Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts: Will Jonathan Taylor, DeForest Buckner Return, Spark Win vs. Houston Texans?

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Colts just got their best offensive player back, and they might get their best defender back, too. And oh yeah, a win could put the Colts on top of the AFC South. 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.

Starting point is 00:00:32 This is your daily podcast covering your Indianapolis Colts. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Your team every day. And today's show is brought to you by PrizePix. Go to prizepix.com slash locked on NFL and use code all over case locked on NFL to win $50 instantly when you play $5. What up y'all? This is Jake Arthur and Zach Hicks of horseshoehuddle.com. I'm your resident media member for the site and Zach is your resident film expert for the site. And today we are giving our official and final preview of Colts and Texans.

Starting point is 00:01:08 This is a big one. Colts four and three, Texans five and two. So far, you know, mixed results for the both sides. Really, the Colts are kind of pointing up. The Texans are sputtering a little bit. Obviously, the Texans did get the better of the Colts in week one. But if the Colts win this one on Sunday, these teams will both be on top of the AFC South. Now, the Texans will have the slight edge because they've got a better divisional record. But still, the Colts could pull themselves even, which seemed unlikely after the start they got off to this season. But the best news for the Colts, Jonathan Taylor has been out the last three games and he's been removed from the injury report.

Starting point is 00:01:47 He is back. Their best, most explosive offensive player and defensive tackle DeForest Buckner. He returned to practice this week. He currently is listed as questionable, but I think Zach and I both feel pretty good about this. We'll explain that further in the defensive section of this thing. But man, Zach, what are you thinking? So we could start with the offense. Luckily for the Colts, they have Anthony Richardson in this one. They have Jonathan Taylor in this one. They got the receivers like they're they're they're kind of full go as full go as they have been at any point in the season other than, of course, you know, the first week or two. Yeah, it's as healthy as you can really expect for a Colts team at the halfway point in the season, other than of course, you know, the first week or two. Yeah. It's as healthy as you can really expect for a Colts team at the halfway

Starting point is 00:02:27 point in the season, in terms of all their wide receivers are playing, they're starting running backs playing, they're starting quarterbacks playing four out of their five offense alignment are playing. Like when have the Colts ever been this healthy, you know, knock on wood, obviously, when I say something like that, because you never know what this team, but it's, yeah,

Starting point is 00:02:42 it's a great thing to see and it's exactly where you want to be going into this type of matchup. Like you mentioned at the top of the show, this is for the division lead at week eight of the season. Like this is essentially the halfway point of the season. And the Colts are, you know, if they win this game, they're tied for the division lead with a team that everyone was expecting to be the Super Bowl contender and top tier football team in the league. And like you mentioned, the Houston Texans are sputtering a little little bit i don't think it's like this massive sputter i mean

Starting point is 00:03:08 their their brutal game they had this past week was a two-point loss to the green bay packers or whatever it was like the packers defense is good they're showing everybody like right that colts game was bad but the packers packers defense is pretty good right right so even the texans at their worst are still a pretty good football team but But yeah, this is a great opportunity for the Colts and especially for the Colts offense. I think when you look at their year that Anthony Richardson has had, aside from that start against the Pittsburgh Steelers, I mean, his last three games have just not been good football games from him. We could, you could even say this past one that we saw against Miami was his best one in over a month. And it was not

Starting point is 00:03:45 a great start from him. I mean, he did some good things on the ground, but his throwing was not great in this past game. And you're going to need a lot more of that, a lot more of what he did in week one against Houston or what he did last year, I guess, in any of those rookie starts, if you're going to beat a team like Houston. Because again, this is a different tier of football team than the Miami Dolphins. Luckily, the Houston Texans are a little bit banged up on defense and and I think one of the biggest aspects that slows down this Colts offense is a linebacker that can cover and a linebacker that has that next level awareness to to read things behind him and with the Texans being down Aziz Alshier in this one I do think that's a pretty big absence there for the Texans

Starting point is 00:04:24 they have good linebackers behind them who played really well against Jordan Love last week, but it's a different animal, honestly, than not having Aziz Alshier. We saw last week Jordan Brooks disrupted a lot of the Colts over the middle throws. We saw again in week one, a lot of the Colts underneath stuff was getting disrupted by Alshier. So maybe with backup linebackers in there, Richardson can find a groove over the middle of the field. But at the end of the day, I think this is a great opportunity for the Colts offense. You get Richardson out there with Jonathan Taylor. You can lean on the ground game a little bit and maybe just maybe take advantage of some backup linebackers over

Starting point is 00:04:56 the middle of the field. I think, you know, this is a day where like, look, if the offense is going to click at any time under Anthony Richardson, it kind of needs to be this week because it doesn't get easier going forward. And this is one that has big, big implications for the playoffs and potentially for the division the rest of the season. Yeah, no, this, this feels much different than, than week one. You know, the trajectory of both teams are different right now, but also the health, you know, the Colts are getting really good news. Whereas Houston, you know, Nico Collins is on IR now. He's not going to be in this one. You mentioned Aziz Alshair, but also Henry Toto is in the concussion protocol and he's questionable. That's a starter. Jimmy Ward starting safety. He's out. So Pierce is so sad about that one. I yeah both both tackles uh they're they're gonna

Starting point is 00:05:47 play but tonsil and and titus howard uh i can't recall if howard is still starting or not but they've been banged up throughout the week so this is you know a much different feel i think the colts you know i i think they should be you know we're going to talk about the point spread in a bit but i don't like i think the colts almost should be favored in this one. Like it's, it's looking up, but you mentioned Anthony Richardson and kind of ironing things out. So I feel like we kind of follow a pattern with him a little bit, you know, obviously injuries are nothing new for him, but he comes back from an injury or, you know, starts the season, whatever. It's pretty clunky and a little messy initially, but after a couple games, two, three games, it really starts to click.

Starting point is 00:06:30 And then, unfortunately, usually another injury comes about. We're not going to talk about that in this one. But he's on schedule to have one of those bounce-back games. It looked like he was on pace for against Pittsburgh. So I'm optimistic about this one for the Colts offense in particular. Obviously, you never want to face CJ Stroud defensively. So that might be a little bit of a different animal. But I feel good about this one going in. Anthony Richardson with another week back from his injury. Jonathan Taylor's officially back. And that run game outside

Starting point is 00:07:02 Anthony Richardson was not great. they averaged 3.7 yards per carry the uh the running backs did so again the receivers are back we know what Alec Pierce was able to do in week one now they're Houston's gonna have a plan for that this time around but you know we'll see blown coverages can happen uh so I feel good yeah I think this is a good week for the Colts to figure out their identity on offense too. Like, do we want to be a team that leans on the ground game to set up these explosives that we've been constantly calling? I mean, you guys who listen to the show can recall earlier in the week, me and Ben Boris

Starting point is 00:07:35 were saying like, look, the problem with this offense right now is they're kind of just spamming vertical shots, which is fine. Like if you want to, if you want to sacrifice some of the efficiency to be explosive, that's perfectly fine, but you have to have some modicum of efficiency in this offense, whether that's running the ball through Jonathan Taylor, running the ball through Anthony Richardson or having the layup game in the passing game. Like you have to have some kind of underneath efficiency to set up the explosion. And the Colts really haven't had that in the last couple Anthony Richardson starts. You can events really haven't had that in the last couple Anthony Richardson starts.

Starting point is 00:08:06 You can even say they haven't had that once this year in the Anthony Richardson start. Even going back to week one against Houston, they were kind of just relying on the deep ball. And that's kind of how they stayed alive in that game and nearly pulled off the upset in week one. So this is a good week to find your identity. Are you going to be a run heavy team that sets up the explosion that way? Or are you going to be a team that can, you know, use the passing game,

Starting point is 00:08:27 use underneath passing game like a Kansas City or a Baltimore and have these layups built in to get the ball out of your quarterback's hands? I think it's a good week to figure that stuff out. And again, at the end of the day, we know the explosive plays are here against this Houston Texans defense. These corners like to jump out routes. They like to be aggressive on underneath throws. And we saw a couple of times in week one.

Starting point is 00:08:48 I mean, they hit what, three or four explosives in that game. They could have hit like seven or eight explosives in that game with more accurate balls and better timing. So I think this is going to be a game where it's like, look, you've got to set up those explosives in some way, but you've got to still take advantage when you get those explosives. So it's going to be a good week to see what this offense really has. It's pretty much fully healthy. I mean, aside from Will Fries at right guard, this is a very healthy offense right now. It's time to take advantage and really get some points on the board and just figure out

Starting point is 00:09:17 who you are on that side of the ball. I know Richardson's going to have his struggles every week and it's not always going to be this perfectly linear process with him, but it's time to figure out like what this offense is going to be. Cause at the midway point, you should really know what direction your team is going in. And I think we know this is a competitive football team on both sides of the ball, but I don't think we know exactly what they are identity wise on either side right now. So big game against Houston, it's time to figure out who you want to be on offense. And are you going to be this very volatile, explosive seeking offense? Or can you build some efficiency for your young quarterback to take advantage of the explosives after that?

Starting point is 00:09:55 Yeah, we are going to see for sure, you know, maybe they'll be able to, you know, put up another 27 plus points or not. We'll see. But kind of we're going to talk about the defensive side of the ball, because obviously that one's not as easy to get, you know, kind of riled up about, but there's some things there that can maybe do. 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. PrizePix is the best way to get action on sports in over 30 states, which includes California, Florida, Georgia, and Texas. PrizePix is also the only real-money daily fantasy platform with an injury insurance policy

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Starting point is 00:13:10 The Colts defense hasn't really been taking the ball away from Houston's offense, but they get to CJ a lot on sacks. The first game last year, they had seven sacks. In their first game this year, they had four. I think they had a couple in week 18. So they get after him, and we've seen, you know cj hasn't really had a weak game against the colts but when he does in the nfl have a weak game it's you know getting that constant pressure at him and you know if deforest buckner is able to play that obviously would be huge uh he himself provides an

Starting point is 00:13:39 interior pass rush his teammates who line up next to him, you know, Liatu Latu is a big beneficiary of that. You know, Buckner helps take that attention away and allows Latu, you know, more one-on-one situations. So let's talk about Buckner status first, you know, just to get that in there. So he's listed as questionable, but he is still on IR. They opened up his practice window, you know, they can designate him to return and then remove him off the list. He's still on there. So unless they were going to make that transaction, they can't say he's ready to go yet. So that's something we can wait to see this weekend. Me just reading the tea leaves from this week, especially today, I think he's going to play.

Starting point is 00:14:25 Again, that's not inside information. That's just me, you know, from the facility, putting two and two together today. So he technically didn't practice today, but he was out there kind of moseying around, you know, talking to guys. He even stretched out there with everybody, which led me to think he was practicing. But then Shane said afterward, after the open media portion,

Starting point is 00:14:46 we don't, we only get to see like the first 20 minutes or so practice, uh, that Buck did not practice, but then Shane categorized it as a rest day. And that was even on the injury report as well. If you're aiming for Buckner to not really start playing until next week, you probably practice him on Friday. You don't give him a rest day. That's for a rest day is for him about to be playing that week. So just reading between the lines, I think he's going. Yeah. And what we've seen with the Colts this year is that Thursday

Starting point is 00:15:16 practice is the most important one when it comes to injured players. Like what we've seen with Josh Downs and Michael Pittman Jr. the past couple weeks. Braden Smith. Braden Smith is they will do full practice on Thursday, rest on Friday and not practice, and then they'll be good to go on Sunday. So the second I saw Buckner out there for that Thursday practice in full, it was kind of a done deal in my head that he was going to be back. But let's talk about this Colts defense against the Houston Texans this week because it's kind of fascinating thinking about this Colts defense this year. We're coming into the year we said, hey, this front seven needs to

Starting point is 00:15:49 be dominant for the Colts to be an average defense. Like front seven needs to just dominate football games because that back half, that back four, back four or five, whatever it's going to be, is not going to be good enough to win games for you. You know, they have a lot of inexperience back there, a lot of young guys that you're relying on in the front sevens where the Colts put a lot of their money and a lot of their resources. And then after the first couple of weeks, it became evident that that front seven was not going to be good enough to do that for the Colts. And we had that little lull there where it was like, this might be the worst defense in football. And then what we've seen these last three weeks or so, these last couple of weeks is the secondaries really stepped up from Jalen Jones's big game against Chicago from Samuel

Starting point is 00:16:29 Womack being shut down sand back there Kenny Moore coming back this past week and just taking away everything the Dolphins wanted to do and then Nick Cross being one of the biggest answers in run defense for the Colts like this secondary has kind of helped the Colts propel into again statistically this is around an average to below average defense right now and it's being led by the secondary Like this secondary has kind of helped the Colts propel into, again, statistically, this is around an average to below average defense right now. And it's being led by the secondary right now, not really the front seven. I think this game, though, will come down to that front seven again. Like, again, the secondary has been playing well, and I expect that to continue, especially

Starting point is 00:17:00 without the top five receiver that is Nico Collins out there just to dominate you because Nico Collins is that good. But I think this is a game where your front seven really needs to show up because in week one, the Colts were just destroyed on the ground game by this Texan rushing attack. Joe Mixon is back and healthy for this one. He's had over 100 yards in every game he's finished this season, which started in that week one game against the Indianapolis Colts. So they really need to contain him.

Starting point is 00:17:26 And then again, like you mentioned, C.J. Stroud has been sacked a lot in recent weeks. They've had a lot of issues with picking up stunts and picking up twist. So really, the key to this game goes back to what we would have said going into week one, where it's like stop the ground game and get pressure on C.J. Stroud on third down. It really doesn't come down to this, the secondary, despite how well the secondary has played this season, like hats off to every player in the secondary for over-performing compared

Starting point is 00:17:51 to all of our expectations coming into the year. But I I'm cool with them just being what we expected at this point. Cause the front seven really needs this big week. Getting back to Forrest Buckner is massive. Having a healthy Quidipe, healthy Liatu Latu, healthy Dayo Dangbo, like getting all those guys out there is big and they need to get pressure on CJ

Starting point is 00:18:10 Stroud. We haven't seen much pressure from the Colts defensive line since Buckner left the lineup, essentially, like it's kind of been really hit or miss. So this is the game where they need to come alive. It's against an offensive line that's really struggling right now. That's not really picking up many stunts and twists. And CJ Stroud's been under quite a bit of duress right now so this defensive line needs to get after it for the Colts to win this game because if they get blown off the ball like they did in week one regardless of if Nico Collins is playing or not you know which he's not I'm just

Starting point is 00:18:37 saying like even if you were playing or not like it wouldn't matter because if you're getting blown off the line you're not going to win this game So the Colts defensive line has a big task in front of them. They need to perform like we expected them to perform in the off season. And with everyone healthy right now, there's really no excuse. Like this is a game they need to come out and look like what the Colts expected them to look like in the off season, or they simply won't win this game. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:19:02 I think week one was something that really should have taught the Colts a lesson. Now, obviously, they didn't really learn it until the next week against Green Bay. Right. But, you know, Gus Bradley and Charlie Partridge, you know, acknowledged and mentioned that they were going to defend the run in week one on their way to CJ Stroud. Their entire game plan was about CJ Stroud. They didn't expect Joe Mixon to be turning back the clocks. Now, like you mentioned, Mixon is doing it against everybody. So, which is probably a bit more concerning because it's legit. It wasn't just that you couldn't handle him in week one. So I think they're going to, I think game plan wise, it's going to have to be more reminiscent work of what

Starting point is 00:19:45 they've done these last several weeks like i think they're just gonna have to you know they're gonna have to defend cj stroud like they have a lot of these guys like they're gonna have to allocate resources to stopping the run because i mean cj stroud is still that dude but he does not have nico collins in this one and that's just been some sort of like they can't figure that out whatsoever um but if joe mixon runs wild on you it's just going to be dang near impossible to win we've talked about before if you can't stop the run it makes things so much worse everywhere else so they're they're gonna have to i don't want to say joe mixon needs to be the main focus of their defense necessarily,

Starting point is 00:20:25 but defending him can't be a byproduct of the entire defensive plan solely focused on CJ Stroud. Yeah. And one thing I will say really quick before we get to our final segment is Gus Bradley has shown this year in matchups where he's scared of the deep pass, he will play a lot of too high. This past week in Miami Dolphins, they were playing a lot of too high. And that's kind of why the Dolphins were able to run the ball a little bit more is because Nick Cross was off the line of scrimmage scared of that Tyreek Hill speed now in their games where they're not scared of that deep ball they like to bring cross into the box I like to go more heavy in the box more base defense and we've seen that work to some degrees of success against other teams

Starting point is 00:21:01 I'm curious if the Colts look at this matchup without Nico Collins and say, look, CJ Stroud scares us. Like, don't get me wrong, but the deep ball doesn't really scare us. So we're going to run more cover three than we've ran all year in this matchup because the Texans are going to be more of this short to intermediate passing game without Nico Collins, rather than the big explosive over the top game that Stroud has been the last two years with Collins. So I think that'll be a big aspect of it because Gus Bradley is not even top 10. I think he's barely top 10 in cover three usage this year.

Starting point is 00:21:32 The Colts are running a lot of cover two, a lot of Tampa two type stuff. And for the most part, it's limited passing offenses. But I wonder if they do go back to the roots a little bit more with cover three this week because Stroud doesn't have that vertical passing option that is Nico Collins like the best vertical receiver in football like which is odd because that's what Tank Dell is it just hasn't been there yet this year for the most yeah yeah but again Nico Collins opens that up because he's so dominant vertically down the field so it does kind of limit their offense quite a bit it's like if the Colts were missing both Pittman and Pierce that's that's what Nico Collins is.

Starting point is 00:22:06 It's a big loss for them. It really is a big loss. Coming up, we're going to give you our official guesses at this thing. Who's going to win? Plus, we take on your bold predictions that you guys sent in to us today. NFL fans, you can spark the season with a big return on FanDuel, America's

Starting point is 00:22:24 number one sportsbook. So when you get a hunch in the middle of a game, you can spark the season with a big return on FanDuel, America's number one sports book. So when you get a hunch in the middle of a game, you can check out the latest stats, view life play-by-play, and so much more on the same page where you place your bets. You'll get started with $200 in bonus bets guaranteed when you place your first $5 bet. All right, so when I looked at this before the game, FanDuel had the Texans still at 4.5 point favorites, which is one of the bigger advantages I've seen in a Colts matchup this season so far. I remind you, CJ Stroud is two and one against the Colts. The biggest point differential in any of those three matchups was an 11 point Colts win last year. Otherwise, you know, the Texans won

Starting point is 00:23:02 by four in week 18. And that was the game that the Colts kind of beat themselves with that failed fourth down. Uh, so, you know, two point loss in week one. So I don't know. I don't, I don't necessarily buy it. So you guys let Fandle know what you think by throwing your money in there at Fandle.com. All right, guys. So we, uh, put out the call, the bat signal once again this week

Starting point is 00:23:26 for your guys' bold predictions and hot takes for this matchup. We're going to go ahead and go to the insider program first. So this one says the Colts get revenge and win 27-21. Dominant running game with a few big plays. They limit Joe Mixon to less than a hundred yards. Let's see. I don't know who that might be. The biggest part of it right there is the Joe Mixon limit.

Starting point is 00:23:52 Yeah. Honestly, next week people will be debating whether or not the Colts are the worst five and three team in recent memory, but we went there. Oh, I'll take that baby. I'll take that 100%.

Starting point is 00:24:02 Yeah. Yeah. I like that one. That's a funny one. I like that one too. I could see them holding mix into below a hundred yards just cause it bit them so hard in week one that they'll, it'll, it'll be in everyone's mind to do that. I don't know, man, outside of the Chicago game, the Colts,

Starting point is 00:24:18 even when they like committed resources, stopping the run, like I think the Chicago game and the Pittsburgh game a little bit. Uh, cause cause Justin Fields ran all over them in that game. But they did limit the run game a little bit in that game. But I don't know. I don't know if they have the facilities for that, man. I don't know. Now, we mentioned they haven't really been getting turnovers against C.J. Stroud.

Starting point is 00:24:40 This one says two interceptions, one by Womack and one by Jalen Jones off of C.J. Stroud. I know you really like that one, one by Womack and one by Jalen Jones off of CJ Stroud. I know you really like that one, especially the Womack one. I will take an interception on CJ Stroud. We have zero against this guy in three matchups so far. Last time they took two away from the Colts, one for some dumb heel rule that I didn't even know existed, and then the other one for a holding in the end zone or something on Jalen Jones. Like, let's get a pick on CJ Stroud this time,

Starting point is 00:25:05 guys. Yeah, they should have legitimately had at least one of those. And then the last one from the insider program, and this is from our guy, Kenny with the forest Buckner back, the Colts top their week one for sack performance with some extra spice with pressure from the middle back with Buckner layout to law to gets two sacks in this one.

Starting point is 00:25:26 Okay. Okay. I can see that one again, the Texans offensive line of struggle. And honestly, if what Kenny's saying here, if the Colts do that, I think they win this game.

Starting point is 00:25:34 They need to get sacks in this game. Obviously what they do on offense is important too, but need pressure on Stroud. If you'll have any chance of winning this game. Yeah. I just, I definitely think Buckner opens up things for a lot too, so much, and I mean, if he plays, I gotta imagine he's on a pitch count still, like, they may not throw him out there for 50 snaps, whatever, but I mean,

Starting point is 00:25:55 those two together side by side look pretty good during the summer, so you have any from Twitter that really caught your eye? let's see we got one from colts fan cole that says and says anthony richardson will have the most fantasy football points in the entire nfl this week fun fact in my family because my team is so loaded i've been starting richardson in my family the last couple weeks because somebody dropped him and i was like i'm just going to be a homer and start him so i've been starting him like he got me like eight points last week but i still scored like 140 so it's like I can feel good still winning with my boy here and I need him to just pick up the pace so I could break some league records and and so hopefully that one comes true this week and

Starting point is 00:26:33 obviously for the Colts as well that would just be fantastic there well he was I don't have it right in front of me but he was one of the top five QBs in fantasy scoring in week one. Yeah. Because he had a good performance on the ground as well, and obviously had those big plays to Alec Pierce. So that, I mean, there's a track record there for that in this opponent. Yeah, we've got a couple other good ones here. Jonathan Taylor, two touchdowns and 125 scrimmage yards. I don't think that's super bold, but I do like it just because. That used to be nothing for him against Houston.

Starting point is 00:27:03 He didn't have a good performance against them in week one but like he has had some enormous performances against them before yeah yeah we got more on Anthony Richland here but my personal favorite one right here Taven Bryan career day three plus sacks and three plus tackles for a loss now I don't know if we're double counting those three so I don't know if those are the same three plays or if that's six total impact plays from Taven Bryan that might be like six more than his entire career up to this point but i will gladly take that from quaggalone quaggalone i think it's his name here on twitter so yeah we got some fun ones there on twitter um i think it should be a good game though like i i really think the this colts team has a good puncher's chance like a better chance than what vegas is saying and and what a lot of analysts

Starting point is 00:27:48 are saying like what was the was the nfl network there's like all like eight of their analysts picked the texans in this game and it's like weird you would think this is an undefeated team versus a no-win team with all of them picking this one team this is point game in week one yeah and this is a five and two team versus a four and three team, you know? And one thing I want to throw out there, like this isn't a bold prediction, but I think it's something really important to mention because we talked about it a couple times in this episode, but the NFL right now is a superstar-driven league. Yes, it's a quarterback-driven league too, and CJ Stroud is ahead of Anthony Richardson right now in terms

Starting point is 00:28:21 of quarterback play, so I get that, but it is also a superstar-driven league. The Colts have all two to three of their superstars playing in this game, most likely. They'll have DeForest Buckner back, Jonathan Taylor back, and then Quinton Nelson's been playing at his superstar level. You look at the Texans right now, Tunsell has struggled quite a bit this season, especially when it comes to penalties and just issues he's had.

Starting point is 00:28:44 Nico Collins, a true bona fide superstar, is not playing in this game. And honestly, for my money, I'm not going to say Aziz Alshair is superstar level, but he's a very good player and he's not playing in this game. He matches up well with the Colts. Right, right. So I do think that is an element of this that's not getting enough conversation is the Texans are missing some really important players. I mean, the last two weeks, Stroud is what had like 52 pass attempts for only like 260

Starting point is 00:29:11 yards without Nico Collins. Like, I know that he could still go off this week, Stroud, but it's a big deal not having your superstar playmaker on offense and Nico Collins. He is a fantastic wide receiver. I know I've said that 20 times on this episode alone, but I, I truly believe he's like one of the best players in football. Uh, so not having that, like, I do think this is a huge deal in this game. I don't know if it's enough for the Colts to get the win, but I do think this is going to be a closer game than what most people are saying. And, and again, I'm not a big gambler or anything like that, but four and a half does feel a little bit much in this game. I would probably put more like a three point spread on this or two and a half point spread.

Starting point is 00:29:48 Yes. I'm, I'm going to actually, I want to mention one more, one more thing on that. So I think Anthony's legs will be a big difference in this one. Uh, he does have a track record of, of running the ball well against Houston. He obviously had the big game that led to the concussion last year, uh, but he had 56 yards and a 9.3 yards per carry against him in week one with a touchdown, had a 19 year old run in that one. So he's not as sharp and crisp passing the ball. Cause I think Houston is like second in YPA allowed, which is wild considering week one.

Starting point is 00:30:20 But they've really buttoned up there, but they're really banged up. Even some of the guys that'll be in there but they're really banged up even some of the guys that'll be in there are are just banged up and so i do think the colts are gonna win this one a close one i have it like 23 to 21 um i this it just it doesn't feel hot takey to me like sure the texans should be you know in general you know the the umbrella statement is they should be favored. But like, I just think the Colts, as long as they don't keep shooting themselves in the foot, like there's no reason they shouldn't be able to win. Yeah. Now for my prediction, again, I want to remind you guys, the Colts this season are one in three when I've picked them are one

Starting point is 00:31:01 and two, I think when I picked them this year, I think it's one and two, and they're three and one when I've picked against them. So I'm doing this for you guys, okay? I'm doing this for you guys. I'm doing this for the Colts. The Colts like to prove me wrong. So I am going with the Texans in this game, 26-24 Texans. But again, I'm doing this for you guys. I'm doing this for you. This is not me. This is me trying to cheat the football gods is what I'm trying to do. But let us know your prediction here in the comment section, guys. And let us know who goes off in this game. What are your bold takes for Colts Texans? Again, divisional lead is on the line. The Colts have a massive, massive game in front of them. And we want to thank you guys for making Locked On Colts your first listen today. Now,

Starting point is 00:31:42 if you're a second listen, go find the new Locked on NFL now with two shows every single day. First, the Madman Tyler Rowland kicks off your morning with a double shot of NFL espresso and then stop by the barbershop with Tony Wiggins for some real NFL talk. Find Locked on NFL on YouTube where we list your podcast. And if you guys want to become part of the Locked on Colts insider program and get priority on these bold prediction shows and bold statement shows and stuff like that follow the link in our show notes and if you guys don't already make sure you're

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