Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts' Week 1 Storyline: How Does Matt Ryan Fare Against Houston Texans?

Episode Date: September 6, 2022

With an entire offseason emphasizing the importance of starting strong, the Indianapolis Colts have to win this opening game against the Houston Texans. The guys break down the Texans' roster and talk about how the Colts were able to find success against this team a year ago.Find and follow Locked On Colts on your favorite podcast platforms:📺YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLdpxJspi1hMh5HL7ExpWOQ🎧 Apple https://itunes.apple.com/podcast/id1151621306🎧 Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/6meP450baAtjX4rTENZ5ij🎧 Audacy https://www.audacy.com/podcasts/locked-on-colts-daily-podcast-on-the-indianapolis-colts-21701🎧 Google https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vUFBZODk1ODUyODkyNQ🎧 Megaphone https://cms.megaphone.fm/channel/lockedoncoltsFollow Jake and Zach's written work on HorseshoeHuddle.com, and give them a follow on Twitter @JakeArthurNFL, @ZachHicks2, and @LockedOnColts!Today’s episode of Locked On Colts is presented by PrizePicks. PrizePicks is daily fantasy made easy. Pick 2-5 players and if they score more or less than their PrizePicks projection you can win up to 10x your money on your entry. First-time users can receive a 100% instant deposit match up to $100 with promo code LOCKEDON. That’s PrizePicks.com – promo code; LOCKEDON.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!LinkedInLinkedIn Jobs helps you find the candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONNFLBuilt BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnlineBetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!BriteCoThe guys at BriteCo Jewelry Insurance made buying insurance for your engagement ring, your watch, or whatever so easy you can get covered in 2 minutes on your cell phone. You won't find a better deal on coverage that's so affordable. Go to https://brite.co/lockedonPrizePicksFirst time users can receive a 100% instant deposit match up to $100 with promo code LOCKEDON. That’s PrizePicks.com – promo code; LOCKEDONTuroDitch boring rental cars and find your drive at Turo.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I tell you what, the Colts have a game this Sunday, folks. That's right. They head down to Houston and NRG Stadium to take on the Texans. We're going to tell you all about it on today's episode of Locked on Colts. Let's get to it. You are Locked on Colts, your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast. Part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. Colts fans, you're welcome for that intro, but also thank you so much for tuning in and making us your first listen of the day.

This is your daily podcast covering your Indianapolis Colts, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Today's episode is presented by PrizePix. PrizePix is daily fantasy made easy. Pick two to five players, and if they score more or less than their prize picks projection, you can win up to 10 times your money on your entry. First-time users can receive a 100% instant deposit match on up to $100 with promo code LOCKEDON. That's prizepicks.com, promo code LOCKEDON. I am Jake Arthur, joined as always by my partner Zach Hicks,

and you guys know us, of course, from HorseshoeHuddle.com. On today's show, it's time to start looking at this Colts-Texans matchup that we've got on Sunday. We'll give you some background info on it, as well as some of the important things to focus on. So first and foremost, again, it's Sunday. It's a 1 o'clock kick down at NRG Stadium. New head coach in town for the Texans, Lovey Smith. He's been their defensive coordinator for a couple years, so I don't think anything too drastic is going to be taking place. Much of their nucleus is intact. They do have some interesting new players on there, but for the most part, a lot of the names you know and love to see play against the Colts are still out there. Yeah, for the Colts are still out there.

Yeah, for the Colts, obviously, it's the first opportunity to officially see Matt Ryan and the new offense at work. Any worries that you guys had before the season? You know, the run game wasn't getting going or the offense looked stale. The defense couldn't stop anyone on the run. This, that, and the other. Be prepared to be pleasantly surprised because now scheme comes into play, and now rosters that don't have third, fourth stringers out there are taking place.

Guys who have chemistry are playing together. So, yeah, be prepared to be a little surprised. Zach, what are you thinking? What's your biggest thought storyline coming into this one? Yeah, so I just want to go on what you were just saying there with the the scheme comes into play and stuff like that uh frank frank reich did have a press conference today uh and we're recording this on labor day so he had a press conference on labor day and the biggest thing he said uh was like guys we were being so generic in the preseason. Like, he emphasized that a lot.

Like, guys, this was extremely generic and basic. We were not trying to do really anything here in the preseason outside of just getting our guys to run. And you could see it. I mean, someone actually mentioned it to me on social media, and I was like, yeah, I mean, it was very obvious, especially in the first game against the Bills. It was a very, very generic game plan just to get these guys some run

and let them see some press coverage and stuff like that, you know, the receivers. But, yeah, no, for biggest storyline, I think it's just seeing how this Colts team comes out and plays and gels together because, like we said all offseason, you know, they are returning most of their core. They're returning most of a team that, a good part of last season was really good. It's just they didn't finish. And they're kind of just infusing these veterans that we all have high expectations for.

Matt Ryan, Yannick Ngakwe, Stephon Gilmore, a couple of promising rookies in Alec Pearson, Nick Cross as well. Just seeing how this team kind of gels together. Because, you know, on one hand we can say, oh, the preseason was all generic and we didn't get really to see much. Well, it's like all right let's let's see what you got here in this first week you know we you know because that that excuse doesn't work after week one you know you can't say oh you know it was just week one or something like that um the the biggest thing though with this game i think is i feel like you know it's always been something that we've talked about in the frank reich and

chris ballard era is that we need to see the fast starts. We need to finally see this team get off to a fast start. We need to see them win week one of the regular season. But it feels like this offseason in particular, it's been a much bigger emphasis. It's been every press conference is asked, what are you doing to change these slow starts? And what's your plan for winning week one? I know Jim Mercer has come out and said, we want to win week one. Chris Ballard has come out and said,

we want to win week one this year because it's been so long without winning week one. So I think this game is just an absolutely huge game for, for everyone in the front office, for the owner, for the coaches, coaching staff, for the new players, because this has been an emphasis all offseason. Yeah, it would be shocking to see them just come out flat because it's, of course, lip service.

They say they want to win. Yeah, of course, you want to win everything. But they literally shuffled everything around. Let's look at training camp, for example. They moved practices back a couple hours to get guys more used to performing around the time they'll be playing on game days. You know, obviously, they have mostly one o'clock kicks. If they're playing in central time, it's noon. Pretty much every practice started at noon.

They mentioned they wanted to get their circadian rhythm going and going there. So they really do want to win. And plus, it does not get easier if they drop this one, because this is this is one of the games in there. So they really do want to win. And plus it does not get easier if they drop this one, because this is one of the games on there you circle and say, okay, well, we have to win it because number one, it's a division game. Number two, they have Jacksonville on the road in the curse game week two. And then week three, they get their first home game. Hooray.

But okay, it's against the Chiefs who is, they're usually the easiest team you can say is going to be good each year in the AFC. So it's not a fluke. There's a lot riding on this first game. And of course, it's not the end of the world if they do lose, but it's an important game. There's a lot of heft to it. And the defense too. Yeah.'s it's a road division game in week one so you never want to take those for granted uh but it is a situation where you know the colts have won the last four against the texans uh by a point differential of 72 points in the last four games so uh including last year where they in the two games they played against the texans they outscored

them 62 to 3 uh so i mean the colts are a much better team than this Texans team, even with the changes at quarterback that the Colts have gone through. So this is a prime opportunity for them to adjust to, you know, change this trend that we've seen in week one, but they still need to go out and do it. I mean, we said this a couple years ago, obviously, it was a curse game. And it wasn't as known as being the curse game. But a couple years ago in 2020, we said the same thing, you know, oh, they got their new quarterback, it's a it's a good quarterback coming in uh they have a chance against a bottom dweller in the division in the jacksville jaguars in week one and they came out and laid an egg against the jaguars so i mean obviously anything can happen it's the nfl

but this is the matchup that you want the colts handled this matchup last season very easily both games i mean both games it wasn't even relatively close I mean the Colts were benching their starters with like five minutes to go in both of these matchups last season uh so this is a prime opportunity again for the Colts to finally start off the season on the right track and again this is what their emphasis has been uh so I we're going to do a promo here for Locked On later in the week but when we talk about what the Colts need to do, when this game, they need to come out early and often and show the Texans and the Colts fans that they are the better team in this game.

You know, you need to get out to a one score or a two score lead in the first quarter. And you need to show like, Hey, this is, this is our magic to win. You know, this isn't,

this shouldn't be a close game. And I'm not going to fault them if it is a close game at the end, because again, it's the NFL. Almost every game is a close game. And I'm not going to fault them if it is a close game at the end, because again, it's the NFL. Almost every game is a close game. But when your whole offseason emphasis has been, we want to win week one, you're getting a team that you've had a lot of success against, and you're getting a team that's a bottom dweller in the NFL. You need to come out and put your foot down to start the game. And I think that's what they're going to do, but we need to see it. For sure. And like you said, getting off to a great start would be awesome.

But another thing they've had issues with is closing games. So get off to that great start, of course, but then keep your foot on their neck. I don't know what the hangup would be with just being a jerky, aggressive team. Be an a-hole when it comes to it. Just keep pounding away. Because you have to prove that you can win and close out those games and I can tell you the Texans aren't going to be taking it

lightly either because Lovie Smith was asked about you know that huge differential in the losses last year and they very much have this game circle it kind of it's another reason that Jacksonville lost in week 18 was kind of a blessing in disguise because the Colts had no business losing it and they lost it in the absolute worst manner so they don't get to they don't get to take it easy in any matchups this year like because we've we've seen what it what it can look like when they do right and the last thing I'll just say about this is you know I know I'm talking like the Texans the Colts beat them 62 to 3 last year uh and and obviously they are my opinion, still one of the bottom teams in the league. But they did get better this offseason. You know, they're not this atrocious, you know, cakewalk team that maybe they were even last year.

I mean, even last year they started playing up some fights in the second half of the season. But, you know, they're not this cakewalk team. And Lovie Smith is a great coach. Pep Hamilton, I think, is going to be a good offensive coordinator. So I think, you know, there's a lot to like, I think, with this Texans team. But the Colts should handle this game. And that's the biggest storyline. Just come out fast and put your foot down early and show that, hey, we are the better team.

Yeah, we're going to dive into that in more detail soon. Especially, we'll start out on the offensive side of the ball. But speaking of the offensive side of the ball for the Colts in this one, you know, the NFL season, of course, we're talking about it begins this week. I'm feeling picky. That's right. The more or less is set at 100.5 yards rushing for Jonathan Taylor against the Texans on Sunday. I don't know yet how I'm going to choose that one, but it's intriguing. Nonetheless, this whole thing is easy to do PrizePix. If you want to do some last minute picking, hopping on the PrizePix app is just

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My daughter is letting her, her case be known here too. So just don't worry about that guys. She's not a big fan of getting out of the bath and going into bed. I'm the same way, Jake. I get it. Yeah. She takes after me. It's fine. But now looking at this, the Colts offense against this Texans defense. So obviously you look at Matt Ryan, like that's the biggest change on the Colts offense. But something that's got me a little iffy is, you know, the Colts are working in two new offensive, two new starting offensive linemen and Matt Pryor and Danny Pinter. And, you know, Matt Pryor at left tackle being one of them. I kind of, I kind of fear the Texans pass rush a little bit because they've been able to get to the Colts.

Jonathan Grenard is still there. They have Ogbo Okoronkwo now, Jerry Hughes. They did have Jacob Martin. I don't think he's still there, but they've been able to get to the Colts regardless of offensive line protection, it seems. And with guys who don't even really have the name recognition, and they kind of have a decent cast of characters still. So that's one thing that's got me worried. What do you think? I can see you're kind of iffy on that. I mean, look, to be fair, a lot of their pressures last year against the Colts came against the traffic cone that was Eric Fisher. I mean, don't get me wrong. Jacob Martin hadin had a couple nice little rushes against

brayton smith jacob martin's a really good pass rusher if he's still there then yeah that's i don't think he is and i think they have some decent players like i'm not trying to say that the texans don't have anyone up front but i think if if you if you are at the point where you're scared of this texans pass rush then almost any pass rush is going to scare you you know because i think even jacksonville the next week has a better pass rush than them, you know, because Jacksonville is going to roll out Josh Allen and Trayvon Walker in the next week. So that's a significant difference. Right, right, right. So, you know, when you're looking at this, this Texans defensive line, I think they have some

decent players, but I don't think there's anyone really there to scare you uh the interior defensive line really isn't that scary either um but you know I was looking a lot of film today I was looking at uh how the Colts kind of found success last season against the Texans defense and honestly on offense it was it was pretty smooth sailing I mean Carson Wentz had I think had 117 passer rating in the two games I don don't think he threw a pick in the two games. Jonathan Taylor was dominant in both games. He had 288 yards rushing combined in the two games for four touchdowns. And they were able to kind of do whatever they wanted. I mean, it was actually really fascinating, too,

because when you look at kind of how the passing game was different from the first matchup to the second matchup, I thought it was really interesting. The first matchup, the Texans were heavy, like too high safety cover two type defense. You know, Lovie Smith defense. Yeah. Everything you would expect from Lovie Smith.

So what did the Colts do? They had a lot of deep passing concepts where they were stressing one side of the field, one safety. And then we saw in the Paris Campbell touchdown where they had two deep routes going to one side of the field, one safety. And then we saw in the Paris Campbell touchdown where they had two deep routes going to one side of the field, and that safety bit up. Paris Campbell went over the top, easy touchdown. There was a play to T.Y. Hilton that was a phenomenal throw by Carson Wentz. For all the things we say about Carson Wentz in here, just a phenomenal throw.

It was a sales concept where they attacked one safety, the safety bit up. Carson Wentz hit T.Y. Hilton over the top. That was the first matchup. The second matchup, the Texans were more of a single high man coverage defense, like very, very different defense. Lovey Smith adjusted. So what did Frank Gregg do? A lot of RPOs, a lot of bunch sets, a lot of switch releases off the line, stuff like that. A lot of natural pick plays to create guys open. So this is kind of my way of saying Frank Gregg is an outstanding scout and just understands how to adjust.

But even when the Texans tried something different late in the season, the Colts did adjust. And even though the passing game wasn't as explosive in that later season matchup, it still was quite effective and stuff like that. So, you know, this Texans defense defense i don't know which one we're going to get if we're going to get that too high texans defense or we're going to get a single high more man coverage i do know the texans got a much better secondary this year than they did last year with derrick singly and and jaylen petrie coming in yeah very very solid young players that

i think are wowing that a lot of texans people right now but i'm not too concerned with the texans pass rush, just to kind of bring it all back to what you were just starting off with there. I'm not too concerned about the Texans' pass rush or really their secondary because Frank Reich kind of showed last year that whatever the Texans really threw at them, the Colts were able to kind of adjust and kind of do what they wanted. So what you're saying is Frank Reich knows how to beat a Levy Smith defense. Yeah, yeah.

Regardless of how it's schematically put together. Yeah. It's tough to say. I think, I think Lovey Smith's an outstanding coach and coordinator. I mean, honestly, again, we're talking about a guy who had so much success with the Tampa two. I mean, they took the, he took the bears to the super bowl, you know, a decade ago against the ago against the Colts. I mean, obviously they lost the game, but you had to have been coaching a really good defense.

For him to come back to the NFL after years away and halfway through the season just throw out what he was used to doing and switch to more single high man coverage, stuff like that. And honestly, their defense was better down the stretch than what it was at the beginning of the year. So they actually improved quite a bit. They had some players break out in that secondary. I think their slot corner is a really good player. I think it's like Trevarius Thomas, I think is his name.

I might be a little off. They have Desmond King now too. Yeah, Desmond King is coming back too. So, I mean, they have some players. And Lovie Smith, hats off for an older coach kind of adjusting what he did but ultimately i just don't think they really have the talent to match up with frank reich's ability to get guys open and we kind of saw that last year and and i think with matt ryan because the second matchup the colts passing game struggled a little bit more because it was more man beaters

it was more like run after catch stuff and that's just not what Carson Wentz was great at with Matt Ryan if they want to do more man coverage Matt Ryan's going to make them pay with a lot more mesh stuff a lot more hitting the running backs and stuff like that so I do think the Colts are going to be ready for whatever the Texans throw at them but honestly when I look at this Texans defense the only thing that kind of scares me is you know again Derek Stingley and Jalen Petrie are both very tantalizing rookies who could be productive players. So they do worry me a little bit, you know, maybe they can get in there and make some plays. But as long as they're getting the misdirection game going, and they're getting some good push on their duo runs with Jonathan Taylor, and they're working that play action and mesh game in the passing

game, I really don't see the Colts offense slowing down too much in this one. I'm glad you mentioned those guys because I was going to ask you about that. And just with the remaining time here talking about offense, any concern about what Jonathan Taylor might be able to do? No, I mean, he literally was able to do whatever he wanted. I mean, the last two years he's kind of been able to do whatever he wanted against this Texans defense. Back in 2020, it was a lot of the duo and power runs that he was really effective.

This is actually where we saw Jonathan Taylor really break out in 2020. It started with those Texans games where the Colts were really utilizing duo. They were getting that vertical displacement, and Taylor was able to do what he could do. And then last year, it was a lot more of misdirection, a lot more outside toss plays, a lot more. There was a split zone run that he had an 88-yard carry last season in the first matchup. So, you know, it's Jonathan Taylor we're talking about, so obviously he's going to find success either way. But I think this matchup always favors him

well because the Texans don't really have, like, they don't really have this overly physical, reactive linebacker. They don't have a really, they don't really have this overly physical reactive linebacker. They don't have a really stout interior game either. They're a solid defense. Like, don't get me wrong. I think they're going to be a better defense this year, but they don't really have any kind of game records on the defense that's going to slow down the Colts running game.

Yeah, I think Kamu Gruger Hill, he pops off the screen to me every time. It seems like he'll have a lot of tackles, but he will not be able to stop Jonathan Taylor or naheem hines for that matter because it's probably going to be it's probably going to be a good one for naheem as well if i had to guess right um yeah i i think that's probably about about the only thing i would worry about defensively for me is if they got leaky with the pass rush again but But it sounds like from what you're saying, they know how to counter that. Yeah, and I'm not going to say the Colts are going to come out and just cakewalk to the end zone every single time.

But I do have high expectations for the offense this game. I do think this offense is built to handle the Texans' defense. And, you know, while we're talking about things that we're built to do and stuff like that, if you guys haven't tried built-bar puffs yet, you're depriving yourself of one of life's greatest joys. And guess what? There's a new flavor. It's delicious, indulgent cookie dough covered in chocolate.

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or just need to grab a quick bite to eat. Bilt is the perfect protein bar, and they taste better than a candy bar. Dish the calories, the fats, and the sugar. Grab yourself a Bilt bar. Go to Bilt.com, use promo code LOCKEDON15 on 15 and get 15 off your order use promo locked 15 all right getting to the colts defense here now i haven't done a super extensive film study on the texans offense yet i have obviously remember what i what i watched last year and i've done a little bit of research, but I mean,

again, the Colts only held them to three points last season. It really wasn't, it wasn't too competitive. The Colts defense forced a lot of turnovers. I think they forced, I want to say they forced five and two games last season. Davis Mills, I think played six quarters of those two matchups. Tyra Taylor played the first two of the first matchup. It really wasn't a close game at all. Is there anyone on the Texans offense for you, Jake,

that kind of stands out as like, okay, the Colts should be worrisome. And is it just Brandon Cooks? Yeah. So obviously Brandon Cooks is like the first guy you look at. And I was thinking of that as well, but he's kind of no doubt their top guy. I kind of think, I mean, Stephon Gilmore is the logical choice to put on him but like obviously Kenny can do it as well whenever whenever he's going to go into the slot Nico Collins is intriguing as well I've heard a lot

of buzz about him all offseason there's a lot of expected growth there from him so he's an intriguing guy if I remember, coming out of Michigan, height, weight, speed guy. Yeah, he was very much a Bill DeBallard type guy too. He got a lot of what the Colts like. Yeah, he's a really intriguing player. I don't think it's just going to be Brandon Cooks that they have to worry about. Their tight ends have gotten interesting too.

They have Farrell Brown there. Brevin Jordan, he's someone who started to make noise especially later in the year and they have oj howard now as well which is intriguing but not it's not how much will he play though he just got some you know he just yeah exactly he just got there exactly and i really am waiting to see damian pierce this this running back out of florida because he's from a fantasy perspective he's one of the hottest names at running back out of Florida, because he's from a fantasy perspective, he's one of the hottest names at running back in the entire NFL. I think people are just really waiting to see what he looks like as the

starting running back for the Texans. And of course, David Davis Mills, I think you can probably shed a lot more on Davis Mills, but he's one of those guys who's better than people know. And I think people are expecting a bigger jump and for more people to recognize his, his playmaking ability, I guess in year two.

He's, he's super interesting. Cause I think to some people he's, he's very overrated to some people and to other people, I think he's very underrated. I think anyone who says he's the most promising of the rookie class from last year i think that's very wrong i i think yeah i think to me just generally watching each of these quarterbacks you know i think trevor lawrence did more to impress me i think uh even justin fields and some did a little bit more to impress me and i think mac jones obviously did a

lot more to impress me than david smith but for anyone who thinks oh this is just uh you know a mid-round pick guy who doesn't belong i think davis mills but for anyone who thinks oh this is just uh you know a mid-round pick guy who doesn't belong i think davis mills played some good football last year he had a couple of good stretches obviously those games didn't come against the colts he struggled a lot in the in the two colts games but i i think he i think there's something there i i don't know if it's anything more than a decent starter at best like i i don't know i don't know if it's going to be anything more than that but i do think there is something there i think he's a he's a decent starter at best like i i don't know i don't know if it's going to be anything more than that but i do think there is something there i think he's a he's a decent quarterback prospect that they need to keep giving time to i want to see if his accuracy and his placement gets a

little bit better this season but if for anyone thinking that this is just some terrible quarterback like obviously it's going to be one of the easier quarterbacks the colts play this year but anyone thinking that this is like a non-rosterable quarterback playing you know it's not it's not that bad you know I think he's gonna be better than that um when it comes to Damian Pierce I think a big part of that conversation for me is the Texans offensive line potentially being a lot better you know they finally have Titus Howard out at tackle hopefully they keep him there because I mean again I don't ever want the Texans to do great things but Titus Howard's a guy where they put him at all almost all five spots on the offensive line they've really skewed and messed up that development for a young player who you know

whenever he's been at tackle he's shown some good promise so I think he's out at right tackle now I think that's where they're going to keep him yeah I kind of like Titus Howard yeah I kind of like him uh they got Kenyon Green who was my uh the number one the number one interior offensive lineman that i graded in the indie draft guide i was very very high on him uh and that's actually something that i was going to point out is you know deforest buckner uh the last two years has been so so good against the texans i mean i think this is just me go off top my head so someone will have to fact check me here, but I think Buckner has like nine sacks the last two seasons against the,

against the Texans. Like it's, it is a ton of sacks and pressures against the Texans. So I'll probably, that seems right. Yeah. Yeah. Cause I think there was a game in 2020 where he had like three,

where, when he came back from injury. So he's, he's been super productive against the Texans in his career. Now I didn't i like kenyon green now i'm not gonna say kenyon green's gonna step in on day one and handle deforest buckner but it's different than when he was going against max sharping and and you know all these other guys that he was going against so i do think the texans aligns a little bit better i think brading brandon

cooks is a very solid receiver but i still i don't really see too much of a threat here on this Texans offense and I think at the end of the day you know you could say oh Damian Pierce I think is interesting but you know them rushing against Bobby O'Kara K Grover Stewart to Forrest Buckner that's just a tough you know right it's a tough ask and then I do think they can get some yards to the air I mean the second matchup last last year davis mills i think threw for 277 yards now a lot of that did come in garbage time but he did get something going uh in the second half of that game uh but i just don't know i again it's really tough for me to look at this texans team and say that you know they're better than the colts or that they can beat the Colts. And this is not me trying to be a homer.

I try to look at these things objectively, and I do like some things about this Texans team, but they just feel like they're a year away from being a year away with a lot of – Yeah, they're still very much growing. Right. They're super interesting. They're super interesting, and I'm really curious where they'll be in a year from now. But when I look at this team on film and when I look at this team just on paper and statistically i think colts really can't drop this game no they really can't drop this game it would be i mean it wouldn't be a worse loss than

the jaguars loss just because of what was on the line but in terms of talent like this it would be disgusting if they lost right right because it's not even like what it was in like in 2020 for instance the texans i don't think they were a good team that season um but they had to sean watson so if they beat you it's like okay you know they were in any game yeah yeah by an alien at quarterback it makes sense now like if you lose to this texans team i don't really see what like outside of it just being a like if you lose to this texans team i don't really see what like outside of it just being a week one you know because weird things happen week one um i just you know we've been going through offense and defense here and talking about

where the colts had success last year but again i just get back to it i know i keep hyping on this the colts this team has not been close with the Colts last season. And yes, they added a couple of interesting players and a lot of interesting young players and a couple, you know, free agents, you know, like a Conkro and all those guys, like they added some decent players, you know, in free agency. But I just don't think that it's enough to close how big this gap was last season, especially when you factor in the Colts added some players. So, you know, we can go offense and defense and go position by position, but I just don't, I don't know.

I really don't see how the Texans beat this Colts team unless, I mean, unless Matt Ryan comes out and he's just absolutely a train wreck. I just don't see it, man. I don't see it. No, that's, I think you're right. I think regardless the Colts win. But the difference between it being a blowout and the Colts just kind of playing cat and mouse with them

would be making sure the Colts pass rush gets home. If that's working, it's a wrap. Davis Mills is still a young quarterback. And remembering from watching him, you rattle those guys and you get turnovers on turnovers piling up by getting in their face. So it doesn't have to be everyone, but DeForest Buckner being disruptive upfront or in Gawkway being disruptive

or pay whoever it is, any sort of consistent pass rush where Mills is going to be looking left or right. And he doesn't have an escape route. That's going to be the difference between it being a three-score difference. You know what I mean? I think the Colts will win regardless, but as long as that pass rush gets home, they should kill it, I would imagine.

Yeah, last thing I'll say before we close out the show is this is a great measuring stick for the Colts' pass rush. We've talked all offseason. The Colts' pass rush should be better. Gus Bradley's better for this pass rush. Yannick Ngokwe, Quiddy Payte breakout. You got to show it in week one. This is the game to show it, you know, this Texans offensive line, it's better than what it was last year,

but it's nowhere near the tops in the league. You know, it's, it's a middling line at best. You got to show it if you're, you know, that this improvement is actually happening or it's going to be the same issues as last season. Yeah. We, we got to know if that pass rush is legit. That's for sure. And on that note, that is it for us. We're going to be back with you tomorrow to break down even more of this. You know, we,

we've got more Texan sources to speak through with throughout the week. We got a lot more stuff to bring you guys about this matchup. Yeah. And then of course course, on Twitter, if there's anything you guys want to know specifically about this matchup or the Texans in general, just let us know. We'll figure it out. Yeah, you guys can follow our work on horseshoehuddle.com. I actually did just post an article breaking down what the Colts had success with last season against the Texans, the Colts offense had success with.

So you guys can check that out. It's kind of a lot of what I was just saying there earlier in this, in this podcast. You can check out our social medias on Twitter at Jake Arthur, NFL at Zach kicks to follow or subscribe to our channel here on YouTube. I think we're at like 1100 now, 1100. Yeah. I think we're over 1100.

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