Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts Thrown Lifeline in AFC Playoff Hunt

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Indianapolis Colts have become an impossible team to try and predict. 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, all right. What's up, everybody? 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. And today's show is brought to you by GameTime. Download the GameTime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off of your first purchase. Last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. What's up, everybody? I am Jake Arthur from HorseshoeHuddle.com. And today we are talking about these frustrating Colts. I mean, what is this team? Do we know who they are?

Starting point is 00:01:06 I mean, two games left now. They're still very much in the playoff race. They had a really rough loss over the weekend, but it honestly didn't really affect them as much. Last week, we said, you don't want them to lose any more games, but if they were going to lose one of those final few games, that one to the Falcons was about all they could afford, which remains true, especially after their loss. So we'll just kind of look at the final two games as a whole, and then look offensively and defensively just what is going on with this team. So first up, again, do we know who this team is? Their last several weeks have been really brought some highs and lows.

Starting point is 00:01:46 At first, they were riding a four-game win streak, went into Cincinnati with an opportunity to not claim a playoff spot, but a win in Cincinnati really would have gone a long way towards strengthening their bid for one of those, at least a wildcard spot, especially when you consider what the rest of the AFC has been doing lately. But they ride that four game win streak and then just hit a wall losing 34 to 14 against Cincinnati. One of the worst losses of the season. Certainly the first time in several, several weeks that we can say the Colts just had a complete no show. They rebound and get a 30 to 13 win over a pretty decent Pittsburgh Steelers team,

Starting point is 00:02:28 at least putting up 30 points against a defense that was pretty solid. And then on Sunday, they go into Atlanta and lose very similarly to how they did against the Bengals, 29-10 loss with just not much to write home about, just making really, really uncharacteristic mistakes, a 29 to 10 loss with just not much to write home about, just making really, really uncharacteristic mistakes, things that will pretty much doom you anytime, losing the turnover battle, not getting pressure on the quarterback and not being able to tackle whatsoever.

Starting point is 00:02:58 So all those things, we just don't know what this team is right now. The Colts were kind of thrown a life raft with this loss because other teams that have been competing with one of these for these final playoff spots with them all lost. Jacksonville, Houston and Denver, they all lost that especially not only keeps the Colts alive for wildcard spot. But with Jacksonville and Houston also losing, Colts still very much alive for the AFC South division title as well. So week 18 at home against the Texans could very well be a game for the division. Let's say Jacksonville loses and the Colts keep winning, and then that sets up this final showdown for the division. But yeah, you're looking at, you got this weekend at home against the Las Vegas

Starting point is 00:03:45 Raiders at seven and eight, and then the Houston Texans are eight and seven. Again, the AFC, no one really wants these playoffs spots, it seems like. There is the exception. Two teams have already punched their postseason ticket. Baltimore is 12 and three, had one of the premier wins of the season over the 49ers over the weekend. And then the Miami Dolphins at 11-4. Those two AFC teams have clinched playoff spots. You've got the Chiefs at 9-6, the Jaguars at 8-7, the Browns at 10-5, the Bills at 9-6, and then the Colts at 8-7,

Starting point is 00:04:19 rounding out what would be the rest of the playoff field if the playoff started today. Colts holding on to that seventh and final spot. The Jaguars, with the tiebreaker over the Colts, do technically hold the lead in the AFC South right now. But then that's not the Colts' only competition. There are still a few teams in the hunt as well. Houston, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Las Vegas, and Denver are all within a game of the Colts at 8-7 or 7-8. So, of course, the Colts face two of those teams in the final.

Starting point is 00:04:51 Their two opponents are in that mix. So they cannot lose. They lose any more games than it's pretty much done for. They would need quite a bit of help and a lot of luck on their side. But when you control your own future, you just have to do that, which is so frustrating about that Atlanta loss. Because again, you look at Houston and Jacksonville both losing as well over the weekend. The Colts lost a very winnable game. They could have sole possession of the AFC South right now. So that's very, very frustrating.

Starting point is 00:05:24 There have been some injuries that have kind of dictated this thing. Michael Pittman Jr., who has been far and away the Colts leading receiver and dominant target all year. He was out with a concussion against the Falcons and you really, really saw his worth because that's the guy who he never gets like a ton of separation, but he's a very physical, uh, sure handed receiver. He can move the sticks.

Starting point is 00:05:48 He could do things after the catch. Uh, he can win those tough one-on-one matchups and Alec Pierce having to step into that top outside wide receiver role over the weekend, uh, and getting AJ, uh, Terrell for much of the matchup.

Starting point is 00:06:03 That is just not, that's just not a, uh, something Pierce is ready to showcase quite yet. So Pittman not being out there was really damaging to the Colts offense. As you saw, only 10 points scored in the game. Braden Smith as well, the right tackle. He's been banged up what seems like all season. Blake Freeland has, I think he's up to double digits. He's had nine or 10 starts now this season on either side of the line. And he's done some nice things on the ground game, but it's just been kind of tough sledding for him as a rookie with

Starting point is 00:06:38 some of these really tough matchups he's had on the right side of the line. You don't expect the guy to be a finished product right now, but you kind of wonder if Smith continues to be out, if the Colts make a change. They brought in Jared Beldeer recently, someone they called out of retirement and who had played games for them just a couple of years ago. So it'll be interesting to see if the Colts make a switch there at right tackle if Smith remains out. But really, with those two guys, the lack of adequate production on the outside from the passing game without Pittman, you saw a lot of Josh Downs, you saw a lot of the tight ends. That's about all that can be done to try and move the sticks,

Starting point is 00:07:18 and it just didn't cut it. And then again, Blake Freeland, when you look at his numbers this season, out of all rookie offensive linemen, he ranks 22nd out of 24 qualifying rookies in pass block efficiency, according to Pro Football Focus. So that has not been great. You got to hope, you know, we don't really know what's going on with Braden Smith or how long to expect him to be out. You hope Michael Pittman can come back this week, if that's what's in his best interest, of course.

Starting point is 00:07:50 He had kind of a setback with his concussion last week. It looked like he was going to be ready to go, but then when he got to Atlanta after traveling there with the team, just kind of got put back in the concussion protocol after having some symptoms again. But if those guys can come back, that'll definitely be a big boost. It'll even help the run game, particularly with Smith, of course, but with Pittman, it makes the passing game a little more honest.

Starting point is 00:08:14 And defenses have already not really respected the Colts passing game throughout the season, but you take Pittman away, and it's a totally moot point. So coming up, we'll look a little more at the offense and what to maybe expect from the the Raiders and Texans defenses coming up in these last couple games buying tickets to your favorite events should not be stressful game time is the fast and easy way to buy buy tickets for all the sports music comedy and theater near you whatever you want to go see they pretty much have got it going on.

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Starting point is 00:10:00 And if you haven't heard, LockedOn has launched the very first ever national sports 24-7 streaming channel on YouTube. If you haven't already checked it out, you've got to do it. You know, we've all as sports fans, you know, gravitated to ESPN and things like that over the years because they've always got something for you. Honestly, with how things are moving, with enjoying broadcasting on your phone and YouTube and everything now, we've got something really, really cool going on here. It brings you 24-7 coverage of the top sports stories of the day with the local experts of Locked On, plus the national shows that cover every league. So go to Locked On Sports Today on YouTube and subscribe to the first ever National Sports

Starting point is 00:10:42 24-7 streaming channel. All right, so let's talk about this Colts offense and what to expect over these last couple weeks uh the thing about that is you kind of don't know what to expect with this team uh because they've had some advantageous matches matchups recently and just haven't taken advantage of them and not only have they not taken advantage of them but like they've just, the game has been a complete disaster. Atlanta was a tough defense. I'll give you that. Cincinnati was somewhat comparable, ranked lower in pretty much everything. And the Colts offense was just totally flat and lifeless. One of the touchdowns the Colts scored was on defense. So you take that away and the Col' offense was even more putrid.

Starting point is 00:11:28 So you kind of just don't know what to expect from this group. You've really got to hope Michael Pittman Jr. will be back, of course, again. Against Atlanta, the Colts had three drops in the passing game. If you're going to be missing, you're far and away your top target. You just have to do your job. You don't have to do anything spectacular. Like they're not expecting anyone to go out there and be like crime Odell Beckham jr.

Starting point is 00:11:51 But you have to just convert first downs, keep things moving, extend drives, do whatever. But when you're dropping the ball and the passing game has very little vertical element to it, you're not getting separation and things like that. It's just not going to win.

Starting point is 00:12:07 But yeah, something like drops has been something that's been a problem in recent weeks when you look at some of their losses. Again, three against Atlanta, three against Cincinnati as well. Las Vegas and Houston, they're both overall mid-tier defenses. Las Vegas ranks 16th and Houston is 19th, but Las Vegas is top 10 in scoring defense. They're eighth. They allow 19.6 points per game. Now that's a team that you, they're just like the Colts. You don't know what to expect. The Colts are just a better version. They went from losing three to zero one week to scoring a franchise record 63 the next week uh really again that's

Starting point is 00:12:46 an that's an interesting team that we'll get further into it but we'll keep talking about their defense because that's been a unit the Raiders defense for the last several years that's been much maligned uh but you look at it and they're a lot a lot tougher under Antonio Pierce rather than Josh McDaniels. Both of these teams, 40 and 39 sacks respectively, the Raiders and Texans. That again ranks in the middle of the league. But to me, if a team gets to 40 sacks in the season, they're pretty solid. You want to get to 40 sacks each year. Obviously, the top tier teams are in the 50s and such, but 40 sacks shows that you're capable of bringing down quarterbacks

Starting point is 00:13:25 multiple times in a game. One thing for the Colts that get kind of a break here, they have faced some teams recently that were really good in red zone scoring. However, both the Raiders and Texans are in the bottom half of the league in red zone defense. That's something where you have to rely on Matt Gay field goals. Maybe now that turns into Jonathan Taylor can push you forward for a few extra yards for a touchdown. Maybe you get those Mo Alley Cox touchdowns off play action. You can maybe find more ways, maybe more things there on film to get into the end zone rather than having to rely on three points, which the Colts have

Starting point is 00:14:05 played some really close games. When you're looking at scores of inside three points or so, that's always going to make the difference. So things I might lean on, if Pittman returns, I would absolutely feed him. I would keep getting Josh Downs involved as well. He was obviously a little more heavily involved with Pittman out, but I would not stop that. He's one guy that is able to win those one-on-one matchups in key crucial situations. You got third and short and you want to pass it even at a shotgun. Josh Downs is one of those moneymakers that you can rely on.

Starting point is 00:14:40 The tight ends over the middle of the field, that's going really well, I think, as well. Will Mallory has become a legit little weapon there. Not gaudy stats by any means, but when you look at rookie tight ends, that's a position that just does not translate quickly to the NFL. Mallory has looked really, really solid. Reliable hands. I can't really think of any blatant drops that he's had this year. He's making tough catches, getting a little bit of extra yardage. He's converting first downs. The majority of his receptions have gone for first downs this year. So I would keep going.

Starting point is 00:15:22 I'd rely on that. Kylan Granson had a great, great game. Mo'Ali Cox has, he's never going to be that dominant pass catching tight end that people once thought he could be. But he's proven capable to make small plays here or there, whether it's, you know, short yardage touchdowns, even in the red zone. You put the Colts anywhere in the red zone, and even the deep red zone, 25, 30-yard line, and Mo Alleycox seems to find a way to win those little matchups. So I would keep relying on the tight ends. Drew Ogletree has been pretty quiet the last couple weeks, but he had a stretch this season where he was pretty good as well. So middle of the field, especially with those tight ends, if you want to get them on those outward post routes,

Starting point is 00:15:59 that seems to work as well, especially Middle Alleycox. But yeah, with how unpredictable and poor the offense has looked at times, Pittman, feed Pittman if he returns and get those tight ends involved over the middle of the field as well. So coming up, we're going to talk about the Colts defense. Such an inconsistent group. You do not know what to expect one way or another. A lot of people have leaned against the coaching, especially in this last week. Execution has to turn into it as well.

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Starting point is 00:17:57 that's price picks.com slash locked on NFL and use code locked on NFL for a first deposit match up to $100 price Price fix, Daily Fantasy Sports made easy. Okay, so I've seen a lot of stuff about Gus Bradley since this Atlanta game in particular, and you look at the Cincinnati game as well. He caught a lot of heat. This guy runs pretty hot and cold as well. Rightfully so, when your side of the ball doesn't do well as a coordinator,

Starting point is 00:18:27 you should get criticized for it. And I'm not saying he should be free of criticism. But when I went back and rewatched that Atlanta game, what really stuck out to me when you're letting a team quarterback like someone like Taylor Heineke win like that, I look at all the missed tackles. Because that game was all about the run game being allowed to extend plays longer than they should have. And the screen game,

Starting point is 00:18:52 especially to running backs, being way more productive than it needed to be. B. John Robinson and Tyler Algier kind of went wild on the Colts as a tandem. I went to PFF because I lost track of missed tackles in this whole game, which to me was the story of the defense. It wasn't necessarily the play calling or whatever. It came down to execution because I felt like it extended drives. It gave Atlanta touchdowns. The missed tackles to me is what really did the Colts defense in. PFF docked them with 23 missed tackles and that seemed pretty validating to my eyes. And you were getting it from some of the Colts best players. I saw Zaire Franklin missed some tackles, EJ Speed missed some tackles, Kenny Moore.

Starting point is 00:19:40 That's three of your most sure tackling players. And it really hurts when someone like a Julian Blackman goes out with his shoulder injury because he is usually a very sure tackler as well. Now he's out. He's replaced with Nick Cross, who has been pretty solid in that department as well. But, you know, Rodney Thomas, that has not been his bread and butter this year. So really tough. You're not going to be able to win games or sustain any sort of winning streak when you're not able to bring down teams that don't have an explosive element necessarily, and then you're letting them just control everything with the short game.

Starting point is 00:20:18 Because a lot of these teams that don't have vertical offenses like the Colts try and use the screen game as an extension of the run game to be even more diverse in the run game. And I mean, I mentioned the Colts let down against the Bengals was arguably their worst game. They only had eight missed tackles in that game, according to PFF versus 23 in this one.

Starting point is 00:20:39 So that just goes to show you like, we know the Colts offense isn't super productive, at least not consistently so the defense kind of has to be on it a lot missed tackles is like the or tackling is like the number one fundamental of defense uh so that's no doubt something they're going to be harping on and just pounding into these guys heads and again yes we could criticize Gus Bradley for plenty whether it's not you know when you don't have a pass rush you need to try to find a way to generate that when you're not coming home with

Starting point is 00:21:11 four guys but I mean lack of execution and missing tackles and not being in the right places in coverage and you know your spacing is odd that stuff going to – that's just not going to allow you to succeed. I just don't know how else to say it. So, I mean, Gus Bradley does deserve some criticism, but it is not all on him. Like, he can't be out there playing for the players, which is part of the accountability factor, which to people's credit is another thing that people have been harping on

Starting point is 00:21:43 with Gus Bradley needing to be accountable, whether it's up to Shane Steichen or, you know, the players that are actually on the field. So that one's really tough. Another thing I've really noticed, lack of pressure. That Cincinnati game, that was really glaring because the Colts were on a heater with their pass rush leading up to that. But then they had zero sacks and only three quarterback hits in that bangles game uh worse really in this atlanta game they only had one sack and one quarterback hit on heineke now heineke is pretty mobile uh not he's not like a lamar jackson type obviously but the guy moves around a lot he can buy time with his feet he

Starting point is 00:22:21 gets out of the pocket uh he gets rid of the ball pretty quickly because a lot of the passes are short and he is always looking to get out of the pocket. He's not the biggest guy. So, you know, where he can get out to see better, it's what he's going to do. And I think that kind of led to the lack of a pass rush for the Colts. Quiddy Pay, the only guy accounting for a sack in this one. So we've seen huge examples in recent weeks of the Colts losing mightily because they're missing tackles and they're not getting to the quarterback. So luckily they get, I'm not even going to say a break because we know that they have not really been taking advantage of those lately, but there's really no reason for them not to control things this Sunday against the Raiders. A Raiders team on offense last week who

Starting point is 00:23:11 went the final three quarters of the game without completing a pass. The Raiders became the first team in NFL history to do that, win a game while not completing a pass the final three quarters of the game. That is pretty wild. You know, they've had 11 games this year scoring two or fewer touchdowns as well. They do have that 63-point game a couple weeks ago, but the defense was scoring touchdowns, special teams were scoring. So offensively, this is not a good offense. The Colts defense, if they have any gumption or reason to make the postseason, will step up.

Starting point is 00:23:49 And I'm not saying they have to win, but the defense has to prove that it's not just going to roll over. I don't really care what the Raiders throw at them. Their body of work is what they've shown all season. And Gus Bradley and everyone out there has the tape to see it they have a not very productive rookie quarterback and aiden o'connell who's been fine but is very much a game manager and has been unspectacular they cannot they cannot let yet another backup quarterback beat them it's it's one thing if it's a team effort and you lose, but the Colts defense can not keep just no showing. And you, you can already know, you can already expect what the Raiders offense

Starting point is 00:24:33 is going to try to do. They're going to try to get the ball out quickly. And they're going to try the screen game because they know that if they're one of those quick passing offenses, the Colts are not going to be able to get to them and put pressure on O'Connell you can see it coming a mile away that is what the Raiders offense should at least try to do so you have all week to figure out how to counter that and I think everyone would be very very rightfully upset if the Colts lay another egg against the Raiders because coming up after that is the Texans, who is a lot more respectable. I think a lot more people think are a more legitimate contender because of C.J. Stroud, who should be back. There's already been positive

Starting point is 00:25:19 reports that he's going to be returning to practice this week. So even if he doesn't play this week, you would think he should return against the Colts, hopefully for them. That's, again, Houston and Las Vegas. It's two teams you should be able to beat. The Colts already beat Houston back in week two. Before Anthony Richardson went out for the game with his concussion, it looked like the Colts were going to rout the Texans. Both of those teams don't really run the ball well. They're both bottom 10 run

Starting point is 00:25:48 offenses. In terms of protection, still speaking about the line, Houston, the Colts sacked C.J. Stroud six times back in week two. That's obviously a team that struggles to protect their passer, struggles to open up run game. It has trap written all over it because that's been a very, very similar recipe to some other teams that the Colts have laid eggs against. So, guys, we just got to hang on tight. If you're a team that or if you're a fan that is really, really hoping

Starting point is 00:26:25 for the playoffs, this is going to be a nail biter for the final two weeks. If you're just along for the ride and you know that from the beginning when Anthony Richardson was knocked out for the season that the season didn't matter. I know a lot of people feel that way. Still, we got two games to watch. It's two very winnable games for the Colts that they should win. But this team has become so, so unpredictable. And it's become must-watch TV for Colts fans because you no longer have this, okay, Colts are going to face the Raiders. I can go get all my home, you know, my to-do list done all day because they're going to win.

Starting point is 00:27:02 We don't know that anymore. You now have to fully monitor them to see what's going on. So that's, that's what we got for you the rest of this week as well. Zach is going to be talking with fellas over at locked on Raiders to get more, a bigger scoop on that game, get more specifics.

Starting point is 00:27:20 After this, remember to check out locked on sports today. You'll be routed over to that after this video here again which is the first ever National Sports 24-7 streaming channel on YouTube if you guys don't already follow at Locked On Colts at JakeArthur NFL and at Zach Hicks too on

Starting point is 00:27:36 Twitter also be sure to subscribe on YouTube and wherever you listen to podcasts we would love your ratings and reviews as well and with that we will see you fine folks tomorrow morning

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Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts Thrown Lifeline in AFC Playoff Hunt

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