Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts Knock Off Undefeated Pittsburgh Steelers, but Anthony Richardson Injured

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Colts are rolling now with two straight wins after giving the previously undefeated Steelers their first blemish of the season. But they had to do it without Anthony Richardson for pretty much the entire game. He left early with a hip injury. So 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 post-game listen of the day. This is your daily podcast covering your Indianapolis Colts,

Starting point is 00:00:41 part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. And today's show is brought to you by GameTime. Download the GameTime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off of your first purchase. What is up, y'all? This is Jake Arthur and Zach Hicks of HorseshoeHuddle.com. I am your resident credentialed media member reporting to you live from Lucas Oil Stadium. And Zach is the rootinest, tootinest film guy in the game. And today we're covering the Colts 27-24 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers here at Lucas Oil. That moves the Colts to 2-2 now on the season, which looks a whole lot better

Starting point is 00:01:18 than 0-2 did, certainly. And again, it gave the Steelers their first loss of the season. They were 3-0 and looking pretty decent. Number one defense in the league heading into this thing. And again, 2-2 looks a lot better heading into the absolute curse that is Jacksonville and Everbank Field next week. But we'll get to that throughout the week. But obviously the biggest news of the day, besides the win, is Anthony Richardson leaving the game late in the biggest news of the day besides the win is Anthony Richardson leaving the game late in the first quarter with a hip injury played just 13 snaps today but the 13 snaps were great uh just really one bad throw but everything else went really really well uh so he left the game after a big run I think it was like a nine yard run on third and six if I remember

Starting point is 00:02:03 correctly so picks up the first down but gets gets popped in the hip. Obviously it hurt him quite a bit. He loses control of the ball. Comes off the field for two plays, goes back in after that. And then, you know, he takes off on an option play. The defense was in their base defense. So that's what the Colts wanted to do. He thought he felt good enough, but as he started to take off, he was like, nope, this is bad. Fell down, took kind of a nasty looking hit, but that was it for him for the game. But Joe Flacco came in, quickly delivered a four-yard touchdown strike to Josh Downs and the rest is history. I think Flacco led four scoring drives, including that one, Zach. Yeah, I think it was around that. Yeah. So Flacco led four scoring drives, including that one, Zach? Yeah, I think it was around that. Yeah, so Flacco led four scoring drives, a lot of field goals.

Starting point is 00:02:48 But look, backup quarterback, if you're just getting me points on the board, I really don't care how you're doing out there. I'm not expecting you to look like a starter out there, and I think that's how Flacco played. But to get back to Anthony Richardson, those two drives that he played out there, if you're looking at positives, were some of the best ball he's played all season. I mean, three completions for what, 73 yards, 72 yards in this game. Did some really good things there.

Starting point is 00:03:11 Had over 20 or almost 30 yards rushing as well. So essentially we got 13 snaps of him on offense, well over 100 total yards from him. The running game also contributed like 30 to 40 yards when he was out there. So he had 13 snaps and the offense was moving at like 10 yards of play basically with him on the field. It's just really unfortunate that it ended the way it did. Now, looking at this from a positive perspective, this doesn't feel like those injuries last year where concussion knocked him out for a week, almost two weeks, you know, with that. I know he was questionable going into the week after. Obviously the shoulder

Starting point is 00:03:44 injury knocked him out for the whole year. This kind of feels more like a situation where the Colts looked at it late second quarter when he was trying to go back in the game. And they were looking at like, look, we're up three scores. It's a September game. There's real no, there's really no need to push him out there when he's not 100%. So I think, you know,

Starting point is 00:04:03 Jake and I were talking before we jumped on to record. I think if this were a playoff game, it's a little different. I think he gets back out there and he's probably fine. You know, you probably do tighten the playbook up a little bit if it is a playoff game and he goes back out there, but it seems like something where he's going to be sore this week. It's going to be, you know, it's a bone bruise on the hip. That's pretty painful, but overall it feels like he's going to be okay going forward fingers crossed you never know with the colts it could be some rare hip injury thing that never existed before it happened here on richardson because we know it only happens like when people fall off horses or something yeah yeah he was actually snowboarding in between the game is what

Starting point is 00:04:39 nope nope he was snowboarding uh but no like like it's – I think he's fine. I know everything. Anytime he takes any kind of bruise or anything, it becomes a durability issue. But it's pretty common for a quarterback to get banged up. And a lot of quarterbacks play through things. And this was one where the Colts just didn't feel like playing him through it when he is a mobile quarterback who takes some hits.

Starting point is 00:05:04 So overall, I'm not too concerned about this. I thought Richardson played some great football against the number one defense in the league when he was out there. I mean, he led a scoring drive and led another one that ended up being a scoring drive. He led them into positive territory on that drive as well. So good showing from Richardson. And hey, Joe Flacco, big shout out for doing what a backup quarterback does comes in maintains control of the game keeps that lead and and coasts the team to victory I think Joe Flacco did some good things especially delivering the ball on third down on a lot of third down passes um did some really really yeah some really great things on third down um and yeah it was just a

Starting point is 00:05:42 good showing from the Colts quarterbacks against a really, really good defense in the Steelers defense. They were calm, collected, led scoring drives and put up 27 against a defense that was allowing eight points or nine points per game coming into this day. So big shout out to Shane Steichen and the offensive staff, big shout out to Anthony Richardson and the snaps that he did play. And then Joe Flacco, just for finishing the job and delivering some big throws late in this game and in the second half to put this out of reach. Yeah. So of course it does sound like Anthony probably could have come back in, you know, after the game talking to Shane Steichen and him, you know, he kind of, he wanted to come back in, but acknowledged that he didn't feel like himself and wouldn't have the full acceleration

Starting point is 00:06:26 and so the Colts did decide just hey let's let's not do it then like you mentioned it feels more like maybe week one last year against the Jaguars where if they had to have it he could probably go back in but still at the same time to play devil's advocate it's your quarterback you you don't like a lot of guys you don't want to have them go out at all or they they'd be able to come back in but luckily Joe Flacco obviously your your run game takes a big hit and like how diverse you can be and you know there's a lot of mystery taken out of it uh but at the same time you know it helps stabilize the passing game. I think we don't know if Anthony is going to be out in this week five game against Jacksonville or not. But I mean, when it comes to just making the layups, I mean, I think Joe is going to be pretty consistent with that.

Starting point is 00:07:18 And the good thing is he'll take deep shots downfield as well. We saw him take one to Alec Pierce. We saw him throw one to AD Mitchell. So you still want Anthony out there, but it's not the end of the world if Flacco does have to play. I really liked what I saw. We've kind of been jaded around here before when you get a veteran quarterback coming in, you think you're getting one thing and it turns out totally different. And you're just getting a shell of what that guy used to be even from the year before. So Joe Flacco, great job. I mean, very little mobility. He did have one nice run, but escaping the pocket was not something he was going to excel at today. But this could have gone a whole lot worse.

Starting point is 00:08:01 I think he did a great job filling in for Anthony. Again, both of these guys had over 100 passer rating today. Flacco was sacked a couple times, but he also had the two touchdown throws. Yeah, just great day overall from the quarterback position. Yeah, and this is what a backup quarterback is for. I know we're kind of Kirk's tier in India where when we have a backup quarterback, we think that that means they have to be capable of playing an entire season. But this is what a backup quarterback like a Flacco is here for, where it's not that we need you to fill in for an entire season. That's the worst case scenario. But the typical scenario of

Starting point is 00:08:38 what a backup quarterback has to do is come in if your quarterback gets hurt mid-game or come in for a game or two if your quarterback gets banged up and has to miss some time. Because look, it's a 17-game season now. These quarterbacks take a lot of hits and they're taking hits from 270-pound defensive ends that can run 4-4. They're taking hits from human beings

Starting point is 00:08:58 that are moving at speeds that we've never seen before on defense. So there's going to be more injuries to quarterback. Look how many quarterbacks played last year. It was what what, like 70 something quarterbacks took snaps last year in the NFL. But this is more of a normal type of thing that you expect from your backup where your quarterback goes down. You don't feel comfortable putting him back in there, but he should be good for the next game or the game after whatever it's going to be. But you have this stable backup in a Joe Flacco who can come in,

Starting point is 00:09:30 stabilize the game, get the ball out of his hands and secure the victory. When you guys were up, you know, he came in basically up two scores. I know he completed the second score, but essentially came in up two scores and finished the job off. That's what you want out of backup. You don't want to back up who's so volatile where he comes in and turns the ball over 10 times and that's the end of the game. But a guy who can come in and just stabilize everything, hit those layups, convert on third down, and finish off the game, get some field goals, this is what a backup quarterback is for. It's to make sure you can stay afloat even if your quarterback has to miss a game or two or has to miss some time in the middle of a game.

Starting point is 00:09:59 So for what Joe Flacco gave the Colts in this one in terms of just stabilizing the offense in the absence of their starting quarterback, he did his job. Like it's an A plus performance because he was able to do that job as a backup quarterback. So Joe Flacco, look, I know it's going to be a weird week because people are weird about this stuff.

Starting point is 00:10:18 But when it comes to what I'm expecting from starting quarterback and your backup quarterback, great showing from Joe Flacco. And that's all I can really say about it. like that's what it was great showing as a backup quarterback Joe hopefully you don't have to start next week if you do hopefully you can get the win but I hope this is the last we see of you this this year Joe like I really do but it was great seeing that and I'm glad he was able to finish the job off against a team that he's played a lot in his career I think I saw him and Tom Brady are the only two quarterbacks in NFL history to throw 30 touchdown passes against the Steelers in their career. So very, very good showing from Joe Flacco. And I'm glad that he was able to get the job done.

Starting point is 00:10:54 Yeah. Atta boy, Joe. Good stuff. All right. Coming up next, we're going to talk about the guys that helped Joe and Anthony lead the Colts to this victory. But first, let's talk about game time. You know, the summer is obviously winding down, starting to get a little bit chillier, and all the events that we love going to throughout the summer are getting pushed indoors. I mean, I'm sitting in a place right here where Taylor Swift is going to be here in like a month and a half. So when you're looking for tickets to events and the best deals and all the best amenities for all these events, you got to go to GameTime. They've got their views from the seat before you even purchase the tickets.

Starting point is 00:11:32 It's a panoramic view so that you can make sure the views from where your butts are going to be is a great view and you don't have some big pillar in your way. They've got the lowest price guarantee, which means GameTime will credit you 110% of the difference if you find cheaper tickets for the same section somewhere else. They've also got the GameTime ticket coverage, which means your purchase is covered with the most flexible customer service policy in the ticketing industry, because we all know that life happens. And when you buy a ticket for something six weeks in advance, you know, things may have changed by that time. So take the guesswork out of buying tickets with GameTime. Download the GameTime app. Create an account and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off of your first purchase.

Starting point is 00:12:15 Terms apply. Again, create an account and redeem code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off. Download GameTime today. What time is it? GameTime. That's right. All right, so let's talk about the offensive side of the ball. I want to get some of the injury stuff out of the way first.

Starting point is 00:12:35 So Jonathan Taylor, I feel terrible for this guy. Like something is always in the way between him and a full four quarters, whatever it is. He did have a great game leading into this though. There was a chunk of time where Pittsburgh was obviously keying in on him, which renders him not useless, but you know, of course hampers him quite a bit. Before he left the game in the fourth quarter with an ankle injury, he had 21 carries for 88 yards and the first touchdown of the game. It's of course over, over four yards per carry.

Starting point is 00:13:06 So a decent game. Leaves with an ankle, though. We'll see how that goes. You would, of course, love to have him against Jacksonville as you're trying to break this curse next week. But we've seen Trey Sermon and Tyler Goodson do their thing before. If Taylor can't go, they'll probably call Evan Hull up. He could get a little redemption against the Jaguars because his season ended against them last year. But then the other little injury note, Ryan Kelly had a neck injury during practice last week, missed the last two days of practice.

Starting point is 00:13:37 And, you know, kind of jokingly on the Friday show, Zach, we were like, yeah, maybe Tanner Bortolini will start. You know, he'll go from healthy scratch the first few weeks to starting, and it happened. But I thought he looked pretty good out there as well. I mean, he had a good day. The pressure that came out at Anthony and Joe, I didn't really feel like it was up the gut very much. The run game did some nice things right up the middle. So from being a healthy scratch the first few weeks to starting against a really, really good Pittsburgh defensive front, kudos to Tanner Bordellini. Yeah, really good way to start this offensive segment with the biggest kudos of the day going to Tanner Bordellini, which

Starting point is 00:14:15 is one of the youngest starters on this team right now because he's what, 21, 22 years old, super young player, getting out there after being a healthy scratch. I know Tony Sperano Jr. loves him to death, but I didn't know it was going to be like, you know, inserting him into, I would have started Danny Pinter personally. And I would not have been excited about starting Danny Pinter because I hated that matchup for Pinter. So the Colts went with a little bit stronger of a player at center in Bordellini and it paid dividends. Like I'm not going to say that he played some elite football game or anything like that because just from watching the broadcast it didn't feel like that but no issues with the snaps protection for the most part like there wasn't really many

Starting point is 00:14:54 free rushers I know there were a couple blitzes that got home for the Steelers in this game but not too many really felt unblocked or anything a lot of them felt like coverage sacks for the Colts and then just overall like that first drive he was blocking really well I thought Tanner Bordellini really felt unblocked or anything. A lot of them felt like coverage sacks for the Colts. And then just overall, like that first drive, he was blocking really well. I thought Tanner Bordelini did a great job. For a really young player getting out there for the first time against Cam Hayward and Keanu Blanton, like two really, really good defensive tackles, a really strong game from Tanner Bordelini.

Starting point is 00:15:20 Honestly, the whole offensive line. TJ Watt was taken out of the game. I know a lot of that came down to the chips that the Colts were using on him early and often in this game, but TJ Watt had really no impact on this game. Overall, like Quentin Nelson, Will Fries, I thought they were as good as they always are. Bernhardt Ryman, fantastic game because he's always fantastic out there at left tackle. This Colts offensive line, even without Ryan Kelly, even with a hampered Braden Smith, was still the strength of the Colts today. And they went,

Starting point is 00:15:49 I mean, look, they went to this game against a number one defense, lost their starting quarterback early, and they're starting running back late. And they were able to put up 27 points in this game. Like a lot of it comes down to scheme and these other players we're going to talk about, but this Colts offensive line is playing some fantastic football this year. They are the backbone of this Colts offense and the backbone of this Colts team. And they've been winning in the trenches in pretty much every game this year. So just kudos to this offensive line for how well they've played this season. I would say the offensive line is why they have two wins and why the losses weren't like total complete embarrassments.

Starting point is 00:16:27 You know? Yeah. Sorry, I didn't want to interrupt you there, but until the second half when the Steelers started blitzing a little bit on the early downs, the Colts offensive line wasn't allowing nothing in terms of pressure in this game. Like the first half of this game, the Steelers had zero pressure in this game. Like kudos to this Colts offensive line. They are playing some great football.

Starting point is 00:16:49 Absolutely. I mean, Flacco obviously limited mobility, but there were plenty of times out there where he had time to throw and he just dealt it. Like, you have to give a guy like that time to throw, and they did their job there. Of course, blitzes kind of change things, but offensive line, great job today.

Starting point is 00:17:06 Let's look at the passing game. I mean, Drew Ogletree came in the game with one reception, had a touchdown on this one, a nice 15-yard catch and run. But the stars of the passing game today were Michael Pittman Jr., who broke off a 32-yarder on the first play of the game, six catches for 113, and then Josh Downs, eight for 82. God catches for 113 and then Josh Downs eight for 82. God, is it good to have Josh Downs back and effective? I think the biggest thing, and I don't want to like speak too soon, but I think the Colts did the right thing of taking

Starting point is 00:17:34 their time with him coming back because you didn't want, you didn't want a guy who was just going to catch the ball and then not be able to like do much with it afterward because we've seen high ankle sprains pretty much ruin guys seasons and towns looks pretty good man like not only is he catching it but he's creating yards after the catch and getting those critical first down conversions i mean pitman looked like himself today uh you know came into this one on the friday show i said if it were me in order to restabilize the passing game, I would just feed these two, let them almost be an extension of the run game, if you need to just move the chains, get some rhythm back in the passing game. That's what they did. And it wasn't just short stuff either. Like, I mean, with downs, he kind of created a lot of his own yards, but Pittman had

Starting point is 00:18:19 a couple chunk plays today. Yeah, I, I think, you know, I look, I know AD Mitchell's kind of their project player, and they're just kind of working with him for him to be like that number one stud in the future, but it's great that they're taking their time with him. But I think the trio that the Colts are starting at wide receiver right now with Pierce Pittman and downs is such a good trio in terms of just how they fit together. They're like all puzzle pieces into a passing offense that works so well together because a lot of what this offense relies on is Pierce running off everybody. And Pierce being that guy who's going to be the team player, who is going to run off the safety in the deep corner and create all that space in the intermediate game. And that's where Michael

Starting point is 00:18:57 Pittman Jr. thrives is that intermediate game. We saw it today. I mean, even when, I mean, Richardson was out there, he had two intermediate hits to Pittman that resulted in Pittman having what two catches for 50 yards before before Richardson left the game or for like 55 yards or something on those two completions. And he opens up so much of that middle game for Pittman Jr. just to be that star player there. Josh Downs, whenever you have a gotta have it play, third down and short, third and medium, even if it's a second and 10, and you just need to get into a third and short situation or get into obviously a first down, isolate Josh Downs, isolate him versus a linebacker, isolate him versus safety, isolate him versus a corner. It doesn't matter. He cannot be stopped one-on-one, especially in those empty looks where you're going to be running those whip routes. You're going to run those option routes, those quick hitters over the middle he is an unstoppable force in those plays and Shane Steichen's offense is so smooth when one he has a quarterback who's

Starting point is 00:19:54 consistently hitting things which I do think Richardson's going to get to eventually but it's nice to have a guy like Flacco and come in and consistently hit those short ones but also just having those guys who operate in those ways. Like you don't need Josh Downs to be this everywhere receiver who catches the ball in every single area of the field. He just needs to win those short, those short opportunities and create yards after the catch, which he did. Michael Pittman Jr.

Starting point is 00:20:17 Doesn't need to be some vertical juiced up threat down the field. He just needs to win in the intermediate and create after the catch like he did today. Alec Pierce doesn't need to have a catch. I think he had one catch today for like nine yards. Like he doesn't need many catches to impact the game vertically down the field and stretch the defense and create openings underneath for his other players. So these three wide receivers are so good together for this offense. And I think once Richardson's healthy and fully going and fully clicking, I think it's going to be even better. But even with Flacco out there, just his ability to get it out to these guys, it shows how good this passing offense can be.

Starting point is 00:20:50 Two quarterbacks over 100 passer rating, it's a really good defense in the Steelers. And a lot of it comes down to Shane Steichen's ability to scheme these guys. And these three guys being so good at the one thing they do or the two things they do, and how that works with the overall scheme of the offense. Yeah, just one more teeny tiny thing on Mitchell. It is awesome.

Starting point is 00:21:08 They have this trio, which allows them to take their time with Mitchell. But what I really appreciated what they did today was obviously things are not clicking with him in the passing game, although I love the reception he had early in the game. But they got him just an end around like yeah if it's not working in a passing game find some way to get the ball in his hand that is going to work you know so i think it was like a 10 yard run for him like it was a very productive run and like didn't have to reinvent the wheel to do it so wisely i think they found a way to keep him involved and just get him the ball because i mean this has got to be a kind of a confidence hit for him as well.

Starting point is 00:21:47 But yeah, I really liked what they did coming up. We're going to talk about the defense, how to really stand out first half and hung on to do just enough in the second half, but had a lot of kind of, you know, random standout performers,

Starting point is 00:22:01 I would say. Hey, NFL fans, you can start the season with a big return on FanDuel, America's number one sportsbook. So when you get a hunch in the middle of the game, you can check out the latest stats, view live play-by-play, and so much more on the same page wherever you place your bets. Just kind of think of it as your whole betting hub.

Starting point is 00:22:20 This week, FanDuel had the Steelers as two-and-a-half point favorites with a total point over under a 40 and a half in this game hope you guys murdered the over on those uh so again it was very similar to the chicago game but this one actually blew that one out of the water uh so if you hedged your bets on the colts you probably earned a little bit of money today. So go ahead and get started with $200 in bonus bets guaranteed when you place your first $5 bet. That's FanDuel.com. All right, Zach, defense, defense, defense. So there's a lot of guys we can talk about on this one.

Starting point is 00:23:00 My first kudos goes to EJ Speed. Tackles aren't everything, but he was playing out of his mind early in the game. Racked up a couple quick tackles for loss. He was hitting hard. He was everywhere. He also has a part in NFL history now. He now has eight consecutive games dating back to last year, shortly after he became a starter, where he has at least 10-plus tackles. So eight straight games with 10- plus tackles, which puts him alone

Starting point is 00:23:25 with Zach Thomas, a top NFL history. And you would not expect that from EJ Speed. I mean, it's not the biggest deal in the world, but definitely worthy of a congratulations on his part. But within the context of the game, I thought he did really good stuff. He did get absolutely planted by Darnell Washington on that long catch and and run but we're going to mention the good with the bad here um so nick cross i thought had another nice performance uh julian blackman was there for i think he had the the fumble recovery um nick cross had the forced fumble i believe yes well although it was terrible ball security by george pickens um but there were there's some dbs that popped up chris lamans um your guy samuel womack like there's a lot of game balls to give out on the defense here yeah and and what i want to do is

Starting point is 00:24:15 start this conversation with the defense on what a fantastic first half in like half of the third quarter for this defense like right from the play call, I mean, I thought the defensive scheme was so good in the first half. It was, we're going to pound it in the run game. We're going to bring that safety into the box and really come after that in the run game. And then on third down, we're going to bring these really cool exotic blitzes. I mean, I know this was in the second half,

Starting point is 00:24:39 but when they forced that fumble on Justin Fields, when it was Chris Lamanzi forced that fumble, that was such a cool blitz. I mean, they brought a slot corner from the backside. They brought linebackers. They dropped Leatu Latu into a curl hook zone over the middle, and Justin Fields was running for his life on that play. And I really thought for two and a half quarters, I was like,

Starting point is 00:24:59 Gus Bradley came to just beat the crap out of the Steelers in this game. This was arguably his best called game with the Colts. And then it became four man, and then, and then it became four man rushes, contained rushes that were not containing anything whatsoever and just dropping into zones. And it's like, Gus, like, I get that you have to sit back a little bit more, but the blitzes were working. Justin Fields, every time a blitz was coming, was dropping his eyes and running in circles. Like, bring a blitz or bring a spy up to the line of scrimmage.

Starting point is 00:25:32 Like, bring – Zyra Franklin is not some elite coverage guy. Like, bring him up to the line of scrimmage and spy and do, like, these coffee's house stunts or these, like, late blitzes or something until you get on Justin Fields. But, like, at the end of the day, they won the game. So whatever, like I can't cry too much about this, but Gus, man, we got to talk about this. I understand how you, how you operate at this point, but how can you call such a great game for two and a half quarters? And, and, ah, man. And the thing is too, what made his, his scheme so good

Starting point is 00:26:02 in the first two and a half quarters is they were doing this down five starters on the defensive side. Like they had Adam Gostis starting at defensive end in the second half. That's a defensive tackle. Derek Rivers got Derek Rivers got out there, I believe, too. No, Rivers didn't get caught up this week, but it was that was Gostis. That was Gostis that was Gostis that you were thinking of that was a defensive tackle Gostis who was starting at defensive end of the second half because Taequann Lewis was banged up which is their sixth starter slash non-starter that was that was hurt in this game uh so yeah they were they had like nobody healthy so it was making what Gus Bradley was doing so impressive for most of

Starting point is 00:26:39 the game and then three straight touchdown drives the only reason it wasn't a touchdown drive to end the game was because of a bad snap and some weird clock management by the Steelers. So I'm glad that happened and the Colts got the win, but way too close for comfort. But like you mentioned, Jake, I mean, some great standouts in this one. Dio Dangbo had a fantastic game. I think ESPN had him with a 40% pass rush win rate, which, yes, the Colts pass rushers were great in this game. They just couldn't contain in their rushes whatsoever. But really good, really good performance from the pass rush for most of the game.

Starting point is 00:27:10 Contain needs to be a little bit better, but it is what it is. Zyra Franklin, EJ Speed were coming to play in this one, hitting really hard, coming downhill. First half especially, they were great. And then, like you mentioned, with the defensive back, Sam Womack had two pass breakups in this one, almost had a third one in the end zone. Julian Blackman and Nick Cross were pretty good. Jalen Jones had a tough matchup, so it's hard to put too much on him in this one because George Pickens is such a difficult matchup because he doesn't get any separation, but he catches everything. He did have a really key pass breakup downfield that I thought kind of saved his day a little bit though.

Starting point is 00:27:50 Yeah. Yeah. So I think it was a difficult one because here's what George Pickens is the best receiver in football at offensive pass interference that doesn't get called. So when you're already a player like Jalen Jones, who isn't the best at tracking the ball and isn't nearly as athletic as George Pickens, and he's going to throw you to the ground every time he goes up and catch the ball. It's a very difficult matchup. Oh, he put his hand in Jones' face, from what it looked like to me, on that go route. Yeah, it was a couple of times that he was pushing, but it's just, it's the nature of the game. But yeah, Jalen Jones needs to be better, but overall, I thought he was fine out there. Overall, just a good day from the defense. It's just, I wish Gus would have called it differently late in the game but you know what a win's a win I can't complain too much um really fantastic first quarter or first half and in a quarter or whatever it was first first two and a half

Starting point is 00:28:35 quarters for Gus Bradley but I'm just glad they got the win because that was terrifying in the second half there Jake it was and it didn't need to be that difficult. And I'm glad you mentioned the spy angle. Cause I was like, God, you know, the, the one thing you can guarantee Justin Fields can do is find a little space for yardage with his legs. And when you get down the low red zone, you have got to account for that. And he had two touchdowns like within the five yard line. And it's like, what are we doing you know that is such a possible like that's 75 possible that's gonna happen at minimum and it did it's like what are you doing like the game did not need to get as interesting as it did i was sitting there trying

Starting point is 00:29:16 to wrap up my article and i was like come on like they do not need to be this close yeah it was it was weird because i i understand where gus was coming from it because in the first three games they had blitz in the red zone a lot of times and four of the or three of the touchdowns they allowed in the first three games came on blitzes in the red zone so i get why he was a little scared of blitzing in the red zone but here's here's the thing the whole second half he was trying to do contain rushes with the defensive ends and defensive tackles to keep fields in the pocket and throwing from the pocket because fields was really struggling when he was throwing from in the pocket but when he got out on the move or he was able to run he was making some magic happen so i understand where gus was coming from with this but like your contain rushes weren't working

Starting point is 00:29:58 you weren't keeping him in the pocket so you got to change some things up with some late delayed blitzes or just straight up blitzes or whatever to keep him in that pocket and keep him from running. But look, at the end of the day, they got the win. I can't complain too much about this one. I don't think it was a dreadful day by the defense, especially again, you have to keep in mind they they were down five defensive starters, including what DeForest Buckner, Samson Ebukom, Quidipe, Kenny Moore. Like these are like their best players on their defense. This is not like – there are wins, like last week, where it's a win. You're supposed to be happy about it,

Starting point is 00:30:34 but there's something that leaves a bad taste in your mouth. Last week it was Anthony. This week there's – this just is kind of a feel-good win. There's a couple small gripes. Of course, Anthony getting injured, it doesn't seem like anything that's going to be a big deal, but this is a pretty lighthearted win. I would say this does not come with any big. Yeah. Yeah. It's a win where you feel good about late in the season when you're looking at your record and you're like around a 500 team and you're like, well, at least we beat the Steelers who

Starting point is 00:31:00 were also around 500. They'll be competing. They'll be competing for playoff position with Pittsburgh, just like they seem to be every, every year. Yeah. So overall, no big complaints. Offense was clicking today. Really good job from Steichen, the offensive play offensive pass catchers and the offensive line defense for the most part held their bargain, despite being extremely shorthanded. And then Flacco and Richardson, when they were both out there, both played pretty well. So good win, good win against a fringe playoff team. That is the Steelers in the Colts are probably going to be a fringe playoff team this year as well.

Starting point is 00:31:31 So nice little win to get that against the Steelers and AFC contender for the playoffs, not really for a Superbowl, but for, for the playoffs to get that win against the Steelers out there. We do want to thank you guys though, for making locked on culture. First listen today.

Starting point is 00:31:44 Now, if you're a second, listen, for making Locked on Colts your first listen today. Now, if you're a second listen, go find 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 barbershop with Tony Wiggins for some real NFL talk. Find Locked on NFL

Starting point is 00:31:58 for YouTube or wherever you listen to your podcast. 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. Those people also get priority on Q&A shows. So it's a really fun thing for you guys there. And if you guys don't already, make sure you're following at Locked On Colts, at JakeArthurNFL, and at ZachHicks2 all on Twitter. We're also on TikTok and Instagram, a bunch of fun stuff for a couple of millennials like us. Also subscribe to us on YouTube or every

Starting point is 00:32:25 list of your podcasts. We love you guys brings reviews and we'll see you guys back here tomorrow for the Anthony Richardson slash Joe Flacco review of the week.

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Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts Knock Off Undefeated Pittsburgh Steelers, but Anthony Richardson Injured

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