Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts vs. New York Jets: Anthony Richardson's Return Sparks New View of Matchup

Starting point is 00:00:00 Week 11 action. Jets and Colts, a pair of teams having disappointing seasons, a pair of teams in a bit of turmoil. Someone's got to win this game, right? Let's talk about keys to victory for both sides. Locked on Jets, locked on Colts crossover Thursday. You are locked on NFL crossover. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network.

Starting point is 00:00:28 Your team every day. Welcome. It is Crossover Thursday here on the Locked On Podcast Network. Locked On Jets and Locked On Colts ahead of this Week 11 matchup. I'm Jon Butchko, the host of Locked On Jets, along with Zach Hicks, co-host of Locked On Colts. Crossover Thursday is presented by PrizePix. Download the app and use code LOCKEDONNFL to win $50 instantly when you play $5. Well, Zach, good to be with you today. When the schedule came out, this was a Sunday night football game, and instead we are in the early time slot on CBS with Andrew Catalan, Tiki Barber, and JC McCourty, and nothing against those guys.

Starting point is 00:01:04 They're very solid announcers, but it's a sign that neither team is really having the season they'd hoped they'd have. Yeah, it's definitely not been the greatest season for either of these teams. I mean, for the Jets, obviously they had Super Bowl aspirations with Aaron Rodgers coming back from injury. The Indianapolis Colts, while the expectations weren't as high as the Jets, I don't think, there was still expectation of playoffs. And as it stands right now, neither of this team are playoff teams right now. They've had turmoil from injuries to, I mean, the Colts just made another quarterback change at the time we're recording this. Who knows if they make another one by the time this posts? I mean, we never know

Starting point is 00:01:39 what this Colts team right now. So a very fascinating season from our two teams for sure so far. Okay okay so maybe we could time stamp this which quarterback change is going on with the Colts right now because that's got to be the number one story of the week right now is what's going on with the quarterback position with the Indianapolis Colts so what's the latest yeah the latest is they're going back to Anthony Richardson it's kind of that snip snap that we're kind of getting right now with this Colts team where a couple weeks ago they made the move to Joe Flacco. Head coach Shane Steichen said he owed it to the veterans on the team to put in the option that gave them the best chance to win.

Starting point is 00:02:11 And they kind of talked about, you know, behind the scenes working on Anthony Richardson with his being a professional, professionalism, and stuff like that. You go these two weeks with Joe Flacco, it's some truly dreadful quarterback play, which, again, you never really know what you're getting with Flacco, even's some truly dreadful quarterback play, which, again, you never really know what you're getting with Flacco, even from the early parts of his career, but especially these last couple years. You guys saw him as a backup here in New York a couple years ago. Last

Starting point is 00:02:34 year had that great run with the Browns. This year with the Colts, a little high, a little low, but a lot of low recently, and the Colts decided to go back to Anthony Richardson. Now they're kind of coming out and saying that this was kind of the plan all along was like, they're not outright saying it was only like a two game suspension or something like that for Anthony Richardson, but they're kind of saying like, we always believed Richardson was our guy. We were eventually going to go back to him regardless. And the time felt right right now, but we don't really know as people in the media or even people you know sitting at home watching these press conferences what really was the decision behind the scenes when it came down to all this was a disciplinary thing for Anthony Richardson with

Starting point is 00:03:15 the tap out against the Houston Texans maybe was it a performance thing and Joe Flacco's performance these last two weeks were so awful they said you know what let's just go back to the young kid I guess because you know is Flacco still the starter if he wins one of these past two games, or he plays well even in these past two games? I'm not too sure, but all we can really say for right now is Anthony Richardson is the starter, and it clearly changes the trajectory of this Colts offense in a lot of ways. It's a very, very different offense with Anthony Richardson for better and for worse, and we'll see if that can accumulate into a win this week against New York Jets. So, I mean, I think obviously mobility is, there's a big difference between Anthony

Starting point is 00:03:53 Richardson's mobility and Joe Flacco's mobility, but what other ways would this offense be different with him under center versus what we've seen the last couple of weeks with Flacco? Yeah, we've talked about a lot on Lockdown Colts and just everywhere these last couple of weeks with Flacco. Yeah, we've talked about a lot on Locked on Colts and just everywhere these past couple of weeks with Joe Flacco, where when you make the move to Flacco, you're making the move for better efficiency, for better completion percentage, for early down or not even early down. Just just getting the ball moving and higher success rate on offense. You're trying to get more productive drives on offense with Joe Flacco. Now, they weren't getting that with Joe Flacco these past two weeks. They were getting a lot of bad turnovers. I mean, the offense had, what, six turnovers the last two weeks. He was responsible for five of them, maybe four if you don't count the sack fumble, but four

Starting point is 00:04:33 to five of the turnovers the past two weeks were on Joe Flacco, and that simply wasn't good enough for when you're losing the mobility and you're losing the run game and losing the explosive play, but that's what Richardson kind of brings back to the offense is that floor of the offense being a very good rushing attack, near top 10 in success rate and rush EPA with Anthony Richardson in the game. Really good early down success with Anthony Richardson at converting first downs for more first downs. You get the explosive play rate back up,

Starting point is 00:05:01 which Richardson was great at early in the season. And you just get a guy who can create a little bit, you know, that everything doesn't need to be perfect. You have a guy who can break off sacks in the backfield. You get a guy who can create when the play breaks down, unlike Joe Flacco, where when the play breaks down, he's going to do what I'm going to do if I were a quarterback and just fall down in the backfield and call it a day right there. But you do lose a little bit of that efficiency. You lose some of the completion percentage and you kind of fall back to that floor that Richardson gives you. The hope right now with Richardson is he can just bring you above that floor that he sets already just by being on the field. Because again, the run game is good with him. The explosives are good

Starting point is 00:05:37 with him. Can he bring you anything else? Can he be at least an adequate success rate quarterback? Can he be a guy who can somewhat sustain drives? That's what we didn't see from him early this season. But even if he just goes back to what he played like early in the season, you still get the explosives, you still get a good run game, and you still get enough to, you know, maybe get some wins out there. In five starts, I think there were two and three with him this year, or I guess in six starts, they were three and three, but in five games, he finished, they were two and three. So he did get them winning some games when he was out there. It really just comes down to, can he elevate his play even a little bit from what he was

Starting point is 00:06:13 giving early in the season? What are the big stories happen on the Colts for the, on the defensive side of the ball right now? Yeah, right now it's kind of the big change that we're seeing on the defense. The defense had this absolute disaster class performance against the Jacksonville Jaguars a couple weeks ago. I think it was like five weeks ago now at this point, where they gave up 37 points to a one-win Jaguars team, and it was just a dreadful, dreadful performance. But since then, every single thing we say bad about Gus Bradley in the media from he's a stagnant, you know, old ball coach who doesn't change and only runs his cover three and doesn't blitz. Well, in these past five weeks,

Starting point is 00:06:50 we've seen a coach who has changed to more cover two and changed more cover for a coach that has blitzed at like a 30% rate, which is like the highest I've ever seen Gus Bradley do. They're getting a ton of pressure up front these past three games against three playoff caliber teams. They have a 53% pressure rate these past couple games. So just doing some really good things to get some pressure, and they're forcing a ton of turnovers. I think they're second in the NFL right now in forced turnovers as a defense. They're coming off a three-game stretch against, again, three playoff teams

Starting point is 00:07:19 where they forced six turnovers in that, including forcing Josh Allen to tie his season high in picks for the whole season in just one game. He threw two picks against the Indianapolis Colts this past week. So they force a lot of turnovers. They're getting after it in the past game. Run defense is still a little questionable, but you're seeing this big turnaround from a defense that looked dead in the water

Starting point is 00:07:41 five weeks ago to now a pretty adequate group that punches the ball out and stands tall in the red zone. So we'll take that as a defense. You know, if you can go from awful to adequate with turnover heavy, that's a big win in my book. And this defense has played well enough these past couple of weeks to get some wins. It's just their offense hasn't really given them the help on the other side of the ball.

Starting point is 00:08:01 Who are some of the key names on the defense? The two big ones are DeForest Buckner and Kenny Moore II. Those are your two playmakers, your two A players on this defense. The rest of the guys are more, you know, C plus B type players. I mean, Grover Stewart, I think is like a B plus player at nose tackle. But DeForest Buckner is such an impact pass rusher. He's been such a massive player since coming back from injury. And then Kenny Moore II in the slot. I mean, from run defense to pass coverage to making plays as a playmaker, he's the guy you really want to watch. He has a fumble recovery for a touchdown against the Minnesota Vikings, and he had an insane pick against Josh Allen last week. So that's really

Starting point is 00:08:38 the guy you got to watch in the secondary right there. Well, that's an excellent scouting report on the Indianapolis Colts. As we continue here on this crossover Thursday of Locked On Jets and Locked On Colts, we're going to flip the script. I'll tell you what's going on with the New York Jets. There's a lot going on. There's not a lot good. We'll get to that continuing here on crossover Thursday here on the Locked On Podcast Network. Today's episode of Locked On Jets and Locked On Colts is brought to you by Hillsdale College.

Starting point is 00:09:04 You know, time is our most precious commodity. So don't waste it scrolling through the same mind-numbing content for hours and hours. How can you spend it wisely to improve yourself? Well, our sponsor, Hillsdale College, is offering more than 40 free, that's right, free online courses, including Constitution 101, The Meaning and History of the Constitution, Introduction to Free Market Economics, The Great American Story, A Land of Hope, and The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire. All of Hillsdale's courses are self-paced, so you can start whenever and tune in wherever.

Starting point is 00:09:30 Plus, you can go deeper with readings, quizzes, and discussions, or just enjoy the lectures. Go right now to hillsdale.edu slash lockdown to enroll. There's no cost, and it's easy to get started. Again, that's hillsdale.edu slash lockdown to register. Hillsdale.edu slash locked on to register. Hillsdale.edu slash locked on. Today's episode of Locked On Jets and Locked On Colts is also brought to you by FanDuel. Get ready to tackle the NFL action with FanDuel, America's number one sportsbook. Because right now, new customers can bet $5 and get $150 in bonus bets if you win.

Starting point is 00:09:59 The FanDuel sportsbook app gives you everything you need to place live bets on the NFL all in one place. So when you get a hunch in the middle of a game, you can check out the latest stats, view live play, play-by-play, and so much more on the same page where you place your bets. Just visit FanDuel.com to join today. You'll get started with $150 in bonus bets if you win your first $5 bet. And you don't need to wait for the game to start to put money down. Jets currently three and a half point home favorites. I think a lot of Jets fans may disagree with the Jets being favored over anybody at this point.

Starting point is 00:10:24 I don't know. Maybe Colts fans agree with the Jets being favored over anybody at this point. I don't know. Maybe Colts fans agree with the Jets being favored. But no matter what, if you go to FanDuel again, you get started with $150 in bonus bets if you win your first $5 bet at FanDuel.com. That's FanDuel.com. Never waste a hunch and make every moment more with FanDuel, an official sportsbook partner of the National Football League.

Starting point is 00:10:45 All right. We are back, guys. We're talking Colts, Jets, locked on crossover Thursday. And John, I'm going to lead off this section and kind of kick it to you about this Jets team. Where do we begin with this Jets team, John? Like, again, supposed to be a Super Bowl team with a ready-made defense, the quarterback ready to go, weapons. I mean, they even traded for Devontae Adams.

Starting point is 00:11:10 Head coaches fired. I mean, getting blown out this past week by the Arizona Cardinals. I mean, what's the biggest storyline with this team right now? I was going to ask you where do you want to start because we could go anywhere. I think we could do probably a week full of crossover shows on the demise of the 2024 New York Jets. There are two things that really stand out to me, and they're

Starting point is 00:11:30 kind of related. First of all, this is something we talked about on Locked On Jets through the entire offseason, is that the operative phrase for the 2024 New York Jets was on paper, because on paper, the roster looked really good. But they were also depending on a lot of guys who were older players,

Starting point is 00:11:48 guys in their 30s, guys approaching their 30s. And there's always a question. Even guys who are still playing at a really high level at that age, it can go quickly for them. Aaron Rodgers, we know he's one of the top 15 quarterbacks of all time, maybe even one of the top 10 quarterbacks of all time. He was coming off a really serious injury. He also, and this is kind of quiet,

Starting point is 00:12:07 his last year in Green Bay was the worst year of his career. So two years ago in Green Bay, he had a year that was not very good. And you could have blamed it. He did not have great receivers that year. He was also dealing with an injury on his throwing hand that year. But it also was a possible sign of decline. And I think that we're seeing that that really was the first sign that things were kind of going downhill for them.

Starting point is 00:12:28 And then he suffers an Achilles injury, which drives things even further downhill. Tyron Smith, who I don't think is going to play in this game. I actually would be surprised if we saw Tyron Smith in a Jets uniform again, because he suffered an injury against Arizona. He was having a bad year. Guy was really just a rock solid player. One of the greatest left tackles of his generation, but not the same level of player.

Starting point is 00:12:50 Hassan Reddick's a bit of a different story. Hassan Reddick, the Jets completed the trade for him. Big star guy over the last four years. You know, one of the top players in sacks in the NFL. Four straight 11s plus sack seasons. He showed up, he wanted a new contract. And I said this many times on Locked on Jets, a lot of people may disagree with me.

Starting point is 00:13:11 I don't see how you trade for this guy without knowing that he wants a new contract. The whole reason he was traded was that the Eagles did not want to pay him the contract that he sought. So, you know, like the Jets were really good on paper, but paper doesn't win you games and when you have this many guys who are again aging it kind of you know it can go south really quickly and this is probably the worst version of the jets you could get and that leads into the one i think

Starting point is 00:13:36 the second issue is which is this is a collection of players it's not a team um and you know i know that can be a cliche but if you watch these guys, they're not fighting hard. I mean, that game against Arizona was a disaster. I don't think I've ever said a team gave no effort. I've been the host of Lockdown Jets since the very beginning back in 2016. So eight years, this is my ninth season doing this. I've never said that a team openly quit on the field before. That team just showed no effort in the game against Arizona. I mean, you watch Jets miss 20 tackles. It's not just that they missed 20 tackles.

Starting point is 00:14:09 If you watch the game over, you know, Robert Sala, when he installed this defense and he's not here anymore, he always preached that, you know, first guy tackles. Guys two and three need to keep hustling and get after him, you know, clean things up if the first guy misses his tackle. That was not happening against Arizona. This is a team that, I mean, I don't know any other way to say it they just act like they don't care um it's a collection it's a collection of big names it's not a bunch of guys fighting for each other right now yeah and and that kind of leads me to my question about

Starting point is 00:14:37 the offense right now because this offense again on paper was supposed to be a pretty big factor in the season obviously the defense we knew what they were coming into the year and they've disappointed to a degree but for the most part the defense has been fine-ish but the offense was supposed to be you know this big thing with Aaron Rodgers especially with Garrett Wilson with Brees Hall Devontae Adams coming in has it been those big name players letting down like the Rodgers and the Garrett Wilsons and Devontae Adams? Or has it really been like the play caller or the offensive line that has really just been the crux of the issue on offense? It's shocking to say this from a Jets perspective. The offensive line has actually been the least of their problems outside of Tyron Smith.

Starting point is 00:15:18 You know, you go into the season, you think you think Tyron Smith's going to be solid. I don't know about these other guys. The offensive line has actually been pretty solid. I think it's been everybody else. Look, they made a trade for Devontae Adams. Again, this is another guy who big reputation, three-time first-team All-Pro. And I'm sure he can help a team, and he had a big game against Houston. But this is not the 1,500-yard Devontae Adams of three years ago.

Starting point is 00:15:43 Again, Jets banking on an older type player. I think Garrett Wilson's had a decent season. He's been up and down. He had a couple weeks ago against Pittsburgh, had a really ugly play, which it should have been a catch. It hit him in the chest. The ball popped in the air and turned into an interception. It took some time for him and Rodgers to get on the same page.

Starting point is 00:16:00 I think he's having a decent season. Brees Hall got off to a slow start. I think he started to bounce back recently. I think biggest issue with the jets on offense though is that there's really not much of an ability to make big plays in the passing game and um part of that's you know they don't really have a pure deep threat you know garrett wilson's a really good technician he's a guy who can create early separation pretty good after the catch but he's not a down the field threat um devante adams i guess is you know similar really great getting releases off the line of scrimmage um but the i

Starting point is 00:16:32 think the bigger issue is just rod what rogers is right now rogers is a guy who just seems afraid to take a hit and there's good reason for that because he's been playing banged up since like week four um you know another thing about aging is that your body doesn't recover from injuries or even the bumps and bruises as quickly as it used to. And I don't think he's been hit a ton, but when he's been hit, he's been banged up. I mean, I think there are probably three or four games this year he's had to, you know,

Starting point is 00:16:59 he's either limped off the field or go onto the tent to check out an injury. It happened against Arizona after a hit, he took on a fourth down play early in the second half. I don't think Rodgers physically can hold up to the grind of an NFL season anymore. And he's afraid of getting hit for that reason, which means he's getting the ball out as quick as possible. And when you're just dumping the ball off as quickly as you can, you can't let plays

Starting point is 00:17:24 marinate. Receivers can't get down the field, and it really limits what you can do on offense. Jets had a couple long drives against Arizona that ended in points, an 11-play drive and a 12-play drive. Those are the first two times they had the ball. They ended in field goals. The problem is that it takes those plays to get the Jets into scoring range

Starting point is 00:17:39 just because of their inability to hit the splash plays. Yeah, and that's a really interesting thing because that's what the Colts want you to do is the Colts want you to march down the field on 10, 12, 13 play drives and see if you can convert in the red zone. So really, really good thing there for the Colts, at least going to this Jets defense though. I think the biggest thing with this Jets defense, obviously you mentioned the missed tackles this past week, but just the fall off in play from the head coach move. Like from the head coach move. Like once the head coach move happened, this defense, it seems like lost a lot of life.

Starting point is 00:18:12 I mean, they haven't changed anything schematically or lost any players. I don't know, just for me as an outsider, John, it feels like they lost a lot of their soul, I guess, when they made that change of head coach. That's really an interesting point. And look, Robert Sala's record speaks for itself. I think it was 20 and 36. He did not have a winning season. I think it's fair to say Robert Sala is a bad head coach, but I don't think he lost the team.

Starting point is 00:18:33 And everything that's come out since that move was made just made it seem like it was a really impulsive move by the owner, Woody Johnson. It seemed like he was angry because they lost in London. He used to be the U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom. So it was a school of thought. He was embarrassed in they lost in London. He used to be the U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom. So his school thought he was embarrassed in front of his friends. It doesn't sound like he – we could talk about the relationship between the owner and the GM right now.

Starting point is 00:18:54 It's not clear how much involvement the GM has in actually running the team right now because it doesn't sound like the GM was consulted on this move. And it seems like it did not galvanize the team. And I think that there is also a tangible impact here is that Salah probably had a lot to do with running the defense. And there's a bit of a double whammy effect because not only do you lose Salah, who for all of his faults as a head coach is a good defensive mind, the defensive coordinator, Jeff Ulbrich was promoted to head coach and he kept his defensive coordinator responsibility. So now you have this guy, he's being pulled in all these different directions. I think he's stretched a little

Starting point is 00:19:29 thin right now, and I think he should have appointed a new defensive coordinator. I think that that was a mistake, trying to keep it all to himself, but he's being pulled in all these different directions. So I think there's a bit of a double whammy effect there. I do think that some of the early success statistically you saw from this team was a function of them facing offenses that weren't very good. Tennessee with Will Levis, a work in progress, let's say. New England's not a great offense. We'll be diplomatic there. But yeah, I do think, Zach, there's something to the idea that this coaching change, well, again, I'm not going to defend Robert Sala as a head coach, but if your choice is too bad

Starting point is 00:20:11 options, keeping Robert Sala or what you've moved on to, they probably would have been better off keeping Sala, at least for the rest of the season. Yeah, completely agree. Completely agree. And just one more real quick, who are the playmakers that you see in this game for the Jets that can make a big difference if the Jets were to somehow pull off the victory? I mean, again, they're coming off a rough game, but if they could pull it off, who are the playmakers for the Jets? You know, I think it's the usual suspects. I think, you know, Brees Hall, to the extent they have a big play threat, he hasn't produced a lot of big plays this year, but Brees Hall in the game um is probably is a big play threat uh big speed uh really the only home run hitter that the jets have on offense and he's after a really slow start he started to uh elevate his game the last couple weeks uh garrett wilson and

Starting point is 00:20:54 rogers have developed a good rapport after getting off to a bit of a shaky start um he's had a couple hundred yard games recently you always look to davante adams adams has probably played one good game out of four in a jets uniform but roger's going to look to him um and then on the defensive side of the ball I think you know question can what's Quinn and Williams going to do Quinn and Williams uh back to back pro bowl seasons but not having as big of a year this year he's shown some flashes um just defensive line is not as strong as it's been in the past and that's one of the that's another sort of the source of their defensive woes uh but if Quinton Williams can play like Quinton Williams, he kind of has a multiplier effect.

Starting point is 00:21:27 He just makes everybody better around him. So, you know, I think it's the names you'd expect. I don't think there are many names. I think a lot of the guys, the Jets have our household names. They're not playing like household names, but Jets win. You can expect a big performance from them. So you've heard about the Jets. You've heard about the Colts.

Starting point is 00:21:43 As we continue here on this crossover Thursday edition of Locked On Jets and Locked On Colts, we're going to get to our keys to victory. What do the Jets need to do to win? What do the Colts need to do to win? We'll tell you ahead on this Crossover Thursday edition of Locked On Jets and Locked On Colts here on the Locked On Podcast Network. Our episode of

Starting point is 00:22:00 Locked On Jets and Locked On Colts today is brought to you by PrizePix. PrizePix is the best place to get real money sports action. With over 10 million members and billions of dollars in awarded winnings, PrizePix has made daily fantasy sports accessible to all. You just pick more or less on at least two players for a shot to win up to 100 times your cash.

Starting point is 00:22:15 Run your game all season long on PrizePix. You can now win up to 100 times your money on PrizePix with as little as four correct picks. Sign up today and get $50 instantly when you play $5, and you don't even need to win to receive the $50 bonus. It's guaranteed. PrizePix is the best way to win real money this football season. Which players are going off? Which ones aren't? Make your

Starting point is 00:22:32 picks in less than 60 seconds and turn your sports opinions into real money all season long on PrizePix. Download the app today and use code LOCKEDONNFL to get $50 instantly after you play your first $5 lineup. Again, download the app today. Use code LOCKEDONNFL it's one word with no space. L-O-C-K-E-D-O-N-N-F-L to get $50 instantly after you play your first $5 lineup. Again, download the app today. Use code LOCKEDONNFL. It's one word with no space. L-O-C-K-E-D-O-N-N-F-L to get $50 instantly after you play your first $5 lineup.

Starting point is 00:22:51 Prize picks. Run your game. Locked on Jets, locked on Colts. Crossover Thursday ahead of Week 11 action. Colts coming to the Meadowlands, a game that was originally scheduled for Sunday night, is now 1 o'clock Eastern time on Sunday. Zach, we'll start with you.

Starting point is 00:23:09 Colts are the road team. What are your keys to victory for Indianapolis? I really think it just comes down to the quarterback play. What can we get out of this quarterback position for the Indianapolis Colts? You look at what they did last week against the Buffalo Bills team, and I know the scoreboard didn't say this, but it was a closely fought game where the Colts really had a good chance to knock off one of the top teams in the AFC. It's just their quarterback forgot what team he played for for most of the game. He threw a lot of interceptions in this one. He made a lot of mistakes. And

Starting point is 00:23:38 really, they had a lot of playmakers on offense and defense show up and their quarterback simply didn't. So they're making the move back to Anthony Richardson. He's giving you a good floor again of explosive passing plays, explosive run games, a good running attack and overall success on early downs. But can he build from that? Can he take his completion percentage from 40% to 50% to 55%? We will take this at that point because it'll just elevate the floor of this team even higher and make it so this offense can be more manageable. The Colts defense has been racking up some good performances lately and been punching

Starting point is 00:24:10 the ball out, forcing turnovers and doing their thing. And the playmakers from A.D. Mitchell to Josh Downs to Alec Pierce have been performing at wide receiver. They simply need the quarterback play to be there this week. That is the ultimate key to victory is can the quarterback play just be adequate? All I'm asking for is adequate. That's all it needs. It's all it needs right now. Like it's not even a shot at the Jets. It's really against anybody right now. It could be against the Minnesota Vikings two weeks ago, the Buffalo Bills last week. Just give me

Starting point is 00:24:38 adequate quarterback play and the Colts are a playoff team right now. So that's really what it comes down to. Anthony Richardson, what did he learn from with these two weeks on the bench? Hopefully he didn't learn too much from Joe Flacco's play on the field, but maybe he learned from Joe Flacco's experience off the field and just learned from his own experience of being benched and comes out there with a new fire and desire to get this win for the Colts because if the quarterback play can at least hit adequate this week, the Colts should be able to get the victory here against the New York Jets. Well, I have three keys for the Jets. Number one, they need to show up to play.

Starting point is 00:25:13 I mean, if you watch that game against Arizona, it's like I hate to go into cliches like this about effort and hustle, but there was zero effort in that game. It was like guys didn't care. And what was frustrating was they were coming off a huge win against Houston, and they kept saying, we turned our season around. They had three extra

Starting point is 00:25:32 days to prepare. They got some good results in the early game Sunday. They got help that they needed because Denver currently owns the 7th seed in the AFC. Denver lost, and Denver should have won that game against the Chiefs, so everything was lined up for them and it's not just that they lost it's that they were dominated from the opening kickoff so I mean does this team have any fight left in

Starting point is 00:25:53 them you know we'll start to find out on Sunday um number two this is this late change because the Colts Colts have a late quarterback change and you know I don't know by the time you listen to this podcast maybe the Colts will have gone back to Flacco or maybe signed somebody else. I don't know. But when I heard the change to Anthony Richardson, my first thought was good from the standpoint that, like, I always feel like when you're facing an opponent with like a non-clear quarterback situation, kind of throw the team into disarray. Then I thought this through and I thought about how bad the Jets are against the run and facing Anthony Richardson. That's going to be a challenge. I was a little disappointed because I wanted to make the joke that you know the game got flexed from Sunday night to one o'clock because you have to you have

Starting point is 00:26:33 to give the early bird special to Flacco and Aaron Rodgers so that joke's out the window with Richardson in the lineup you know the Colts rushing game becomes more dynamic this is a tough rushing attack to face. The Jets have not played well against the run this year. I think this is another case where the numbers look a little bit better than the reality for the Jets. Jets have been dominated at points, I think, practically every game against the run. There have been some games where they've responded. They've had a bad first half and responded in the second half or vice versa. I don't think there's been a full game outside of maybe week three against the Patriots where they completely shut down the other team's

Starting point is 00:27:03 run game. This is going to be a real challenge. Jets need to tackle. Anthony Richardson's not an easy guy to bring down. Colts have some other talent in their backfield. Jets need to tackle. If they miss 20 tackles in this game, they're going to get blown out again. And the third key is something you alluded to, the Colts blitzing a little bit more with Gus Bradley. This is Jets' team that's been awful against the Blitz. And I think part of it is Rodgers at 40 coming off an Achilles has pretty much no mobility left. You know, he can move. There was one play against Arizona where he kind of moved to his right

Starting point is 00:27:38 and threw back across the field to Jeremy Ruckert. And the guys calling the game on CBS praised his mobility. And I was like, yeah, but nobody was chasing him there. He just kind of drifted off on his own. Rodgers is at a point where he can't outrun defensive tackles. And that's what happened on the play. I referenced where he had to go to the tent after because he got injured. Rodgers can't evade any pass rushers.

Starting point is 00:27:56 And that's made him very vulnerable to the Blitz, in part because he has not really altered his game. In the past, in Green Bay, he could always outrun guys. He could always extend plays. In his current, in Green Bay, he could always outrun guys. He could always extend plays. In his current state, he can't do that. And I still don't think he's fully adjusted his game to that reality. I think that he's not finding his hot routes quickly enough when he's under pressure. He's not doing the things he needs to do, and he can't outrun these guys anymore, which means the Jets need to do a better job protecting against the Blitz. I think that means

Starting point is 00:28:22 they need to leave extra blockers infrequently, particularly because they could be playing a left tackle who's a rookie, Olu Fashinu. He started a couple games early in the season, but at right tackle, this could be his first start in his career. Left tackle, I think they'll need to help him out as often as possible. But with the Jets this year, outside of maybe the game they played against Houston, when teams have blitzed, it's been an automatic sack virtually.

Starting point is 00:28:44 It's a guarantee to shut the Jets' offense down. So they need to handle that well, and I think that means leaving extra blockers in. Well, Zach, one of these teams has to win this game, right? Unless it's a tie. Oh, gosh, please don't say that. But look, guys, this is a playoff-determining game still, technically, right?

Starting point is 00:29:02 We're still fighting for that seventh seed, right? Like, this could be the make or break for our teams right here, guys. I agree with the break part. I mean, I don't know. Maybe the Colts can turn it around. Maybe, I don't know. Maybe I'm too negative.

Starting point is 00:29:14 Maybe this is the Jets turning it around. Anyway, Zach, really great chatting with you. Hopefully our teams are better the next time we do this. Yeah, please. Let's hope. And thanks to all of you for listening. And thank you for making

Starting point is 00:29:25 lockdown jets and lockdown cults your first listen every single day i'm john butch go from lockdown jets he's zach hicks from lockdown cults tune into our shows tomorrow we'll continue to preview week 11 between the jets and the cults

Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts vs. New York Jets: Anthony Richardson's Return Sparks New View of Matchup

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