Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Joe Flacco, Indianapolis Colts a Trap Game for Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills?

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Colts continue into the Joe Flacco era, but one of the NFL's best teams is in the way this week in the Buffalo Bills. The Bills, on the other hand, have a date with the Chiefs awaiting them after this one. So what will this matchup look like? Let's get to it. You are locked on NFL Crossover, 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. This is a collaboration of your daily podcast covering your Indianapolis Colts and Buffalo Bills.

Starting point is 00:00:40 Part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Your team every day. And Crossover Thursday, as always, is presented by PrizeFix. Download the app and use code LOCKEDONNFL to win $50 instantly when you play just five. What's up, everybody? This is Jake Arthur of Locked On Colts, joined by Joe Marino of Locked On Bills. And we are here to walk you through this Colts-Bills Week 10 Sunday matchup. And this is one, Joe, that probably had a little more luster on it

Starting point is 00:01:07 at the beginning of the year. A lot going wrong with the Colts and the Bills. You know, the Bills, it's going great. I think both of these teams have probably defied expectations at this point. I think people thought more of the Colts. And, you know, with some of the turnover that the Bills had this offseason, I think they're exceeding preseason expectations. But going into this one, is this how you envisioned this matchup looking at all from a Bills

Starting point is 00:01:32 perspective? Well, I think from the Bills side of things, I'm not super surprised that they're having a good season. They've kind of been one of the upper echelon AFC teams since 2020. And I thought a lot of the preseason conversations about the Bills and whether they're windowed to compete was gone, was kind of short-sighted. The Bills are a regime, right, in Sean McDermott and Brandon Bean that's in year eight.

Starting point is 00:01:58 There's a process in place here for developing talent. And within the life cycle of the team, you're naturally going to have to say goodbye to some players and you look at the exodus of players and it's Tredavious White who just got traded for a bag of balls Jordan Poyer who I mean if you've watched the Dolphins all year he's really struggled uh Gabe Davis who cares Stefan Diggs the Bills kind of needed to move on there and I think Stefan Diggs needed to move on. So there's this thought of these players that they are no longer having, but we're not talking about the prime version of those guys. They had players in place that were ready to kind of step

Starting point is 00:02:34 in. And that's what happens when you have success and you have a system in place and there's continuity with their coaching staff. You got players that'll step in. And of course, Josh Allen still exists. And,. And I thought some of that was maybe wishful thinking from some rivals, a lot of hype for the Jets that was always unfounded in anything that made sense to me. So I'm not really surprised that the Bills are having the season that they are. I think maybe the bigger surprises for me are riding with the rest of the division and maybe in some aspects the rest of the conference. Yeah, so with this Bills team, it seems like everything is clicking.

Starting point is 00:03:10 Like it doesn't seem like they really struggle in any one particular area. You know, I think they seem pretty opportunistic. Like statistically offense and defense, they kind of rank right in the middle of the pack. But scoring both offense and defense is up for them. They're top five in offense at least. It just seems like when they need to make those plays, they do it. And to me, that's kind of the mark of a good team.

Starting point is 00:03:34 I think efficiency has been the name of the game for the Bills this year, particularly on the offensive side of the football. They're very balanced. They run the ball extremely well. They've developed this zone-rushing offense that, in terms of success rate, is one of the best in the entire NFL. And it's been ascending here week over week. And then Josh Allen has really played smart football, mature, mature football for Josh Allen. He's always been certainly a big time talent, a lot of production. He's really found a lot of efficiency this year under Joe Brady, withouton Diggs, without Gabe Davis, a new-looking

Starting point is 00:04:05 supporting cast. And it's unlocked, to me, a level of Josh Allen's game that really just aligns him with doing the smart right thing with the football a whole lot more often. He's not really big play hunting. He's taking it when it's there. They have a good system to get the ball out of his hands quicker, good yards after catch team. In some ways, I wouldn't say that they've changed Josh Allen. He still does all the cool stuff that Josh Allen does. He still gets outside the pocket and makes you pay. He still launches the ball down the field. But I think within that, there's been just a more mature effort from Josh

Starting point is 00:04:39 to get the ball out of his hands, into the hands of playmakers, allow them to make plays with the ball in their hands. The Bills are really good with yards after catch. And so they've been really efficient on the offensive side of the football and defensively, you know, they, they are very much a big play defense. They want to play up the field with their front. They want to take away explosive fields with their coverage shells and count on you at some point to make a mistake. Or at some point they're going to be able to use that up the field style to make a mistake. Or at some point, they're going to be able to use that up-the-field style to make a play behind the line of scrimmage and put the offense behind the sticks.

Starting point is 00:05:08 And, of course, that's going to get teams out of schedule and reduce scoring. So they have this model that they embrace, and there's some new faces in different places, but still a recipe that works in terms of winning in the NFL. Yeah, I'm not going to lie. This offense, it hurts my feelings a little bit. Josh Allen not getting sacked, not gonna lie. This offense, it hurts my feelings a little bit. Josh Allen,

Starting point is 00:05:30 not getting sacked, not turning the ball over. I was a big Ray Davis guy coming into the draft. They got a well-balanced run game. It seems like Keon Coleman, a little banged up, but still, he's coming along. Khalil Shakir. So I'm a little jealous from this perspective. Things aren't going as well for the Colts. But defensively, you know, from a Colts perspective, we're just looking for the offense to find any sort of rhythm, any identity whatsoever. Obviously going against Brian Flores last week in the Vikings, probably not the greatest speed bump to start out with when establishing a new identity on offense.

Starting point is 00:06:01 But for the Buffalo defense, is there any, like any vulnerable area where Joe Flacco might be able to exploit something? Well, I would say I think the Bills' secondary talent matches up pretty good with the receiving core that Indianapolis is going to present. The Bills have big athletic physical corners, and Rasul Douglas and Christian Benford, a great slot player. I know the Colts enjoy Kenny Moore. The Bills enjoy Taron Johnson, really good slot corners. And so I think you think about Alec Pierce and Josh Downs in the slot, and, of course, Michael Pittman.

Starting point is 00:06:34 I think the Bills kind of match up fairly well with those types of players. I think where if I'm Indy and I'm getting excited about my opportunities against the Bills' defense, it's with Jonathan Taylor running the football. The Bills are a defense that gives a lot of light boxes. They're concerned about taking away explosive plays, and so they're going to run base nickel. Taron Johnson's going to be a slot corner and a Sam linebacker, right? And so they're small.

Starting point is 00:06:58 They're light on defense, and they're willing to concede rushing production. Taron Johnson actually after the game last week against the Miami Dolphins where they gave up 149 rushing yards and felt like it wasn't like they had explosive plays. I think their longest run was 16 yards. They were just gashing the Bills left and right, running the ball. Taron Johnson said, well, they have explosive playmakers on the outside. We were fine letting them run the ball, and the Bills will do that. They've done that a lot, and I think that happened the last time these two teams played in the regular season.

Starting point is 00:07:28 So I think this is, from the Colts' perspective, challenge the Bills' defensive structure that is going to present light boxes that's going to play with smaller defensive players and see if your physical running back can really make them pay for that. And then I think, of course, through that, you maybe pull that extra safety down and start to get your opportunities down the field. So I think this has got to be a run-heavy offensive game plan

Starting point is 00:07:50 for Shane Steichen and company. I think they would like to do that. I mean, it seems like they really want to establish Jonathan Taylor at times. They tried to last week. He was running a lot early, and then they kind of bailed on that. And then the whole middle of the game, they didn't really run it as much. But, no, I think they would like to do that. Jonathan obviously has done well against the bills,

Starting point is 00:08:09 even though some faces have changed, but I mean, obviously Joe Flacco is a big time veteran, you know, like 17 years or so in the league, the running game is always going to be a quarterback's friend, no matter how experienced you are. So that's certainly something we're looking ahead to. The Colts have, you know, they did use a bit more 12 personnel last week, but how much of that was, you know, Bernard Ryman being out and needing to, you know, support your super young, you know, kind of rookie-laden offensive line at the time. So yeah, that'll be interesting to see.

Starting point is 00:08:41 How is Buffalo over the middle of the field in the passing game though tight ends for the Colts have been almost non-existent so I'm not even counting on that becoming a thing but when it comes to like Josh Downs over the middle or Michael Pittman Jr. who physically he he seems like kind of a shell of himself because his back injury right now but he's still playing through it and it's still effective over the middle when given the opportunity. So does Buffalo give anything there? Well, I think there's probably some opportunities, but Terrell Bernard, the Bills middle linebacker,

Starting point is 00:09:13 is a very good coverage player, and his ability to kind of roam in the middle of the field and has really good vision, reads the backfield well, and just kind of caps routes. He's super good at that, and I think that he'll kind of take care of a lot in addition to taryn johnson now there is a player in dorian williams matt milano the bills you know star linebacker biceps injury during training camp he's not going to be back until december and so in place of him is dorian williams a second year player out of two lane who's really athletic super super good downhill player, like physical, high-effort guy. But, yeah, he's victim to some coverage blunders from time to time.

Starting point is 00:09:50 And whether that's kind of biting up on some play fakes and vacating a lot of space that he's responsible for or just squeezing and exchanging routes in zone coverage, there's mistakes. And so I think if you're going to work the middle of the field, that's probably, you know, you say, where's Waldo it's, it's Dorian Williams when you want to throw the football. So that,

Starting point is 00:10:09 that would be the opportunity that I'd be looking for if I was in Indianapolis and I wanted to work the middle of the field is what opportunities can you get against Dorian Williams and make him the guy that you go after. Yeah. We'll, we'll certainly see what they try to do. We'll talk about more of that in a moment.

Starting point is 00:10:23 Can we make sense out of what the Colts have tried to do or what they might try to do this Sunday at home against the Bills? Pre-alcohol probiotic drink by Z-Biotics is the world's first genetically engineered probiotic. It was invented by PhD scientists to tackle rough mornings after drinking. Here's how it works. When you drink, alcohol gets converted into a toxic byproduct in the gut. It's this byproduct, not dehydration, that's to blame for your rough next day. Pre-alcohol produces an enzyme to break this byproduct down. Just remember to make Z-biotics your first drink of the night, drink responsibly, and you'll feel your best tomorrow. Here's how it goes. Step one, drink the pre-alcohol.

Starting point is 00:11:05 And for the best results, make pre-alcohol your very first drink of the night. Step two, drink responsibly as always, of course, but pace yourself, hydrate and get a good night's sleep. And then step three, of course, is to enjoy your next day. Wake up feeling refreshed and ready to take on the day. Go to zbiotics.com slash locked on NFL to learn more and get 15% off of your first order when you use locked on NFL at checkout.

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Starting point is 00:11:58 So, you know, from your perspective, when you look at this thing, I'm sure you've got some head scratchers and some questions on this one. Well, yeah, I think we've got to start with the quarterback position. And I know that your listeners are probably very accustomed to your thoughts and takes on Joe Flacco and Anthony Richardson, but obviously Shane Steichen believes that Joe Flacco gives the bill, the Colts, excuse me, their best chance to win football games. And what's a pretty muddy situation when it comes to the wild card opportunities right the colts for you know how even they've how uneven they've been they're four and five and i think

Starting point is 00:12:31 there's like nine teams in the conference that are within a game of 500 it's like four and five is not a great spot to be but it's also not a terrible spot to be right now what are you seeing from joe flacco that um is giving is giving Shane Steichen the thought that, yeah, this is what we got to do in terms of him being our quarterback over Anthony Richardson? Yeah, so he came in for two games and some change for Anthony Richardson earlier in the season. And he was just on a tear, particularly on third downs and like in the fourth quarter, was moving the ball really, really well, was still hitting on the big plays that Anthony Richardson was as well,

Starting point is 00:13:13 but also filling in some of the gaps on the small details that is really necessary, you know, just the short game, you know, the screen passes, dump offs, finding yards in between boom or bust essentially. Because with Anthony, it was either, you know, 50 yard shot play or a three and out, you know, did some nice things on early downs to get the ball running. But I think that the plan was for Joe Flacco to establish a little more rhythm and just kind of eliminate some of the peaks and valleys, just get some consistency.

Starting point is 00:13:45 And with how hot and cold Anthony Richardson was, it had been really cold in the last few weeks leading into him being benched. And if you're Shane Steichen, you probably just want to go with the guy who you at least think can execute a game plan more and, you know, be able to adjust things on the fly. Because with Anthony, I felt at a certain point, you just didn't know what you were going to get anymore. So when it comes to utilizing a guy like Josh Downs to help move the sticks or get through the reads and find Michael Pittman Jr. over the middle of the field,

Starting point is 00:14:18 while still getting to Alec Pierce over the top for the big plays, I just felt like Joe Flacco is who they thought gave them the best chance. Now it leaves a big mystery as to like, what's this whole season about then? Because you kind of needed the whole year to evaluate Anthony Richardson to decide how to move forward in 2025. And now the plan is if all goes to plan, it's Joe Flacco the rest of the year,

Starting point is 00:14:45 like they will not see Anthony Richardson the rest of this season if they have it their way. Now, if all goes terribly wrong, you know, we've seen they're willing to make quarterback changes. But we even asked on Monday, like, does Joe Flacco have that limit to his performance like Anthony Richardson did? And Shane was like, no, we're still going with Joe for now. So, you know, hopefully they can tailor some sort of offense. I mean, it's going to be more of a traditional offense. You know, there was more 12 personnel, more under center stuff than really we'd seen in the small sample of Shane Steichen's tenure here in Indy so far.

Starting point is 00:15:23 But we'll see how it goes. I mean, they have the good run game, the good offensive line, although it's banged up and they've got some capable pass catchers. So we'll see if they can put something together that's productive with any sort of consistency. But certainly Sunday against the Vikings was not a great debut for their new quarterback era. Jake, I'm pretty sure Bill's Mafia is still having nightmares over what Jonathan Taylor did to them in 2021. Over 200 yards from scrimmage, five touchdowns, 41-15. Colts win. Yikes. It was tough. I know that JT hasn't quite had the same production

Starting point is 00:16:02 that he did his first couple of seasons. Catch us up on Jonathan Taylor and how he's performing. And, yeah, again, Bills Mafia is not excited about playing this guy. No, I mean, he's still there. I mean, he had the two or so seasons where he was really banged up. He had the ankle. He had the thumb. He had this and that.

Starting point is 00:16:21 The guy is still there. I mean, Week 18 last year against the Bills, or not Bills, the Texans, final game of the season, he had like 170, 180 yards rushing. He's had some really productive 100-yard games this year. I think what you're seeing with him now is almost an evolution of his game. He still does have breakaway speed. He's probably not beating everyone down the field like he did at one point, but he is still fast and can still get downfield.

Starting point is 00:16:50 But the really, one of the best parts about his game now is he runs a lot between the tackles, but he gets really small and his patience to wait on blocking where he knows it's going to be is awesome. It's become one of his absolute best attributes. So he still creates his own yards. Uh, we're still waiting on that 150, 200 yard game that we know he's capable of. Um, but there's been so much inconsistency around him that, and I mean, he himself missed a couple of games recently too. Uh, but defenses just know that he's the first one they have to stop. And so until the passing game gets any semblance of a consistent threat,

Starting point is 00:17:32 I think teams are going to load up against him. It sounds like from what you're saying, though, this may be a good matchup from a team that doesn't necessarily load up the box and kind of defends the big plays through the pass game. We'll see. I mean, Flacco has got to be able to take advantage of that. Otherwise, even a team like Buffalo might just say, you know, we're just going to go ahead and drop an extra man down and beat the Colts that way because the Colts have not shown

Starting point is 00:17:57 that they can beat teams consistently through the year. Well, it's going to be an interesting choice that the Bills will make. I think a big part of the Bills' script that they like to have is, yeah, you can have your rushing yards. We want to take away your explosive plays, but the key part for that to work is they think they can score, right? They have to score points or else teams will stay running the football and then eventually they'll snatch your soul. Hello, 2021, 41-15 Colts win. Now, one of the interesting storylines for the Colts is this offensive line injuries, right? Ryan Kelly, outstanding center. He's on injury reserve. I think there's probably going to be two rookie starters. I think Raymond,

Starting point is 00:18:36 he missed last week with a concussion. Catch us up here on what's going on with this Colts offensive line and your expectations for Sunday. Yep. So we know for certain that Ryan Kelly will be out. He's on IR now with a knee injury. Shane Steichen just clarified that for us this afternoon. So he's on IR. They think he's going to be back. So it's minimum of four games. So Tanner Bordellini is going to be the guy in the middle.

Starting point is 00:19:01 He's already had to play a few games this year, and he's actually played pretty well. He's graded pretty high. I think he's PFF's sixth best rookie offensive lineman right now, number one in pass blocking. He's only given up one pressure so far. So he's done pretty well. We'll see how it looks over an extended period of time. But he's just got more strength than what Kelly's showing right now, and he's still, you know, Bortolini was an athletic prospect, so he moves around pretty well. So he's done well. Right guard, this one was really a shame because Will Fries was playing

Starting point is 00:19:32 the best football of his life. He suffered a lower leg injury. In comes rookie undrafted free agent Dalton Tucker, who was a great story in the summer, you know, a rookie undrafted free agent who could crack this offensive line lineup. He's done all right. He's not probably not a guy that like you want to plan to be the starter moving forward necessarily, but I think he's probably the best option they've got there at right guard. And he's still doing pretty well, I think, for the circumstance, being a rookie undrafted free agent. Bernard Ryman, so he did miss the game last week with a concussion.

Starting point is 00:20:11 He's been cleared to return to practice, so he was out there at practice today. Still has to get through all the steps of the protocol, but certainly with it being the first day of the week and him being able to practice, I mean, it certainly looks like it's trending towards him playing. Matt Gonzalez filled in for him last week, first career start, really his first extended action, because they just haven't needed depth at tackles or anyone really to step up at tackle behind the starters this year. But he played pretty well also, particularly in pass

Starting point is 00:20:43 protection. Well, he allowed one sack in pass protection, a few pressures. It was the run blocking that he, I think, graded out pretty well. But these guys are the future. I mean, for the short term, it doesn't really matter. But Bortolini, I think, is their long-term option at center. Ryan Kelly's a free agent after this year. And then Dalton Tucker, we'll see, because Will Fries is a free agent after this year uh and then Dalton Tucker we'll see because Wolf Prize is a free agent also but you know he was an ascending player before he got hurt yeah I like Bortolini he was one of my favorite like hopeful day three picks to to add and I'm unsurprised that he's come in and been successful and I think that's a good succession plan I think he'll be a good player for the Colts for a while. Jake, this Colts defensive front looks pretty good to me.

Starting point is 00:21:26 Grover Stewart's a dog. DeForest Buckner's a dog. Zyre Franklin's a dog. EJ Speed's a good player. They got high picks on the edge. Break down this front for us. Is there any weak links, or is everyone just big, strong, athletic, and a problem to deal with?

Starting point is 00:21:43 Well, it certainly works better when DeForest Buckner's in there. He was on IR. He left in week two, had a high ankle sprain, but he returned a couple weeks ago, and he looks – he's really brought that group together. You can just tell a difference in Grover Stewart, especially when Buckner's out there. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:22:00 The freedom and confidence that Stewart plays with when Buckner's out there. Incredible. You saw in that play with the Vikings where he just took Garrett Bradbury off his feet and then did the same exact thing to Sam Darnold. And then Kenny Moore comes and scoops it and scores. So that's the type of impact when Buckner gets back in there. So he provides that interior pass rush that quarterbacks hate so much. But it opens up things for like a guy like layout to law too, for example, never looks better rushing the passer than when he's doing it right next to Buckner.

Starting point is 00:22:33 He's capable, you know, he's, he's got that tool belt of moves coming out of UCLA that he's, I think he's still working on how he has to use those against NFL level talent. Cause he could kill everyone in the Pac-12. Yeah, but it's obviously kind of a different beast when you're doing it against a six year

Starting point is 00:22:49 NFL left tackle. But he's coming along OK. Quitty pay is as well. Quitty is probably not like the the top defensive and first round talent you wanted him to be. But he's still like a productive player. He's a good run defender. And he's, you know, he, he's going to get you at least a couple of pressures each game. He got a sack last week. But Dio Adango is the guy who very streaky player, but when he's on a heater, he really gets it going. And right now he's playing well. He is a kind of a matchup nightmare, big, long athletic. He knows how to beat to beat you know tackles and interior guys inside and out like he's got a lot of moves that he works on as well has kind of a deadly rip and he's getting kind of a good swim move to him as well uh but once you get past the starters especially

Starting point is 00:23:39 on the interiors when it gets a little more vulnerable for the Colts, Raekwon Davis and Taven Bryan and Adetami Adebware. When those guys are on the field, teams tend to smell blood in the water and they start running it down the Colts throat. And then once Buckner and or Grover Stewart get back out there, they kind of readjust their game plan. But if you see the dogs leave the field, then Buffalo is probably going to want to try and take advantage of that right up the middle. Last one I have for you here is a question about the Colts secondary. I've been a little surprised by their personnel decisions. I feel like they've had upgrade opportunities and maybe went with other areas of their roster. How is it performing?

Starting point is 00:24:18 Like what maybe is somebody who's – I follow every team very, very in-depth, but I'm not in the weeds, you know, like you are with the Colts, like maybe fill me in on what I don't know about this Colts secondary. That's maybe led to, um, them being reluctant to be more aggressive to, to add to it. Yeah. So a couple of off seasons ago, ago, they were very intentional about getting young in the secondary. They traded off Stefan Gilmore and they just kind of let some of their older guys walk. And they drafted three quarters that year, and they had Nick Cross going into his second year. So they really wanted to get new and young and build their own secondary. The problem with that, though, is they were investing a lot in guys who were, I don't want to say injury prone, but they were hurt a lot of the time. And so all of this last offseason, everyone was screaming that you've got to get at least another proven capable veteran at safety and cornerback because these guys get hurt. And then lo and behold, Juju Brent's their top outside corner knee injury done.

Starting point is 00:25:21 So that left them vulnerable. Luckily, they picked up Samuel Womack off the, you know, the scrap heap before the season from the 49ers. And that has worked out pretty well for them. He's been a good player. He's had to start pretty much the whole season. Jalen Jones was a seventh round pick. One of those guys that drafted, I mentioned a couple years ago, playing really, really good ball for a former seventh-round pick. Are they guys who could be upgraded over? Yeah, but they're giving them capable starting snaps. And then at safety, Nick Cross has been a pleasant surprise as well.

Starting point is 00:25:59 He was like the youngest player in the league when they drafted him at 20 years old a couple years ago. But he is finally starting to grow into what they wanted him to be. I just think there was a lot of learning he had to do in terms of what he was seeing on an NFL field. And they finally took the leash off and trusted him to be a full-time starter this year. And it's worked out pretty well. Julian Blackman, very smart player. He's not making the splashy plays he did during training

Starting point is 00:26:26 camp over the summer, but he still is not a guy that's going to get caught out of position. He's going to be where he needs to be pretty much most of the time. Now, I think there's going to have to be some things done in the offseason, even though that's what we just said about this last one. But this is a group that is outperforming expectations right now. Gus Bradley in general has really helped turn this entire defense around since a really, really ugly first few weeks of the season. And the secondary has been a pretty pleasant surprise to it all. I appreciate that. It's an interesting lineup.

Starting point is 00:27:07 It always comes down to matchups, and I guess we'll get into keys to victory here on the other side of it. Yep, absolutely. All right, guys, get ready to tackle the NFL action with FanDuel, America's number one sportsbook. Because right now, new customers can bet $5 and get $150 in bonus bets. If you win the FanDuel sports book app gives you everything you need to place live bets on the NFL all in one place.

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Starting point is 00:29:34 Remember to 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. All right, Joe. So on the line, the three most important keys for the Bills to win this one. I think number one is heat up Joe Flacco. You know, this is a quarterback that, like you mentioned, has played 17 years. He's seen every defense in the world.

Starting point is 00:29:54 He's seen every disguise. You got to pressure him. And I think you got to try to take advantage of some younger players on that Colts offensive line. You have a lot of depth on your defensive line if you're the Bills. I think there's been times this year I feel like the Bills' pass rush has been pretty quiet, and I don't think that can be the case this week. I think they have to get after Joe Flacco,

Starting point is 00:30:13 who obviously is limited in terms of mobility, and so you want to take advantage of that and really heat him up and not give him time to just use his experience and slice up your zone defense. So that's number one for me. Number two is don't let Jonathan Taylor kill you. Um, you know, the bills, the bills make their choices with how they choose to defend the run. And this is probably a matchup where I would dare Joe Flacco, uh, to beat you throwing the football. Um, and I'm not saying that you load up with eight-man boxes or anything like that,

Starting point is 00:30:46 but I would be willing to roll down a safety. I'd be willing to run blitz. I'd be willing to do some gap exchanges to try to get some negative plays because, I mean, I'm sure the Colts want to see it, but nobody wants to see Jonathan Taylor go off like he did last time and certainly how he's capable of performing. And so because I don't not respect the Colts receivers. I just feel like the bills do have good matchups with Christian Benford and Rasul

Starting point is 00:31:12 Douglas and Taron Johnson. So if you wanted to play a little man coverage, you want to play a little one high middle of the field, close a single high safety type stuff to help your run fits do it because I feel like you can take your chances more with some of the coverage options you have. And so this isn't a game to let Jonathan Taylor go off. I think that would be a mistake. And then number three, I think it's probably a good idea for the Bills to have a pass-aggressive game plan on offense.

Starting point is 00:31:38 I have a lot of respect for the Colts' front on defense. Two great defensive tackles in Buckner and Stewart. And you mentioned they're humming right now. I think the second level is really good. They've been inserting this Grant Stewart a little bit, giving them some sparks as an extra player sometimes when they want to go with some more base traditional looks. And so I would be willing to kind of take your chances.

Starting point is 00:31:58 I don't know if Keon Coleman's going to go, but they should get Amari Cooper this week. Kahlil Shakir is a very good slot receiver. Yards after catch, Dalton Kincaid is a tight end option. I think you use your backs out of the backfield. The Bills have had a lot of success throwing the ball to James Cook and Ray Davis. I think you want to come out pass aggressive, a little bit like they did against Seattle, to allow yourself to kind of get that lead and maybe force the Colts to not be two-dimensional on offense and really make it a Joe Flacco game,

Starting point is 00:32:25 throwing the ball against your secondary. And so I think I'd come out trying to score points through the air and really kind of close the game out of the second half, running it if you can. No, I think that putting heat on Flacco is legit. Last week against the Vikings, they didn't get to him until the final drive of the game. It's like Flores said, we're not messing with this anymore. And then boom, boom, boom, three sacks on the final drive of the game. It's like Flores said, we're not messing with this anymore. And then boom, boom, boom, three sacks on the final drive after not having any. So, I mean, that's legit. I mean, Joe can't really escape all that.

Starting point is 00:32:52 But for the Colts side of it, I agree. Jonathan Taylor is kind of the linchpin of this thing. Get him established early and try and ride him throughout the game. The game that still haunts you guys, I think that was a once-in-a-lifetime type of thing. Like, that him throughout the game. The game that still haunts you guys, I think that was a once-in-a-lifetime type of thing. That was an enormous game. But I think he's still capable of those 150-yard games, and it doesn't even have to be that.

Starting point is 00:33:15 Just use him consistently throughout the game. They just have these long stretches where they abandon using him. And there's not much explanation afterward other than we like what Trey Sermon offers us in this instance and things like that. It's like, all right, Trey Sermon's nice, but he's not Jonathan Taylor. So ride Jonathan throughout the game as long as he's productive and things are working there. And my next point to that, if that is working, allow that to create play action opportunities for you with Joe Flacco. Obviously, this appears like it's going to become a more traditional offense. So if you're under center and you can get the play fake to Jonathan and crank back and

Starting point is 00:33:55 go to Alec Pierce downfield, I think there's ways for this to work. They also like Alec Pierce on the deep crossers as well. So not everything has to be this big, you know, go route for him, but just try and establish the run game and allow it to create play action opportunities for you. And then the last, obviously this is easier said than done because Buffalo's offense is doing a lot of things right right now. Try to get, try to affect them in some way that's been uncharacteristic. They're not giving up sacks

Starting point is 00:34:25 obviously josh allen the least sacked quarterback right now and they're not turning it over either so either get a couple turnovers on them or you know get to josh allen and and make it to where he's not comfortable obviously it seems like the defensive line is probably the best way to do that but the colts you know they they rank up there in takeaways as well. So I think if you can get a little bit of pressure on Josh, maybe make him make some errant throws or just some questionable decisions, what have you, you could probably force them into uncharacteristic mistakes that they just haven't really been making this year

Starting point is 00:35:02 and that have allowed them to win a lot of games. Yeah, I think the organic pass rush opportunities for the Colts that they just haven't really been making this year and that have allowed them to win a lot of games. Yeah, I think the organic pass rush opportunities for the Colts should be interesting. The Bills are a really good pass-blocking team. Like you mentioned, Josh Allen's the least sacked quarterback in the NFL. But I think that the blend of traits that the Colts' defensive line has, a lot of length, a lot of size, a lot of athleticism, you go ahead and rush four.

Starting point is 00:35:24 And I feel like you should be able to cage rush a little bit here and really kind of lock in Josh in the pocket, and you'll be able to drop seven and give yourself some chances if Josh will put it in harm's way. But I think that their organic pass rush should or could be challenging. I don't think the Bills have played this complete of a front. They've played teams with good defensive tackles but really didn't have the edge.

Starting point is 00:35:48 Guys with teams with good edge rushers but not really the interior. This is a team that I feel like can put four across that has a lot of talent and juice to really get after you. So I think it'll be a unique matchup in terms of how the Colts can win with their organic pass rush against the Bills who have been a very good pass pro team. And, you know, the Colts may not be using Anthony Richardson on the field, but you know, I think he's simulating a little bit of Josh Allen this week. So that's something that not every opponent has. So like, that's a use they could get out of Anthony this week. I just hope

Starting point is 00:36:17 they wisely account for his legs because that's like, he's one of those unicorns that like, okay, he's a really good passer but what makes him Josh Allen is his ability to use his legs as well and I don't feel like the Colts have always been super heady of that situation you know they have allowed some guys who can move around with their legs to do so freely so I'm just really hoping the Colts uh factor that into the game plan a little bit but that that's it for us, everybody. Stay tuned with us throughout the week, right after the game as well. Make us your first stops right after.

Starting point is 00:36:52 Joe, where can they find you? Writing, obviously, you got the podcast going as well. Go ahead and plug yourself a little bit. Yeah, Joe Marino, you can follow me on X at the Joe Marino. Of course, host of Locked On Bills. I have another podcast on the Lockdown Network. It's Lockdown NFL Scouting, where we cover the entire NFL through the lens of team building. So another listen for you that you can check out on a daily basis here on the Lockdown Podcast Network. Absolutely. And for me and my co-host, Zach Hicks, I'm at JakeArthurNFL, and he is at at Zach Hicks too. Any Bills fans, we appreciate you

Starting point is 00:37:26 spying on the enemy a little bit this week. Colts fans, obviously Joe produces some great stuff as well. But thank you all for making Locked on Colts and Locked on Bills your first listens today. Now for your next listen, go find the new Locked on NFL. Now with two shows every day. First, you're going to get the madman

Starting point is 00:37:42 Tyler Rowland who's going to kick 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 listen to podcasts. And if you don't already, please follow us on social media, leave us ratings and reviews as well. That's very helpful. And with that, we will see you guys tomorrow.

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Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Joe Flacco, Indianapolis Colts a Trap Game for Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills?

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