Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts WIN Ugly Against Tennessee Titans as Michael Pittman Jr. Shines Late

Starting point is 00:00:00 It wasn't what you'd call pretty, but the Colts are back in the win column, and it took some late-game heroics. 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 post-, your team every day. All right. Thanks for tuning in and making us your first post-game lesson of the day. This is your daily podcast covering your Indianapolis Colts,

Starting point is 00:00:32 part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. And today's show is brought to you by Price Picks. Go to pricepicks.com slash locked on NFL and use code all lowercase locked on NFL to win $50 instantly when you play just five. What up y'all? This is Jake Arthur and Zach Hicks of horseshoehuddle.com and we are talking about this big Colts victory today. 20 to 17, the Colts first AFC South victory of the season in three tries and they are now three and three. They are back at 500. so kudos

Starting point is 00:01:06 all around and i mean boy was it ugly at times it seemed like no one wanted to win and there were gaffes there were errors but ultimately the colts were the less gaffy team and they come out on top you know it was a seven point deficit but it you, in this type of game, it felt like it might as well have been two scores. You know, neither team is really a high-powered offense necessarily. But the Colts were able to turn it on in the second half offensively, defensively. We could probably talk about special teams the entire show because this was an outstanding performance by pretty much every unit, you know, much to Zach Chagrin here.

Starting point is 00:01:45 But let's talk about the big stuff here, Zach. So Anthony Richardson sits out again, really in the days leading up to this, all indications were that he was going to be able to give it a go. He was a full participant in practice, you know, Thursday. That was his first session of full practice in a couple weeks leading up to it. He traveled with the team. People were reporting that he was feeling good and he was probably going to give it a go. Ultimately, the Colts decided, let's give him one more week. We'll roll with Joe Flacco. We'll play it super cautious. It does kind of feel maybe a little bit like they're putting him in bubble wrap, but we'll talk about that a little more.

Starting point is 00:02:25 But it was Joe Flacco getting the ball once again with Anthony Richardson playing the role of emergency third QB. So he was and wasn't part of the plan there. But what did you think today? Yeah, so we're going to talk just briefly about Anthony Richardson. Each of us are going to give our thoughts, and then we're going to get on to the actual game because we want to give you guys that post-game stuff but yeah when it comes to sitting Anthony Richardson it's a decision I disagree with I think look in the NFL nobody's

Starting point is 00:02:52 100% I mean heck look at the rest of the offense around the quarterback today for the Colts and and look at how none of those guys were healthy out there especially the wide receiver room like none of those guys were healthy and they were gutting it out there. So I don't think this is something that's really like Anthony Richardson soft, like Anthony Richardson sat out or anything like that. Like this was a team decision. They decided to give him another week to rest up. And ultimately I think it shows how committed they are to this development

Starting point is 00:03:20 process with Anthony Richardson. Like they're not rushing him out there to play with some discomfort because they want to see the long-term results and they want to see what it can be uh you know by the end of not this year but next year maybe the year after that even like they're going to give this some time and I think it does speak to the lack of desperation with this coaching staff in front office that you're not pushing him out there I mean look at the other side of the field the the Titans put out Will Levis when he's not 100%. He couldn't push the ball vertically down the field. And they put him back out there because they don't really have that same commitment to Levis long term like the Colts do have to Anthony Richardson. Now, again, I disagree with

Starting point is 00:03:59 the decision. I still think like, look, if you're 90% in the NFL, you got to get out there. But it is a decision the Colts made. They got out there and they got the win. And hopefully next week he's able to go like, look, holding out this week, I think is extra cautious, but he is the most important thing in the eyes of Shane Steichen and Chris Ballard. Like if he doesn't work, those guys are not in the same positions ever again, potentially in the NFL. So too cautious, too cautious. I agree, but it is what the Colts ultimately decided to do. They got the win and hopefully he can get out there next week. But honestly, at this point, who knows? Like we'll see. But I will say at least one thing. I don't think this was a Richardson decision. I think if it

Starting point is 00:04:40 were down to Anthony Richardson, he plays the end of that Steelers game. He goes back out there against the Jaguars last week. He certainly plays in this game. So I don't think this is him sitting himself. This is certainly the Colts not giving him that decision because he is the most valuable thing in the building right now. And they're being overly cautious. Again, I disagree with it,

Starting point is 00:04:59 but it's ultimately what the Colts decide to do. Yeah, no, it definitely wasn't a him thing. Just from talking to him the past couple weeks and the reportsts decided to do. Yeah, no, it definitely wasn't a him thing. Just, you know, from talking to him the past couple of weeks and the reports leading up to it from, you know, sources even closer to him, reports from the outside. No, this isn't really something he necessarily would have wanted to do. It was a decision maker thing. I'm with you.

Starting point is 00:05:22 I don't really love it. To me, it reads a little too much like load management. I know there's a bigger picture aspect. You're involved with it. You don't want to risk a week six game when your season's not like you're a game out of 500. It's a week six game in his second season. In the big picture, you don't want to risk that for something so minuscule but i mean he's the quarterback like you just you quarterbacks play through stuff you don't you don't see guys just like sitting out all the time when they can play and you know jordan schultz came out with a report that said someone told him if this was a playoff game he would have played you know we we've seen back to last year

Starting point is 00:06:03 with the jaguars game where he could have gone back it's like all right well he's your quarterback don't back out there so that's my thing i want my quarterback to be able to play through whatever and again i don't think that's him i think they're throwing him in bubble wrap it's kind of the thing but anyways uh joe flacco got the start today uh wasn't his crispest day um i did think you know he is very capable of of setting them on fire immediately, though. That's two weeks in a row they've marched right down the field and got a touchdown, when we know that's one of the most critical things for this team is to get an early lead,

Starting point is 00:06:35 because they're not necessarily built to play from behind. So they are hitting kind of major speed bumps after those initial drives, it seems uh but great to get points on the board early uh again let's see so flacco was uh 22 to 38 for 189 yards that's just a 5.0 ypa but did have two crucial touchdowns you know i had the first 22 yarder to josh downs found pitman in the low red zone late in the game when he just kind of rainbowed it up there. He said dead or alive, 500 and threw that ball as high as he could. I mean, look, I respect it. I respect it. At the end of the day, give your guy a chance. I'm all for it. That's a jump ball winner. Michael Pittman Jr. will fight for that ball. And I want to designate

Starting point is 00:07:20 more time to Michael Pittman Jr. for sure. So we'll get to him in the next segment. But I mean, this is a game you love having Flacco out there. You don't know what it looks like with Richardson, but I am pretty confident in saying, you know, last year Gardner Minshew probably doesn't have the offense as productive as Flacco has done this season. Yeah, I think the one thing we can say about Flacco is like, look, this was a poor game. This was not a good game from Joe Flacco or the Colts' offense. It was a gutsy game.

Starting point is 00:07:47 Like, when it mattered late, they were able to get some points out there and win the game. It wasn't a good game from Flacco. It wasn't a good game from a play-calling perspective outside of the first drive, too. So we'll talk about that for sure in the second segment. But, look, at the end of the day, he gave them a chance to win, I guess. Like, missed some big throws, but made the big one to Pittman jr for the go ahead. Touchdown. Made another massive one on the rollout to Pittman jr, which is like, dude, how could you not hit the layup to Pierce down the sideline?

Starting point is 00:08:14 But you can hit that throw across your body to Pittman jr on the rollout, whatever. I'm not going to spend too much time on a backup quarterback being a backup quarterback. Like Joe Flacco went out out there did enough to get the win I do think it's an it's an extra difficult thing for him in this offense where this offense is built around the plus one QB run game and when you don't have that plus one QB run and you also don't have the star running back that makes it that makes it you know it's like the engine that that runs it all. Like, it's an extremely hard thing to be so one-dimensional in today's NFL. Like, they were not able to run the ball whatsoever.

Starting point is 00:08:51 Flacco had a lot of weight put on his shoulder, and he delivered some good, but like, I don't want to say it was an awful game from him. It wasn't a great game from him by any means, but it wasn't like an awful game. He threw three picks, two of them got taken away. You know, the Joe Flacco special of getting defensive calls on players. And they were able to do just enough to win.

Starting point is 00:09:09 So, like, look, if your backup quarterback gets you a win, I don't care how it looks because backup quarterback shouldn't be getting you a win. So, I will take it to the bank. I'll be pumped about it. Joe Flacco did just enough to get us the win. And I love, again, dead or alive, 500 up in the air, throwing it to the end zone to Michael Pittman Jr. At the end of the day, give your playmakers a shot.

Starting point is 00:09:29 Like, I'm all for it. And Michael Pittman Jr., we're going to shift over and talk to him here in a second, or talk about him in a second. But what a gutsy performance, man, from Michael Pittman Jr. Oh, yeah, absolutely. I mean, to finish up on Flacco, 2.9 yards per carry with the run game, that's with a 33 yard run included for your backup to be able to go and do enough in the passing game to go and win a game against the number one rated defense in the NFL. That was that was pretty big. So like Zach said, we're going to talk about Michael Pittman Jr.

Starting point is 00:10:01 and the rest of the cast of characters on offense here in a moment. Let's talk about Michael Pittman Jr. and the rest of the cast of characters on offense here in a moment. Let's talk about something serious, guys. You ever feel like you need a little boost in the old bedouin? It's time you stop worrying about your performance and get HIMS so you can feel confident knowing you can perform whenever you are in the mood. HIMS is changing men's healthcare by providing you with access to affordable sexual health treatments from the comfort of your couch. HIMSS provides access to a range of doctor-trusted ED treatments like chewable mints and Viagra and Cialis and their generics for up to 95% cheaper. The process is 100% online, so there's no need for uncomfortable doctor's visits. Just answer a series of questions on their site and a medical provider will determine the right treatment option. If prescribed,

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Starting point is 00:11:49 So, yeah, I wanted to give huge kudos to Michael Pittman Jr. on this one. Tuesday night we were thinking, holy crap, this guy might go on IR. We go from being week to week, like certainly out at least this week, with IR possibility, to returning to practice on Friday and playing on Sunday, scoring the go-ahead touchdown in the you know midway through the fourth quarter and then getting like a 16-yard catch to get the colts to the two-minute warning huge game it was it was only like it was just like the three catches for 35 yards i believe yeah just three catches for 35 yards, I believe. Yeah, just three catches for 35 yards and a touchdown. But what an impactful performance in such a small sample size. Like that guy's going to have to play through pain apparently throughout the season. If he played already this week, you've

Starting point is 00:12:35 got to imagine like IR is probably not going to happen unless something develops there. But God, like you, you want a guy like this on your team every day of the week. Yeah. And look, he is very different from the typical 20 plus million dollar per year. But, God, like, you want a guy like this on your team every day of the week. Yeah, and, look, he is very different from the typical $20-plus million per year wide receiver. Like, I wouldn't say he's, like, a pure number one wide receiver in the sense of, like, when in doubt. Like, he's the guy who can get you, like, 100 yards, like, doing it multiple ways. You know, he's not like the Tyreek Hills or anything like that in the NFL. But he is such a good specialist at what he does he is so good at those tough catches over the middle making the difficult play look easy and just being that that in breaking or in breaker machine

Starting point is 00:13:15 you know and and when the Colts need a conversion like when they have a play where they need to go to someone when in doubt throw it up to him and he'll make that play for it. No matter how injured he is, he has made big plays for the Colts in his career. So he might not be your typical like 20 plus million dollar per year wide receiver, but he is so good in this offense and so good for this team and just this organization that he's worth it, you know? And again, it might not always be like, you know, 1500 yard receiving seasons or anything like that it might be 900 1000 1100 whatever it's going to be but he makes so many big plays for this team and he's just so vital to how this offense operates that a guy like Michael Pittman Jr. is always worth it so

Starting point is 00:13:56 Pittman you know it's been a slow start to this season for him I think the back injury is certainly part of that and you know some some issues early in the season. But when the Colts need him, man, he's good for getting the Colts, like, what, one, two, three wins a season with his play. I mean, the Titans game last year, he caught the game-winning touchdown. The Cleveland Browns game last year, no, they didn't win that game. But he had the 70-yard touchdown late to put the Colts up. Like, he is always this kind of guy for the Colts. You look at the Carson Wentz season, he had multiple games like this too. Like this is just what he does. He puts the team on his back in some games and, and the Colts are better for it. So Michael Pittman Jr. man,

Starting point is 00:14:32 cannot say enough about this guy. Just a tough, tough football player gets out there and does some really great things. And it's, it's, it's always great to see. I love Michael Pittman Jr. And he made some, some really big clutch plays late in this one. Yeah, honestly, I was, I was a little worried for him going into the game because of the violence and toughness that he plays with to be going into it where your back is in question. But that's just a great player to have. That's one reason I hate not being out there at Nissan Stadium today, because that's someone I would want to talk to immediately after the game just to see what that was all about. But his running mate, Josh Downs, is another guy that was dealing with injury throughout the week. I had a toe injury. He was able to play seven receptions

Starting point is 00:15:13 for 66 yards and a touchdown. I don't know if they win without Josh Downs today. Yeah, Josh Downs. All his conversions were so incredibly important. Him and Mo Alleycox just balling big today. Yeah. It's hard to understate how important Josh Downs is to this offense in terms of he's their quick winner. He's their guy that they can go to for a two yard pass play and he can turn into a 10 yard game. And that might not seem super special.

Starting point is 00:15:39 Like he's not like, it's not like, like Debo Samuel, right. Where Debo Samuel catches it short can turn into a 50 yard touchdown. You know, it's not like that kind of thing. Like Josh Downs doesn't have that explosive play potential on short catches, but he has that potential like hidden yardage like ability is what he does. So like every time he catches the ball short, he'll turn it into a 9-10 yard gain or whatever he'll turn these these plays which are

Starting point is 00:16:06 just quick dump balls from the quarterback into productive plays that either get you a first out or get you in the third and manageable like that is such an important part of the game and and I think you know our colleague Jake Drake Wally started off this stream by asking if Josh Downs wide receiver one like it's hard to say wide receiver one because he's not like again not that prototypical wide receiver one but he's the the guy where, you know, you, you force feed him underneath a couple of times a game. And you'll be looking back after the game being like, man, he only finished with 60 yards. Like he felt like he was all over this game. And that's kind of what he does for this team is just a player who can consistently turn out first downs.

Starting point is 00:16:41 That's why we call him first downs. You know, that's what, what his nickname is. And he's just the, the king of hidden yardage. So yeah, Josh Downs is like, if Michael Pittman Jr. is, you know, the big play guy, the guy where you go to when you need something, you know, a third and seven conversion or a third, you know, a late touchdown in the game.

Starting point is 00:16:59 If Michael Pittman Jr. is that alpha wide receiver one, Josh Downs is just the pace that like he's the guy who just keeps everything flowing. He's the he's the key to the offense actually working. You know, he's the he's the key that starts the car. That's kind of what Josh Downs is. Michael Pittman Jr. might be like the extra gas you put on when you need something going good. Or maybe that's Alec Pierce with the vertical ball. But Josh Downs is the whole thing that starts this passing offense without Josh Downs. you don't have consistency. You don't have anything that really flows in this offense.

Starting point is 00:17:29 He keeps the offense moving. He keeps it flowing and he does great things for this team. Like Josh Downs, the mismatch machine, the first downs wide receiver did some really great things out there for the Colts. Yeah. And, you know, someone else, I just mentioned Mo Alleycox. In the last couple weeks, he is identified by veteran quarterbacks who come in. It's obviously a revolving door of them with the Colts. Very quickly does he catch on.

Starting point is 00:17:54 And I first started noticing it back in 2020 with Phillip Rivers. These veterans just see this big-bodied guy that can make tough catches over the middle. And, I mean, he's not a fast, overly athletic guy at all, but he can just go up and come down in a sea of defenders with the ball. I mean, I think he has six catches so far in the two games with Flacco, and half of them have been either a chunk play downfield or a touchdown. Yeah. So he is coming up big for that.

Starting point is 00:18:23 Like, when Flacco needs a play, he knows his guys and surprisingly Mo Alley Cox is one of those. So for a guy who we were trying to get replaced, you know, during the summer, obviously kudos, you know, this is a big eating crow podcast when it comes to Taven,

Starting point is 00:18:39 Brian and, and Mo Alley Cox, but we're, we're here to say we're pleasantly surprised. These guys are doing really well. We are very happy to eat crow whenever we're wrong, especially when we're wrong in our negative takes on players. We are very, very happy to talk about that.

Starting point is 00:18:52 But just a shout out to the pass catchers on this team. Again, a day where your quarterback is missing some throws. I mean, the Colts had, what, three vertical passes that if they hit on those passes in this game, it's a drastically different game. Now, one of those Pierce was interfered with and got the DPI, but another wide open one to Pierce where it was just a bad throw by Flacco, didn't put enough air under it. And then the early one to Ashton Doolin, you can kind of put both of those, you can put

Starting point is 00:19:14 that one on Flacco and Doolin. I think Doolin slowed down a little bit and Flacco also just put it out there a little bit too much. But this game on offense looks very different if they hit those couple deep balls. But just a credit to this wide receiver room and also, you know, Moelle Cox in the tight end room, Drew Ogletree had a couple of nice catches as well. I think the Colts have the pieces at pass catcher for this thing to work long term. They have their deep ball specialist in Alec Pierce, who, again, no catches in this game,

Starting point is 00:19:40 but drew that pass interference that drastically changed the game and and led to the Colts go ahead touchdown and also had another like 60 plus yard touchdown where Flacco just barely missed him Michael Pittman Jr. doing his thing gutting it out through injury Josh Downs doing his thing A.D. Mitchell had a couple nice catches in this game as well I know he's more of the project player but I really believe in this wide receiver room going forward I think they have the pieces there and we all think they they have the pieces on O-line. I know it wasn't a great game for the offensive line, but two rookies starting out there still didn't adequate enough job to get Flacco some time to deliver the ball down the field.

Starting point is 00:20:15 So they have the pieces on O-line, have it at wide receiver, running back when he's healthy, they have it. It really comes down to when Richardson gets back out there, can he put it all together? Because this offense, it feels like they have a lot of comes down to when Richardson gets back out there can he put it all together because this offense it feels like they have a lot of good things going for them maybe you can improve some of the depth especially at running back you know maybe to have a little bit better of a more better production there but they have a lot of good things going for them on offense even a day like this going against a top defense like a really good Titans defense that

Starting point is 00:20:42 flies around out there. They were inches away from putting up 30 something points in this game. Like it was an ugly game, but I do think this offense has enough pieces to be a really good offense. And I think they will be a pretty good offense by the end of the season. Yeah, it's going to get even better. I mean, in back to back weeks, they, I mean, they lost, but they scored over 30 points. And then they won and scored 20 points in this one. They did that without their quarterback and their running back. Two of their three most explosive players on the field, they didn't have them. Two rookies on the O-line, too, in those games.

Starting point is 00:21:16 Yeah, Anthony Richardson obviously can even just do small things that obviously Flacco can't do. Now, there's a bunch of stuff flacco is capable of now that richardson will hopefully eventually get to but like just the simple act of like beating a linebacker around the edge on third and three to extend the drive simple stuff like that richardson they didn't have that and then jonathan taylor like we know he can dominate and take over a game and there has been no run game in two weeks. So it's about to get better. One area where, I mean, we're just going with the flow, though, is the defense.

Starting point is 00:21:52 Maybe not as many niceties, but, you know, they turn it around in the second half, and they really helped bring home a win. You guys can now win up to 100 times your money on prize picks with as little as four correct picks. Prize picks is the best way to get action on sports in over 30 States, which includes California, Florida, Georgia, and Texas. Prize picks is also the only real money daily fantasy platform with an injury

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Starting point is 00:23:06 That's LOCKEDONNFL to get $50 instantly after you play your first $5 lineup. Prize picks. Run your game. All right, so this is another instance for the Colts defense of, you know, you've got to be able to take advantage of your weaker opponents and coming into this, this matchup. I mean, the Titans did have a bi-week already, but they had accrued the fewest yards of offense in the league coming into this thing. This was not a productive offense and they're facing a quarterback and we'll let us who we would later come to find out. I mean, he was able to play, but he was hampered by that shoulder injury. You know, the velocity over the middle of the field and tight windows was there. But, you know, as I know you and I have talked about outside the numbers and downfield,

Starting point is 00:23:54 it didn't look pretty. Now he's going to give you some weird YOLO plays, which he did in this one as well. Not totally bizarre, but you know, there was that, there was an arm punt or two involved in this matchup. But there was maybe a couple drives for the Colts' defense that were not great. But I think overall they made, kind of like the offense, enough plays when they exactly had to, when they needed to force something out or maybe get bailed out by you know, by, by a phantom caller too. It happened. So the, the defense, you know, you wish the pass rush would have been there. They did hit Levis four times, but they got no sacks. That can't happen. I mean, there were, there were some quick plays by Levis involved.

Starting point is 00:24:39 I mean, Jacksonville has shown the blueprint of, Hey, if you don't want the Colts to sack you, here's how you can it uh but still I mean this is now three games without a sack and they've played six yeah it uh the defense look the end result was fine in this one and I think part of that had to do with some timely mistakes from the Titans and timely mistake from the ref on that one third down which look I didn't see anything so I'm with the ref on that one third down, which, look, I didn't see anything. So I'm with the ref on that one. I didn't see anything on that one. And also just, again, some good moments here and there.

Starting point is 00:25:13 But, like, this is certainly one where the result looks better than the product on the field because watching that game, the Colts' defense did not feel like they had a good showing whatsoever. The run defense was not good whatsoever. They had a couple of third and one stops that made it look a little bit better, but it was not a great day from the run defense at all. Tony Pollard was getting hit three yards in the backfield and turning them into six, seven yard gains like constantly. The third and 19 draw play for a touchdown is one of the worst defensive plays I've ever seen in my entire life. Tennessee was it, they were just trying to get a slightly better field goal i'm glad julian blackman got a pick later

Starting point is 00:25:50 in the game because this whole post game would have been about like julian how did you like what are you doing on that tackle attempt on that third and 19 uh just piss poor in a lot of ways uh with this defense i mean there was multiple drives where again the titans luckily kicked themselves in their own butt uh when they got into the red zone but the titans, there was multiple drives where again, the Titans luckily kicked themselves in their own, but when they got into the red zone, but the Titans had like 16 play drives where they got into the Colts, like 25 yard line. And then they just got penalties on themselves, which pushed them back and into field goal territory.

Starting point is 00:26:17 I mean, one of them, they scored again on, on a third and 19 draw play. So yeah, like they did enough late in the game. They got bailed out by a little bit of again bad Levis throws he couldn't push the ball down the field and a no call on a clear pass

Starting point is 00:26:31 interference by the Colts but look a win is a win I don't care how ugly it looks a win is a win baby I'll take it but I don't think this is the game where you really look at the Colts defense and say like oh yeah like we got it like if anything the Titans being scared of Will Levis's boneheaded plays and his lack of arm strength is really where the Colts defense shined in this game. Because what the last three quarterbacks the Colts played have averaged 340 yards passing per game. The last three quarterbacks. The Titans threw for 95 yards in per game. The last three quarterbacks, the Titans threw for 95 yards in this game. And I don't think that's just because the Colts all of a sudden figured out how to defend the pass.

Starting point is 00:27:10 I think a lot of that was the Titans calling a lot of wide receiver screens, a lot of running back and tight end screens, a lot of just short stuff. And they were not pushing the ball down the field. Cause I don't think Levis could with his arm. Now he still tried a couple of times and we should have had a couple picks because of it. But, yeah, they got lucky. They faced an injured, not great quarterback in this one.

Starting point is 00:27:32 One thing I will say, though, one thing I will say, if we're going to be really positive here because we won, like we want to be kind of positive, Sam Womack might be really good. Yeah, I think so too, man. He might be like – Nick Cross and Samuel Womack have been a couple nice little pieces in the secondary this year. Yeah, like I put it on Twitter,

Starting point is 00:27:49 and I want to see exactly what it's at when Pro Football Focus puts it out this week. But I think Womack has had like 200 defensive snaps this year. Again, after being claimed right before the first game. So did not have a whole offseason with this team. He's played like 200 defense snaps this year i think he has like six or seven forced incompletions and when he's been targeted and i think he's only given up like one or two completions for like 10 yards and one of those completions he

Starting point is 00:28:15 gave up was a miscommunication in his first start uh following the juju brent's injury in the red zone they allowed a touchdown i think it was the wide open touchdown uh against the the packers or someone or against the bear or someone like i can't remember exactly what it was uh but like he's been really good like they went after him a couple times in the fourth quarter when the colts were getting their drive stops and i was like why are you throwing it throw it at anybody else womack is like he making plays on the ball like like really good plays in the ball like why are you throwing the ball at him? But Sam Womack, man, like, look, the rest of the defense I'm concerned about, Womack I feel pretty good about right now. And it's gone from, like, kind of a joke the last couple weeks where it's like,

Starting point is 00:28:54 hey, Womack's kind of playing fine to, like, oh, this kid can kind of play. Like, why would you throw it at him? He's playing some really good ball right now. And I couldn't be happier. I mean, wow, they really got lucky finding a good player like Sam Womack on waivers no they did I mean obviously you want Brent's out there still and there's a lot of peaks and valleys with Jalen Jones and I'm not gonna say Samuel Womack is an island but for for the role he's playing and the the volume of passes that are going his way.

Starting point is 00:29:26 I think he's doing an awesome job. I love a corner that's aggressive against the pass, like going for the ball and not being so passive. Cause there are corners that like, we'll just, they are aloof to combating the ball and he's not like that. So I really like that. And man, good,

Starting point is 00:29:42 good, good team win for the Colts, you know, very sloppy in certaints, you know, very sloppy in certain areas. You know, you hate for a defense to give up third and nine or third and long twice in a game like that. One of them resulting in a touchdown, but offense, defense, special teams, there were bright spots to pick away from all really pretty spotless from special teams other than the Grant Stewart holding call.

Starting point is 00:30:06 Hey, Rigoberto Sanchez, man. Look, I don't like kickers, but punters, they're cool. Punters are cool. Rigoberto Sanchez, man. I know that last punt didn't really mean that much in the grand scheme of things, but what was it, like a 60-yard punt down to the three-yard line at the end of the game? And then same punt. Him and Ashton Doolin were working really well together today. Yeah, yeah.

Starting point is 00:30:23 So yeah, special teams is good. And, look, sometimes a third phase is where you win games. I mean, I always remember that Chargers team back in the mid-2000s had, like, the number one offense, number one defense, and, like, the 32nd-ranked special teams. And they were, like, 8-8 and missed the playoffs. So special teams are important. Matt Gay didn't miss any kicks today, so I can't complain about him.

Starting point is 00:30:42 Four for four, baby. And I will say this. My final words before we close out today's episode, miss any kicks today, so I can't complain about him. Some good things. And I will say this, my final words before we close out today's episode, watching an ugly football game is one of the most painful experiences. Watching a game like that is gross. It's disgusting. You feel like you need a shower afterwards because you just can't like, oh, like I don't want to be a part of this. The only thing that makes it worse, though, is if you lose that kind of game, winning that kind of game, whatever. You wash it off.

Starting point is 00:31:05 You feel good the next day because you got to win. A win is a win. An ugly win still counts as a one in the win column, guys. So the Colts back to 500 and really that a really divisional race. That's only two teams right now. And the Colts can really make up some ground in two weeks from now when they play against Houston Texans. Now, if they lose that game, they're probably playing for a wildcard spot.

Starting point is 00:31:24 But when it comes to the AFC South, there's only really two teams in it the rest of the way, like the Jaguars and Titans are probably not going to make the playoffs this year. So look, the Colts are locked into number two seed right now in the AFC South. We'll see how that looks when they have their brutal stretch here in the middle of the season coming up. But three and three, when they've missed a lot of time with players this year, I think we could be in a worse spot right now with the Colts. So we'll see where they go from here. They got the Miami Dolphins up next with a backup quarterback again.

Starting point is 00:31:56 They got the Houston Texans, and then they get the gauntlet of all the best teams in football. We're not going to talk about that one yet. Yeah, so we will see, guys, where this Colts team can be. Hopefully they can get a dub next week. But thank you guys for making Locked on Colts your first post-game listen today. Now for your second listen. Go find the new Locked on NFL now with two shows every day.

Starting point is 00:32:16 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 or wherever you list your podcast. If you guys want to become a Locked on Colts insider and chat with us directly and get that insider scoop, follow the link in our show notes. And if you guys don't already, make sure you're following us at Locked on Colts, at Jake Arthur NFL, at Zach Hicks 2, all on Twitter. We're also on TikTok and Instagram.

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