Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts: Sam Ehlinger's Debut Spoiled in Loss to Washington Commanders

Episode Date: October 31, 2022

The Indianapolis Colts fell at home to the Washington Commanders by a score of 17-16 in quarterback Sam Ehlinger's debut. Parris Campbell had a "why they drafted me" game, and the defense bent until it broke with less than a minute remaining.Find and follow Locked On Colts on your favorite podcast platforms:📺YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLdpxJspi1hMh5HL7ExpWOQ🎧 Apple https://itunes.apple.com/podcast/id1151621306🎧 Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/6meP450baAtjX4rTENZ5ij🎧 Audacy https://www.audacy.com/podcasts/locked-on-colts-daily-podcast-on-the-indianapolis-colts-21701🎧 Google https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vUFBZODk1ODUyODkyNQ🎧 Megaphone https://cms.megaphone.fm/channel/lockedoncoltsFollow Jake and Zach's written work on HorseshoeHuddle.com, and give them a follow on Twitter @JakeArthurNFL, @ZachHicks2, and @LockedOnColts!Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!LinkedInLinkedIn Jobs helps you find the candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONNFLBuilt BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnlineBetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds, and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!PrizePicksFirst-time users can receive a 100% instant deposit match up to $100 with promo code LOCKEDON. That’s PrizePicks.com – promo code; LOCKEDONSimpliSafeWith Fast Protect™️ Technology, exclusively from SimpliSafe, 24/7 monitoring agents capture evidence to accurately verify a threat for faster police response. There’s No Safe Like SimpliSafe. Visit SimpliSafe.com/LockedOnNFL to learn more.BlueNileMake your moment sparkle with Blue Nile. Go to BlueNile.com and use code lockedon to save fifty dollars on your purchase of five-hundred dollars or more.BetterHelpThis episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at Betterhelp.com/LockedOn and get on your way to being your best self. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Colts didn't get off to the start that they hoped for in the Sam Ellinger era, but we're pretty sure the rest of the season is going to at least be entertaining. 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. All right. Thank you Colts fans for tuning in and making us your first listen of the day.

This is your daily podcast covering your Indianapolis Colts. We're part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. This is Jake Arthur alongside Zach Hicks. And you know the two of us from HorseshoeHuddle.com. Today, it's all about Colts and Commanders. The Colts dropped this one back at home, 17-16. It was, again, like we said, it was the first game of the Sam Ellinger era at quarterback. The offense has saved their best for last, and unfortunately for the Colts, there wasn't enough time left on the clock to make their final push. So Zach, obviously the biggest storyline in this one for us is,

again, it was Sam Ellinger's first career start, really his first career action whatsoever. What did you think? I was pretty impressed. You know, I know all week we were celebrating Sam Ellinger. The era is starting. Like, all the weight is off our shoulders because it's Sam Ellinger. There's no expectations now.

And honestly, yeah, going into this game, no expectations. I could have been persuaded either way going to this game like oh he's gonna tear it up or he's gonna be terrible or or he's gonna be mediocre and I thought for the most part he was solid like I don't think he was anything special out there I didn't think he looked like a franchise quarterback or look like oh my gosh they found the next Josh Allen or they found the next Tony Romo or something like that you know like I didn't I didn't see any of that today, but I saw a solid quarterback. I mean, he looked the part. I mean, he looked really poised and in control out there, made some really nice throws.

The deep pass to Alec Pierce was a phenomenal pass. And even the deep throw to Paris Campbell that drew that pass interference, I think later on that same drive was another really, really nice pass. So, yeah, I think Sam Ellinger played really well. And I think today's performance goes to show that the Colts' issues go a lot further than just the quarterback. I think quarterback was obviously an issue with Matt Ryan. Matt Ryan was turning the ball over a little bit too much. But no, this Indianapolis Colts team is broken from top to bottom. It's not just coaching. It's not just one player or two players here. It's everything

that's out there. And they lost to a pretty poor team in the Washington Commanders. But Sam Ellinger, man, I really don't have too many negative things to say. I do think he was off with a couple throws, but for the most part, a really, really strong day for a six-round, basically a six-round rookie. This is kind of his rookie season, his first real action. You really couldn't ask for much more than what he did out there today. No, totally agree. He's not the reason they lost. I mean, now it's a one-point difference in this game. So his lost fumble in the red zone, of course, is a big issue. But I thought we saw some things from him that I hoped we would see. There was several plays where he was pressured and he escaped where I don't think Matt Ryan

escapes that. It's a sack. Best case scenario with Matt Ryan, a throwaway. We've seen plenty of times this season it could have been a fumble or just an ill-advised interception. So as far as facing pressure goes, I thought Elanger did pretty well. The downfield passing game was pretty good. Now he's not known for his arm strength and his lack thereof did show up a couple of times when it came time to put it in some, some windows and intermediate throws, but downfield, on none of those downfield shots did I think, man,

he just doesn't have the arm for it. Like you mentioned, that deep post to Alec Pierce, beautiful. Paris Campbell draws the DPI later in the game for that 30-yard spot foul down here. Six-yard line, Naheem Hines runs it in right after. So honestly, I think the rest of the season is at least going to be a little more entertaining. I think he's only going to get better. I think Frank Reich is going to learn how to cater the offense to him a little bit more. We saw as the game went on, the play calling became less conservative.

It was painful at times early on. There were just times where it's like, all right, yes, he's young and inexperienced, but you just switch to this young, exciting quarterback for a reason. Like you got to turn it loose a little bit. So hopefully as the season goes on, they'll pull some things out. They'll probably have to next week against New England because Bill Belichick's probably going to try to make it confusing

as all get out for him. So overall, I thought it was pretty good. Yeah, I'm a little concerned for next week for Sam Ellinger. And, you know, I think there are going to be a lot of fans this week that are saying, like, look, Sam Ellinger looked the part. He looked like he's going to be a franchise quarterback, you know, starting next year. I do think, you know, some of that's going to come crashing down next week because a young quarterback versus Bill Belichick defense and that Bill Belichick defense has played

really well in recent weeks. I do think it's going to come crashing down a little bit next week. But, again, this is all about how well Sam Ellinger played. I was really impressed. I think his pocket movement was really strong. And outside of the fumble, which, honestly, it wasn't even like it was a struggle. Like, it wasn't even like that fumble was like Matt Ryan,

where he was loose with the ball or anything like that. It's just it slipped out of his hands as he was putting it away. Like, it happens. I know in this season with how many turnovers the Colts offense has, it feels like, oh, gosh, another turnover-prone guy or something like that. But it's just a fluky, bad play in a rookie or young quarterback's first start. Like, it happens. I mean, outside of that, I really don't have too many negative things to say. I like that he extended a lot of plays with his legs and you could tell the

offensive line wasn't ready for it because they got a lot of holding calls. But no, I, I was really impressed with Sam Ellinger. I, you know, as someone who wasn't super high on him as a prospect, you know, coming out of Texas, I thought, you know, maybe he could stick on as like third stringer or a backup somewhere. But we've seen a lot of growth these last two years here with the Colts. And now, obviously, to get to this point where he's ultimately the starter for the team. And you can tell he's a very different quarterback than what he was at Texas.

At Texas, there's a lot of running the ball. There's a lot of one-read stuff. A lot of where the arm just didn't look there in college. But now, you know, he looked like an NFL player out there. And I think that's the most you can, you can ask out of a six round guy making his first star. He looked like he belonged out there. And, and as the game went on, you know, he made some big throws, you know, so, you know, again, I'm not going to come out here and say like, Sam Ellinger is the truth. He's the guy that you want to start forever. I'm not going to write some big heart emotional article or something like that,

being like from rags to riches, Sam Ellinger saves the Colts future or something like that. But this was a solid game. I feel pretty comfortable saying after this game, it's like, look, you might have a Teddy Bridgewater type or a Taylor Heineke type. And that's good. That's really, really good considering where he came from. And that's just at the start. That's just where we're saying, you know, he could obviously get a lot better. He could get worse. But as of right now,

I'm pretty optimistic about him the rest of the season as being a player that you kind of want to keep around. And I think that's a great thing for a six round rookie, again, making his first or six round second year guy, but basically a rookie making his first career start. So for all the disaster that happened today for them to lose this game to a pretty porous Washington Commanders team, Sam Ellinger was not really much of an issue. I was pretty, pretty impressed with him. Yeah, for sure. I mean, this this game didn't do anything for to dissuade me from still looking for the quarterback of the future. Right. But I'm still definitely down with him being the backup. Like I, I think you're decently secure with him as your backup,

if something happens to the starter. So yeah. Looking elsewhere on the defense. Yeah. A lot of us that cover the games live, you know, we've got articles built throughout most of the game we're working on. I had a chunk on my Jake's takes.

That was, you know, defense was, you know, defense, you know, goes into bend but don't break mode. And at that point, I had the Colts winning the game. That's how my article was themed and everything. And then they broke at the worst possible time. They put together an 89-yard drive, covering two minutes at the end of the game,

score ultimately the game-winning touchdown with 22 seconds left. Yeah, I mean, holding a team to 17 points is pretty good on the face of it. They weren't able to... They didn't play Antonio Gibson very well on the outside, I didn't think. Terry McLaurin did Terry McLaurin things. He does things where even the best coverage, it doesn't matter. And that's Stefan Gilmore play there at the end.

I thought that was a good example. Gilmore was in good position, could have just as easily had an interception, but McLaurin wins those nine out of 10 times. So I'm not really mad about it, but I thought their pass rush kind of broke down later in the game. Heineke had a little too much time to pass. And Gokwe on that play where Heineke escaped, they were deep in their own territory,

and he rolls out and finds Curtis Samuel on that final drive. I thought Gokwe probably could have done a little more to prevent that from happening. But, yeah, bend but don't break, and then they broke. Yeah, I think you summed it up pretty well. We'll talk about it more in segment three,. But yeah, bend, but don't break. And then they broke. Yeah. I think you summed it up pretty well. We'll talk about it more in segment three, but yeah, I think you summed it up pretty well. Look, you can't ask your defense consistently in the NFL to hold teams under 20 points. It's just, it's not a realistic ask and it's just not going to happen in today's NFL, even against the worst offenses. So yeah, I mean,

bend, don't break works when you, you know, actually have an offense that can help you with that. You know, when, when you have to bend, don't break for an entire game for entire season so far, you know, it's, it's, it's a bit of a struggle. So yeah, I think you summed it up pretty well. Yeah. That was the thing I tweeted before, you know, I probably third or fourth quarter, you know, I just feel so bad for the Colts defense because the offense rarely does anything to help them. So they're always kind of backed into a corner. Before we move on and talk more about offense and defense in detail, we want to tell

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Learn more and save 10% off your first month at betterhelp.com slash locked on. That's betterhelp.com slash locked on. All right, Zach. So looking at the offense, we obviously talked about quarterback a bit. Let's talk about the run game. Jonathan Taylor is kind of a footnote of a topic in this one, about 70 yards rushing. Did have a good 27-yard scamper. He left the game briefly with his ankle injury. Man, they still can't get it running with him. from what you've seen do you think it's still him being uncomfortable with this offensive line in the blocking or is the offensive line just doing

him no favors I think it's a culmination of things you know Jonathan Taylor doesn't look like Jonathan Taylor this year I don't know if it's the same for all you guys but for me watching he looks quick he looks fine getting through the hole, but he just doesn't have that burst this year. It's just been ever since week one, you know, week one, he looked like Jonathan Taylor, but since then, it's just, it looks like he's running in quicksand a little bit compared to what we saw for a majority of last season.

I'm not saying that obviously he's washed or he's a horrible running back or anything like that, but I just think it's going to be one of those years for him where, you know, we see this with running backs where they have years where you just cannot escape that injury bug. And he's been, he's been scot-free for a majority of his career going back to when he started playing football. He's pretty much avoided that injury bug his entire life. So you knew eventually it was going to catch up to him.

And this year it looks like it's just one thing after another, you know, it was that toe injury early in the year. And then it was the ankle injury that made him miss a couple of games. And then the ankles were getting taped up yet again today. It just seems like the injury thing is kind of holding him back a little bit and holding back his athleticism at what makes him so great. And then you factor in this offensive line is just a train wreck and in every regard from, from pass blocking to run blocking, literally everything, this offensive line is just a train wreck in every regard from from pass blocking to run blocking literally everything this offensive line is just it's just terrible they cannot get any push up front they cannot open up the holes I mean yeah the 27 yard run was great but that was more of the misdirection

in the backfield that opened up that run than than the offensive line displacing anybody so it's kind of a culmination of a lot of things and obviously we're seeing a lot of fumbles now from him where that wasn't an issue at all last year. It was a little bit of an issue as rookie season, but you know, he kind of cleaned a lot of that up and now we saw a second fumble today. That's two on the year for him. Yeah. I just think it's going to be one of those years where it's going to be

hard for him to escape that injury bug. And it's just going to be a tough battle for him all season to even get close to what he was last year. So, you know, it sucks because he's a great player and I do think he's... Not again. You always pick that room with the phone there. But no, I think John Taylor is a great player. It's just, it's going to be a tough year for him with this offensive line and with his injury

issues. Yeah, it's tough to see because I think you kind of nailed it. The burst just doesn't look like it's there, but I mean, when you're a running back that's that explosive and you've had a couple lower leg issues, like what do you expect? Looking at the other skill positions, Michael Pittman Jr., Alec Pierce, tight ends were almost non-existent in this one, but I thought Pittman and Pierce looked overall good, except for Pittman had that oof, that suffocating drop at the end. Like, that was probably a difference maker. And I'm not going to pile on him because he's one of the most reliable players on the entire team. Like, he's the tough catch guy over the middle.

Like, he's allowed to have something like this every now and then. But that was a bad drop. Yeah, that was definitely, you know, if you had like 1% hope in the Colts winning that game, it dropped with that ball hitting the turf there. But no, I think he was mostly fine for the day. Yeah, he has some of those easy drops every now and then, but a lot of good receivers do.

Hopefully you want him to clean that up, but it is what it is. Alec Pierce was phenomenal. I love Alec Pierce. He's so good. He should have drawn a penalty down the field on a pass early in the game. I have no clue how that wasn't a flag. But after that, I mean, he was uncoverable. I mean, he had that really nice catch on third down, which gave the Colts a field goal. I believe he had that beautiful deep ball where he just toasted a really good corner. You know, Benjamin St. Juice is a corner who's really coming into his own this year. Really good press corner.

And Alec Pierce just smoked him off the line and beat him on that post. So, yeah, Alec Pierce has been great. And then the guy you didn't even mention, Paris Campbell, man. Oh, I was going to get there. Yeah, he gets his own segment or something. Man, Paris Campbell, he looked like Ohio State Paris Campbell today. Like, I think you had a tweet today where today where like he just fit the draft profile perfectly with everything he did today uh the little handoff for a huge gain he had a screenplay for a huge gain

drew the deep pass interference uh yeah Paris Campbell was the star on offense in this one and and you know I was kind of a little low on Paris Campbell with it with Sam Ellinger becoming the starter because I was like look he's gonna's going to lose a lot of those. Me too. He's not going to see 10 to 12 targets underneath like he was with Matt Ryan. But what we're seeing is a more creative offense, an offense that is more built for an athletic quarterback. And with that, you have your athletic guy like Paris Campbell

getting a lot more touches in space and getting more touches down the field. And yeah, man, he looked like Paris Campbell of Ohio State. I was so impressed with Paris Campbell, man. And it's really been these last three weeks. These last three weeks he's looked like a really good player for the Colts. You know, we're always sitting here talking up Alec Pierce, Michael Pittman Jr., even some of the tight ends. But, yeah, Paris Campbell's quietly coming to his own these last couple weeks.

And he's kind of looked like the player that they spent that high draft pick on years ago. For sure. Yeah, I wrote after the game, this is how you use him. Because, I mean, man, he'd gotten a lot of attention recently. But I feel like overall this season, they've been using him like Patriots Wes Welker. It's like, why do you have this explosive guy that you're not moving down the field? And, you know, as a rookie, they did use him in the field and you know as a rookie they did use him in a diverse you know a diverse amount of ways you know handoffs jet sweeps you know screens yes but with opportunity to actually do something after and then like i said you had

mentioned the tweet i said if he just gets a shot down field that's going to hit the bingo card and he did uh he didn't catch it but he drew the defensive pass interference this is how you can use him he's an explosive player just try and fool the defense a little bit with it and you know they got a little gadgety naheem hines had a nice play too on i think he took the direct snap and fake the handoff to ellinger and took it himself so yeah just you know keep stuff like that you have Naheem Hines and Paris Campbell. It's two guys. You have unique players in them. Just keep using them that way, basically.

Yeah, I enjoyed the Colts offense today more than I had, I think, any other game outside of the Jaguar, the second Jaguars game, because even though they only scored 16 points, like they were constantly moving the ball, and they were doing it in kind of fun ways. You know, explosive pass down the field here, jet sweep to Paris Campbell here you know stuff like that I was enjoying this offense a lot more than I enjoyed the Matt Ryan offense where anytime Matt Ryan wasn't fumbling or wasn't getting hit in the backfield it felt like a win where Sam Ellinger

was kind of able to move out of there like get the ball out um yeah I enjoyed this Colts offense a lot more today and I thought it was probably the the most diverse we've seen the Colts offense all season. No doubt. Now, so final checkmark before we reach the defense offensive line. Was this closer to the Jaguars version or one of the disastrous versions to you? Because I think Ellinger's ability to escape a little bit kind of skews it. Yeah, they're just bad. Look, I think those first couple weeks where we kept saying like, oh yeah, this Colts offense could be pretty good if their offensive line figures it out. I think

we got to get to the point now, and I think a lot of people are, this offensive line's not going to get better. It's just bad. You can bench Matt Pryor and put in Will Fries. And I think that should be the right move. And I still think that's bad. You can bench Ryan Kelly and put Danny Pinter out there. It's still going to be bad. This Colts offensive line is just broken at its core. Every single player is underperforming. Quinton Nelson had a really, really bad day today against Jonathan Allen, which given it's Jonathan Allen, but it's also Quinton Nelson.

Like Quinton Nelson should be, should be having a good game. This wasn't. It's becoming a trend where, you know, you, you say, yeah, but it's this guy. It's like, okay, well you have a guy who's supposed to be the Hulk and the opponent is supposed to say, yeah, but it's Quentin Nelson, but it's going the other way around. Right. Right. And here's the thing, like we have said in weeks past, you know, maybe it's not Quentin Nelson because, it's going the other way around. Right, right. And here's the thing. Like we have said in weeks past, you know, maybe it's not Quentin Nelson because, oh, look, these stunts are happening. He's having to account for weak play on his left and his right. But, no, today Washington did not run many stunts.

It was a lot of straight-up rushes. And it was just Jonathan Allen just beating the brakes off of Quentin Nelson and run plays and pass plays. And the same across the rest of the offensive line. You know, Montez Sweat was destroying Dennis Kelly at left tackle. plays and pass plays uh and same across the rest of the offensive line uh you know montez sweat was was destroying dennis kelly at left tackle uh d'aaron pain had a couple nice rushes as well i mean it's just this offensive line is not going to get better i don't even think it's a coaching thing at this point i really just think these players will really regress with injury and with

time and stuff like that uh they definitely need an overhaul but the unfortunate part is after the season even if you move on from Ryan Kelly and Matt Pryor, you're still tying up $40 million in Braden Smith and Quentin Nelson. And who knows if they can ever get back to what they were. So yeah, there's a lot of issues going forward with this Colts offensive line and it's just not, it's not going to get better this season. You know, Sam Allen Grist can be running for his life for the rest of the season. Seems like an important reason to move to a quarterback who can do a little more with this feet right if your line is gonna suck

all year come on if your line is gonna suck all year you might as well have a quarterback that can try and avoid some of that pressure so right right absolutely guys next up we're going to talk about this colts defense and everything they did great and not so great in this loss to the commanders but first you know it's never a bad time to buy a little jewelry for your special someone whether you're looking to pop the question have a milestone to celebrate or want to let your love sparkle Blue Nile can help you make your celebrations even more memorable as the original online jeweler Blue Nile offers the largest selection of independently graded diamonds and pieces priced significantly below traditional retailers Blue Nile offers the largest selection of independently graded diamonds and pieces priced significantly below traditional retailers.

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That's B-L-U-E-N-I-L-E.com, code LOCKEDON to save $50 on your purchase of $500 or more. BlueNile.com, code LOCKEDON. All right, Jag, let's talk about this Colts defense. I mean, I have a small complaint with the Colts. Small complaint. Smallish complaint. I think this defense is an adequate to above average. Like it's an average to above average defense. I know a lot of people will point to points per game and a lot of other things saying that this is a really good defense.

Like maybe a top 10 or top 5 defense. My only issue with this defense is every time we've seen them kind of need to make that stop, you know, today they needed to make that stop. And I'm not even saying that this was a horrible performance by them. They needed to make that stop in this game. They needed that stop against the Jaguars or whatever. And the Jaguars went right down the field. Every time we've kind of seen teams have to score on this defense,

they kind of have, you know, and I think that's what separates a really good defense from an adequate defense or above average. Now I do think this is a defense you can win with. I think it is a winnable defense. They do a lot of good things. I think they have a lot of good players that fly around, but I don't think this is a defense that can carry an atrocious offense. And I think that's what we're seeing. Like we're seeing a defense that is good enough to keep them in games and can hold some offenses

down but I don't know if they're I don't know how good this defense would be if if the Colts if teams actually had to score on them you know like teams don't really have to score on them much uh but I do want to say I do think this is a solid defense but yeah they they came up short again when they kind of needed to stop, and we've seen that these last couple weeks. Yeah, and, I mean, part of it is the offense just continually handing them, you know, putting them back on the field because they, you know, their drives can't be sustained.

But at the same time, you know, that is your reality, and you have to overcome it um yeah i mean it's it's weird because they they held the commanders to 2 of 12 on third down today which is awesome uh but i think the fact that the commanders scored you know they got 17 which again that's not a high number no uh but they had a lot of chunk plays they had a lot of big plays the mclaurin one was big in the curtis samuel one at the in the final drive those were obviously big plays but it kind of had a lot of routine big plays in there like 12 yards here 15 yards here a lot of that stuff that just

continuing their drives and getting field goals and but yeah yeah just and it's it's hard to just put it on one thing it's just timing sucks a lot of the time like that i've come to find that with the offense too it's hard to just pinpoint what's going on but they're just giving up plays at the worst times i don't know just not a great team but no i i do think again that was just me pushing back a little bit on the premise that this defense is like a top 10 unit or anything like that. I do think they're a good unit. I think talent-wise and also kind of a lot of what they're doing outside of just turnovers being a crazy metric,

I do think this is the best defense that Frank Reich has had. I do think some of the Matt Iberflues defenses were almost as good, and they forced a lot of turnovers, so it's kind of hard to definitely say that. But I do think this is a defense you can win with if you had a decent offense. It's just I don't know if they're like a top-ten unit, and I know a lot of people are pointing to this defense saying, oh, the Colts will win a couple more games because of this defense. I don't know, man.

I don't know. But looking at some individual players, I thought Grover Stewart, again, was absolutely phenomenal. I mean, he's one of the best defensive tackles in all of football. Not as great a pass rusher, but just such a big impact. Zyra Franklin and Bobby Okereke looked really good out there. E.J. Speed had another fourth down stop, which was awesome. I kind of want to see more of him on the field. He looks good every time he's out there.

So I think there were some standout players, but I don't know. It's a weird feeling with this game. I think the defense was mostly good in this game, but it's like I had higher expectations for them in this one. And it's tough. I mean, that Terry McLaurin play, you know, Stephon Gilmore probably breaks it up nine times out of 10, but Terry McLaurin just out- muscled him for it but um yeah i wish they would have held on there but like you said it's hard to really put a lot on this defense when they're out there so much they're out there all game long because the colts offense is turning the ball over or they're getting three and outs and stuff like that so it's really tough to talk about this

defense right now yeah i i will say so shaquille leonard returned today it was a pitch count and i literally had a bullet point on my post game piece before this that was uh you know the the colts defense is playing decent but where's the turnovers and then right on time shaquille leonard gets the interception and it's like why can't they get any turnovers without him like and it wasn't he didn't even make a gifted play like he's just always right there when the quarterback's like here, bud, like he's so weird, man. He's so, he's a, he's a ball magnet, but it's like, they've got to, if this defense is going to be that one that can overcome this offense,

they have to get more turnovers. I think that's the difference that, or more sacks. One of the two. Yeah. And I think there's pressure, a lot of pressure. The blitzes are really well timed, too. They're getting there. It's just, it's always like one guy. It's not even just the same guy. Now, a lot of it is Yannick Ngakwe, so I will throw that name out there.

But it's always like one guy loses contain. And then they're able to miss a sack. Or one guy just misses that tackle in the backfield. And they're able to get out of that sack. But I think there's a lot of ingredients for this to be a really good defense they need more turnovers and probably more sacks like you said and just more timely more timeliness they've had a lot of untimely things happen and they've still been a pretty good defense so I think if I'm really great in this defense I'd say like a B or B plus like I don't have many issues it's just I don't

think they're the type of defense that can carry this type of offense. And that's why we're seeing this, this team be three, four and one right now. And, and also they probably should be worse if the defense didn't have some timely things happen in their wins,

you know, some timely plays against the Broncos and chiefs that kind of led to those wins there. So overall, again, I like this defense. I don't love it. I think there's a lot of good with it though.

And you know, on paper, they did enough to win today. It's just it sucks that it came down. It makes it look like they blew the win when, again, the offense had two, like, red zone or near red zone turnovers where they should have been able to really pull away in this one. So, yeah, it's tough talking this defense right now because I – they're not the main problem. They're not like this amazing, like, they're not like, who's that guy who used to slap the Billy Mays stuff, whatever, like the stick.

Yeah, it's not like that stuff. It's not like they're just the fix it all, you know, to everything. But, yeah, I don't know this seems kind of frustrating even though i really am not too upset after this one because it's like you know again that weight was off my shoulder whenever they when they mentioned sam ellinger was going to be the starter but uh yeah i wish the defense could have pulled it off but again a lot of tough situations for him yeah i think you made a good point i don't feel as drained after this loss because maybe maybe my expectations have been lowered like if you're starting a quarterback for the first time you don't really expect to win so

all we get all we can hope for is some entertainment but i really wish they would also stop losing these games where there's legends in the building like tart glenn got inducted into the ring of honor here today and Peyton's here Marvin Edren Reggie Wayne all all of like the modern all-time greats are here and they just I feel like they lose these all the time look Sam Ellinger Paris Campbell and Grover Stewart all showed up for this one so yeah hats off to those guys they were awesome you know the coaching the rest of the team not as much but i i had more fun today than i had in recent weeks despite the loss because i don't know i just the offense was a little more exciting despite the same old issues kind of plaguing them yeah they have a sample size now and some tape of

what they can do with this offense moving forward and maybe getting some longer sustained drives will help the defense guys won't get worn out and it can be a positive domino effect or a trickle trickle effect on the rest of the team. But I think that's it for us, everyone stay tuned later this week. We're going to flush this one down and we're going to prepare for Patriots hate week.

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