Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts' Season Mercifully Ends with 32-31 Loss to Houston Texans

Episode Date: January 8, 2023

The Indianapolis Colts are finally into the offseason after a nightmarish 2022 year, losing in the final minute at home to the Houston Texans by a score of 32-31.Find and follow Locked On Colts on your favorite podcast platforms:🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LOColts?sid=YouTube📺YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLdpxJspi1hMh5HL7ExpWOQLocked On NFL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft & More🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnNFLFollow Jake and Zach's written work on HorseshoeHuddle.com (@ColtsOnFN), and give them a follow on Twitter @JakeArthurNFL, @ZachHicks2, and @LockedOnColts!This podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. It’s not a crisis line, it’s not self-help, it’s professional therapy done securely online, available to people worldwide. And they have a special offer for my listeners: get 10% off your first month at better help dot com slash LOCKEDONSupport 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; LOCKEDONUltimate Football GMTo download the game just visit Ultimate-GM.com or look it up on the app stores. Our listeners get a 100% free boost to their franchise when using the promo LOCKEDON (ALL CAPS) in the game store.TurboTaxCome to TurboTax and don’t do your taxes. Visit TurboTax.com to learn more.Tommy JohnWinter mornings are brutal. So here’s my tip for tackling the day in comfort: Grab new Tommy John Loungewear and take cozy wherever you go. Get TWENTY PERCENT OFF YOUR FIRST ORDER at TommyJohn.com/LOCKEDON. 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 nightmare is officially over as the Indianapolis Colts fall to 4-12-1 in the 2022 NFL season, following a 32-31 loss to the Houston Texans here in Week 18. We're going to dive into this game and talk about everything that happened and close the book on this terrible season. All that and much more here on this episode of Locked on Colts. Let's get to it. You are locked on Colts, your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Your team, every day. Thank you all for tuning in to this episode of Locked On Colts

and making us your first listen of the day. This is your daily podcast covering your Indianapolis Colts, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. This podcast is brought to you by BetterHelp. It's not a crisis line. It's not self-help. It's professional therapy done securely online. Available to people worldwide.

If they have a special offer, and they have a special offer to my listeners here, get 10% off your first month at betterhelp.com slash locked on. This is Zach Hicks of horseshoehuddle.com. I'm doing this solo today without the help of my co-host, Jake Arthur, mainly because I think like you guys, we're just kind of ready to get to the offseason. So I'm just going to knock this out here, talk with you guys for about 20 minutes or so, and then we'll get on to the offseason, guys. But yeah, let's get into this game a little bit.

Wow, what a game. I mean, if you guys are team tank, which I know a lot of you guys are, you guys are jumping here in the comment sections already going crazy and having some fun. If you are team tank, this was the perfect game. The Indianapolis Colts came out. They looked slow. They looked sluggish, looked like it was going to be a beat down early but they came back and they made it close and they it really scared us for a little bit you know I know all you guys that are looking for that draft capital and looking at like oh my gosh you know we need the Colts to be at pick four or pick three it looks scary there for a little bit but then a Hail Mary touchdown

by the Houston Texans where Ronnie Thomas lets the ball go right through his hands. Then the two-point conversion to give the Texans the victory. I mean, there's no perfect game. Like, this game just kind of perfectly encapsulates everything that was the 2022 Indianapolis Colts. So in terms of storylines, I mean, wow. The sadness is over. We are officially, we're officially out of this dark abyss that is the 2022 NFL season for the Colts. Yeah, a team that had a lot of expectations coming into the year ends up 4-12-1 with a

potential top three pick. You know, if a couple things go their way in the later games today, it could be a top three pick. It's likely going to their way in the later games today, it could be a top three pick. It's likely going to be around pick four, maybe pick five. So that's what you guys are rooting for. Our rooting interest for later today, though, is that you want to look at the Cardinals. I think if the Cardinals beat whoever they're playing, the Colts can move up a spot. And then the Denver Broncos, who are going to be favorites against the Los Angeles Chargers, and the Chargers are likely going to rest their starters because they're locked into that fifth spot. So yeah, the Indianapolis Colts can probably

move up to pick four. I'm guessing that's where they're going to end up, but a couple other wins here and there, they can move up to maybe number three. So yeah, it is officially done with the 2022 season, and that's kind of where all of our storylines go to. Talking a little bit about Jeff Saturday and his interim tenure here with the Colts. Like, yes, it could have been better. It could have actually somehow been worse. But Jeff Saturday finishes his eight-game run as the Colts interim head with a 1- seven record and a point differential of negative 80. So whatever your feelings are of Jeff Saturday, you know, he didn't have an offensive play caller.

There was a lot of things going against him. The, you know, the deck was stacked against him to be successful. But I really do think we are looking at one of the worst interim stints in the, at least since the nineties, you know, since Rick Venturi back in the 90s. This is probably the worst interim stint that we have seen for a coach. And, you know, again, you can't blame Jeff too much. And honestly, if Jeff Saturday is not head coach next year, we can all sit back and say, thank you, Jeff. Thank you for getting us this top pick. But, yeah, Jeff Saturday's interim term here with the Colts just was not very good whatsoever,

but that's all I really have for news and notes here. Let's get into this Colts offense a little bit. This Colts offense, you know, I don't want to call it an offensive explosion today, but hey, the offense was more productive than they usually are. You know, they were there, they scored 31 points. Yes, one of those was on the pick six. A couple other favorable field position things here, but hey, the offense moved the ball a little bit with Sam Ellinger at quarterback. Again, I'm not saying that he looks like he's the answer at quarterback whatsoever. He might be more of a long-term backup or something like that or practice squad guy, but yeah, Sam Ellinger was moving the ball pretty well.

I can't really say too many things bad about him. He did throw a couple bad interceptions. The one in the red zone, obviously, he got hit, and that ball kind of just fluttered all the way to the defender. And then, obviously, the pick six with the defender around his legs was very Carson Wentz-y. Besides that, I really think Sam Ellinger had a pretty solid game. Yeah, some of his throws looked like ducks and stuff like that,

but his mobility was very apparent. He got the ball out. He kept the offense in rhythm. So, yeah, there was a lot of good things from Sam Ellinger in this game and kind of everything you would expect from a day three pick guy making his third career start. A lot of ups and downs but Sam Ellinger I can't complain too much about what he did in this game he did

help the tank with those interceptions so hats off that's all to Sam Ellinger and this one going to the running back room though this was the biggest bright spot and you guys are talking about a couple times in here you know our running room next year is going to be top tier. Zach Moss is our number two guy for Nomadic Bryan here. The Mines was low-key great for both teams. Naim Hines had a great day with Buffalo today with those two-kick return touchdowns.

Zach Moss, man, over 100 yards, I believe for the first time in his NFL career. He has looked awesome with the Colts. Yes, the Colts have been terrible these past couple weeks. We can't say that many good things about them. But Zach Mossi's last few weeks has looked like an old-school, hard-nosed running back.

He looks like the perfect number two back to have behind a Jonathan Taylor. You know, Jonathan Taylor's going to go out there. He could run you over, or he could run past you. And then for the last 10 games you don't want to give to Jonathan Taylor. You know, Jonathan Taylor is going to go out there. He could run you over or he could run past you. And then for the 10, you know, game, you don't want to give to Jonathan Taylor. You're going to bring in this guy who can just run through you. That's what Zach Moss has looked like these last couple of weeks. He's a guy who's just going to run through tacklers.

I don't know why Buffalo gave up on him so early. I really haven't been following his career there with the Bills, and maybe he was just terrible with the Bills. I'm not too sure, but just looking at what he's done here with the Colts, I've been very, very impressed by every single snap that he's played. So yeah, Zach Moss, he looks like he's part of the future here for the Colts, and Deion Jackson as well. You can see that speed on display for him. So yeah, I was really impressed with this running back duo these last couple of weeks. And I really do think that both of them factor into the Colts' future for sure. Wide receiver group, you know, Paris Campbell. If we're giving

game balls this season to players who overperformed or players who just had a great seasons, despite how terrible this team was. I think Paris Campbell gets one of those game balls. I mean, he is a guy who has never been healthy. His entire career came in this year, played in every single game, had over 500 yards receiving. I think he almost got a hundred yards rushing as well.

Just a lot of really, really good things from Paris Campbell this season. He had a huge day today again. So yeah, I love Paris Campbell. I really hope Colts can find a way to bring him back. Outside of that, you know, Alex had his best game in a couple weeks, which is great to see. Michael Pittman Jr., some of his inconsistencies kind of reared his ugly

head again, but he did. I think he came one catch short of the 100 catches, which is probably great because I think he would have been the only receiver in NFL history with 100 catches and under 1,000 yards. So maybe you don't want to be in that category there. Maybe wait until you have a more productive offense to get your 100 catches for the first time. But yeah, overall, wide receiver group needs some help this offseason. I think they had a decent day today, but that's something we'll talk about in a lot more episodes going forward. And then the offensive line.

I think the offensive line had improved under Jeff Saturday quite a bit, but it's still not where you want it to be. Bernard Ryman probably still needs another offseason of just working on that anchor and getting a little bit stronger and a little bit better. Will Fries looks like he could be a good backup, maybe a low-end starter, but you probably want to add some competition there. And then the other three guys, they just need to bounce back. You know, it's pretty likely that Ryan Kelly, Quinton Nelson, and Braden Smith will all be back next season. Ryan Kelly's maybe the only one up in the air,

but I do think all those guys will be back next season. They just need to turn it around. They need to get back to where they were. Maybe a whole offseason with Jeff Saturday as offensive line coach can get them there, but they need to turn it around there. But as a cold offense, one of the worst offenses in the history of football, if you look at, according to DVOA, I think they're the lowest rated offense of the 2010s in the NFL.

Three different starting quarterbacks that played significant snaps this season. It's just a mess. I really, really do think this Colts offense needs a major revamp despite them doing a couple good things today. So that's all I have about this offense for this game and this season. We're going to talk a lot about it in the future going forward. But before we move on, I want to tell you guys about the comfiest underwear around Tommy John. Winter mornings are brutal, so here's my tip for tackling the day in comfort. Grab new Tommy John loungewear and take cozy wherever you go. Tommy John loungewear, pajamas, and underwear have dozens of comfort innovations, luxuriously soft tri-blend, and micro-model fabrics with four-way stretch,

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another team that wants to move up to the Bears spot and take that first pick away from the Colts and a potential trade up. But I think who Jason can mention here, Jason's in the comment section as well. He knows the Bears a little bit better than I do, but I think the Bears don't want to go back too far. So going to the Colts pick at pick four or pick five is probably going to be the prime spot. And I think both teams are going to be very, very interested in the trade there. But we'll talk about that again in future episodes. The 91 offense is the only worst Colts offense. Jason, yeah, I wasn't alive during 1991, so I can't really attest to that, but I bet it was.

What else we got here? We lost Proud for Stroud. I do think, again, I don't want to say too much, but I think if Jim Irsay is having as much of an impact on this draft as we expect, I do expect CJ Stroud to be probably the top target for this team. It's the best I can say. And B-Series is going through here yelling that quite a bit.

So, yeah, us proud for Stroud. Yeah, for sure. But talking about this Colts defense, I mean, it was ugly out there. This Colts defense, they lost their legs weeks ago. They lost a lot of talent coming into this week. Yannick Ngakwe on IR, Isaiah Rogers on IR, Stephon Gilmore out for this game. Obviously Shaquille Leonard has not played at all this season. The Colts are just down a lot of players on defense. When you factor in also they've been out there for so many snaps this year and they have gotten zero help from from uh their offense this season i really do think that this

defense just got yeah exactly what jason's saying here beat the hell the defense just got beat to hell and and i i it's really really hard to blame the defense for what's happened these last four weeks despite you know i i think we can confidently say this defense was not a top 20 defense the last four weeks, but also you don't want to say, you know, that's kind of indicative of what they are. You know, I can't say that's what they actually were this season. Cause they played some really good football, especially early in the season. It's just, it fell apart down the stretch and it's hard to blame them for that.

So, yeah, I do think this Colts defense is better than what they looked the last couple of weeks. They have a lot of talent. DeForest Buckner had a great season for the Indianapolis Colts. Grover Stewart had a career best season and then shout out to Zaire Franklin. Oh, Darren, you barely beat me to it. I was just about to say it. Zaire Franklin, career best year easily. It's the most snaps he's ever played in a season. He played more snaps on defense this year than he has played his entire career up to this point.

And the results were the all-time franchise record for tackles in the season, multiple sacks. I think he had one pick, or he had zero picks this year, but he had a couple deflections that turned into picks. I think he had a forced fumbleions that turned into picks um i think he had a forced fumble against the eagles as well i mean zyra franklin just an outstanding season and i wrote a article for for you how about like a week ago i think at this point where i talked about zyra franklin talked about you know this is a guy where if the colts need a major culture change and the colts need to change so much about this locker room and about this roster.

Zyra Franklin needs to be front and center of that culture change. He needs to be the shining example of what an Indianapolis Colt is. You know, that, that is the guy that you want to build around. You know, he, he's going to be part of the solution. He's not part of the problem. Zyra Franklin will be part of the solution in Indianapolis. He'll be part of turning this team around back into a contender or back into a really good spot.

So, yeah, I really, really love Zyra and everything he did this season, and I'm glad that he got that franchise record. I think he absolutely deserves it. And then, obviously, another guy, Rodney McCloud, just an outstanding season, and Rodney McLeod, just an outstanding season. And Rodney Thomas as well, the other safety, even though he had a bad play that led to that touchdown. Rodney McLeod was phenomenal. Career best season, had a pick six today against the Houston Texans. So yeah, I really, really like both those players. And I think Rodney Thomas is going to be,

you know, I don't want to pencil him as a starter going forward, but I think he's a guy at free safety who is going to be playing quite a bit. So yeah, I really, really like a lot of pieces on his defense. I'm very, very curious on who's going to be, you know, who's going to be calling this defense next season, because I really don't think it's going to be, it's going to be Gus Bradley again next year. I think it could be like a Leslie Frazier as the head coach. Or if Jim Harbaugh comes in, we could get Vic Fangio back in Indy, which would be interesting. So a lot of things to talk about in these next couple weeks, guys.

And I'm going to wrap it up all here in a second, get you guys out of here, because honestly, what more is there really to say about this Gold Steam before the offseason? But first, the show is sponsored by Better Health Therapy Online. I recently moved, which is always pretty stressful. And then the holidays came and we had to host people over at our house for the holidays. So yeah, it was extremely busy. But unfortunately, life doesn't come with a user manual. So when it's not working for you, it's normal to feel kind of stuck, especially with the holidays, especially with

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of people with professional license and therapists available 100% online. No waiting rooms, no traffic, no endless searching for the right therapist. Get unstuck with BetterHelp. Learn more and save 10% off your first month at betterhelp.com slash locked on. That's betterhelp.com slash locked on. All right, guys, we're going to get out of here in just a second, but the manly one. Colts need a lot of therapy after the season. Great sponsor. Yeah, BetterHelp is great, guys, and that's who we're really going to need some help in theory. But, hey, you know, with all the comments you guys are saying here about quarterbacks, C.J. Stroud, Bryce Young, Will Levis, you know, Anthony Richardson, the Colts are going to have some things to get excited about this offseason, and we're going to cover all of it here on Locked on Colts.

If you guys know me, you guys know exactly what I've been about here with my coverage of the Colts. I am very, very prevalent in the draft scene. I'm very, very big during draft season. It's probably the most connected I am to when it comes to what the Colts are doing just from past history and my relationship with agents. We're going to have a lot of fun this draft season, guys. I know Jake is excited as well to kind of get that stuff rolling. And honestly, I think I'm going to have like one or two prospects on this week just for quick little segments, just to get that draft vibe here with Lockdown Colts.

So we're going to have a lot of fun, guys. It's going to be a blast, and I hope you guys are as excited as I am to get into this offseason that is the most important one for the Colts. Maybe in the last 20 years, I mean, this is, this is a major off season for the Colts because they have this top pick and they don't have a quarterback whatsoever. And they don't really have that guy who's a lock to go to them and they don't have that first overall pick. You know, it's just that top,

it's a top five, top six pick. So yeah, it's going to be a pretty, pretty vital offseason here for the Colts. And again, I hope you guys are as excited as I am to be a part of that with us here on Locked on Colts. But that's it. That's all I really have to say. You know, again, I am ready to close the book on this disgusting, atrocious 2022 season for the Indianapolis Colts and start looking towards the future.

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We'll catch you guys later this week as we dive into the Colts NFL offseason. Let's do it.