Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts' Offense Bound to Struggle Against Pittsburgh Steelers' Pass Rush

Starting point is 00:00:00 It is time to cross over this week as Monday Night Football pits two teams that aren't leaving their fans very thankful this year. We'll dissect what might happen on today's episode. 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 tuning in and making us your first listen of the day. This is your daily podcast covering both your Indianapolis Colts and your Pittsburgh Steelers. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Crossover Thursday is presented by our friends at PrizePix.

Starting point is 00:00:56 PrizePix is so much fun and it's easy to play. There's no competing with other players. It's just you versus the other projections. Pick two players. If they score more or less than their PrizePix projection, you can win up to 10 times your money on your entry. It can literally take less than 60 seconds to enter. It's that easy. We love prize picks. We know you guys will too. First time users can receive a 100% instant deposit match up to $100 with promo code LOCKEDON. That's prizepicks.com, promo code LOCKEDON. This is Zach Hicks of Locked On Colts alongside Christopher Carter of Locked On Steelers.

Starting point is 00:01:31 On today's episode, we're going to look at the biggest storylines for both teams, the biggest matchups to keep an eye on, and ultimately who we think will prevail in this one. So Chris, since I'm kind of running this thing, I did all this intro stuff here. I'll let you take away here with the first storyline. What's your biggest storyline for the Pittsburgh Steelers in this game against I did all this intro stuff here. I'll let you take away here with the first storyline. What's your biggest storyline for the Pittsburgh Steelers in this game against Indianapolis Colts? Well, I think the biggest storyline right now is

Starting point is 00:01:51 can the offense actually take steps forward for the Pittsburgh Steelers? They scored 20 points the week before against the Saints, which doesn't sound like much to a lot of people, but that was pretty good for how bad the Steelers' offense has been this year. And then they scored 30 points in a loss to the Bengals and now the questions have started to kind of rummage around like hmm have the Steelers started to figure things out it's Kenny Pickett

Starting point is 00:02:11 getting better as the offensive line playing better is Najee Harris you know figuring it out what's going on there and I think against a defense like the Colts you got Shaquille Leonard you got your guys on the team you have a you have a unit that gets after it I think that this is a chance for them to kind of step up and say like, hey, and not, you don't have to score 30 points this game. I don't think they will. But I think this is a chance for them to be able to say, hey, you know what? We can generate points. We can generate more than one good drive a game,

Starting point is 00:02:39 which is what they were doing for much of this season, whether it was Mr. Biscay or Kenny Pickett. So this week, you know, I think I think we've looked at it. You know, Kenny Pickett has talked a lot about it. They talked about, you know, how to incorporate more of their their top wide receiver, Deontay Johnson, into the picture. But they've also talked about how part of getting him into the picture is, you know, getting teams to force to look elsewhere for double teams. And, you know, I think that that's that that that'll be that'll be interesting to see like you know part of the formula they've said that that mike thomas laid out for that is hitting

Starting point is 00:03:09 on more on more big plays to uh um george pickens and pat fryer with their other top options now after chase claypool being traded away so i think it's going to be interesting to see what kind of identity the steelers offense looks to provide in this game? Yeah, you know, it's funny. I think you and I are like notes or something when we're talking about this game because the biggest storyline for the Indianapolis Colts is what it's all season. Can this offense do anything? You know, we have seen this Indianapolis Colts offense just struggle all season to generate points. And they've had a lot of opportunities to score.

Starting point is 00:03:43 You know, they have one of the best defenses in all of football the Indianapolis Colts defense held the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs to 17 points each and there's matchups and there are one and one in those two games you know a last second touchdown against the Chiefs to win it and then they fall short this past week against the Eagles uh this Colts defense is very very good but this Colts offense has just been extremely inconsistent they scored over 20 points only twice this season. And both those games were wins. So it shows, you know, Colts want to win games. They just have to score.

Starting point is 00:04:11 That's it. I know that's a tall task for this offense and for a lot of teams this year, but, you know, they have the talent on that side of the ball. They've had some success in a couple of games, you know, against the Jacksonville Jaguars a couple of weeks ago against the Las Vegas Raiders two weeks ago. And I think this is a good chance for the offense to find some kind of rhythm. The Pittsburgh Steelers just allowed 350 yards passing and four touchdowns to Joe Burrow. Now Joe Burrow is definitely better than who the Colts are rolling out, but this defense is not

Starting point is 00:04:39 invulnerable. This is a defense where the Colts can score points. It's just, will they do it? You know, we haven't really seen it much this season. Again, two games this year, over 20 points. That is just atrocious in today's NFL. I know scoring is down this year, but man, it's an offensive driven league and you can't be scoring, you know, 10, 12, 13 points a game. So if the Colts really want to come out and win this game or they want to show anything for the rest of the season even their offense has to start doing something

Starting point is 00:05:11 we've seen little moments here and there but by and large it has just been a really really bad season for the Colts offense so kind of similar you know kind of similar storylines between our two teams right now Chris I, these are just bad offenses. I mean, part of it's just the rebuilding process. You know, the Colts, they have Matt Ryan. You know, they had Phillip Rivers before. They've been kind of turning around, waiting for the next franchise quarterback to come after. You know, that happens when you lose an Andrew Luck, and it kind of sets you back.

Starting point is 00:05:40 The Steelers are in a different situation where they have the guy who they think might be their franchise quarterback, but he's a rookie and he needs to adapt. And one thing that my friend Alan Saunders said on the show a few weeks back, people call Kenny Pickett a pro-ready quarterback. People don't understand that normally pro-ready just means pro-ready to get your butt kicked in your first year in the NFL, which is what Kenny Pickett has done. Now, as a person who's covered Kenny Pickett at the University of Pittsburgh for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and over the past couple of years, this guy has done this before where he's come in, not looked great, but looked like he's focused.

Starting point is 00:06:19 He's trying to get things done, and things haven't gone his way, but he learns from it. He adapts to them, and that's how he progressed to being the third leading Heisman vote getter uh last year in college football so I do think that part of this is the learning process that the Steelers wanted him to go through to see hey how does he handle you know being in the game how does he handle uh you know adversity how does he handle losses because they knew that was going to come this year um and can they find an identity in their offense that will carry them next year? Because everyone knew, the Steelers even knew, like, this isn't their Super Bowl year.

Starting point is 00:06:49 This isn't a year that they were probably even going to make the playoffs. But this was a chance for them to grow. And if they made the playoffs, awesome. But the biggest thing they wanted to pull out of this year was, can Kenny Pickett become the franchise, or start to take significant steps to being their franchise guy this year and take, and take good strides. I think that's a, that's kind of where they are. And for the Colts, you know, you're trying to find your identity so that when you do find your quarterback,

Starting point is 00:07:15 you know, maybe you make, make moves in the draft to get them this year. You want to, you know, the way of the world in the NFL right now is build, build a strong team with with your with your money your free agency and your other draft picks and then get a quarterback on a rookie deal that's really good and then just build around them and just go and win and you know if if the offensive line with Quinton Nelson can come together you got Jonathan Taylor you got I like Alec Pierce um you know I uh you know I like Michael Pittman I like the way they play I like the defense there

Starting point is 00:07:44 if you know next year the Colts got you know CJ Shroud know, I like Michael Pittman. I like the way they play. I like the defense there. If, you know, next year, the Colts got, you know, CJ shroud, Bryce young, one of those guys, you know, and they, they started to light it up. It could immediately flip things around. I think it's just the way of the NFL these days. Right. Right. Yeah. No, those two teams are definitely, they're in the same category right now, but going into the season, they were in different mindsets. You know, the Colts are trying to push those chips in. They were getting Ryan, Stephon, Gilmore, Yannick and Gawkway

Starting point is 00:08:08 they were going to push those chips in and try to make a run and it just didn't work I mean all the turmoil that we've seen with the Colts you know the Frank Reich firing the Marcus Brady firing the two-week benching or three-week benching of Matt Ryan or whatever it was I mean yeah it's it's been a just a tumultuous season for the Colts and the Steelers, you know, they kind of expected this, even though they probably thought there'd be a better team this year. But yeah,

Starting point is 00:08:30 it's just, it's just kind of been that way for both our teams this season. They're kind of going through some of their bumps and bruises. But up next guys, we're going to talk about our biggest matchups in this game. But first the show is sponsored by better help therapy online guys. It's holiday time. Thanksgiving is pretty much here.

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Starting point is 00:10:11 What are you looking forward to in this game against the Indianapolis Colts? Well, I mean, the big thing is that this is a defense that, you know, was always driven by Shaq Leonard and with him on injured reserve. You know, I think it's going to be very interesting. How do you see the Colts stopping the run in this game? Because to me right now, the Steelers offense, as much as people talk about Kenny Pickett, I think it's going to be very interesting. How do you see the Colts stopping the run in this game? Because to me right now, the Steelers offense, as much as people talk about Kenny Pickett,

Starting point is 00:10:31 what's gotten them going the last two weeks is Najee Harris in the run game. He had 99 yards against the Saints. He had 98, 116 all-purpose yards against the Bengals, has had three touchdowns in the last two games. And that, I think, has set the table for Kenny Pickett to not have to be desperate in games. And these were his first two games that he didn't throw an interception. And, you know, you look at the Colts situation right now, Shaq Leonard, you know, some people say he's done for the year. But, you know, because he has yet to hit a back surgery and he's been dealing with stuff.

Starting point is 00:10:56 But, you know, you I look I look at this Colts defense. You still got DeForest Buckner. You still got Yannick Ngakwe. How have you seen them deal with adversity this year and find ways to still be like a strong run defense? Yeah, you know, the Colts have always been a strong run defense the last couple seasons, and then we expected that to take a step back this season with the change to Gus Bradley, because Gus Bradley's scheme is very much stop the run on the way to the quarterback. You know, it's not like Matt Ibrafluz's where we're going much stop the run on the way to the quarterback. It's not like Matt

Starting point is 00:11:26 Ibrafluz's where we're going to stop the run first and then worry about the pass. But what we've seen this year with the Indianapolis Colts is even with Shaquille Leonard out, we've seen really, really strong play from their linebacker group. I mean, Zyre Franklin is one of the top tacklers in all of football right now. I think he's in the top five in total tackles. He's been a phenomenal fill-in player at mike uh for the colts and then bobby okereke is having a career best year you know i thought he'd be a great fit in this gus bradley scheme but he's just been even better than i expected uh but it really you know the run defense what really what it really comes down to is the

Starting point is 00:11:59 star that is a grower stewart on the inside he's playing that one tech and nose tackle position for the Colts. And he's always been a guy who has been really effective for this team. But this year he really took it to a new level. I think I saw a stat the other day that he has 16 tackles for a loss on non sacks this season. That that's for a nose tackle, you know, it leads the NFL. I mean, he's a phenomenal player. He's really ascending to new Heights. And,

Starting point is 00:12:23 and if you want to run on this Colts defense, do not run them up the middle. Do not run up the gut. Do not attack the inside. You got to get on the edges, even though this is a fast defense, because if you're going to run inside, you got to deal with the Forrest Buckner. You got to deal with these linebackers and you've got to deal with Grover Stewart. And that's why the Colts, I think, are our second best run defense in terms of EPA per play in all of the NFL right now. That's interesting. You know, I think it speaks well to how they've assembled that group to kind of deal with the loss of Shaq Leonard

Starting point is 00:12:54 and still be able to keep churning in that way. You know, the Steelers have found a similar way to kind of rebound. You know, last year they had the worst rushing defense in the NFL. The owner, Art Rooney, said that that ain't gonna happen again this year they're seventh in in the league as far as far as far as rushing defense um and you know the colts i think again there's a lot of similarities between these teams uh you know when you look at their their ability to stop the run um you know so i i'm intrigued to see how they play but i think the other thing is here is that the colts do have one of the better pass defenses at least production wise in the nfl this year and again that's with facing jalen

Starting point is 00:13:27 hertz and and uh patrick mahomes on on their on their schedule uh what has gone into that because you know i look at this group and you get yes stefan gilmore's there but i mean kenny moore rodney mcleod and julian blackman it doesn't it's not exactly the group that like strikes fear into the heart of men you know but they but they seem to find a way to string together and play consistent football. What's helped them be a better unit against the past this year? Yeah. You know, it's, it's been phenomenal because what we've seen with the whole NFL is this, this just changed the two, everyone's doing too high. You know, it's all cover two quarters, you know, that Fangio quarters defense that we're seeing everybody kind of gravitate toward but Gus Bradley is still Gus Bradley you know he loves

Starting point is 00:14:09 that single high safety he loves that cover three and cover one and I think this is the most talented defense that he's been able to work with since his his days with the Chargers you know this isn't like with the with the Raiders last year where he was in cover three like 90% of the time you know they're still running cover three like 70% of the time this year. But they're being so much more diverse with it. You know, a lot of cover three match. A lot of having the athletic linebackers that can carry vertical routes, that can take away play action.

Starting point is 00:14:36 And then having corners on the outside that are playing really good football. I mean, Isaiah Rogers, Isaiah Rogers Sr. on the outside, I think he's allowed less than 100 yards, spit in the passing game this entire season, given it's in 200 coverage. So it's not in full starters role, but it's still been pretty good. And then Stephon Gilmore on the other side has been one of the best corners in all of football. Kenny Moore II isn't playing up to his ability that he usually plays at, but he's playing some pretty good football.

Starting point is 00:15:03 Then Rodney McLeod has been a really good free agent signing for them. So I think what you're really looking at with this defense, even wish to kill Leonard out this past defense is, it's just kind of a, some of it's all of its parts there. You know, all these guys are playing the role really well. The linebackers are really effective in this scheme and this very difficult scheme for them to be effective in. And these outside corners are just locking it down. So yeah,

Starting point is 00:15:24 I wouldn't say it's like, you know, it's not like the no-fly zone. It's not like any of that kind of stuff. It's not that kind of shutdown. But they're a tough team to get going against. They're really competitive at the catch point. And, you know, you can get some underneath stuff and maybe get a couple big plays, but they're a really sound pass defense overall,

Starting point is 00:15:42 and they make you work for it. I think that that's what you have to do. Because in today's NFL, you can't be the defenses of yesteryear where, like, 2,000 Ravens, the 2,008 Steelers, when you would hold teams to, like, 100 yards a game. Like, there would be times that they would just push. Today's game is designed for offenses to thrive and to carry teams forward. And I think the best defenses are the ones that take away your top option

Starting point is 00:16:08 as best they can. They stuff the run. They don't let you get loose with that. And then on key play downs, they get after the quarterback. They find ways to put you in tough third down and distance situations, and they take advantage of your mistakes. And I think that's the identity that both of these teams strive to have you know gus bradley's a guy he knows he's he's engineered those defenses before so he knows he knows what he's doing here in indianapolis um that's why i

Starting point is 00:16:33 think this is a very intriguing matchup for both or for both teams right now just for where they are in the season not that they're either is like looking to turn into a super bowl champion this year but still like you know i always you know, even when seasons are thought to be lost and thought to be, you know, not of consequence to be a major contender, I think it's always interesting to see when you're building a roster, when you're building, you know, a group of players that are so young, how do they respond in the middle of tough seasons? How do they respond after tough weeks?

Starting point is 00:17:03 You know, and I think that that's something that often can set the stage for how organizations move forward with a lot of their younger players, especially when they want to soon become competitors. And I think these are two teams that they're down right now, but if you look at these organizations and the way that they're building, I think that, again, a quarterback and some more investments to the Colts, and they could be in an interesting position. And for the Steelers, the think that, you know, again, a quarterback and some more investments for the Colts, and they could be in an interesting position.

Starting point is 00:17:27 And for the Steelers, the development of Kenny Pickett, and if they're able to build their offensive line and maybe get like a number one corner to be on their roster, I think it does them wonders for what they're able to do moving forward. And there's one more matchup I want to talk about here before we jump to our last segment, and that is the Steelers' pass rush versus a really porous Colts offensive line. You know, we have seen, again,

Starting point is 00:17:47 a couple of decent games here and there from this Colts offensive line, but it kind of all fell apart last week against a very, very stout Philadelphia Eagles front. Right guard Will Fries really struggled with Fletcher Cox and Devon Hargrave on the inside. And then rookie Bernard Ryman really, really struggled with Josh Sweat at left tackle. Tell me about this Steelers pass rush and why it's, you know, the saving grace

Starting point is 00:18:10 of the Steelers defense so far this year. Well, I mean, it, it, it has been when it, when it's, when it's been on you know, you look at, you look at how the Steelers have played this year. And if you're, if you're paying attention, like this is actually a down year as far as the sack production, but a lot of that's because T.J. Watt missed eight games. And for those who might not know, T.J. Watt came into the league in 2017. And every year that he's been on the Steelers roster, they have led the NFL in sacks. And that's just that he's been that dominant. And it's not just him by himself.

Starting point is 00:18:38 It's what he does to get other people opportunities. Cam Hayward has been doing well. Alex Highsmith leads the team with, I think, what, i just uh i might be a might be a little off there but um but he's he's gotten most of those when tj watts been on the field and he's been on the field for three games and it's just like like that's that's what he does is that he takes away distractions from other teams they double team them they chip him and they it doesn't allow them to double team cam hayward it doesn't allow them to double team larry ogunjobe or alex highsmith and they kind of feed off each other in that way and then you'll see the occasional extra rusher like devin bush or robert spillane or miles jack coming up the

Starting point is 00:19:13 middle or their blitz arthur marlowe off the corner but the steelers defense has always been about getting after the quarterback and winning that way that's just how they built that's how they built it and uh you know this is and this is a new defensive coordinator in Terrell Austin. But it's still the same message. Stuff the run. Get after the quarterback. Play complimentary football where your secondary does enough in coverage and your

Starting point is 00:19:36 pass rush does enough to get after the quarterback that somewhere you're going to force a mistake or a quarterback into a tough decision to either eat a sack or throw a risky football into a tight passing window. But it's, it's really a collective part of it. But granted, it hasn't been there this year. I guess I met, my big thing is what's going on with the Colts offensive line.

Starting point is 00:19:55 Cause you know, Quentin Nelson was, was like my, like my A1 guy of, of, of the entire league for so long. And I've just seen reps this year. I'm like, that's not the guy I watched for the last several years. Like, what's been going on? It's just, it's been bizarre to watch that Colts offensive line be not as good this year. Yeah, I'll touch on it real quick,

Starting point is 00:20:12 because I know we got to jump to our last segment here in a minute. But, like, it's just been a combination of, you know, down years for Quentin Nelson, Ryan Kelly, and Braden Smith, who were thought to be, you know, top guys. You know, they're all getting paid like top guys. But then, really, the struggles at right guard and left tackle have really, really held them down. You know, they've gone with, I think six or seven different offensive line combinations this season,

Starting point is 00:20:33 trying to just get that stuff figured out. And it goes back to the Austin decision to, to kind of give the jobs to guys like Matt Pryor and Danny Pinter, who are no longer even starters for this team. And it's kind of weighed down the confidence and just the play of the other guys around them. So maybe next year, if they add some more quality guys to those positions, or maybe these guys that they have out there right now are developing, it looks a little bit better in 2023.

Starting point is 00:20:57 But yeah, I think it's safe to say this offensive line is not going to turn around this year because we really haven't seen them turn it around whatsoever this season. Absolutely. We're going to get to more parts of this matchup in just a minute here on Crossover Thursday here in the Locked On Podcast Network. But first, we got to talk to you guys about BetOnline.net. BetOnline.net is your number one source for all your betting stats and sports information. You can find all the latest sports developments, league reviews, and news, including the NFL

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Starting point is 00:23:16 Locked On Steelers, Locked On Holes. We're breaking things down here. Zach, we look into this game and, you know, sometimes you start asking, what do these teams have to play for? I also think that even though it's like, obviously, these teams are like playoff contenders right now, there's always the chance that things slip up and that guys can find focus. But you've seen a charge from these Colts right now. What do you think has gotten behind them with Jeff Saturday and their new coach to kind of start figuring things out?

Starting point is 00:23:46 You pulled off the upset two weeks ago. You almost pulled off the upset of the year in beating the Eagles last week. That would have been amazing. What has gotten into this team that's kind of woken up and say, hey, guys, we can bang with anybody right now? Well, I think, you know, even when Frank Reich was kind of at the helm and he was the head coach early in the season, yes, there were the two bad losses, you know, to the New England Patriots,

Starting point is 00:24:11 and there was the really, really bad loss week two in Jacksonville. But this team has always been pretty competitive. Again, they upset the Kansas City Chiefs early in the season. They've been competitive in a lot of games. It's just it wasn't there. And then I think just the energy of bringing in that interim head coach and it being, you know, a local legend, you know, Jeff Saturday, a guy who was, you know,

Starting point is 00:24:30 an undrafted free agent who became a pro bowl type guy and was phenomenal during the Peyton Manning years. You know, the Peyton Manning years that are so they're kind of like deified here in, in Indianapolis, you know, those Peyton Manning years were just like, yeah, understandable. If you, even if you just win one Super one Super Bowl, that's enough to make a legend. I mean, look, Nick Foles has a statue with Philadelphia. Yes, he does. Literally, I mean, just got to win one Super Bowl.

Starting point is 00:24:53 They did that. They had Peyton Manning and Jess Sauer and a lot of other great players. And I think bringing that kind of known figurehead to the face of this, and a guy who speaks really well, who's just a really calming, energetic presence, a very rah-rah guy. They kind of needed that. And I think that was kind of the kick in the butt that they needed to get some energy.

Starting point is 00:25:12 Now, I don't think it's going to be enough for a run here. And my prediction might show that today. But I do think that they are playing a little bit better in recent weeks. We've seen the turnovers come down. We've seen the play not be as sloppy as it was early in the season. We've seen them come out a little more physical than what they did in those first eight weeks. So I do think we've seen some good things under interim head coach Jeff Saturday. I don't know if it's going to be enough for them

Starting point is 00:25:37 this year, but yeah, you got to like some of the energy these guys are showing. Absolutely. Let's get to our predictions real quick here what's your outlook for this game i i don't like to just do score predictions i like to do i mean that's where we finish but what is your biggest factor in what determines this game and when does that kick in what where do you see the turning point coming in this game to get to the final score that you have honestly i think the biggest thing in this entire game i think you might be able to agree with me here is whichever offense makes the makes the least amount of mistakes whichever offense doesn't kick their own butt in this one i think is going to win it so if the colts go out and they are

Starting point is 00:26:16 not productive on offense but they don't turn the ball over or don't have horrible mistakes they'll probably win this one because this is going to be a defensive slugfest this is going to be the Steelers defensive line just destroying the Colts offensive line and making life awful for Matt Ryan and then on the other side it's going to be really the pass defense good run defense uh stuffing uh you know Steelers offense is still trying to find their identity trying to figure out a lot of things but I think ultimately it's going to come down to again in this third or fourth quarter there's going to be a big mistake by someone, whether that's Kenny Pickett, whether that's Matt Ryan, who has made a lot of mistakes this season, or whether that's the Colts offensive line, you know, allowing a blindside sack or something like that. I think that's what's really going to decide this game. There's going to be some big turnover or big momentum shift.

Starting point is 00:27:00 Maybe even it's like a missed field goal or a blocked field goal or something like that. You know, there's going to be some kind of big momentum shift in the third or fourth quarter that's really going to decide this game. And ultimately, for my score prediction, I have it going 16 to 13 Steelers in this one. Again, low scoring game, not great offenses, defenses that are pretty solid. I just think that there's going to be, you know, an Alex Highsmith strip sack or something of Matt Ryan in the third quarter. Because Bernard Ryman right now, again, he's kind of like the Kenny Pickett of our team where you drafted him a little high, kind of hoping for the future. He's getting thrown into the fire and it's not been very, very pretty for him so far.

Starting point is 00:27:37 So I think a guy like Highsmith who's having so much success this year, who's really grown as a pass rusher it's just gonna it's gonna eat him up all day long i i think that that's where that's where my biggest factor comes in is a lot of times i look at teams and i say who's the is the defensive line that much better than the offensive line than the other team would whoever carries that advantage to me often carries a big favor into the game and you know there's times it can be negated you know the the steelers defensive front was better than the Bengals defensive front, but Joe Burrow made it not matter last week with his four touchdown passes. I think that that's one of the big things that you look here, and that's where I give the Steelers an edge this week

Starting point is 00:28:17 as far as who they're playing. I think Matt Ryan's not in the part of his career where he can deal with that nearly as well. If Matt Ryan, if this was a younger quarterback, I think that and he was seeing the field well, I think I would give the Colts an edge here because even with their past rushing, even with their past protection struggles, excuse me. I think that there's, you know, that a younger quarterback could kind of escape by time. That's what Joe Burrow did last week. But that's where I see this game turning on its head, is that this will be a close game for a while i'd say like mid late third quarter maybe an early fourth

Starting point is 00:28:48 quarter um you're gonna see both these teams kind of you know taking their shots on third downs everyone's gonna be trying to protect the football and then i think it's just gonna come down to whose pass rush gets to the quarterback faster and uh just with tj watt back i think that this is his chance to kind of to kind of cement some things. And he's going to be lining up on the right tackle, Alex Highsmith on the left tackle. And it's going to be very interesting to see how those two guys get after it and play this week. So I also have the Steelers by three points, 2017. Similar idea there.

Starting point is 00:29:22 I also think there could be a defensive or a special team score in this game by either side that's going to uh sway swing things heavily in in one in one team's favor and put another team behind behind the eight ball a little bit there so both of us have similar predictions here on crossover thursday um just looking at how this game will help i think we could both agree this is going to be a defensive showdown it's not going to be a pretty game monday night it's just going to be one that these two teams are going to have to, have to grit through. And the team that makes the least amount of mistakes is going to be a team

Starting point is 00:29:50 that probably comes out on top. Yeah. And just to do a quick recap for you guys, we're talking about our biggest storyline in this game for both of us. It's will these offenses actually get it going against some pretty good defenses? I, I hope so,

Starting point is 00:30:02 but I don't know when it comes to our biggest matchups, you know, Chris is looking at the Steelers running game versus this Colts run defense that has been really strong this season. You know, the Colts run defense has been really strong, even without Shaquille Leonard. And for me, I am looking at this Colts offensive line versus this really, really good defensive front for the Pittsburgh Steelers. And then we're talking about our score predictions. I got 16 to 13 Steelers. Chris has also got 20 to 17 Pittsburgh Steelers over the Indianapolis Colts. And that's it for us, everyone.

Starting point is 00:30:32 Check back with us throughout the week leading up to Monday night for more on this matchup. Follow Carter Critiques on Twitter at LockedOnColts, at JakeArthurNFL, at ZachHex2 on Twitter. Also subscribe to LockedOnColts Colts and locked on Steelers on YouTube, wherever you listen to your podcast. We'd love your ratings and review guys. So please make sure you go over there and do that for us. And thank you for making us your first listen for your next list. Check out locked on sports today.

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