Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts' Loss to New England Patriots Puts Them at Ugly, New Low

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Indianapolis Colts have hit a new low after their latest ugly loss on Sunday, this time to the New England Patriots, a hated opponent that you don't ever like to see a loss to. We'll get to all that and more on today's episode of Locked on Colts. 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. Thank you all for begrudgingly tuning in and making us your first listen of the day.

Starting point is 00:00:49 This is your daily podcast covering your Indianapolis Colts, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Today's episode is presented by PrizePix. PrizePix is daily fantasy made easy. Pick two to five players, and if they score more or less than their prize picks projection, you can win up to ten times your money on your entry. First time users can receive a 100% instant deposit

Starting point is 00:01:12 match up to $100 with promo code LOCKEDON. That's prizepicks.com, promo code LOCKEDON. This is Jake Arthur alongside Zach Hicks and you know the two of us from horseshoehuddle.com or just screaming into the void on Twitter whichever today today it's all about the Colts in this

Starting point is 00:01:31 latest brutal loss they're now 3-5-1 after losing 26-3 to the Patriots and honestly 20 losing 26-3 it's the on the surface it's the score that the offense deserves, but it is not the score that the defense deserves, man. Like, let's just kind of get into the nitty gritty of this kind of, to me, the main story of this game was the defense showed up.

Starting point is 00:01:58 The defensive front in particular was pretty good, but the offense was worse than terrible like they they're trying to do all these shake-ups they get rid of offensive coordinator marcus brady they do this and that at no point did the offense do anything that made you say okay yeah they'll be all right like it was the defense for me the entire time that made me think they had a chance but then new england started scoring and it was that was it yeah i don't i don't think there's a single positive thing to say about this offense in this game like i can't even think of it like will fries was an upgrade over matt prior at right guard but like he wasn't good by any means like he was not good whatsoever

Starting point is 00:02:44 that's probably the only somewhat positive thing i had to say i i really think uh from top to bottom this was just an atrocious offensive performance and they got lucky that bob dokerake forced a fumble uh and they were able to go down and get a field goal i think that's how they got their field goal um in this game uh so they would have they would have been another shutout if they didn't get that. But, yeah, Sam Ellinger, you know, like we were saying all week, like he was going to have a bad game. It was going to be a bad game.

Starting point is 00:03:11 We were optimistic. We were hoping, you know, maybe he can string some drives together. But Bill Belichick defense in his second career start, he just had no chance whatsoever. The offensive line was just beaten down all game long, just punched in the mouth from the first snap. and it was over. There was no running game. The receivers and tight ends just had a really poor game as well. Just couldn't bring down 50-50 balls. Kylan Granson had a bad drop that led to a pick six. Oh, another positive thing, Jordan Wilkins was back. That was fun.

Starting point is 00:03:41 Hey, yeah. That's it, though. No, this Colts offense. You're like a bad Jordan. Right. We love Jordan Wilkins. This is a Jordan Wilkins podcast. But no, this offense is just, it's broken. It's absolutely broken. No benching of anybody is going to change that.

Starting point is 00:04:00 No firing of any coordinators or even head coach. I know people are going to be saying fire Frank Reich right now, and that'll maybe help the offense. No, this offense is broken. The offensive line can't protect whatsoever. They can't run block. Sam Ellinger is an interesting young kid, but he's probably not it as the long-term guy.

Starting point is 00:04:18 It's just not there. This team is just not going to be good this year. And, you know, I know there are still some people this week, there were still some people that were holding out hope saying like, again, Hey, the Colts always start slow. Maybe this is the time of year they pick it up. Uh, this would have been the game. They would have at least taken this to the wire, or they would have pulled out a win in this one. If this were the same old Colts teams from the last couple of seasons, but this game should really have solidified that in all your guys' minds, that this is not the same Colts team. This is a team that has a lot of issues from top to bottom, from front office to coaching to players on the field.

Starting point is 00:04:51 There is some fundamental issues with this team, and they are just not a good football team whatsoever. In years past, you would say, hey, they were unlucky to have four losses at the turning point of the season or something like that. This year, they were lucky to have three wins at the turning point of the season or something like that. This year, they were lucky to have three wins at the halfway point of this season. And I think that's becoming more evident every single week, from a bad loss last week to the Commanders to just getting punched in the mouth. And again, something I said going into that Friday show was, look, this is going to be a lot like a Titans game. It's going to be a team that wants to run the ball down your throat,

Starting point is 00:05:23 and they want to beat you with their good defense. And I just have not seen the Colts in two years show up for matchups that are physical games where the other team wants to punch you in the face. And that's exactly what happened in this one. The Patriots came out, and all credit to the Colts' defense. They had a good game, and they responded well. But the Colts' offense just could not respond whatsoever to what the Patriots were doing. And it's just another game against a physical team that the Colts just did not show up for. So, you know, I don't want to rant. I know this is kind of coming off as a rant here, but like, I'm not even like upset or disappointed with this

Starting point is 00:05:59 team anymore because you kind of expected it, you know, kind of expected this game. Yeah. Apologies. First off, my daughter's raging in the other room, but I think you're right. I mean, they're just, I think they're out of options there. There's nothing I can think of anymore. That's going to make things better. Not Jonathan Taylor returning, not getting the tight ends more involved. We've seen pretty much every offensive line combination that would make sense.

Starting point is 00:06:28 And it's just, none of it looks good. Yeah. Yeah. There's just, there's not a good, I know again, people are going to say, will Frank Wright get fired mid season and stuff like that. Look last year when it came to the Carson Wentz stuff, the Colts knew after that Patriots game that they were going to move on from Carson Wentz last year. They knew that they should have beat this Patriots team last season by 30 plus points if they had adequate quarterback play. I can only imagine what the conversations are like after this game where, you know, for the most part, a similar Patriots team to last year

Starting point is 00:06:57 that you should have beat by 30 or 40 points. They just absolutely dominated you. Like, it wasn't close. This game was over by the end of the first quarter. The Colts defense tried to put up a fight, but I mean, this Colts team was not competing in this game. If Frank Reich survives this week, he's going to survive till the end of the season. This is the lowest it could get. I know they could lose games by worse going forward,

Starting point is 00:07:22 but if Frank Reich survives this week, there's nothing getting him fired in season. So you guys will know sometime this week if Frank Reich will be fired mid season. But yeah, you know, at the end of the day, there's some fundamental issues with this team from top to bottom.

Starting point is 00:07:35 It's not just coaching. It's not just GM and front office. And it's not just the players. It's just, they're just not a good team. And we've seen that every single week. And I think we're going to see that for a lot of the rest of the season here. And this was just, you know, further, further evidence for us to add to the collection. So there you have it. It was not a great performance

Starting point is 00:07:55 and there's not a whole lot to look forward to moving forward. The Colts do not get a prize for this one, believe it or not, but you guys potentially could. Because we're going to tell you a little bit about our sponsor, PrizePix. You guys have heard us talk all about them before, but honestly, it's my favorite way to make picks on game day. Just pick two to five players, and if they score more or less than their PrizePix projection, then you can win up to ten times your money on any entry. There's no competing against other people. It's just you versus the projections that are available. PrizePix offers projections on any sport that you can watch. That includes, of course, the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, all of it. They are also currently operational in over 30

Starting point is 00:08:37 states and Canada. So honestly, if you're listening right now, it's more than likely you can get in on the action. Just download the PrizePix app or go to prizepix.com to sign up and play daily fantasy sports. First-time users can receive a 100% instant deposit match up to $100 with promo code LOCKEDON. If you deposit $100, PrizePix will give you $100. If you deposit $50, PrizePix will give you $50. Don't forget to enter promo code locked on at sign up for an instant deposit match up to 100 all right so we just kind of spent most of that first segment ranting on the offense a bit but we'll kind of look at things at a more molecular

Starting point is 00:09:17 level i guess uh so looking specifically at sam ellinger for example personally I thought it was this was almost an impossible game to try and evaluate him for um constantly under duress I mean he's a mobile guy but you can only escape so much um it was pretty much impossible for him to get into any sort of rhythm and a broken up passing game is like impossible to try to to evaluate really um did you get anything out of this one it was again coming into this game he was just going to get eaten alive by Bill Belichick he just didn't have a chance against this defense where yes I know it's not the greatest defense ever but Belichick just knows how to attack you at your weakest point and this Colts offensive line with a young quarterback he threw the kitchen sink sink at him and threw so much pressure at Sam Allinger

Starting point is 00:10:07 that he got rattled so early. And this is a guy who, you know, we were praising him last week for, yeah, for a young player in his first start, he looked very poised. He looked very in control. Even if he didn't make all the right reads or all the right plays last week against the Commanders, he looked in control at all times and looked very poised. This week, really, he got rattled super early, and looked very poised. This week, it really,

Starting point is 00:10:25 he got rattled super early and he just didn't have a chance after that because after that, you know, every single movement in the pocket, he was dropping his eyes. He wasn't looking down the field. He wasn't setting his feet. He was missing throws that he could have made. You know, the deep one to Michael Pittman Jr. is one. There was a dump off to Deion Jackson on the very next drive after that. He was just super rattled, and it happens. Again, Bill Belichick is known for doing this against young quarterbacks, and Sam Ellinger wasn't going to be the exception to that rule. So it's hard to kind of lump this into the overall evaluation of Sam Ellinger, because if anything, the only way that

Starting point is 00:11:00 I would have put this in my evaluation for him is if he had success, because I just did not expect one bit of success from him in this game. And, you know, you could kind of see that on the, you know, in the results of this one, it just was an ugly game for him and ugly game for the Colts offense. But, you know, I'm willing to give him a pass in his second career start against the Bill Belichick defense, but I'm really, really curious to see how he bounces back from this. I know Frank Reich was insanely non-committal to him after this game, which is, you can't bench him. Please don't bench Sam Ellinger. Just let him ride out the rest of the season. That would be so stupid to bench him at this point, but anyway, if he does get the start next week against the Raiders, I'm really curious to see how he bounces back because that'll determine so much about his future. If he can bounce back and have a strong game, then it's like, look, this is a kid who can see adversity, still stay poised the next week,

Starting point is 00:11:52 and kind of bounce back. And you might have that long-term backup quarterback or a long-term player that factors into your future in some way. But if he just keeps derailing and keeps going downhill, then you kind of have to reevaluate from there. But I'm willing to give him a pass for this one. I just don't want to see a lot of the issues from this game kind of turn to trends for him. But I still like him as a player, and I still think he has value in the future. Yeah, I agree. I don't think you can move on from him in this.

Starting point is 00:12:19 Like, can you picture Matt Ryan or Nick Foles under that pressure? Like, yes, nine sacks. It's not like Ellinger escaped at all, but like they would have had 15 sacks. Like that's, I don't think that's the way to go. You probably get quicker processing, I'm sure. And you get the ball out a little quicker, but I can't imagine one of the veteran quarterbacks behind this line right now. It's a lot of it's gotten worse.

Starting point is 00:12:43 So yeah, obviously moving ahead to the raiders on that you should have a better time even though max crosby is not a fun matchup and the colts tend to struggle against the raiders uh pass rush man i don't really know what else we could say about the offense because they were just so bad this was this was one of their worst performances in years, statistically. 0-14 on third down, 0-2 in the red zone. Again, the nine sacks. There's just, literally like you said, there's nothing really positive to talk about. Yeah, the only other thing I want to talk about, and again, this is my concern with Frank Reich moving to offensive coordinator. With Frank Reich taking over offensive coordinator duties,

Starting point is 00:13:31 I was concerned that you have an already completely overwhelmed head coach. I mean, Frank Reich, if you even look at him, you could tell he's overwhelmed. He has run down. He looks 20 years older than he did two years ago. Throwing more on his plate I didn't think was a great recipe for success. And you could tell this week that there was nothing creative about this offense. He was calling this game like he was absolutely terrified of not only his quarterback, but every single player on his offense. And I'm not saying that that was the wrong call,

Starting point is 00:13:57 because maybe the Patriots are just that much better than every single player on the Colts offense. Every single Patriots defender was just going to destroy the Colts and maybe he was right in being super conservative but I mean it was just you know HVAC dive and 13 personnel right up the middle for one yard and then on second and nine the same call for two yards and then third and seven third and eight and you're asking your quarterback to drop back against a five-man stunt pressure that the Patriots are going to throw at you like you know it wasn't setting up your young quarterback for success it wasn't doing anything innovative there was there was no quarterback run calls outside of like one or two early in the game which you know we talked about in our pregame stuff that

Starting point is 00:14:37 those are things that have been killing the Patriots this season is stressing them and making them have to think because they're an aggressive defense the Col Colts just kind of played into the Patriots' strengths. You know, they let the Patriots come up and just punch them all over and over and over. Outside of the little mesh play to Alec Pierce, there was no explosive element to this Colts offense. These running backs had no chances, and these, you know, these just runs up the middle. So, yeah, you know, I'm usually not someone who goes crazy on Frank Reich and his play calling, but this was a really poor game. And it looked like a game where, again, he not only didn't trust his quarterback,

Starting point is 00:15:09 but he did not trust the entire offense to do anything. He called this game like he was banking on his defense getting a pick six to win the game. That's how he called this offensive game for the Colts. And the Colts' defense played really well, but they just couldn't do enough. Yeah. It's funny you say that because it's like you, you mentioned him getting everything piled on him because he's, you know, now the offensive coordinator and all, all of it's pretty much on him. That's what the defense is now too. Like, right. There's being like, they're just just i don't want to sound dramatic but like their offense is just one of the worst i feel like i've ever seen yeah is that out of line

Starting point is 00:15:51 like sometimes they they are capable of nothing yeah and like that's kind of crazy like i don't know how you survive that as an offensive minded head coach yeah i don't think you will I mean, we're going to get to something positive here in a second, guys. We're going to talk about this Colts defense and how they were kind of a bright spot in this disgusting, disgusting performance. But first, let's talk about our friends at BetOnline. The Patriots were five-point favorites with 40.5 over-under coming into this one. So hopefully you bet on New England and picked that under there and got yourself some money.

Starting point is 00:16:27 BetOnline.net is your number one source for your betting football and the start of the new basketball season. Find all the latest player developments, team matchups, news, podcasts, and in-depth analysis on every single game. And as always, BetOnline remains your continued source

Starting point is 00:16:41 for all your sport wagering information with live betting and up-to-the-minute scores for every sport out there. It's the fastest and the easiest way to check in on all your favorite games and events, including MLB, MMA, boxing, and even golf. Head to the website today or use your mobile device to learn more. BetOnline, where the game starts. All right, so when we talk about this defense, I feel like the most positive thing

Starting point is 00:17:08 we can say about this Colts defense, outside of Grover Stewart and DeForest Buckner are still awesome. Those two deserve everything. They don't deserve anything that's going on with this team. They deserve all the praise in the world. They deserve the world. They deserve the world. They don't deserve the Colts.

Starting point is 00:17:24 But the other really big development was I thought this was the best Quidipe looked all season. Like, Quidipe in the beginning of the season looked good. Like, he was getting a lot of pressures on stunts. He was disruptive. But he was still struggling in true passing sets. You know, when it was just one-on-one and it wasn't like a play action or a stunt or something like that, he still wasn't getting enough wins.

Starting point is 00:17:46 Today, man, he was winning pretty clean on the outside against the Patriots' right tackle. And there were a couple where, you know, I'm excited to get the All-22 film and see him bending around the corner and getting a quarterback hit, or the sack was another really nice one where he closed that pocket. I thought that was a huge, huge development for this Colts defense. Quidipe not only helped the run defense a lot because he was so active in the run game, but he looked like a legit number one pass rusher today. Like, he looked really good.

Starting point is 00:18:16 So I don't know if busting his ankle, like, just gave him an extra gear coming back or something like that. But, man, that looked like Quidipe next step. And we already were seeing the next step early in the season. It looked like he took another step from early in the season. So that can continue going forward. Like, whew. Okay. The Colts have three other four defensive linemen figured out for the future. Yeah. I was, I was pleasantly surprised. Cause I didn't know what to expect. You know, he,

Starting point is 00:18:44 he ramped up his practice level all week, but I didn't know if he was just healthy enough to play or if he was going to look like himself. And he looked really good. You're right. Of course, just in the nick of time because of Tyquan Lewis's injury, Tyquan, of course, was filling in for Quiddy those last three games. He unfortunately goes down for the season, and now Quiddy is back. So yeah, I thought he looked

Starting point is 00:19:10 really good, had a handful of tackles. He's really good in the run game, of course, which the Colts held New England to two and a half yards per carry today, which is a really good number, especially considering Vermondre Stevenson is a really good player. So yeah. Oh man. Part of the Colts showing up. Yeah. The best battle all day was Bobby O'Kerrick and Stevenson in the passing game. I mean, Stevenson won a couple and he won that touchdown obviously early in the game, but Bobby O'Kerrick had a couple of pass breakups and a couple of really tight coverages. That was, that,

Starting point is 00:19:41 that was a really fun battle between those two just a really good coverage linebacker and a really good pass catching back that were going at it all game. But, yeah, the Colts defense, a lot of good in this game. I really don't have many issues with them. Grover Stewart, again, phenomenal. I really wish there was a Pro Bowl nod for guys that do what he does, but it won't happen because he doesn't get sacks or anything like that.

Starting point is 00:20:03 And then DeForest Buckner, I mean, Pro Bowl nod, we're talking right there. I mean, geez, outstanding. And then we saw some turnovers. Like, obviously, they only came away with the one turnover on the Bobby O'Kerrick peanut punch. But Isaiah Rogers forced a fumble. Kenny Moore nearly had a pick that Jacoby Myers somehow almost caught on the sideline as well.

Starting point is 00:20:22 Like, we finally were seeing this Colts defense making some plays on the ball uh and you know a couple of them almost changed the the dynamic of this game if there were you know if the Colts offense had any juice whatsoever so uh strong game strong game for the Colts defense yeah this was to me an example of it's a game of inches because if kenny just falls on that that fumble that isaiah rogers forces or you know if he's just like a couple inches away you know just just different spots that interception of course like the course were right there to having a few really big splash plays on defense yet again basically the defense having to be the offense as well uh stefan gilmore i thought had a really nice showing in his return to New England.

Starting point is 00:21:07 I don't have many gripes about any defensive players in particular. Yeah, I mean, the safeties, I thought, were pretty good. Yeah, no complaints on my part. Yeah, no, the Colts defense was just a couple inches away from keeping this within 15 so like I I really this Colts defense really isn't much of the issue right now uh Gus Bradley has them playing well uh there's some talent over there and again you're seeing guys like Quiddy Paye have a good season uh Isaiah Rogers whenever he plays I still don't understand the Isaiah Rogers stuff but whenever he plays he's out there making making things happen so yeah Colts defense

Starting point is 00:21:45 i don't really have any qualms and you guys are cool um it's just you know the colts are not a good team and it's because they have the worst offensive football so uh yeah i don't really know if we have much more to say about this game like like here's the thing we could go on rants guys and and talk about like oh this team didn't show up and this team got punched in the mouth and fire everybody but like we've done that multiple times this season. Like, I'm not at the point anymore where I'm as invested in this on-field product of this team because this is just becoming a trend.

Starting point is 00:22:17 So it's hard to just get on here and just rant and rant and rant and rant. Where, again, it got to the point where we kind of expected this showing against a mediocre Patriots team. Like this is a mediocre Patriots team and the Colts just didn't have a chance. So I don't know, Jake, do you have anything else before we close this one out? No, I, I think, yeah, I think I agree. We're probably not going to have too many more rants because like expectations have finally met the reality.

Starting point is 00:22:43 We had higher expectations for a while because we thought they could reach this level but by this point it's midway in the season you know they got swept by the titans who were just okay they they had that game where they got creamed by the jaguars it was a shutout they had this game they're losing to teams that aren't very good at this point and the offense is non-existent so basically it's time we'll just tell it how it is like there's not we don't think there's any enormous changes to make any more mid-season because it won't do much but yeah nice and cheery but in summation offense bad defense good. Time to move on to the Raiders. We love Grover Stewart.

Starting point is 00:23:28 Grover Stewart is a stud. That's the best thing. We're back. We've kind of come full circle. We're back to what we were saying is positives in the first two games of the season where it's like everyone sucks, but Grover Stewart's awesome. We've kind of come back full circle, except we're adding like DeForest Buckner and maybe like a quick buddy pay in there. So, yeah. Go Colts, go Colts.

Starting point is 00:23:48 Yeah, that is it. Check back with us this week as you know, we might pick this game apart a little more, see what they can do moving forward. If there's any small tweaks or anything, you know, we'll, we'll talk about what the Colts are saying, what stock we can put in that. And then, you know, we're gonna, we're going to go ahead to the Raiders and Zach's loss on Rakisen. Yeah, that one's going to hurt. You just know he's going to have a pick or some huge impact play

Starting point is 00:24:16 and Gawkway is not going to do much and it's just going to tear Zach's little heart apart. Yeah, probably. Make sure you guys are following us on social media so you can get all the inside stuff on that. At JakeArthurNFL, at ZachHakes2, and at LockedOnColts on Twitter. Also, subscribe to our show on YouTube wherever you listen to your podcasts. And thanks again for making Locked On Colts your first listen every day.

Starting point is 00:24:38 For your second listen, check out Locked On Sports today. From the games that matter the most to the biggest stories in sports, go beyond the scoreboard and behind the scenes with local experts and insights that only Locked On Sports Today. From the games that matter the most to the biggest stories in sports, go beyond the scoreboard and behind the scenes with local experts and insights that only Locked On can provide. Locked On Sports Today, available on this app, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. We'll see you guys on Tuesday.

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Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts' Loss to New England Patriots Puts Them at Ugly, New Low

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