Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - LOCKED ON COLTS -10/20- Indianapolis Colts Facing Massive List of Injuries, Difficult Matchup in the Trenches at Tennessee This Sunday

Episode Date: October 20, 2016

The #Colts have a huge list of pivotal players on the injury report in Week 7. The Tennessee #Titans are healthy, will own the trenches on both sides of the ball on paper and the Colts stand a very real possibility of falling to 2-5 (0-3 in AFCS) as they continue to dig a hole that may soon become impossible to climb out of. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

That's for my crazy day. My packed commute. All those unread emails in my inbox. But I'm getting stronger, faster, and pushing myself further every day. I don't care if I'm not like everyone else. This punching bag is the best way to end my day. Fearless is knowing yoga isn't your style. That's the power of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Federal Employee Program.

Learn more about our healthy benefits at fepblue.org slash getmore. No, I'm not for sale. You are lockeded On Colts, your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome to Locked On Colts, ladies and gentlemen. I'm your host, Matt Dainley. First of all, I want to say thank you to Patrick Murray, Jason McKeever, and Webster Street for the new show music. I really appreciate them doing that for me. There's some local guys to

me, and I've always enjoyed their stuff, so I hope that you guys are enjoying it too. I also want to put out there a reminder that we are just a day away from the Andrew Luck Jersey giveaway. Time is getting short. More emails are coming in to put in for that, so make sure you guys are getting your emails in for that. And we'll be having that drawing on Thursday to one lucky listener getting the Andrew Luck Jersey. Well, if you haven't heard already, the Colts have a pretty nasty-looking injury report this week.

There were several guys who were out, but that were not injury-related, such as Mike Adams, Vonte davis frank gore uh kendall langford and robert mathis but there was also a ton of guys who were out i mean and and you know most of the most of the group as it is just from uh not only the game sunday but just the the little stuff that's been leaking out the past couple days alan obviously he's out. That's why the Colts signed Chase Kaufman, so he's going to be out, I mean, we guess, a couple weeks.

They said week to week. Henry Anderson, however, is also week to week. Don't plan on him playing this week. Darius Butler, he's got like basically a whole body issue. He's been hurt, nicked up all season, it seems like, every other week or so. Phillip Dorsett has a foot and hamstring issue. TJ Green busted up his knee. We still know that Jonathan Harrison has still been down per his illness. However, he was limited on Wednesday, and TY was also limited on Wednesday

with a hip. Zach Kerr has an ankle injury. Luck, Majit also have ankle injuries. Luck was a full participant, but Majit did not practice at all. And Muhor has a tricep injury. Moncrief, I think that they think he's getting closer, but I don't think he's going to be ready this week. I just wouldn't assume as much because they don't appear that they know a whole lot about him. Patrick Robinson was also a full participant, but aside from Jonathan Harrison, T.Y., Luck, and Robinson, everybody else you heard me name did not practice on Wednesday. So the Colts have big issues coming up, and we've talked about this before with their offensive line. I mean, the same can be said for their defensive line,

with our offensive line having some key injuries on there, especially Muhor, who's basically been the Colts' best lineman to this point in the season. We've got a lot. It could be a long game, folks, and it could be a real disaster, to be quite honest with you, if it were to get that way. But the Colts have brought some guys in. Also, Colts signed LeVar Edwards. They actually claimed him off waivers from the Carolina Panthers. And he's been with four different teams the past four years.

I think he was originally drafted by Tennessee. But he's played everywhere he's been, it looks like but who knows what he I mean I'd be honest with you I haven't had a chance to see much of his tape it's not like I'm going to be able to give you some great rundown today on how he is as a player and what he can bring to the table the Colts are bringing in you know additional edge rush guys but they're already and we've talked about this before they're still not using a key mayor. So, I mean, how do we know whether this guy's any good or whether he's any good or not, whether he's going to play, you know, it's kind of a sketchy situation. You don't know if, whether they want him to play, um, at defensive end in the system, you know, are they going to

have him play at the, on the edge or, or what, you know? You just don't know what the Colts are really planning to do with this guy. Maybe he's just going to be a swing piece for both positions. Like I said, you just don't ever know. But he is on the roster. The Colts, something I wanted to touch on because I don't know if I have since, but with Trevor Bates, it just appears that the Colts really aren't going to bring him back. I mean, it could happen eventually, you know, but nobody else scooped him up and the Colts don't appear to be all that enamored with him. Apparently they're, they're, they're letting him sit out on the free agent market, you know, for, for the time being. So, but the Colts also did release Daryl Morris, a cornerback, which I guess if Patrick Robinson's coming back, that's their thought process behind that.

But Patrick Robinson's been terrible this year. And as nicked up as Darius Butler has been in the past, he's kind of been like the – I don't think it's been quite as noticeable that he's been beat so often because I think he tends to get beat in front of him and take really bad angles to the tackle. But he's ultimately just this year's toller at this point, I mean, until he really shows out, you know, which we don't know if he's ever going to or not. But when you look at it kind of holistically,

this defense and the offense are in for a long game this Sunday. I really don't know what to tell you guys other than it doesn't look good. Both of their fronts are better than our fronts. And when you add in the injuries that we have versus they have virtually nobody on the injury report at all, it doesn't look good. It looks pretty scarce on their end, and it looks pretty sketchy on ours. And when you look at the matchup, especially per pro football focus here, they're basically – LaJuan is at 92.7,

and Conklin on the other book ends at 85.9. And then you have a bunch of 70s across the front of theirs. Well, if you look at the Colts' front four in their defense in this matchup, they're all in the 40s, low 40s, mid 40s. Walden and Mathis are both 44-plus, but basically the four best guys on the field at this time are Gethers, Adams, Melvin, and Davis, with Adams actually being the best guy on the field at 35 years old. That's good for him, but scary, I think, at the same time.

I think the best thing that kind of gets us is that they've got Mariotta graded out at a 45.5. I'm not sure. He's way more dangerous than that. I don't think that takes a genius to figure out, but it's just the way it is, I suppose. I mean, and then when you look at the Colts line up there, you know, the Colts offensive line on the, from the middle of the left isn't so bad, but then Good and Haig are both 54-9 and 55-7 with Good being the 54 nine, but their matchups are again, you know, Rackpo Jones, Casey and Morgan are all in, you know, the low eighties to the mid to high seventies.

And then McCourty of course is in the eighties. I think the real spot for the Colts to exploit the, the, the defense here is their safeties, and their left corner Parrish Cox is pretty bad at the moment. And the Colts, Dwayne Allen's not going to be running this week, so you have to understand that when they have Doyle in there, Doyle's already ranked higher, but Doyle's a better pass catcher at the moment than Allen.le's uh a better probably run I don't know they're they're fairly uh similar in blocking I think I'm not sure what PFF has them graded at but in those specific areas but I think that Doyle's probably better in my opinion he is you know however they they grade them out they grade them but you know when you look at another lineup here

as far as the just their base defense as well against our offense, when you add Carl Klug in the mix there as the nose tackle, that really stiffens up their defense. Now, how often they're able to stay in their base is kind of a different story. But still, Parrish Cox is vulnerable. And Avery Williamson, their linebacker, is also vulnerable. So the Colts are going to have to move some guys around and get them to follow them and hopefully wherever that they can pull a man coverage out of Williamson and Cox, you know, the better. Whether it's Chester Rogers trying to get downfield on them or just whoever, or, you know, Doyle out of the backfield or any combination of

guys that they've got. You know, I think you guys are going to see Chase Kaufman and Swoop get a lot of targets this week, you know, maybe more than Doyle does just because they're the guys that are going to be stretching the field. And that's kind of how the Colts are going to have to approach this matchup. The Colts are going to have to basically find guys that can beat their guys one-on-one. And, you know, Doyle is plenty good at that. However, they're going to have to find guys that have the speed and the agility and are able to make those plays without fail. But it kind of depends. You're bringing guys in brand new. Kaufman's going to have to learn the playbook. I think

that we'll probably see more swoop than Kaufman. I think that's a common thought. However, I think we'll see plenty of Kaufman. Kaufman's been in the system this year. He just hasn't been lately. I want to tell you a little bit about our sponsor, Mike Ernest of Century 21 Sheets. Colts fans, are you in the market to sell your home? If so, call Mike Ernest of Century 21 Sheets at 317-285-9691. Mike is an expert in the greater Indianapolis real estate market and has helped people just like you achieve their real estate goals. As a professional realtor, Mike will not only help you

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The entire Locked On Network is fantastic. You got the fantasy show. You got the Locked On NFL draft show and Locked On NFL with Matt Williamson. I mean, there's across the board, guys, this Locked On Network is the fastest growing podcast network in the world. Okay. So support us, support our sponsors because they support us. There are great shows across the board. If you guys are NBA guys, check out our sister show, Locked On Pacers. That's actually a fairly new podcast. So I mean, check out any of the sites that you guys want to see anything you want to listen to check out our uh locked on titans you know to see what they're talking about this week uh as they head into the match up here they should be licking their chops a little bit with our injury report so make sure you guys are checking

out everything you're going to walk away with far more knowledge than you ever expected. So let's move on here. If we're thinking strictly what keys to a victory would be against the Titans this week, I think that you could just about pick one and go with it or pick three and go with those. I mean, the Colts, you know, there really is no point in this week and the way that the Colts are playing is picking three and just saying those are the keys because the Colts have a wide array of issues that they need to take care of. They have a lot to do to stop the Titans. So, I mean, they got to stop the run. DeMarco Murray and Derek Henry are both going to give the Colts fits this week. They're going to get a ton of carries. They're going to run us up the gut, especially with no Henry Anderson there. They're going to test us in every way, shape, or form. They're going to get Mariota on the edge, and they're going to have him rolling out. They're going to move his pocket and they're going to try to beat our, you know, some of our replacement level guys

in the secondary with some of their, uh, receivers. And a couple of them are breaking out, you know, right now. I mean, they're going to, it's a tall task to stop Delaney Walker when you're healthy. I have no idea what they're going to do against Delaney Walker now that they've got McNary and Jackson to cover him. If they're going to bring down Gethers to cover him, that might be their best bet, but they're going to have to stop Delaney Walker. That's a given. I think these kind of key type situations are really going to be just to be in the game. And I'm not exaggerating at all. Nobody's trying to say that the Titans are an elite level team. But when you're playing a team like the Colts,

who are so up and down and so unpredictable, this Titans team looks extremely cohesive right now in comparison. So it's really a big stretch. And then obviously on the other side of the ball, you know, a Dick LeBeau defense. I mean, this is going to be, it's going to be an all out war and it's going to, you know, there's going to be a lot of people saying that, you know, this game is awful to watch. It's, I don't think it's going to be a high scoring game, folks. I mean, the Colts have scored 27, 29, and what, 23 last week, but you see how difficult it is for them to score those. I mean, the last two weeks, the Colts have scored really well in the first half, and in the second half, they turn into an anemic version

of the team that we've expected to be somewhat dominant in the second half of games. So I, man, they've really got to get that smoothed out. We don't really know what to expect from this team anymore. Uh, first half to second half. And I don't know that we've really ever known to begin with. Um, the Andrew Luck is going to have his hands full again this week. And I'm telling you, um, he's going to have a lot of work to do. He's like, I said, you know, Chester Rogers is better than people think, but he doesn't have Mon lot of work to do. He's, like I said, you know, Chester Rogers is better than people think,

but he doesn't have Moncrief to throw to. He doesn't have Dwayne Allen now to throw to. Not that I still think, like I said, I've made no bones about Doyle is better to me right now, but Allen is still a very reliable receiver for luck. You know, he depends on him. Out of the backfield, like I said, I think we're going to probably see more Jordan Todman in that role with Ferguson probably returning kicks for the foreseeable future with Bray out as long as he's going to be out. He's going to have a lot to read and react to. He's going to be under a lot of pressure in this game. It's not going to be any different. We may see a lot of Austin Blythe at left guard, or we may see good at left guard and

Blythe at right guard. I don't know what we're going to see, but it's going to be a makeshift offensive line with some makeshift receivers, with some makeshift defense, especially in the front seven. And there's just a lot of unknowns going into this game and it's not going to be pretty. So, I mean, you know, the Colts have to force turnovers, um, or they're going to get blown out. I really, I honestly, I believe it's that simple, but like I said, trying to nail down just a couple of these is, is fruitless because there are so many areas the Colts are going to struggle in this game. And if they don't struggle, don't consider it like,

oh, I told you, you know, they're going to be just fine. I'm telling you, it's an oddity if they play really well this week because they have a ton of injuries and they are as up and down as any team in the league right now. Now, their offense has somewhat maintained a scoring level that can win games if their defense steps up but you know their defense has stepped up in odd times in the game as well last week the offense or the defense was fantastic in the first half especially for them I mean and then the second half kind of you know in the last six minutes or so, just disappeared and looked nothing like they had looked earlier. Was that because of injuries? Probably a little bit. But, I mean, still, you know, coverage is coverage.

And if you're healthy, then there's no reason. I mean, if those guys are healthy who are in the game, there's no reason why they shouldn't be covering. I mean, there's just a lot of variables in this game, and it's difficult to break down. You can look at several different areas, and I mean just about every area. I think you would probably have the Titans with a leg up on the Colts at this point.

You look at the Colts' line against the Titans defensive front seven, and the Titans are winning that match. You look at the Titans offensive line in our front seven on defense, and the Titans are winning that match. I think that the Colts have maybe a leg up in the passing game against their secondary, but McCourty's very good. You know, Hilton's been kind of nicked up as well. They're going to have to be very creative about how they go about their passing sets. And I think that they've really got their hands full this week. I'm sure that they're running through a lot of that this week with Chudzinski. And hopefully he's coming up with a decent game plan.

And so, you know, there's a lot to rely on right here in this game, but it's not, I'm telling you, it's not looking good for the Colts. If they pull it out, we should be proud of them. But like I said, I would assume that it's, that's an oddity as opposed to something that we should have been expecting. So anything can happen in any week in the NFL. There's no two ways about that. But the, but the Colts are not a good football team right now. That is a fact, any way you look at it. Now, real quick before we head out of here, let's go right back through the Colts schedule from here on out to the end of the season

and kind of look at what we know we're seeing out of the Colts at this point and what we're seeing against the rest of the league and where we think the Colts are at. Right now, they're 2-4. Like I said, I'm not going to pick the Colts to win this game. I don't know how close I think it's going to be. I think it'll probably be pretty close because, let's face it, the Titans aren't great. They're terribly coached, but they're healthier and they have stronger points in the necessary areas to beat the Colts. So I think that the Colts are going to go two and five. They've got the Chiefs and Packers in back-to-back weeks with only the Chiefs at home.

They could easily lose both of those without any doubt. And at this point, the way those two teams are playing, at least the Chiefs, the only thing that's telling me that the Packers are going to beat the Colts is that it's in Lambeau right now because the Packers look like crap too. But look, right at this moment, the Colts are going into their bye week at 2-7, guys. Okay? Then they get the Titans right back out of the bye, depending on how healthy they are.

I'll go ahead and give them a win. I'm not going to have the Colts getting swept in the division 4-0. I just don't think I can stomach that, even in my own head. But in Week 12, they are at home against the Steelers. That's a loss. So right now I've got them at 3-8 at the Jets. The Jets are pretty terrible right now too. But the Colts don't play good against the Jets, and they at the Jets. The Jets are pretty terrible right now too, but the Colts

don't play good against the Jets and they're at New York. So, uh, three and nine, uh, Texans. It's going to be at home. I'm going to give the Colts a win there. Four and nine at, at the Vikings, not a chance. So four and 10 at the Raiders. I think I'm pretty sure I had them beating the Raiders, and their secondary is still terrible. That might be one that the Colts can pull out, 5-10. And then they play the Jaguars in Week 17. There's no way that the Colts are losing to the Jaguars twice in one season, 6-10. I got the Colts at 6-10 right now. I had them at 9-7 at the beginning of the year.

And this is just looking through the – I mean, it's not overly difficult. I mean, with the non-divisional games of Steelers, Jets, Vikings, Raiders after the bye, you know, only the Vikings are a top tier team. The Steelers are really good, but they're pretty inconsistent too. And if the Colts are as bad as they are, that might be good for the Colts this time around because the Steelers have been playing down to their competitions level. So, I mean, it's not a dire second half of the season schedule, but it is for a team like the Colts in the position that they are. So this is, man, six and 10. Wow. I'm not excited about that. That doesn't turn me on at all. I hope it doesn't turn you guys on. And no, it doesn't make me feel,

and I'm just going to say this real quick. No, it does not make me feel better if the Colts get a better draft spot. Okay. You can count this past draft, which was a pretty good draft. And then you got the 2012 draft. Everything else is garbage. So do we trust this management to put together a solid draft regardless of where they are going to be selecting? I don't. Draft picks mean nothing to me at this point, not until they start hitting on more of them. They're going to have a very definite area that they're going to be searching for in this upcoming draft. And man, they've got to hit. They've got to hit or they're going to be terrible next year too. So like I said, make sure you guys are getting those emails in.

We will pick those out of the hat tomorrow. And I will be asking one of you to send me your address so that I can send you your brand new Andrew Luck jersey, courtesy of me and Locked on Colts. So make sure you guys are giving ratings and reviews. Like I said, please do that. Honestly, it takes about 45 seconds to do it and it makes a huge difference. And we want to see our audience grow as Colts fans. Maybe a lot of people don't know about this podcast. I think the majority of you like it and enjoy it. I enjoy it. I honestly enjoy doing this every day. So let's get more listeners in here to this. Let's get more interaction. You guys honestly have been fantastic. This thing has grown in such a short amount of time and I appreciate that. But let's not stop here. Let's keep it busting out,

and we will continue to do everything on my end that I can to make this the best podcast that it can possibly be. So thank you all for listening, and I will talk to you all on Friday on 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.