do with it afterwards, you know, again, he had an 18 yard reception in this game.

Starting point is 00:31:57 Fumbled. Hey, I set that up too well. I'm being antagonistic here. No, it's he, he's the, I don't know. This is just kind of bit them twice now. And it's kind of, you can use revisionist history for it. But I think the lesson here is like your best players just got to be on the

Starting point is 00:32:20 field. Like I know situational football is very, very important. And it's easy for like me to say like look you should have done this when it doesn't work but that's kind of the thing so far is like the it almost feels to me like it's outsmarting yourself yeah like I the third and one call was absolutely outsmarting yourself. I will 100% give you that. That was insane. The moral of the story is, again, I think they have to accept the kickoff every week that they're able to now. And get points on the board. Because apparently you guys cannot play whatsoever without a lead.

Starting point is 00:33:06 Hey, whoa. I will give you this. Because this is my next article that i'm working on anthony richardson is like the best quarterback in the fourth quarter in terms of epa per play and epa or whatever over the last two years i know it's only four fourth quarters he's don't you don't you wish you could go hurry up the entire game well i just wish that he could do that in the other three quarters and that's also part of him and everything else but but yeah no the hero ball has been good for him in the offense it's like can we just get the standard stuff down but that's that's a conversation for another day maybe they should just not script the first 15 and yeah just go solely off vibes because that's how anthony excels is off vibes or we just need to pick six to start the game so we can actually

Starting point is 00:33:43 have a lead you know in a game. That'd be great. Well, this is a get-right game for both sides. I just don't know how much I trust the Colts' ability to get right right now. We're both more confident in the offense, of course. Yeah. Hopefully, hey, Josh Downs is back. I care about the offense again. It's going to be fun. I think we're going to be fun on offense. Full circle. He is going to be fun. I think we're going to be fun on offense. Don't talk about the defense. Full circle. He is going to be a difference maker for the chains moving, actually.

Starting point is 00:34:09 Absolutely. Absolutely. So thank you guys for joining us on this long-winded show here. Thank you for always making Locked On Colts your first listen today and every day. Now for your second listen, go find the new Locked On NFL. Now with two shows every day. First, the Madman Tyler Rowland kicks off your morning with a double shot of NFL espresso. And then stop by the Barber Shop with Tony Wiggins for some real NFL talk.

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