Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts: Playoffs Start Now with Denver Broncos Waiting

Starting point is 00:00:00 With just a month left of the regular season, the Indianapolis Colts are essentially in playoff mode, and that starts this week with the Denver Broncos. A lot of heads will roll if the Colts miss the playoffs for the fourth time in the past four years. Let's get to it. You are Locked On Colts, your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcastts, your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Thanks for tuning in and making us your first listen of the day.

Starting point is 00:00:36 This is your daily podcast covering your Indianapolis Colts, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. This episode is brought to you by PrizePick. Go to prizepicks.com slash Lock on NFL and use code all lowercase locked on NFL to win $50 instantly when you play $5. Hello, everyone. My name is Zach Hicks, your resident film nerd of horseshoehuddle.com. And my partner, Jake Arthur, is our credentialed crocs on the ground for the site as well. We have a fun show for you guys planned.

Starting point is 00:01:08 We're going to talk about who needs to step up on this Colts defense to turn it around here in this final month, who on the Colts offense needs to be a little bit more consistent for their quarterback in this final month of play. But first, Jake, we have a playoff game, essentially a playoff game for the Colts this weekend against the Denver Broncos. Now, the Colts aren't guaranteed a playoff spot by any means if they win this game, but they would essentially be in the driver's seat for that seventh seed in the AFC if they win this game but they would essentially be in the driver's seat for that seventh seed in the AFC if they win this game they'd still be one game back of the Denver Broncos but they have the Colts have three fairly easy opponents to finish out the year where the Broncos have the Chiefs the Chargers and I think another playoff team in there as well like it's it's a pretty tough schedule for the Broncos so this is kind of do or die for the Colts this

Starting point is 00:01:43 weekend and there's a lot riding on this. I mean, they're in jeopardy of missing their four straight playoffs this season. And this is again with the same general manager with the second year of the head coach, second year of the quarterback. Like it's not like it's a fresh start for everybody here. This is some of these people have been here for a little bit. And then on top of that man like you know the colts this year have been a really wild ride and like they still have this glimmer of hope with the playoffs but now is where they really gotta like amp it up because it's i mean it's playoff time now for this colts team no it really is i mean they're right now the eighth seed out of seven which

Starting point is 00:02:22 sounds super optimistic but they're two games back from that spot. And it's not just Denver. You know, Denver's an eight and five, but so are the Chargers. So is Baltimore. So is Houston. So it's like a huge mess there. So this is very meaningful for the Colts to get this win because that would give them a head-to-head tiebreaker with Denver.

Starting point is 00:02:42 They've also got it against Miami. So you have got to have those two kind of trump cards in your pocket if it's going to come down to week 18 in a win and end situation. This is a must have. We consider this the must win of must wins because, like you mentioned, they do have three relatively easier games. Tennessee, the Giants, who already kind of look like they're packing it in, and then the Jaguars there at the end, who we now know will not have their quarterback likely. So this is the last super competitive,

Starting point is 00:03:17 got to get up for it game the Colts have. Now we know they're very willing to play down to their competition in those last few weeks. But being two games back, if you lose this game against Denver, it's, it's dang near put a fork in them time. You just can't afford to be three games back against a team like that.

Starting point is 00:03:38 Yeah. And also I think this is a big game just to see what kind of Colts team this is. Like, don't get me wrong. I think we know what kind of team we have at this point in the season. Like we're going into week 15.

Starting point is 00:03:49 We know what kind of Colts team this is. But when you look at what the Colts have done this season, I believe they're five and one this season against teams below 500. And they are one in six against teams above 500. This is their last chance against a real opponent, like a real winning football team to show that you're not this mediocre slash bottom feeder in the NFL. This is your last

Starting point is 00:04:11 chance to show like we can actually play with some decent teams in the league because outside of one, I don't even want to say fluky, but when you're one out of seven, it seems fluky outside of one kind of fluky game against Pittsburgh when they had their backup quarterback starting that one the Colts have not fared well whatsoever this year against winning football teams so this is your chance this is your last chance this season or it's just going to be another mediocre you know eight to nine win season where you only beat up on the bad teams and you become a doormat for all the good teams like we've seen in the last four years with this Colts roster. So big things riding on this just for this season and just for, you know, the macro of the entire organization.

Starting point is 00:04:52 But looking specifically at a couple people, Jake, you and I are of the opinion that Chris Ballard is likely not going anywhere. Shane Steichen is likely not going anywhere. And honestly, Anthony Richardson's probably not going anywhere either in terms of like, he's probably going to be the starter again next season. But you still want to see Richardson play well this past month to, you know, bring more assurances for next year. Because if he reverts a little bit back to his early season play, you could see, you know, a veteran, another veteran brought in.

Starting point is 00:05:22 So you could see more whispers and rumors about moving on. But I do think you've shown enough in the last couple of weeks to probably be the guy next year, but you still want to see Richardson play fairly well, obviously this past month, regardless of win or loss going for, for everything that means like next season and maybe playoffs if they do win these games. Yeah, I mentioned after the last game that I'm getting pretty close to being sold on Anthony getting the keys to be the guy next year. Like he's shown the growth since his benching. And again, the numbers don't look like how you want them to, but within the context of what they're doing on offense, if, if, you know, the things around him are functioning

Starting point is 00:06:02 a little better and guys are coming down with, with more balls, it's not quite as bad. Like the numbers aren't going to look great. So I'm, I'm not expecting like vast improvement in the numbers, but it's just literally watching how he operates and moves the offense. And those, again, those super clutch moments in the fourth quarter and everything, those to me, buy buy you a lot a lot of equity uh so just continuing to show stuff like that now he does need to keep improving like not just showing the new baseline that we've seen since you know coming back but building even on that and becoming more consistent like adding more consistent short yardage stuff in there not making short throws look difficult you know um just, just some building blocks there.

Starting point is 00:06:47 But yeah, like you mentioned, Chris Ballard, you know, it's important for him. I don't think he'll go anywhere because it does feel like he's going to be tied to Shane for at least one more year. It would feel, because I'm a little more sold on Shane coming back, but it would feel weird Shane coming back, but not Chris. And any way you look at it, I think that trio all comes back. Yeah. The trio are all tied together.

Starting point is 00:07:12 Like that's kind of where I'm at too. And as long as Richardson shows that he's the quarterback for next season, the other two will be back as well. But there is one guy we haven't mentioned when it comes to, you know, the main heads of this season. And that is defensive coordinator, Gus Bradley not Bus Gradley, Gus Bradley. He is the one that's probably got the most to gain and the most to lose in this final month of the season, and it starts again this week against the Denver Broncos. If his unit comes out and they show what they've shown over the past

Starting point is 00:07:41 couple games, missing tackles, not looking up to the challenge. You know, limiting explosives is great, but not standing tall in the red zone, not creating turnovers. Some of the issues we've seen in recent weeks, then I do think that's a logical change the Colts make where, hey, we can't move on from the GM, the coach, or the quarterback because they're tied together. The defense coordinator is not tied to this thing. It's a very separate entity. And yes, Chris Ballard needs to be better at getting more talent for his

Starting point is 00:08:09 defense coordinator, but that's a logical move to make when you have this type of scenario. So I don't think per se, like Chris Ballard or Shane Steichen or Anthony Richardson are really coaching or playing for their jobs in this past month. But I do think Gus Bradley is very much coaching for his job in this final month of the season. Yeah, he definitely seems like he's on the flimsiest tightrope because there's a lot to lose here. Like this team could have a total team let down against the Broncos, and it would be understandable because that's a really good team. But you're going up against now one-armed Will Levis. You got Tommy DeVito slash Drew Locke. And then you've got Mac Jones as your final three quarterbacks.

Starting point is 00:08:53 If those dudes look really good against you, that's going to be bad. Especially since two of those are AFC South games. We know how Jim Irsay feels about that. That's going to be pretty hard to overcome. So you've got to make these opponents look like everybody else has made them look like. Again, the Denver game could be tough no matter how you cut it, but you can't then have a letdown the rest of the season and just let the snowball get out of control. You have to get back on the horse. And even if you're pretty close to being mathematically eliminated, you got to take care of those last three.

Starting point is 00:09:34 That's kind of the only way it feels like Gus comes out on top of this. Otherwise, if those last three terrible opponents, I'll say they are terrible offenses right now. If they look good against you, it's going to be pretty tough to overcome. Yeah, I do agree with you, although I will probably go one step further and say I think it's kind of playoffs or bust for Gus Bradley when it comes to his future in Indianapolis, which means winning out and getting a little bit of help. That's kind of the hole the Colts have dug themselves into at this point.

Starting point is 00:10:03 But as of right now, we still have a glimmer of playoff hope. So we're going to keep that train riding here going forward. And we're going to talk about some players on the Colts offense that need to step up to help out this young quarterback in the next couple of weeks. Today's episode, of course, is sponsored by PrizePix. If you love watching the game, you're going to love prize picks. It's the easiest and most exciting way to play daily fantasy, whether it's football, basketball, or any of your favorite sports prize picks makes your holidays bigger and

Starting point is 00:10:34 brighter. Here's why I need to check it out. First money. Obviously that's why we all do it. Other than the love of the game, right? You can now went up to 200 times your money on prize picks, which that's incredible during the holiday season. Plus this holiday season, they're giving away

Starting point is 00:10:49 30 plus million dollars in rewards during Picksmas and offering two free picks in December. And when your picks hit, prize picks makes it easy to cash out. You can get your money in as fast as 15 minutes. There's not a ton of waiting and red tape. And it makes you nervous when you win something and you don't be able to get it back right away. But Price Picks does not let you fret over that. So download the Price Picks app today and use code LOCKEDONNFL to get $50 instantly after your first $5 lineup. That's right, $50 instantly when you play just $5. Price Picks, run your game. All right, Zach, offensively, this has been a very interesting team.

Starting point is 00:11:32 As you mentioned, this has been a roller coaster of a season. No more so on offense to me has it been an instance of disappointment because you know you've got this guy, so it's like, why is this not working well? So when you look at Jonathan Taylor, he's got one 100-yard game and no rushing touchdowns in the last five. Now he's come close. He's coming off, I think, a 94, 96-yard game. So last time we saw him, he looked okay, but he averaged under four yards per carry in that game. So we haven't seen any huge Jonathan Taylor performance in a bit.

Starting point is 00:12:10 A lot of that's been the line. They were starting three rookies at one point. It looks like they got things figured out a little better in the last game. Ryan Kelly is eligible to return next week. Hopefully he's a bit healthier. So that's one of them. Michael Pittman Jr., very gutty. What he's a bit healthier. So that's one of them. Michael Pittman Jr. Very gutty. Like what he's doing this year is great. He's playing through the back injury.

Starting point is 00:12:38 It's only cost him one game, but his production is clearly not been what it, what it used to be because of the injury. Of course, he's he's got all but three games this season are under 50 yards receiving. He has 113 yard game, a 96 yard game and a 63 yard game. Other than that, everything else has been under 50 yards, which was surprising even to me as someone who intended to put that bullet point in this today. There's some other guys as well. But to me, really, if Jonathan Taylor and Michael Pittman Jr. get going in this offense over the final four weeks, it will help the Colts immensely. Yeah. And I think one thing when you look at this Colts roster, something that stands out to me, I don't know if you guys are in the same boat, but something that stands out to me is just the

Starting point is 00:13:18 lack of star talent and the star players on this team. And I think the reason for that is you're expecting highly paid guys like Jonathan Taylor, Michael Pittman Jr. to be those star talents. And this year, they really haven't been those star players for you. Now, there's obviously reasons for that. Jonathan Taylor's had his fair share of injury issues this season. The offensive line has been in flux. The quarterback situation has been in flux. And Michael Pittman Jr. has obviously dealt with his fair share of injuries too. But they got one more month to play. One more month to play right now. These are star players or they're getting paid like star players.

Starting point is 00:13:54 They really got to step up for the Colts in this final month. Regardless of injury, regardless of what's going on around them, the Colts need more out of these two guys in this final month to play. And honestly, I do want to focus in a little bit on Jonathan Taylor because you put him in here, Jake, and I think it's a great call out. Yes, the offensive line has struggled, and I'm not here to say that it hasn't because it has not been great from the offensive line.

Starting point is 00:14:16 But when you're paying a running back as much as the Colts are paying Jonathan Taylor, he needs to be able to create more than what he's been creating this season. I think his vision has been very good, but his ability to make guys miss has not been what it was in the past. His explosion doesn't look like what it's been. His overall contact balance has not been what it's been. And they need more of like, I don't, I'm not saying it needs to be 2021 Jonathan Taylor.

Starting point is 00:14:39 I would love it to be 2021 Jonathan Taylor, but it doesn't have to be that level of good, but it needs to be higher than what we've seen this year. And just in terms of creating yardage for your offense, like having great vision and great footwork is one thing, but also being able to hit holes with speed, being able to run through contact and create afterwards. I mean, there were a couple of runs last week

Starting point is 00:15:01 where he got out in the open field and he just had to make one corner miss and it would have been a huge in the open field and he just had to make one corner miss. And it would have been a huge run for the offense. And he just couldn't make those corners miss. He's getting, you know, tripped up by leg tackles. He's getting taken down by corners in the open field. They need more than that from Jonathan Taylor. It's one thing if like, you know, Tyler Goodson or Trey Sermon is getting tackled one-on-one in the open field.

Starting point is 00:15:23 But Jonathan Taylor is getting paid too much money to be tackled one-on-one in the open field by some cornerback. Especially when the cornerback is like, I don't even think this was like Christian Gonzalez. It's like the Patriots' second corner. Like, come on. You're Jonathan Taylor. You've got to make that guy miss. It doesn't matter who it is even, but even in that context, it's even worse. So they do need more out of Jonathan Taylor, Michael Pittman jr.

Starting point is 00:15:46 Hopefully the added rest that this past week gave him leads to a little bit more production this upcoming week. Him and Richardson have connected. Well, I want to say of those three games you mentioned above 50 yards of the top of my head, all three of those were with Richardson. I think one of them was a Steelers game where Richardson got him over 50 yards and then left the game. Yeah. But I, But I think the other ones were with Richardson as well. So he has connected fairly well with Richardson this season, and hopefully that can continue. I like that the

Starting point is 00:16:15 Colts have mixed in a couple wide receiver screens with him in recent weeks to let him get the ball in his hand a little bit and get going. But I love the call out here, Jake. Getting Jonathan Taylor and Michael Pittman Jr., those two are star players getting paid like stars. They need to show up like stars in this final month for the Colts to make the playoffs. Yeah, it's just bizarre. They've been so reliant on Anthony Richardson, obviously,

Starting point is 00:16:37 but it's like, why are you so reliant on the guy who is supposed to be so supported when you have Pittman, you have Taylor, you have those guys. But a couple other kind of X factors I think would really benefit the Colts down the stretch. A.D. Mitchell, get that turned on, and then literally any tight end at all. It can be a group effort.

Starting point is 00:16:56 I don't care. But you can't be working against the progress. You know what I mean? You can't be making weirdly timed dives and missing the ball. You can't be dropping the ball when it's very catchable. Like we we've, we've got to get it together here. You, you just had the bi-week, like it's too late in the season to be making such like elementary mistakes, it seems. So the tight ends got to get it together. A.D. Mitchell, I mean,

Starting point is 00:17:26 he's a rookie, but it's late in the season. They're trying to rely on him. They're trying to get him more work. And with more productivity will come more work. So it's obviously a very talented guy. He gets all that separation still. Just got to come down with the ball and make some things happen. Yeah. And just to lump it in with A.D. Mitchell and the tight ends, because a big part of the conversation with both of those things is just the players on offense making plays for the quarterback. This is not an Anthony Richardson apologist type of thing I'm about to say. It's just facts off the last couple of weeks.

Starting point is 00:17:58 Anthony Richardson's completion percentage is up eight percent, eight percentage points since coming back to the starting lineup. His adjusted completion percentage is nearly at 70 percent since returning. It's% 8 percentage points since coming back to the starting lineup his adjusted completion percentage is nearly at 70% since returning it's up 13 percentage points and the really the big issue is the deep ball hasn't been there the deep ball has not been connecting since he's back he's one of 13 on passes above 20 yards since returning to the lineup but here's where the real issue is it's not really him he's's had three drops on passes above 20 yards. He had two last week with, or two weeks ago

Starting point is 00:18:29 with A.D. Mitchell's drop and Kylan Granson's drop. And then technically it wasn't a drop with the Ashton Doolin thing along the sidelines was a drop in my book. Catchable, yeah. Yeah, it should have been a catch. But it's plays like that. Like these are plays that need to be made

Starting point is 00:18:43 for your quarterback. I'm not saying he's a perfect quarterback by any means. He misses his fair share of throws still, but with his improved play, his completion percentage is still kind of the worst in football since returning to the lineup. And a lot of that is his players just not making plays on the ball and not finishing plays. I mean, we are seeing guys week in and week out. I mean, I was over this past weekend, I was watching the Rams game against the Buffalo Bills. And I know this is a crazy comparison, but Puka Nakua catches everything.

Starting point is 00:19:10 Puka Nakua caught everything for the Rams. I was jealous watching that. And then you see on Sundays, the Colts receivers consistently dropping passes and not being at their landmarks. I mean, anytime you throw it to Kylan Granson, it's a 50-50 if he's even going to be looking for the ball when you're throwing it to him. So it's kind of things like that. Like I'm not saying all these guys need to be as good as Puka Nakua, but it would be nice to see the receiver show up on a weekend. I do think Alec Pierce has done great this season. Josh Downs has been fantastic as well. Michael Pittman Jr. in spurts has been good. They need these other guys to step up, though.

Starting point is 00:19:46 Like A.D. Mitchell, if you're going to get your number called twice a game, you've got to make plays on those two times, or you're not going to get more than two times a game. The tight ends, if you want to be anything in this offense, please, during this final month, catch the ball when it's thrown your way. I think Moelle Cox has done great at catching the ball, but that's really about it. And Moelle Cox isn't getting separation.

Starting point is 00:20:06 He's just catching it when it's thrown his way. So I do think these tight ends need to be much better. I think A.D. Mitchell, Ashton Doolin need to be better when they're out there. And these guys just need to make plays for their quarterback. I think they've been better at times this season, but it certainly needs to pop up in this final month. The supporting cast needs to be very good this final month for the Colts to make this playoff push even possible.

Starting point is 00:20:30 But coming up, guys, we're going to shift our focus away from the offense and talk about this Colts defense. Can they turn it around at the right time and catch fire in this final month of the season? We're going to talk about that here in just a second. Get ready to tackle the NFL action with FanDuel, America's number one sportsbook. Because right now, new customers can bet $5 and get $150 in bonus bets back if you win. The FanDuel Sportsbook app gives you everything you need to place live bets on the NFL all in one place.

Starting point is 00:21:02 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 where you place your bets. FanDuel has the Broncos as four and a half point favorites in this one. And that might be generous. I mean, that's kind of a overarching view of it.

Starting point is 00:21:19 But, you know, looking at the matchups, we'll see, we'll see. Both teams coming off of a bye. Plenty of time to prepare for each other. So go to FanDuel.com and let them know what you think. You'll get started with $150 in bonus bets if you win your first $5 bet. That's FanDuel.com. Never waste a hunch and make every moment more with FanDuel,

Starting point is 00:21:40 an official sportsbook partner of the NFL. All right. Let's talk about the defensive side of the ball, which has just been an enigma this year. You know, they had vast improvement. It seemed like they were carrying the team through the middle portion of the season. And then they've had a couple clunkers in recent weeks. You know, they made the Patriots,

Starting point is 00:22:03 which was, you know, statistically, you know, looking at all things, one of the worst offenses in recent weeks. They made the Patriots, which was statistically looking at all things, one of the worst offenses in the league, maybe the worst, made them look pretty good in their last game. But this is their last opportunity to allow that to happen against the Broncos this week. There are a handful of guys who definitely could step up. For me, I look at a couple pass rushers. Dayo Odengbo hasn't had a sack in five games. Taequann Lewis is back now, and I'm kind of

Starting point is 00:22:31 looking for that lightning in a bottle that he provided last year, where like super limited sample size because they had a deep rotation. But when he was in there, he was disrupting the backfield. So Dayo, he's a very, very streaky player. When he gets on those hot streaks, he's hard to stop. So you can never have too much pass rush. You can never have too much disruption in the backfield. You get Dio going, you get Tyquan Lewis going as well. That could be pretty tough.

Starting point is 00:23:00 Yeah, and I love the shout out and I love calling out specific players. But Jake, the biggest thing for me when it comes to this Colts defense is this defense has been at its best this season when they have been creating turnovers. Because look, they're going to give up yards to whoever they play against. They could play against a local rec team in football, and they're going to give up a ton of yards. It's just the nature of how this defense is.

Starting point is 00:23:19 It is a bend, don't break. It is allow you to go 40 plays down the field on us, but the second you try to push it down the field, the second that you're careless with the ball when you're carrying it, we're going to force a turnover and get the ball back for our offense. And during that middle stretch, you know, following the Jacksonville disaster all the way up until I guess like the Jets game is where I would really say the Colts were forcing a ton of turnovers.

Starting point is 00:23:41 They were getting a ton of turnovers. They were getting sacks. They were getting pressure and they were standing tall in the red zone. They were a very good red zone defense in that stretch. But what we've seen these last three weeks is the turnovers have plummeted. I want to say they've only forced one turnover the past three games. So Jets, Lions, and Patriots games, I think only one turnover. And it was that lucky bounce pick against the Patriots in the red zone. So only one turnover. They have not been very strong in the red zone. They've been giving up a lot of touchdowns in the red zone to teams, and they

Starting point is 00:24:11 haven't been getting off the field on third down or getting the sacks nearly as much. And I think that's where you're really seeing this defense kind of fall off again and get back to their early season mistakes. So really, it just comes down to anybody on this defense making plays. They need somebody to step up, be a difference maker, enforce turnovers. I don't care just comes down to anybody on this defense making plays. They need somebody to step up, be a difference maker in forced turnovers. I don't care if it has to be some superhuman effort. I don't care if it needs to be just super lucky like it was against the Patriots on that red zone turnover, like whatever it needs to be. But this Colts defense cannot survive unless they're standing tall in the red zone and they're forcing turnovers. So Dayo Dengbo, Taequann Lewis, it can be those guys.

Starting point is 00:24:46 It can also be your top players, DeForest Buckner, Zyre Franklin, Kenny Moore. Like these guys are getting paid big dollars. They got to get out there and forcing turnovers because your bend don't break style doesn't work if you're breaking, you know, every single time. So they definitely need that. They need to get the turnover luck back in there. It's almost like not to go on too much of a tangent here but it is almost hilarious that the second anthony

Starting point is 00:25:10 richardson gets back in the lineup all of a sudden the turnover luck for the defense just deteriorates back down to nothing right why did joe flacco get the dirt the defense that could force a ton of turnovers and then richardson comes back in his defense can't force turnovers again like come on but um yeah they just need to get back to forcing the turnovers they were a legitimately really good defense during that middle stretch against some really good offenses because they were forcing a ton of turnovers and that's how they were limiting offenses and getting them off the field but when that turnover luck has fallen back these past couple weeks, you're seeing the issues that have been persistent all season long. Yeah, no, that's definitely true.

Starting point is 00:25:50 And you look at like a Julian Blackman, for example, Julian Blackman and Kenny Moore. Those are kind of your biggest fire starters when it comes to getting those turnovers and like uniquely creating them. You know, and they are very good at like baiting quarterbacks. And those numbers just haven't really been there. Like Kenny's been fine. I think he may only have the one pick though against the bills, maybe one or two picks this year. But those guys, you know, maybe getting in better position.

Starting point is 00:26:18 I don't know what's behind it. Like I can't say they played poorly. Certainly not Kenny, but I just feel like we haven't really called Julian Blackman's name much. And unfortunately he's, you know, he's been featured in kind of some low lights, but you know, those two guys, Nick Cross has kind of done a decent job of creating turnovers when the

Starting point is 00:26:37 ball's in his area. You know, he's, he's not a guy that's going to like get really creative with it and like bait the quarterbacks like the other guys are. But if he's in the area, he can come down with the ball. So they definitely need those guys. Jalen Jones kind of, as we predicted, you know, he had the two pick game against the bears, but had never had an interception before then and hasn't had one since. That is a huge part of it, man. And that was one of the big problems they had early in the season was they

Starting point is 00:27:04 could never get off of the field. But when those turnovers started to come, like you mentioned, DeForest Buckner got back, the pass rush increased, they were getting some interceptions. When those things came up, that was working. feels like the linebackers are the last guys that have really been coming down with the picks you know Zaire had one against the Vikings uh EJ Speed had one against the Bills so the DB's got to get back into the the turnover creating business as well I agree yeah and and look the the linebackers have at least been forcing turnovers but again here's kind of my thing if if if the linebackers and the safeties are already going to be missing a ton of tackles, at least punch with the ball every single time. Like, you know, like this defense has not been great at tackling this season. So, look, if we can't tackle, at least do everything you can to get that ball separated from runner. Like, we got to get turnovers. And then when they get their chances, we need the good luck to jump on the ball and stuff like that. But no, I do think that like all justice side, I do think this is a big final stretch

Starting point is 00:28:07 for players like EJ Speed and Julian Blackman who are free agents after the season. And I don't really think either player have really made a strong case this season to be re-signed. EJ Speed's had some good moments, but he leads the NFL in missed tackles this season. He has not been particularly great in coverage. Pro football focus is very brutal on his overall game this season. And Julian Blackman, who we all thought

Starting point is 00:28:29 was the steal of the offseason with how cheap a contract he got, has kind of played up to the level of his contract essentially this season, which is a near minimum starter for your team. Not awful, but certainly not like an impact player. Both those players have a big audition here for the Colts and or other teams in this final month. Like if they can really stand out, make some big plays and be part of a team that makes an unlikely playoff push, then they could see like some serious cash come their way this offseason. But if not, I mean, honestly, it looks like blackman's probably heading towards another very low contract and ej speed i'm curious to see what his his deal is going to look like this offseason because i can't imagine it's for much more than like a high-end special team or low-end starter at this point so not even just talking just for the colts here but

Starting point is 00:29:19 talking about those guys like prospects in free agency like those guys need to finish the seats and strong i'll throw dio into that too because it seems counterproductive but just how we know it works with the colts you know dio is coming into free agency and he might he might get a high dollar amount he could play inside and out and he's's been productive and has had a decent career trajectory. But they've got Samson Ebicom coming back from an Achilles. It seems crazy to let Dio walk because you've got this 30-plus-year-old guy coming back from an Achilles, but I could see it with the Colts. So if Dio really steps up in these next few games

Starting point is 00:30:01 and makes it so it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever to let him walk. I mean, that that that would be great. But now this is a big game for him or a big stretch for him as well. Yeah. So, guys, we got the Indianapolis Colts and essentially what is a playoff game this weekend. We're going to be covering slash talking about this game all week. It's been a long day, obviously, for me. We're going to be leading everything into this Broncos game because, again, this is the game of the year for the Indianapolis Colts. So we're going to treat it like such this week

Starting point is 00:30:32 and talk all about Broncos Colts as long as we can this week. We want to thank you guys, though, for making Locked On Colts your first listen today. Now for your second listen, go find the new Locked On NFL 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 on youtube wherever you list your podcast if you if you guys want to become a locked on colts insider and chat with us directly

Starting point is 00:30:57 to get that insider scoop follow the link in our show notes if you don't already make sure you're following at locked on colts at jake arNFL, and at ZachHicks2 all on Twitter. Also, subscribe to us on YouTube wherever you list your podcasts. We love your guys' ratings and views, and we'll catch you guys back here tomorrow afternoon.

Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts: Playoffs Start Now with Denver Broncos Waiting

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