Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts WIN 23-20 Over Las Vegas Raiders

Episode Date: December 31, 2023

The Indianapolis Colts beat the Las Vegas Raiders 23-20 in Week 17 to keep their playoff hopes alive. It wasn't the prettiest win for the Colts but they made the plays that they needed to down the str...etch to get the win.Find and follow Locked On Colts on your favorite podcast platforms:🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LOColts?sid=YouTube📺YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLdpxJspi1hMh5HL7ExpWOQLocked On NFL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft & More🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnNFLFollow Jake and Zach's written work on HorseshoeHuddle.com, and give them a follow on Twitter @JakeArthurNFL, @ZachHicks2, @LockedOnColts, and @ColtsOnFN!This episode is brought to you by PrizePicks. The easiest and most exciting way to play Daily Fantasy Sports. Go to PrizePicks.com/lockedonnfl and use code all lowercase lockedononfl for a first deposit match up to $100.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!BetterHelpThis episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Make your brain your friend, with BetterHelp. Visit BetterHelp.com/LOCKEDON today to get 10% off your first month.PrizePicksGo to PrizePicks.com/lockedonnfl and use code lockedonnfl for a first deposit match up to $100!GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase.LinkedInLinkedIn Jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONNFL. Terms and conditions apply.FanDuelScore early this NFL season with FanDuel, America’s Number One Sportsbook! Right now, NEW customers get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS with any winning FIVE DOLLAR MONEYLINE BET! That’s A HUNDRED AND FIFTY BUCKS – if your team wins! Visit FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON to get started.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Starting point is 00:00:00 The Colts took care of business and are now just a win away from almost certainly punching their ticket to the postseason. 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. What up, what up? Thanks for tuning in and making us your first post-game listen of the day. This is your daily podcast covering your Indianapolis Colts,
Starting point is 00:00:42 part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. And today's show is brought to you by PrizePix, the easiest and most exciting way to play daily fantasy sports. Go to prizepix.com slash locked on NFL and use code and all lowercase locked on NFL for a first deposit match up to $100. What's up, everybody? This is Jake Arthur and Zach Hicks from HorseshoeHuddle.com, and we are here to talk about the Colts' 23-20 win over the Raiders here at beautiful Lucas Oil Stadium. That moves the Colts to 9-7 now. Not much help from the rest of the AFC today when it comes to the playoff race. Still very much in the thick of it, but it turns next week's contest against the Texans basically into a playoff game.
Starting point is 00:01:35 The Colts are, it's not a certainty that they'll get in with a win, but if they take care of business, they're most likely going to go in there. But great news all around today. Offense, defense, special teams, everyone did their part. There was nothing extraordinary about this one, but in general, like we have come to find with the Colts, they just do enough to win. So Zach, what was the vibes on this one? How are you feeling now after this win? I feel pretty good. I mean, for the most part, it was a pretty uneventful day. I mean, the Colts jumped out to a 7-0 lead early in this game, and then it became 7-3.
Starting point is 00:02:07 And then really after the Alec Pierce touchdown to put it to 14-3, this game never really felt in doubt. Like the Colts were ahead by like two possessions for a majority of the rest of the game. Obviously, it went down to 14-10 at one point. They kicked a field goal to go up 17-10, then up to 20-10. And then from there on, it was, you know, there were some trading shots between both teams.
Starting point is 00:02:26 But again, at the end of the day, the Colts kind of had this one in the bag for most of the day. It never really felt like the Raiders were too threatening overall. And even one of the Raiders touchdowns had to come down to just a boneheaded special teams mistake by the Colts to kind of give them those points. So overall, I think it was a it was a good game for the Colts. It could have been better. Obviously defense could have played better. Offense could have, could have done without that really weird spurt that they had in the first half where they were just going three and out, three and out, three and out, like after, like all over the place, a lot of throws that just were not connecting. But overall, you can't complain too much about this. The Raiders
Starting point is 00:03:00 have been a pretty solid team since they fired Josh McDaniels. Antonio Pierce has got that defense playing really good football. The Colts offense came out and had a really efficient day against that really good defense. They had 9.7 yards per attempt passing the ball, 4.6 yards per rush, again, against this Raiders defense where if you look at how they've played since Antonio Pierce became the interim head coach, they've been a top five, top three defense in football. And that includes a victory last week over the Kansas City Chiefs.
Starting point is 00:03:27 I know the Kansas City Chiefs are a little defunct right now, but they still came out and they shut down the Kansas City Chiefs. It's a good Raiders defense that the Colts were able to, for the most part in this game, kind of get what they wanted to on offense in this one. So really good bounce back game for the Colts. We've seen it all year with Shane Steichen, where this team gets to these new rock bottoms and these new lows.
Starting point is 00:03:47 And we think, oh my gosh, it cannot get better from here. But it does get better from here. Because every time the Colts come back the next week and they show why they're a well-coached team, why they are a team that is fighting for a playoff spot. Because no matter what happens the week prior, the Colts have a really good short-term memory loss situation going. They get ready for the next game and they go out there and they get the job done. So well-coached game by the Colts have a really good short-term memory loss situation going. They get ready for the next game, and they go out there, and they get the job done. So well-coached game by the Colts.
Starting point is 00:04:08 They did what they needed to in this one, and now we're looking at a potential playoff game next week for that win-and-end situation against the Texans. Yeah, I think we're really used to seeing a pretty high level of chaos from this team and even their opponents when they win uh or when uh when the Colts lose or win but this one actually actually pretty clean no turnovers in this one sack numbers were under control for everybody uh it just literally was kind of a ho-hum day that the Colts eventually came out on top now I was a bit worried going into this one because this Raiders team like you mentioned uh winners of two in a row. They've been playing a lot tougher, a lot better under Antonio Pierce.
Starting point is 00:04:48 Beat the Chiefs, like you mentioned. Absolutely dismantled the Chargers, 63 points. Franchise record just two weeks before that. It felt a lot like the Bengals and the Falcons, like that caliber of opponent. Like not a world beater, but can definitely beat the Colts. And the Colts came out and took care of business. And it's good that this one is out of the way because you could say one week at a time during the season, but there literally was only one game that matters now.
Starting point is 00:05:17 There is no future beyond this next game if they don't win. So it really, I'm really excited for this, this Texans game next week here at Lucas oil. Again, the range of range of outcomes for the Colts, they could miss the playoffs or they could win the AFC South. Like it's, it's going to be a wild ride next week. Jacksonville loses and then the Colts beat the Texans and that's it. It's the AFC South championship. So really looking forward to this one. Me, I know about you two.
Starting point is 00:05:48 I'm not ready for this season to be over. I want to keep covering games here at Lucas Oil. I want to cover a playoff game at home. I've not done that yet. Yeah, and I think it's been a really fun season for this reason alone, that the Colts have kind of been playing with house money all year. They're coming off a four-win season last year. They have their new head coach where expectations you know, expectations in year one,
Starting point is 00:06:07 you don't need to go out there and make the playoffs, but it's great if you do. They also lose their quarterback, their franchise quarterback to start the season. But still, this team is winning games. They're in this position because of the coaching, because of how hard they're playing out there on Sundays. And yeah, I mean, no one wants to see the Cinderella story come to a close before the big dance. You know, it's the playoffs. You want to get into the playoffs in a one game elimination playoffs, anything can happen. I'm not saying the Colts will be favorites by any
Starting point is 00:06:32 means, but like just get into the dance and see what happens out there. But before we close out the segment, I did want to shout out one of the biggest discrepancies in this game that really led to a Colts victory. And that was just the coaching advantage. I mean, you could see it in this rookie head coach at the Colts have in Shane Steichen, where, you know, it came down to fourth down situations. A lot of the time there was a fourth down situation on the other side of the 50, where all day long, the Raiders were punting on these fourth and ones fourth and inches. They were taking delay of games and they were punting and it did back the Colts offense up. But at the end of the day, you need to keep the offense, your offense on the field to get points. And the Raiders kept taking the coward way out for lack of a better term. They kept taking the coward way out on a lot of those drives
Starting point is 00:07:13 and losing points as a result. Shane Steichen gets one of those chances there in the second half. They go for it without even a second thought, get the pass to Michael Pittman Jr., go down and take a field goal to extend the lead. That's just exactly what you're getting out of Shane Steichen. You're getting a coach who knows what he's doing, a guy who can win those coaching matchups, especially against an interim head coach like Antonio Pierce. And when you look at this game, this is probably two fairly evenly matched teams in terms of talent, in terms of what's going on out there on the football field. But the Colts were able to win this game primarily, in my opinion, due to that head coaching advantage they had. Shane Steichen was coaching circles around Antonio
Starting point is 00:07:48 Pierce, and he was able to steal them some points and ultimately steal them the victory in this one. So, you know, next week, I really do think the Colts and Texans game is going to be not only for that playoff berth, but I think it's also going to be for the Coach of the Year award between D'Amico Ryans and Shane Steichen. I would love to see Shane Steichen come away with a victory though and lock up that award because he has been fantastic for the Colts and I'd love to see him get rewarded for it. So yeah, that's a really good point about the coaching because the whole reason that it never really got too interesting in this one, the Colts kept control, is every time the Raiders did something, the Colts responded. The teams combined for four scores in the fourth quarter. So every time time the Raiders did something, the Colts responded. The teams combined for four scores in the fourth quarter.
Starting point is 00:08:27 So every time that the Raiders did something, the Colts came back, whether it was Matt Gayfield or whatever, they always had an answer. And that was huge. So, yeah, that will be interesting. I mean, I know you got the 49ers, you got these other teams doing really well, but Shane definitely deserves all the consideration in the world for coach of the year. But we'll get back to more of that later. We're going to talk about the offense coming up here in a minute. Testing my skills on price picks this
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Starting point is 00:10:11 don't think either side of the ball played terribly for the Colts at all I mean obviously they got the win in this one but I really do think the Colts offense was was the driving force of this victory they did enough against a really really good Raiders defense that was playing some lights out football in recent weeks I mean if you look at this Raiders defense coming to this game, they had four defensive touchdowns over the last two games. They held the Chargers and the Vikings to really low point totals. They held the Vikings to a three-point game three weeks ago. And then obviously against the Kansas City Chiefs right before this game, they had Pat Mahomes just all over the place in that one. But the Colts were able to stay efficient and effective in this one, 9.7 yards per attempt, 4.6 yards per rush on the ground.
Starting point is 00:10:52 Gardner Minshew, again, a little bit of a dry spell there in the first half, a little bit in the early parts of the first half. But outside of that, really strong game from him, 15 of 23 for 224 yards and a touchdown. Had two completions of over 50 yards in this game too so you know look if the Colts are getting this from Gardner Minshew they can win football games we talked about it all year where if we're getting the the turnover prone and the jumpy in the pocket version of Gardner Minshew they're not going to win football games but if they're getting this Gardner Minshew the one that stays productive and effective and gets the ball out of his hands and takes the shots when he needs to they can win football games getting this Gardner Minshew, the one that stays productive and effective and gets the ball out of his hands and takes the shots when he needs to, they can win football games with this Gardner Minshew.
Starting point is 00:11:29 So, you know, I know we've been hard on Minshew all season, obviously. I mean, look, he's a backup quarterback playing for a team that's competing for a playoff spot. You're going to be hard on that because he's not going to be perfect. But this was a perfectly fine game from Gardner Minshew. This is what the Colts needed, and he was able to get the job done for the team to get the victory. Yeah, absolutely. I was, I don't want to say impressed, but I was pleased with Minshew's performance. There really was only like one gaffe I could think of.
Starting point is 00:11:56 Alec Pierce had a whole solar system around him on that one play. But it didn't matter. Ultimately, you know that he made right on that later, hooked up on the 58 yard or 53 yard touchdown, which is what you want to see. I mean, it was, it was Pierce's only official target of the game. Cause I think he had another one negated by a penalty. But you know, you, you gotta, you gotta take advantage of those. And they said that was a result of film study. You know, that they knew that Las Vegas was going to give them certain looks on those, those short yardage situations. They knew they
Starting point is 00:12:30 were going to get single coverage and that's exactly what happened. So that was a good result of knowing what was going to come as soon as they saw it. So definitely good. Jonathan Taylor, big day, 96 yards on the ground. And I think he was going to be due for a lot more, but he was kind of in and out of the lineup. I heard, I obviously was here at the game, so I didn't see the broadcast, but I heard it looked like he might have been pointing or favoring at his thumb a little bit. He was in the medical tent briefly.
Starting point is 00:12:58 After the game, Shane Steichen said there were no injuries to report. But still, Trey Sermon did come in and spell him a little bit. So really big game for Taylor. Broke off for three or four nice runs up the middle. So big game for him. Sermon, 32 yards on five carries. Efficient football from Gardner Minshew and a solid run game. Really sparked by Braden Smith returning.
Starting point is 00:13:23 That was huge. And containing Max Crosby as much as you can, that helped a lot. But I thought that was huge towards the Colts having some offensive success. Yeah. Yeah. And one thing I want to say about Jonathan Taylor is I feel like we're in this situation with him for the rest of the season where, you know,
Starting point is 00:13:40 you get this with a lot of players late, late in seasons where look, they're healthy enough to play, but are they healthy? Probably not. Like, he's probably not fully healthy. I mean, he just had surgery on that thumb, what, three, four weeks ago. It's not going to be in a perfect place where every single down, it's going to be feeling great.
Starting point is 00:13:55 So I don't mind them taking him out every now and then, getting him some breathers, getting a guy like Trey Sermon out there. But for the most part, leaning on Jonathan Taylor for most of the day. I mean, Taylor was the bell cow in this game, but Sermon came out there for a couple of series, a couple of downs, a couple of looks, and was able to be effective as well. So there's no need to run him into the ground if you don't need to. I mean, look, if it came down to the wire and you needed Taylor on the field, he was going to be out there. But if you can get him some looks and you can get him some, I don't know, some medication on the sidelines or even anything like that, I think it's a good, clean thing for him. And don't run him too much into the ground if you don't have to. But I thought Taylor had a good day overall.
Starting point is 00:14:33 He was a problem solver in a lot of situations. He ran some effective and efficient football late in the game when the Colts had 11 straight runs yet again in this one. You know, that run to win philosophy from Shane Steichen. We are seeing it on display yet again in this one. But yeah, that run to win philosophy from Shane Steichen. We are seeing it on display yet again in this one. But yeah, the running game was good. Offensive line was back to being the offensive line. And like you said, with Braden Smith out there, there's no real weakness on the offensive line.
Starting point is 00:14:55 So you can see that running game being more efficient. You can see pass protection overall. I mean, against a good pass rush, a good pass rush of Max Crosby and Malcolm Coons, two guys that are playing some really great football, the Colts, for the most part, held their own in the pack game. So, yeah, I was really impressed by the Colts' offensive line, obviously by these Colts running backs, bouncing back,
Starting point is 00:15:14 and having a really strong day. Yeah, and another guy who got back on the field was Michael Pittman Jr., five catches for 46 yards. Not like an eye-popping day by any means, but you can tell Gardner had his security blanket back. When he needed to get something out quick, that is his guy he likes to do it for. And, I mean, just 46 yards,
Starting point is 00:15:34 but Pittman saw the bulk of the targets. Pierce led everyone with 58 yards and a touchdown, but like I mentioned, it was his only target. Josh Downs had 53 yards on just two catches had a 50 yard connection uh again a couple of explosives we saw explosive gardner in this one um but no i mean you can live with that i mean pearson downs leading and receiving but pitman getting you the the chain moving receptions uh tight ends not super involved uh four for 50 combined overall between will mallory, Mo Alleycox, and Kylan Granson.
Starting point is 00:16:08 Mo had a drop. Kylan had a drop. But overall, it was a fine day for the tight ends in general. Like, it was all right. I'm getting really impressed with Will Mallory, by the way. That is a guy who's getting stuff done. And it would be hard to say that he really hasn't been the Colts' best tight over the last several weeks he's been their best pass catcher for sure he's just he's always open and he does not drop the ball like if the ball is going to him it's a catch i love that about tight ends
Starting point is 00:16:35 it's the most important aspect to have as a tight end it's just being that safety blanket where if you're targeted it doesn't matter who's covering you or what the situation is you're hauling that pass in it's what you know a guy on the other side of the field today, Austin Hooper, the tight end playing for the other team, that's what he's been able to do throughout his entire career and churn out a really long and effective career, not being the fastest guy, not being the greatest blocker. But every time that ball is thrown his way, he makes a reception. That's what Will Mallory is like to me, where, you know, Mallory has a little bit more juice than Hooper ever had. But once that ball goes in his direction, he's able to come down with it and make some things happen.
Starting point is 00:17:09 So I love that Will Mallory is emerging in the pass game. Moelle Cox had a fantastic game in run blocking, I think, on the Jonathan Taylor touchdown early on. He had the key block on the outside and also the Colts wide receivers in the run game blocking as well. Alec Pierce and Michael Pittman Jr. on a couple of those toss plays were really paving the way in the run game. So hats off to those guys. But yeah, I want to talk Alec Pierce because look, Alec Pierce, every time Matt Ryan is in the booth, it becomes a huge day for Alec Pierce. I know that that's his guy up there, but I want Pierce to show out a little bit more
Starting point is 00:17:40 in some of these other games to just pretend that Matt Ryan's essence is there in the stadium and Alec Pierce will have a big day but it's always great seeing Pierce get get those deep balls because we've been saying on this show all year we've had people who you know break down film myself included all year showing clips where it's like look Pierce is wide open down the field a lot this year like let's get him some targets I'm glad that one of these schemed up deep shots worked and he was able to convert because if he went the whole game without a catch after that first one that was not thrown his way, that wide open Yankee call in the first quarter, I might have thrown something. But because he got his later in the game, got that 58 yard touchdown, his longest of
Starting point is 00:18:16 his career, it kind of made up for it. But yeah, Alec Pierce, great job on that catch, did some good things out there and was a big part of the Colts victory. Yeah, overall, great day for the offense of the Colts' victory. Yeah. Overall, great day for the offense. Again, no turnovers. Huge thing. Three-point game, that really makes all the difference as well.
Starting point is 00:18:33 Clean game, no turnovers. And I also, you know, with how much under fire the officials have been around the league, and rightfully so, I felt like in general they let both teams play today. I didn't have any huge gripes about penalties either. So good job by the Colts offense to not shoot themselves in the foot too much with penalties or turnovers. Yeah, yeah, for sure. Now coming up, guys, we're going to talk about the Colts defense and how it was kind of a mixed bag there on defense,
Starting point is 00:18:58 but at the end of the day they did just enough to help the Colts get the victory. But first, the NFL regular season is wrapping up, but there's still time to get in on the action with FanDuel, America's number one sportsbook. Right now, new customers get $150 back in bonus bets, guaranteed when you place a $5 bet. That's $150 back in bonus bets, win or lose. The app is so easy to use that even someone like me can use it.
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Starting point is 00:19:53 All righty, guys, we're talking Colts defense in the big victory over the Las Vegas Raiders here in week 17. Colts win 23 to 20. Again, the Colts offense was more efficient, more effective, and the big reason why the Colts won. But there were several plays in this game for the Colts defense that really turned the tide. And before we get to some of the gaffes on defense, some of the mistakes on defense and stuff like that, we do need to acknowledge that this was a game where the Colts were starting a lot of new faces,
Starting point is 00:20:20 a lot of young faces in their secondary. It was not the greatest starting lineup that you would see from the Colts secondary. They had rookies Jalen Jones and Juju Brents. They had Chris Lamont in the slot. They had Ronnie Harrison Jr., a linebacker, moved back to strong safety. And then Nick Cross making his first career start at free safety as well. This was a very, very depleted secondary. And again, they're going against Aiden O'Connell.
Starting point is 00:20:43 So I get it. I get people saying that they should have been going against Aiden O'Connell. So I get it. I get people saying that they should have been better against Aiden O'Connell, but to not get torched constantly with that lineup in your secondary, I'm calling that a win. I am calling that a win because that's not the group of guys you preferred out there. When you looked at this season going into week one, you're never thinking, you know, late in the year, these are going to be our five starters in the secondary. Yeah, I was, I was pleasantly surprised. And I said before the game, when we saw that Kenny Moore was going to be out, the Colts could really get weird with it, with what
Starting point is 00:21:12 they decided to do. But the most straightforward thing would be to have Chris Lawns be the slot because he was the next man up after Moore and Tony Brown during the summer. And they did that, but they also elected to replace rodney thomas as a starting safety so whether that was just they they felt in terms of chemistry or or particular roles free safety strong safety that's how they wanted it heck of a time to break that out when you're when you're that short-handed uh but no i again i was pleasantly surprised i thought these guys played with confidence uh you're going up against davante adams who was widely regarded as a gold star wide receiver over the last decade uh chris lamans went after him juju brent's been after
Starting point is 00:21:57 him jalen jones now they did give up a couple plays i mean adams did score a couple touchdowns and he did have a good game, but I'm big on corners playing with confidence because it can turn into a huge train wreck when these guys are getting six, seven, eight receptions on them and they just totally fall apart. And these guys battle that they have a short memory and they're confident. So I really like that about those guys. And shoot, I mean, I don't know if you want to see that extensively moving forward. You hope Kenny Moore is back for this must-win game. I'm interested to see if they keep Rodney Thomas on the sideline again next week. But shoot, they could have done a lot worse in this matchup. So I'm pleased with how this went.
Starting point is 00:22:44 Yeah, and I do want to mention with the two young corners on the outside, obviously not a perfect day by either player. Jalen Jones technically gave up both of those touchdown passes to Devante Adams. Now they were contested on both of them, but what are you going to do against Devante Adams, you know, in that situation? Uh, but I thought he was competitive all game, had a couple of mistakes, but he also had a couple of pass breakups and then Juju Brents on the other side, it was a very high and low type game for him where I think he had like three pass breakups in this game, a couple on third down too, which are really big ones.
Starting point is 00:23:14 But he also had that big coverage mistake on fourth down. On that fourth and 11, he also had a couple times where he left Devontae Adams open on his side with coverage miscommunications. So not a perfect day from these guys, but I think when you're looking at the scope of this game and why the Raiders were able to score a couple points in this one, I don't think it really comes down to the secondary too much. I think the bigger issue, which we'll talk about here, is the pass rush.
Starting point is 00:23:39 The pass rush just was not good enough in this game. The other guys besides DeForest Buckner were just not getting off their blocks at all. And that's not exclusive to one player. That's Samson Aboukam, who had a little bit of success early in the game, but faded down the stretch. Dio Dangbo, Quiddy Pei. Tyquan Lewis had a couple good rushes, but late in the game when he was out there, didn't really get anything going. The Colts defensive line constantly lost all game long in the pass rush department. And that's the biggest reason why the Raiders were able to score some points.
Starting point is 00:24:09 DeForest Buckner did his job, was fantastic in this game. If it were up to me, you get like 100 PFF grade because he was beating his guy on every single snap. He was basically the one hope there in the pass rush was, can he get some pressure? Can he get anything going there? But the Colts defensive line just wasn't good enough in this game. And they're lucky that they went against Aiden O'Connell and this Raiders offense. It's a little bit defunct and a little bit too conservative right now because this is not going to work in CJ Stroud next week.
Starting point is 00:24:35 They need better pass rush production and can't just rely on DeForest Buckner, get it all done for you. Yeah. But Buckner with a sack and three quarterback hits, obviously the most consistent player out there today. Taequ Buckner with a sack and three quarterback hits, obviously the most consistent player out there today. Taequann Lewis had another sack as well, just beat his man from his right end position just one-on-one. That was really good play. But yeah, I don't know how many times we can say this, and it's so weird for a team that broke its own indie-era franchise record for sacks in a season
Starting point is 00:25:05 can just have these huge lulls where they're just not getting any pressure at all. It's just the most odd thing, especially when they do truly have two-and-a-half waves of pass rushers. I don't know how they can do this. Houston is probably going to be a little easier matchup. You and I talked about it earlier. Six sacks for the Colts against the Texans in week two. I don't think they're going to get six again,
Starting point is 00:25:33 but it's an offensive line that's really banged up. I think you mentioned Laramie Tunsell got hurt today as well. A little bit of a break for the Colts. So they're not going to be able to have that lapse against CJ Stroud like you said because that's a guy who the clear offensive rookie of the year front runner and just been a lights out quarterback um he's not Aiden O'Connell basically uh and we saw what it could do with Nico Collins and you know Noah Brown has had some really nice performances as well Dalton Schultz.
Starting point is 00:26:07 They just really have to turn that one up as well. So, yeah, that's the secondary is what it is. We don't know what it's going to look like. But the pass rush can do a huge favor just by simply being more consistent. Yeah. Yeah. And I don't want to talk all doom and gloom about this Colts defense. I mean, at the end of the day, they were a special team's mistake a major special teams mistake away from only allowing, what, 13 points in this game.
Starting point is 00:26:28 And even one of those other touchdowns for the Raiders came kind of in garbage time at the end of the game. I mean, it was still kind of feasible for the Raiders to win that game, but onside kicks haven't been recovered in like eight years at this point. So when it comes down to an onside kick,
Starting point is 00:26:42 you're probably not going to win the football game. But, you know, it's a game that really could have gone the other way for the Colts. I mean, look, if you're if you're playing against a more aggressive head coach than what the Raiders had out there, or you don't make a couple of those third and shorts or fourth and short type stops that they made, we're looking at a very, very different football game. So, look, at the end of the day, the Colts got the job done. They were able to get those third and short stops. They got a couple of key pass breakups and a couple of key pressures on the quarterback, a couple of good run stops. And they were able to get a couple of
Starting point is 00:27:11 bounces to go their way. But this type of defense is not good enough going against the Houston Texans next week. So we can look, we're going to be excited now. They got the win. They're going to get a winning season coming off a four win year last year. They get a winning season with a rookie coach and a backup quarterback. That's something to be proud of and excited about with this Colts team. They're playing for a potential division victory next week, but there are some things that we need to look at throughout the course of this week with this Colts team for them to still improve on to make the playoffs possible. But overall, big win for the Colts. Colts offense carried the day today like they needed to. Colts defense, despite being really shorthanded in the secondary,
Starting point is 00:27:47 did enough to get the win. Now it's the big week against the Houston Texans and C.J. Stroud and just taking care of business again next week. Yeah. All I know is, I mean, we're going to have a lot of stuff for you guys. We're going to talk to the guys of Locked On Texans as well, bring you all the coverage we can. But this is going to be a really big week for the Colts.
Starting point is 00:28:09 And again, we're excited to bring you wall-to-wall coverage of it. Yep. So remember, guys, before we close out today, remember to check out the Locked On Sports Today YouTube channel, which is the first ever national sports 24-7 streaming channel on YouTube. And you guys know we're going to be back with you all week this week, talking Colts, talking Texans, getting ready for this big playoff matchup between the two teams.
Starting point is 00:28:28 So if you don't already follow at locked on Colts at Jake Arthur and a felon at Zach Hicks to all on Twitter. Also subscribe to us on YouTube, where we list your podcasts. We'd love your guys' ratings reviews, and we'll see you guys back here bright and early on Tuesday morning.

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