Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts vs. Houston Texans: It's All About Anthony Richardson, C.J. Stroud

Starting point is 00:00:00 Maybe we'll get a full chapter of Anthony Richardson versus C.J. Stroud this week. Crossover Thursday is back and we're going to tell you who's winning this Sunday between the Colts and the Texans. 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. Thanks for tuning in and making us your first listen of the day. This is a collaboration of your daily podcast covering your Indianapolis Colts

Starting point is 00:00:36 and Houston Texans. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. And Crossover Thursday is presented by PrizePix. It's the easiest and most exciting way to play daily fantasy sports. Just go to prizepix.com slash locked on NFL and use code all lowercase locked on NFL to win $50 instantly when you play $5. You don't even need to win to receive the $50 bonus. PrizePix, run your game. All right, everybody, welcome to the show. Like I said, Crossover Thursday is back. It's week one. We are all so back right now, baby. But it's me and Cody Davis of Locked on Texans. I am Jake Arthur of Locked on Colts. And we are taking you through

Starting point is 00:01:20 this entire lineup today. We're going everything you need to know about Colts-Texans, basically a rivalry already revisited. Week 18, the Texans got the better of the Colts, won the AFC South with the whole thing, went on to the playoffs, had a nice little showing there. So week one, revenge game for the Colts. They get it already. So Cody, let's go ahead and why don't you tell me what the biggest storylines for the Texans are on both sides of the ball? Well, the biggest storyline for the Houston Texans, of course, we're going to start on the offensive on the offensive side. And that's basically incorporating Joe Mixon and Stephon Diggs. As you guys know, the Houston Texans were extremely busy this offseason I'm expecting big

Starting point is 00:02:07 things for the Houston Texans and look I get it a lot of people out there looking at the Texans and they thinking to themselves that they may not live up to the expectations due to them having a tough schedule however I do believe outside of the courts I must say but I do believe that the first let's say four to five games of the season I think that say. But I do believe that the first, let's say, four to five games of the season, I think that's going to be very crucial starting, of course, Sunday against you guys, that it's going to be very crucial for the Houston Texans because not only will they try to live up to those expectations, but you got to find a way to incorporate Stephon Diggs and you got to find a way to incorporate Joe Mixon. And starting with Stephon Diggs, look, I would say this, after watching his team for majority of training camp, watching him in preseason,

Starting point is 00:02:49 I would say that I think it's going to be a lot easier to incorporate Stephon because he has had an opportunity to go through the entire training camp, majority, all of the off-season training. And of course, you know, I think he played, I think if I'm not mistaken, one preseason game and, you know, he had put in some work along with CJ, along with Nico, along with Tank, along with John, along with Hutchison. Like he has put in work and has spent some really good time with this organization, with this team, with his teammates to see how is he going to fit in? However, I am a little bit concerned about Joe Mixon because Joe Mixon went down during the early part of training camp with an injury, missed majority, if not the rest of training camp. I think he came back the final weekend. And I really don't know if he's going to have an easier time trying to incorporate himself. I understand. And look, of course, when you look

Starting point is 00:03:41 at Joe Mixon, the number one thing for him is can the big boys up front block for him? But at the same time, I do wonder the time that Joe Mixon off. I do wonder whether or not that's going to hinder his success, which means it may hinder the Houston Texans success as well. That's the biggest storyline. And then on the defensive side of the ball. Look, I know they haven't come out and said that officially, but the Houston Texans will be starting rookie Kamari Lassiter as CB2 and Kayla Bullock as your second safety. I'm now high on both of those guys. I did have my concerns, you know, to say the least. However, I do want to see this defense, a defense that I'm projecting to be top three in the league, if not even better.

Starting point is 00:04:21 I do want to see how those two rookies can incorporate themselves in helping the Houston Texans come away victorious come week one. I like that. That's a really good point I hadn't necessarily thought of with the offense. Because last year, I think the Colts caught the Texans at a good time where they were still trying to figure things out offensively, how to balance things with CJ Stroud in the run game. And so the Colts caught him at a good time and really took advantage of that. Could be the same case here. I mean, you've got a lot of big, big mouths to feed there. You know, you have to figure out, you know, the run game.

Starting point is 00:04:55 You've probably got to change it a little bit compared to what it has been. I mean, Joe Mixon requires a little more attention now than what it's been in the past. And then Stefan Diggs, again, again that's a it's a great problem to have deep receiving core but you know stefan diggs and nico collins and tank dell i think the best argument is i'm gonna throw it to the guy who's open so the guy who has yeah i mean that that's his kind of get out of jail free card so i love that argument hopefully for the colt's sake you know they're, they're catching the Texans at a time where they're figuring themselves out.

Starting point is 00:05:30 Then they're on the defensive side of the ball. Really high praise. The Colts are dealing with something similar. Not dealing with something similar, but Nick Cross at safety, the other safety opposite of Julian Blackman. That's a guy who received the lion's share of the first team reps at the other safety. You can't even call it free safety or strong safety because I think they're going to rotate a lot of those looks. But, you know, it wasn't until this week that Gus Bradley finally kind of gave up the ghost and said, yes, he's officially the starter.

Starting point is 00:06:03 And then Liatu Latu, you know, you mentioned you got a couple of defensive backs, rookie defensive backs you're working in. Laatu is not, I don't think he's going to be like the primary second defensive end, but I think he's going to see a ton of work. Like he's going to get a lot of work on passing downs. But Quidipe is probably, you know, your mainstay defensive end. And then it's going to be a lot of Taekwon Lewis, Laotulatu and Daiwa Dango kind of rotating through there at the other

Starting point is 00:06:30 defensive end spot. So a lot of, a lot of teams on both sides, trying to figure things out. I even, I talked to Shane Sikin about that this week. We asked him, you know, this is the most recent opponent you faced, but surely the game plan can't be the same. And he pointed out, you know, the Houston has a bunch of dudes on that team. They got some really good players.

Starting point is 00:06:51 You know, he specifically mentioned them adding Daniel Hunter. And they've, they've historically been kind of an underrated defense. Like they may not always rank super high by the end of the year, but especially coached by D'Amico Ryans, you always have got to bring your a game and be prepared for pretty much everything. Yeah. And the one thing I would say about this defense, like I said, I'm expecting it to be top three, like I say, even better. And we sit here talking about figuring out, but I'm also

Starting point is 00:07:21 interested to see how Will Anderson Jr.r and daniel hunter will play off each other because look daniel hunter is also a big name but of course he get kind of lost in the shuffle but you know that's that's one thing i am interested in seeing and i think this very first game is just going to be look coach demico rhymes bobby soy kind of similar to what they did during week two last year when you guys came into Houston and beat them. You know, they was trying to figure it out. And, of course, as we all know, the second half, the Houston Texans started to put things together on both sides of the ball. And they was able to use that in order to have the season that they had last year. And I think it's going to be the same here as well.

Starting point is 00:07:58 You know, but once again, man, just looking at Diggs and Joe Mixon, big big names productive players don't know about you i say this a lot on locked on texans i've always considered stefan digs top 10 wide receiver for the past decade but it's like okay now how is he going to incorporate himself within an offense look even though they have a projected top five quarterback it's still going to be important for everybody to be on the same accord moving forward yeah he kind of gave a pretty feisty version of that answer recently in an interview. But, you know, this is two teams where it seems like there's a lot of newness. You know, obviously the Texans brought in a lot of outside guys, but Colts, it feels like a new team just because of how many guys are getting back from injury. But they, I mean, in terms of

Starting point is 00:08:44 free agency and everything, they're running it from injury. But they, I mean, in terms of free agents and everything, they're running it back. They pretty much brought in all of their own guys, only bringing in two free agents, but their backups. So coming up here in a moment, we're going to talk about, you know, a little bit more specific with the, specifically with the Colts and what this game plan might look like. Now a word from our friends at PrizePix.

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Starting point is 00:10:21 Cody thinks so. He's nodding there. You can go and pick more than or less than on Stroud stat projections. What about Anthony Richardson running it effectively against Houston again, more or less on his rushing yard projection. So go check that, check out this matchup. I'm sure those lines are bound to move by the time kickoff gets here. So download the PricePicks app today and use code LOCKEDONNFL and get $50 instantly when you play $5.

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Starting point is 00:11:16 If you don't get that reference, Tyler is all energy. He is a great listen. And then you got to stop by the barbershop with Tony Wiggins for some real NFL talk. Add in the Locked On local experts and you get unprecedented NFL insight, hot opinions, detailed breakdowns, all in 30 minutes. It's the new Locked On NFL and it's twice a day. Make the madman Tyler Rowland and the barber Tony Wiggins your second listen at the new Locked On NFL on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. All right, Cody.

Starting point is 00:11:47 So let me try and spit some truths about the Colts here. I'll be as objective as I can be. So on the offensive side of the ball, everything is about Anthony Richardson right now. I kind of have this labeled, all right, let's try the Anthony Richardson experience again, because we only got a small taste of it last year. Obviously it was, it was nice against the Texans for about a quarter or so. He had two 15 plus yard rushing touchdowns before leaving the game with a

Starting point is 00:12:14 concussion. Oh my God. He looked good. He did. He did. But we'll, we'll see what it looks like at the start of this. I think the best part for the Colts is that the offense is fully open.

Starting point is 00:12:27 So anything the Colts want to try and do, they trust Anthony Richardson to do it. You also, I mentioned earlier, you know, you get a lot of guys back healthy. Obviously Richardson is number one, but also Jonathan Taylor who does historically well against the Texans. Just back in week 18, he had what, like 170, 180 yards. A buck 88.

Starting point is 00:12:47 Yeah. The last time we saw Jonathan Taylor, he was still very much Jonathan Taylor. And that's not the first big game he's had against Houston. So you've got Richardson. You've got Taylor. Michael Pittman Jr. is there. Alec Pierce should get a shot in the arm because he now has a quarterback that is willing to look for him deep.

Starting point is 00:13:05 That's kind of where his bread is buttered. When he has a guy like Matt Ryan, Gardner Minshew, those guys, he's rendered almost useless because that's not his game. He doesn't mesh well with those guys. A.D. Mitchell is a very shiny new toy to have there in the second round. He's a big play receiver, can do a lot of acrobatic things, can win downfield. I would find it highly doubtful that Josh Downs plays in this game, hasn't practiced yet, and he got injured at the beginning of August. So if for some reason he goes out and practices tomorrow

Starting point is 00:13:38 and they feel that he's no longer rusty, sure, but he only just now got back on the field for rehab running routes. So I would find it pretty far-fetched to think that Downs is going to play, but they do still have three explosive guys out there. So that's good to see. And then again, the run game, obviously. So what does this offense look like? What do they want to try and do? Obviously, Jonathan Taylor seems like the best mode of attack. He always does very well. And it doesn't matter who the opponent is. That's a guy you always want to get rolling. But I'm interested to see if Houston lines up to stop Taylor. How effective is Richardson still after that? Because I mean, he is his own threat to run the ball,

Starting point is 00:14:25 but also he has the confidence to throw the ball wherever he wants on the field. So I think that's the biggest key offensively. And then on the defensive side of the ball. So here in Indy, every Colts fan has been screaming about the secondary all offseason. You know, you can see the cornerback group that it probably needed another veteran added to it. And then the safety group, probably at least a couple guys added to it.

Starting point is 00:14:53 The Colts have stood firm and said, you know, we like the guys we have. We intentionally went young. We're going to let these guys play it out. But you immediately look at a matchup like this one in week one, and it's like, guys, CJ Stroud torched the colts for a 76 yard touchdown on the first play week 18 like this is not a dude to test things out against like he is that dude so is stroud gonna torch the colts secondary

Starting point is 00:15:20 i think it's gonna be fully up to the defensive front this week. So they had 51 sacks last year, which is an Indianapolis-era record, and it was top five in the NFL. But they did go long stretches without even getting, you know, hits on the quarterback. And, you know, the first week when Houston – or the first matchup when Houston had no offensive lineman out there, they got seven sacks like they should have.

Starting point is 00:15:46 But then when Houston was a little more put together, they had better health, only two sacks week 18. They've got to have some sort of medium in there. The seven sacks is probably not going to happen again in this matchup, but they got to be able to get to CJ Stroud a little more often. I asked Lyle Tul to about that today and he said if we can disrupt stroud and and consistently you know harass him and get after him then i think we'll win uh they know it's a must in this matchup because a guy like cj he's to me he's turned into one of those patrick mahomes guys like if he gets out of the pocket and is doing stuff, he has that ad lib ability to make you pay. I already see him as one of the better off script quarterbacks in the league.

Starting point is 00:16:31 So I think you have to get to him and finish the play. I don't think pressuring him is enough. You have to really get him rattled. So kind of a tall task for, for the Colts defense. But I think the pass rush is going to have to be an absolute must in this one it's funny that you're talking about the pass rush because I do consider the Houston Texans offensive line as the biggest key for them that's going to determine whether or not

Starting point is 00:16:58 they win this game and look in the first segment I talked about how they're going to incorporate Stephon Diggs how do you know they're going to incorporate Stephon Diggs, how they're going to incorporate Joe Mixon. But at the end of the day, I just look at those big guys up front. And for me personally, look, first and foremost, let me just say this. The Forrest Buckner, dull. Let's just go ahead and say it. And, you know, I know Week 18, as you just alluded to, they only got to CJ Stroud.

Starting point is 00:17:20 What was it, like two sacks that you said? Yeah. But I would like to go on record and say look the houston texas offensive line yes it was a hell of a lot better than it was doing uh when they first saw him in week two that offensive line at that point was already set you already know who your left tackle your your left guard your your your your center your your right tackle in your right guard um you already know they already had a a sense of camaraderie amongst that group right there especially somebody as a guy that i've missed george fang not only was he my guy in

Starting point is 00:17:53 the locker room but he was also a really good back backup especially once titus howell went down now you're looking at it from a standpoint this this offensive line, they haven't really had that much time spent together. I mean, Laramie Tunsil, you know, he's always going to be one of the top left tackles in the game. However, he missed half a training camp, even though he's healthy now, but it's like, okay, how are you going to play next to Kenyon Green, someone who did not play the entire season. And even though he has looked better during training camp better doing preseason I think this is going to be a comeback season for that young man this is the real deal now and for him not only him but a second year prospect and juice russ those two guys are gonna have to find

Starting point is 00:18:37 a way to stop the Indianapolis Colts front four which I consider one of the best in the league so it's like okay what's going to happen with this offensive line? And look, I always say that Titus Howard is one of the most underrated tackles in the game. However, he missed the majority of last season. And I do wonder how much of some of the struggles that we may see during these first couple of games, especially on Sunday, how much of that is going to be Russ? So it's like, as long as the Houston Texans offensive line can keep the pocket clean for CJ, as long as they have an opportunity to create gaps for Joe Mixon to execute, I think the Houston Texans are going to be fine. However, it's very scary when you have someone like Buckner on the opposite side of the line of scrimmage and you're looking at it from a standpoint okay this might not end well if all five of those guys are not on the same accord so that's that's the

Starting point is 00:19:30 biggest key on the offensive side of the ball and on the defensive side of the ball you already alluded to it jonathan taylor i mean at this point it's like can you at least contain him like just don't don't worry about stopping him you know just contain him? Like, just don't worry about stopping him. Just contain him. And, look, what he did week 18 of Buck 88, 30 carries, it was a phenomenal performance to watch. And I look at the Houston Texans defensive line. I looked at the Houston Texans, you know, front seven.

Starting point is 00:20:02 I'm just sitting here thinking to myself, if they could find a way to contain Jonathan Taylor, they're going to be okay. Because if you take a look at the Houston Texans defense last season, they did a really good job revamping their entire run defense. However, once you started playing alongside Jonathan Taylor, you let somebody go almost 200 yards on you. So that's a little bit concerning, but not only is it concerning as stopping Jonathan Taylor, now you're looking at it from a standpoint, okay, I get it. I know a lot of people. I saw the preseason game to Anthony Richardson did not look that good per to say, however,

Starting point is 00:20:39 I don't care if you only play two and a half, no, like three and a half, four games last year. I already consider him one of the best dual threat quarterbacks in the game. And he showed me when I set up inside NRG Stadium and watch him torch the Houston Texans, especially with his legs. Not only do the Texans got to worry about containing Jonathan Taylor, but you also got to find a way to contain Anthony Richardson, who I get it. It was a small sample size, but he still looked like he could develop into arguably one of this league's best dual threat quarterback. So I think a lot is going to be on the place for the Houston Texans. And I look at week 18, I'm like, look, you let Jonathan Taylor demolish you in a run game. And that was without Anthony Richardson. Now we're looking at a situation where we're going to see what a Russian attack

Starting point is 00:21:29 with Richardson and Taylor are going to look like together. That might be a small issue for the Texans. I can't lie. Yeah. Now they got two snaps together last year. So we're going to see what it looks like when they get at least a full game together, hopefully knock on wood. Well, coming up next guys

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Starting point is 00:23:20 PrizePix, run your game. All right. So, Cody, I'll go ahead and roll out the red carpet here. What are the three most important keys that are going to lead to a Houston Texans victory? I'm going to start with the most important one that I just finished talking about, the offensive line, keeping the pocket clean and creating gaps for the Houston Texans offense to execute. And talk about the Houston Texans offense to execute you're looking at CJ Stroud you already talked about how questionable the Colts secondary is so you know I think this is a game where CJ Stroud should just air it out especially considering that you got not one not two but three wide receivers who could be quote-unquote wide

Starting point is 00:23:58 receiver you know one so I think this is definitely a game where you could just let CJ just go to work I'm gonna love it I must say and then And then, of course, last but not least. But, you know, containing Jonathan Taylor has always been the key for Houston Texans where it don't matter if they rebuild it, fighting for a playoff spot or contending for a championship, they could never figure that key out. So, of course, that key still got to stay. Stop John to tell at all costs. I like it. I like it. All right. So for the Colts first on offense, I'm going to say they got to cash in in the red zone because I mentioned Josh Downs, probably not going to play in this one. One that's perhaps even more consequential is their kicker. Matt Gay is probably not going to play in this one either. Neither player has practiced all week. So kicker,

Starting point is 00:24:46 whether we like it or not, it's very important. So if Matt Gay isn't out there kicking, even if he is out there kicking, he just had a hernia procedure. So that's not great. If he doesn't go out there, they have a rookie undrafted free agent and Spencer Schrader kicking. So their kicking game is going to be shaky at best, I would say. So when you're in the red zone, you got to turn those into sixes instead of threes. Ball security for the offense as well, and that goes towards communication too. So Anthony has a bit of a tendency to know that he's the best athlete on the field. And sometimes that can get him in trouble, especially if you've got a pass rusher breathing down his neck.

Starting point is 00:25:29 If he's not holding onto the ball properly, he will fumble it. He has fumbled before last year. He's fumbled in the preseason. He's got to take care of the ball because, I mean, you can't have a 360-degree vision around your head, so just make sure that the ball is fine. But also in terms of communication as well. You mentioned that preseason Bengals game, it didn't look good.

Starting point is 00:25:51 But in context, a lot of that was communication between him and the receivers. The pick six, the tight end was supposed to be further inside. Anthony threw it where it was supposed to be, but the tight end wasn't there. We saw that led to a pick six. Immediately six points for the other team. That can't happen. There was another crucial third down where he threw over the middle of the field, but it was way in front of A.D. Mitchell. Now, Mitchell, when he came out of his break,

Starting point is 00:26:18 the defense had a coverage he didn't recognize back there or he wasn't expecting expecting so it caused him to kind of hitch and hiccup a little bit coming out of his break that kind of stuff you just got to keep running through it because anthony again threw it right where it was so that kind of stuff they got lucky with an errant throw over the middle of the field that that wasn't intercepted so that stuff has got to get cleaned up and And then defensively, the secondary already, as I mentioned, it's going to be a little worrisome. Just be where you need to be. Because we saw a couple of examples in that week 18 win for the Texans that gave them the AFC South. Obviously that CJ Stroud

Starting point is 00:27:00 to Nico Collins bomb on the first play of the game. There was supposed to be safety help over the top, but there was no communication there. So the safety was not there. It left the corner on an Island with Collins, and that was never supposed to happen. We saw it was a touchdown. And then there was a touchdown to your, your, the fullback. Um, they're like near the goal line where there's a breakdown in communication again again between the safety and the cornerbacks. Nobody was right there to pick up that, that fullback and he was alone in the back of the end zone for a touchdown. If you're just where you're supposed to, like this game's already hard enough against a quarterback like CJ Stroud.

Starting point is 00:27:38 If you just be where you're supposed to be and don't blow the coverages and everything, your life is probably not going to be as difficult. So to me, a lot of it is mental and then also execution in the red zone on offense for me. So with all that said, do you have a score prediction for us, Cody? Yeah, I got a score prediction. I think it's still, normal. It's going to be close, but I got the Houston Texans winning game one, 21 to 17. This is a game that could have a lot of offensive fireworks, but it sounds like you

Starting point is 00:28:14 think the defenses might step up a little bit? Yeah, the defense, I could see them stepping up, but again, it's week one. A lot of quote-unquote new faces with the Houston Texans. I know with you guys, a lot of quote unquote new faces, you know, with the Houston Texans. I know you guys, you know, a lot of guys coming back from injury, i.e. the most important one Anthony Richardson, you know,

Starting point is 00:28:31 and I think that's where we're probably going to see like a couple of head scratches and like, like, like you mentioned, if anything is probably just going to be more so communication type stuff. And, you know, week one games sort of, you know, go down that kind of rabbit hole. Now, once again, I think the Houston Texans defense will have an opportunity to hold their own, especially the defensive line in terms of, well, especially the front seven, actually, in terms of, you know, trying to contain Jonathan Taylor. But overall, you know, I think it's still going to be a close game because I think it's safe to say that this could be a robbery not just CJ and Richardson but this could

Starting point is 00:29:10 be a robbery between these two franchises that might last a minute and even though they never liked each other before I think all the trash talked about the offseason row some players the wrong way in the coast locker room and um yeah I yeah, they're going to come in with an extra chip on their shoulder. I do think they would like to win. I think this will be a close one as well, but I'm a little more confident in the offenses right now. Both sides have quite a few weapons. I think that'll be tough for Houston to defend. And then obviously I think it's going to be tough for the Colts to defend as well. Houston just has so many weapons. I do have the Texans winning this one, 30 to 27. Again, a really close one. I mentioned the kicker battle. That's a three

Starting point is 00:29:55 point game. It could be as simple as a missed field goal somewhere throughout the game. But in general for the Colts, let's just be optimistic and say that their secondary gets it together at some point in the year. I don't know if week one is going to be the time that it happens. So I think the secondary might need a few weeks to gel together. And then will the kicking woes raise their head in this one? Because I mean, even with Matt Gay out there, he has been in a little bit of a slump dating back to late last season. So the Colts, their secondary is very questionable. We have to see them have success before we believe it's going to happen. And then their kicking game has been kind of a very iffy situation, again, dating back to late last season.

Starting point is 00:30:37 So one thing I do know, it's going to be an entertaining battle. I think we're all looking forward to the Anthony Richardson, CJ Stroud rivalry going on. I know they're friends and they're not on the same field at the same time, but it's going to be really exciting. I mean, that's two young star quarterbacks. We already know CJ Stroud is that dude. He's won rookie of the year. Anthony Richardson looked explosive at times in his four game sample size last year, but this does have the makings to be one of the most entertaining rivalries in the NFL. So we're all going to see, you know, Sunday, 1 p.m. Eastern kick, 12 p.m. Central. Don't forget our friends over at Locked On NFL are now two shows every day featuring Tyler Rowland in the morning and then Tony Wiggins for some real NFL talk afterward.

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