Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - LOCKED ON COLTS -1/02- Indianapolis Colts Finish 8-8 For Second Consecutive Season; What's Next?

Episode Date: January 2, 2017

Several things went well for the #Colts; #Mathis notched a strip sack in his final game, and some others finished well too. #Pagano was ready for this season to be over by all accounts, but now the mystery really begins; what's next for the Colts head coach and the majority of this roster? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

No, I'm not for sale. You are Locked On Colts, your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome back to Locked On Colts, ladies and gentlemen. I'm your host, Matt Dainley, and we are starting off the new year with the Colts are 1-0. Wouldn't that be nice if that's how every season or every show started? Well, we do know a couple things. We do know that we saw some real crappy football in that first half there

and then you know the second half was basically completely turned around and basically what we saw from the Colts and Jaguars was that both teams proved that they can you know play pretty decent football when they need to and can also suck it up pretty bad and stink up the stadium. So both teams proved that they are what their records pretty much say they were, an underperforming offense, an underperforming defense. Just kind of plug in either team right there for that, and that's what you get. The Colts looked really bad. Andrew looked really bad in the first half.

A lot of bad passes, a lot of bad mistakes, almost no defense from the Colts. Blake Bortles with his three-quarter windup there. That thing's so ugly, by the way, was somehow completing passes. Allen Robinson was kind of having his way with the Colts defense. And, you know, basically for having a bunch of guys in the secondary for the most part that nobody really knew about in the first half of the season, I thought that they played pretty well in the second half. So this is kind of one of those games where, you know, towards the end of the game, I don't think that there's too many Colts fans that really were, you know, towards the end of the game, I don't think that there's too many Colts fans that really were, you know, pumping their fists because the Colts won, so to speak. I just think that that

is a win that, you know, it's like, of course, you know, play like crap in the first half and then come back out. And I think that the adjustments as far as that goes at halftime or anything like that, I don't really think that a lot of that had anything to do with people getting pumped up because of playing for Chuck or playing for this or that, you know, maybe for Rob, Robert Mathis, maybe for that, but you know, there's no reason for them to come out in that game. Every single person in that locker room knew what they were playing for, you know, this morning, a week ago. I don't understand.

That's not a situation where, you know, hey, guys, it's halftime and we look like crap. We have to get pumped up, you know. I mean, come on. You're not pumped up throughout the season, throughout each week, throughout each practice, and then pregame. I mean, if you can't get pumped up when you're out there on the field warming up, I don't think you've got a pulse. So there's really a disconnect there. And I think it's quite obvious. And naturally, with all the rumors, both for Peyton Manning or against Pagano and Grigson, you can kind of plug in again just about whatever you want

there. And it's really something that's extremely, I think, that it's up in the air right now. I don't think that there's been a decision made at all. And it's one of those things that you just don't actually know until it comes down. Don't be surprised if you hear a press conference scheduled here in the next couple days. That doesn't necessarily mean one way or the other. That just means that Ursae's cognizant of all the talk and all the rumors and everything else, and he's going to end up putting it to rest, whether it's they're gone, one or the other are gone, or neither are gone.

They're both staying. So it's going to be interesting, nevertheless, to see what actually goes through Irsay's mind. There's been some reports out that basically the job is in the hands of Peyton Manning as far as a front office job. Now, that doesn't necessarily mean that he's going to replace Grigson. I think what that means is that he will put him in place to start the learning curve and whether or not grigson's there peyton is obviously the guy he's targeting to run the organization post this uh regime or maybe even post another regime you just don't know ursa is not a stupid guy believe it or not

a lot of people you know he takes a lot of crap from a lot of people, mostly opposing teams, fans. But Ursae's a smart guy. He's been around football his entire life. He knows how to run the organization. And he's done a pretty good job of it. These past couple years, the strain and the pain that Pagano's style and the lack of talent that's been put on that field and the lack of execution each and every Sunday gets people hot under the collar for sure. But the thing is, is that Ursa

is a smart guy. Okay. Ursa is going to do what he can to make this team as good as it can. Sometimes you have a couple years of a window where things just don't go right and you don't want to make rash decisions i don't think it was necessarily if you look at ursa's uh point of view that doesn't necessarily mean he was wrong when he brought back the next the other two he just thought man there's really not too many great candidates out there starting over let's see if i can get these guys under you know control and get them together and have them really start building something special. Because you've seen it as much as I've seen it.

No matter who you're a fan of in basketball or baseball or, you know, even for that matter, football, you've seen it a hundred times and so have I. Players, coaches, GMs for that matter, they all leave a certain team or your team. People get sick of them after two years. And what happens in their maybe their next year or their second year at wherever they've gone? They blow up and they look fantastic. And everybody's saying, I can't believe they didn't play like that for us. Well, I don't think that it would be too awful different from coaches and GMs.

I mean, if you think about it, if Pagano, let's see, there were rumors that with Kubiak leaving in Denver that Pagano is a candidate for out there if he is to get released. What if Pagano goes out there and wins a Super Bowl or puts two 12-win seasons together with a crap quarterback in Simeon? I mean, think about that. What are we going to be saying after that? Okay, well, maybe it was Grixen or just maybe it was a couple bad years, you know, or maybe he was a good coach and, you know,

the players just didn't execute and we needed a full wiping of the slate, you know, just things like that. Or maybe Grixen goes and puts an all-star team together in some other town. You know what I mean? So I don't think it was that wild for Ursae to keep the guys in-house. I think that you've seen some regression if you look at the way everything's gone with Pagano, and we've talked about that a little bit. But I think Grigson, you could say, you could make the argument that he's learned or that he has um you know kind of refocused uh where he needs to refocus and got a bunch of linemen in on the uh roster you know a

bunch of them started this year and you know basically the only guy that didn't stay on the team this whole year was trevor bates who was a seventh round pick i think you can live with that as a colts fan i think we'd be living with that pretty damn well if it had happened that way the past three years previous to that. You know, you take that 2012 draft and then you get the 13, 14, and 15 drafts in and you've only got one seventh round pick out of each of those drafts that didn't stay on the team. This team is probably, you know, pretty quality squad, pretty quality roster. But then you would have had to have drafted different. So that's the thing.

I think that you could say he's maybe turned a slight bit of the corner, and you just never know. It's just something to think about that maybe – that may be something that's weighing on Ursae's mind. I don't think, regardless of what happens with those two, I think that you bring Peyton Manning in the building regardless. Bring him in as, make up your own, you know, Ursae can pay Peyton whatever he wants to pay him. He's got plenty of money. So make him whatever you want to make him. And, you know, assistant GM, vice president of operations, or president of football collection.

I mean, it doesn't even really matter what you want to call him. Bring him in. Get him squared away. What's the worst thing that could happen with that? I don't think anything. I think you're going to have people butting heads regardless if Peyton Manning's in there because Peyton is a psycho when it comes to getting things done correctly or you know the finer and the minutiae of things and so that's

that's okay though I mean that really is none of these guys you're not heard of any of these guys fighting throwing punches in the building and that's not going to change if Peyton Manning comes in and nobody else leaves so who's you know you know, who's gone, who's staying? I don't know. Um, you guys did react to, uh, the Twitter poll that I put up there. Uh, and that was pretty interesting to this point. I mean, with the current vote tally at the moment, uh, we've got 29% saying, uh, Gregson's gone only 5% saying Pagano's gone. Now this is those two by themselves, one or the other. And then you got 59% saying both of them are gone and 7% say both stay. Now those are predictions that I asked for and we got a pretty good little turnout for those. I was a little surprised,

I think, with both the 5% saying only Pagano would be gone or 7% saying both would stay. Because I think those are the two most likely possibilities. Like I said, I mentioned the fact that I thought Grigson had, you know, maybe improved where he, his current status. And also I think that it's just as likely that both of them are still here. So I was surprised to see that that only got 12% of the vote, those two together. So, you know, it's one of those things where you just don't know

what's going to happen. I think that there's going to be a lot more rumors between now and whenever a decision is made. But, you know, ultimately we got a've got several months until the next football season. Basically we're in the offseason right now for the Indianapolis Colts. It's time to look towards the draft, free agency, a lot of different things that Colts fans are going to be looking towards. So we're going to try to oblige that way, get a couple guys from the network here

and get them on that are more draft-savvy guys, and we'll talk in depth a little bit about what the Colts need, who would be good targets for them, where at in the draft, round and pick-wise. We'll also talk to some other guys out of the network, and I've got a couple guys lined up for that too, so that'll be great. A lot of great stuff this offseason. We're going to try to get as much quality content up as possible each day.

And a couple notes real quick on how the Colts did throughout the season. We saw really, really good years out of Hilton, Luck, Doyle, and Gore, I would think. Hilton finished the season the top receiver in the league at 1,448 yards on 91 receptions, six touchdowns. That's a phenomenal year for him. I mean, those are career numbers as far as receptions and yardage, And I just think that that's fantastic. I was really happy for him that that's the kind of year he had. Because I think with his size and his kind of build, you kind of assume that a guy of that stature is going to have some sort of a down year. He didn't. He just kept coming back and kept playing and kept beating people. Guys that were

much more physical than he was, he took a couple big shots from some safeties, came back. He was mostly healthy this year. It was really nice. I'm happy for Hilton. A lot of times after guys get those monster contracts, they just don't have great years because they got the money. I mean, at least that's the way it seems. And then on the other hand, you got Andrew Luck passing for 4,240 yards on the season. That's a nice chunk right there, most definitely. 31 touchdowns, 13 interceptions, and a 63.5% completion rate. 63.5 completion rate, that's a career best for Luck. 42-40, that's his third highest. 31

touchdowns is his second highest in his career. So a very, very good year for Andrew Luck as well, despite, you know, his typical, he still had, and I say typical because in the past that's the way it's been. This year we saw him kind of get away from those uh-oh throws, you know, a couple of those a game it seemed like. There was a few games he still had them. But largely he kind of stayed away from falling back into that stigma this year. It was nice. But he's got to rid those completely of his year.

You know, down nice, nice down year in interceptions. But I think at least half of those shouldn't even have occurred. I don't think Andrew Luck should have thrown more than six interceptions, but I think at least half of those shouldn't even have occurred. I don't think Andrew Luck should have thrown more than six interceptions this year. And if he's having the kind of year that he is having this year without some stupid throws, he does only have about six interceptions. So fantastic year from Andrew Luck. He ended the year healthy for all, I mean, all things considered. Had the glove on his hand on Sunday. Had the elbow pad. Not sure what the hand thing's all about, but anyways, largely he's healthy. He's going to heal up from whatever's

wrong with him, and he needs to heal up because this offensive line, though young and promising, gave him fits all year. Another guy, Jack Doyle, 59 receptions, 584 yards and five touchdowns was really happy for both Andrew Luck and Doyle to finish the year, uh, on touchdown pass and reception. Both those guys deserve it. Doyle was the best tight end on the roster this year. Uh, it was nice to see Eric Swoop kind of, uh, chime in and be a piece of that puzzle as well with the tight end core. And it was nice to see Andrew Luck's last pass be a touchdown pass. It was nice to see Doyle's last reception of the season to be a touchdown catch. Hope Doyle comes back. Really, really hope Doyle comes back. They need him. I mean, if they rely

on Dwayne Allen, it's going to be a lost season. There's a lot of tight ends in the draft, but I'd much rather find a way to replace Allen than I would Doyle. Doyle was fantastic this year. He's done nothing but continue to get better. He catches almost everything. And, you know, he gives you those five, six touchdowns a season. So at least the way he's playing now, he will. We'll put it that way. Frank Gore, one of the biggest achievements, really, if you think about it, in a long time for the Colts, 1,025 yards, four rushing touchdowns, four receiving touchdowns, really good season for Gore. At his age, you just can't put a price on a guy being that

durable and that reliable as far as getting those tough yards up the middle, especially in this garbage running scheme. Those offensive line, though they really struggled in pass protection, were a much better run unit than we've seen, I think, in a few years here, to say the least. Gore deserved it. It was really nice to see him get that 1,000-yard mark. And, you know, a couple hundred-yard games from him was something that we haven't seen in a long time either. So, and I mean from any Colts running back. So it was nice to see him get that at his

age. The Colts definitely need a stud running back in this draft, in my opinion. I want to see Gore stay. I don't want him going anywhere, but they need a guy to come in who can be the workhorse back if ever there's any issues with Gore whatsoever right now. All the little slim scat back guys, you can find those. They're a dime a dozen. They've got Toddman on the roster. They don't even use him. Turbin, fantastic this year. I hope he comes back too. But the third running back on this Colts roster next year needs to be a rookie and needs to be a really good rookie, in my opinion, because they need a plan for the future at that position,

and they need a damn good one. So another guy that I look forward to coming back hopefully next year is Chester Rogers. He had four catches and 72 yards on Sunday, and that guy did a fantastic job. He's reliable. He's a good route runner. I was really impressed with him this year for no more than he actually got as far as catches and targets. I thought he did a really good job.

I think he's somebody for the future for the Colts. Not that he's going to be one of the top two or three spots probably on the depth chart more than likely, pending any crazy injuries to anybody above him. But he very well could be that number three guy if Dorsett doesn't get his head out and start really putting multiple games together. And he did have a good game on Sunday, four catches for 56 yards. It was nice to see Dorsett catch a little more, be a little more applicable within the offense. It was nice to see him catch and tuck and to be able to try to get a little bit of yards afterwards. But all in all, we saw some pretty good performances on Sunday in the

second half. We saw a couple in the first half, not many. But it's always hard to say at the end of the season that you're looking forward to so much. We already know what we're looking forward to. We're looking forward to Andrew Luck and a handful of pieces on offense to be really good. We're looking for this offensive line to continue to get better, and I said it before. I will continue to say it, and I'll say it again. I think this offensive line is most definitely going to be one of the better units in the league in the next couple years.

I expect to see huge jumps, regardless of who's coach. I think Philbin deserves a lot of credit for getting these guys at least to be quality run blockers. They need a lot of help in pass protection. You know, little coaching changes or little structural changes or technique changes can go a long way with an offensive line. So I'd really like to see that improve quite a bit, actually. And I think that we will.

I think that we've got to be a little bit patient, you know, with getting so many young offensive line guys in here. It looks like the majority of them, Haig, I think that at a minimum good is going to be depth. I think Raven Clark proved that he can be at a minimum depth this year. I mean, Harrison actually played a pretty good season, I thought. And, you know, we've got some really young guys in there. I think Blythe is even a quality backup at either guard position and a quality backup at center as well. So we've got some offensive line

depth for sure now. And moving forward, it'd be nice to see them actually take those steps to get to the next level. But our defense, folks, let's hope that this entire defense is reworked between now and the end of the draft. The Colts need a huge defensive draft. They need multiple edge rushers. They need an improvement in an inside linebacker. They need a quality corner out of this draft. And I think they still need a quality safety in this draft. Yes, we have gethers, but I don't trust TJ Green. I don't think that he's the answer at that position, opposite gethers. I thought that he did a pretty good job in run support in a few games this year, but there's a lot of work that needs done on this defense.

I like Melvin and some of those guys to come back as depth at corner, but I also like to see, uh, Darius Butler back there as depth for, uh, safety as well, or maybe heading up the thing and keep TJ, um, you know, uh, in the, uh, reserve role for another for another year and have him come in and out. I think that might be a good idea too, because I really like Butler back there. He's just not physically imposing enough. He comes up and lays the hits, but he's usually the one that's getting knocked around if he's laying it down on somebody. So, you know, one of those bittersweet wins, guys. Colts didn't have a losing season. A lot of us that are hoping for change, you know, in the coaching circles

and possibly even in the front office, you know, so it may have been disappointing for some as far as the win. Colts are, you know, in the top half of the draft at the moment. I think the lowest that they can go is 15th and currently are 13th. So, you know, they're going to get good options at that position. Let's hope that they don't screw it up, I mean, with the draft. I mean, that's really the issue. First-round picks have really been the issue in the past,

in the past few seasons. So, you know, there is a lot to look forward to. But this season went by so quick, it almost just drives me nuts at how bad it was, you know. And I think that you guys all feel the same sentiments as well. So with that, I'm going to jump off of here for our Monday show. Thank you guys as always for subscribing to the podcast. Thank you for all of you conversing on Twitter, Facebook, and all the messages back and forth on the Gmail account. That's LockedOnColtsPod

at gmail.com. And thank you guys. I hope you all had a fantastic new year. I hope you all stayed safe. Nobody ended up in the slammer or anything, but I hope you all had a fantastic new year. I hope you all stayed safe. Nobody ended up in the slammer or anything, but I hope you guys had a great time with your family. And here's to another fantastic year, and we've got a long way to go until we reach the 2017 regular season. So enjoy the second day of January, and I will see you here on Tuesday right here on Locked on Colts. You are locked on Colts. You are Locked on Colts, your daily podcast on the Indianapolis Colts,

part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day.