Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - LOCKED ON COLTS 11/14/19: Are the Colts for real or not?

Episode Date: November 15, 2019

On today's episode, we're back with Colts beat writer George Bremer to analyze why the Colts are in their current slump. Also, what does it mean for the rest of the season? It all starts this week aga...inst Jacksonville where there's arguably four straight must-win games (Jaguars, Texans, Titans, Bucs).What's up with Adam Vinatieri and Eric Ebron? We all agree that it's unlikely the Colts replace Vinatieri, but Ebron is likely not returning after this season.Also, how important is it for this team to recapture their early season momentum lead by the offensive line? If it doesn't reappear, you can kiss the playoffs goodbye.Finally, we look ahead to Jacksonville after a nightmare showing the week prior against Miami. Will Jacoby Brissett or Nick Foles have the bigger impact in this AFC South showdown at Lucas Oil Stadium? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript
Discussion (0)
Starting point is 00:00:00 Hello, everybody. Welcome back into Locked on Colts, probably Locked on Podcast Network. Today's audience is Evan Sedner and Jim Byer, our weekly guests on the show. George Berman, the Colts beat writer for the Harold Bulletin. How are you doing, George? Good. How are you doing? Doing good. Thanks for coming on. I appreciate the time as always, George. The last time we talked, I think we were on a high note because before then, we were talking about a close Steelers loss and also really three straight wins against the Chiefs, Tex Texas, and Broncos.
Starting point is 00:00:25 But overall, George, I don't think any of us expected to lose to the Miami Dolphins. And they did 16-12, the Colts did on Sunday. What does this do for the season now? And I feel like the expectation for the season now kind of sailed down a little bit just because that kind of loss and just the way this team continues to have one-position games, I feel like it kind of maybe shows who this team really is. Yeah. You know, I think there was one way they could lose that game and it was a turn the ball over and they went out and they did that in spectacular facts.
Starting point is 00:00:55 I mean, uh, the three turnovers by Brian Hoyer were not just, you know, ordinary turnovers at any time you have a giveaway, it's going to hurt your offense, it's going to hurt your football team. But you look back at those three interceptions, the first one's a great play by the Miami safety. Eric Ebron needs to make that play. He needs to come down with that catch. But that takes a touchdown off the board.
Starting point is 00:01:19 The second interception leads to a 10-yard touchdown run by Ryan Fitzpatrick. And the third interception is the reason they have a four-point lead at the end of the game instead of a one-point lead. So it's absolutely imperative that they take care of the football every week. But when you're playing with a backup quarterback and you chop three wide receivers out, I don't know that there's any worse way for Brian Hoyer to have played on Sunday. And so, yeah, you know, it deals a big blow to this season.
Starting point is 00:01:52 But I also think it's the injuries finally caught up to this football team. I mean, we've talked since the beginning of the year when Andrew Luck, you know, first retired about how resilient this team has been and how much adversity they've overcome. And every week it seems like they've had to deal with somebody key being out. I think finally against the Dolphins, they finally hit a point where they had enough people out and they played poorly enough that they just couldn't overcome it. Let me ask you this, George, because now you're looking at the Colts
Starting point is 00:02:25 and the playoff standings. They've dropped all the way down from number two, two weeks ago in the playoff standings, on pace for a first-round buy. Now they're the eighth seed, and that's looking in for the playoffs here. And they've lost the tiebreakers to Oakland, who has the same record as the Colts and the Steelers, who played tonight against the Cleveland Browns. I think Colts are going to probably ruin for the Browns tonight for wildcard purposes.
Starting point is 00:02:43 But how important is this next three or four-game stretch for you, George? Because you played the Jaguars Sunday. We're going to talk about it later in the show. But also at the Texas on a short week on Thursday, arguably the game of the year again for this team. Then you're homing it to Titans and at the Buccaneers. I feel like personally if you want to not only make the playoffs and maybe just somehow win this division,
Starting point is 00:03:00 I think these next four games are a must-win. Yeah, the next three in particular are going to define this season. You've got division games. The best thing that this team has going for it right now is that it's 2-0 in the division. And the division is so tight that there's only two games separating Houston in first and Jacksonville in last. I mean, it's such a crazy division right now
Starting point is 00:03:22 that if the Colts win on Sunday and the Texans lose to Baltimore they'll be tied for first if the Colts lose on Sunday they'll be tied for the first for the worst record in the division with the the Titans and the Jaguars so uh I think those three games and the way they handle them that'll that is ultimately what's going define this year. As bad as the last couple weeks have been, and really going back to the Denver win as well, as bad as these last three weeks have been, everything's still there for them. They still control their own fate, but only if they take care of business now against the division in these next three games.
Starting point is 00:04:01 What's been your thought, Georgia, with this offensive line? Because really ever since the Houston game, so three, three- a half games now, if you kind of second half that Texas game early, I don't think they've played that well. It's kind of concerning the way the offensive line's kind of teared off here after that, the way they controlled in Kansas City. We talked about on the show just how dominant of a unit that was and why Quentin Nelson was the MVP of this team at that point in the season. But you see right now Mark Lewinsky is really struggling this year. I really think he could be replaced this time next offseason, maybe in the draft or free agency.
Starting point is 00:04:29 Braden Smith's having his sophomore slump, I think, right now. What's been your overall thoughts on the offensive line? Because it just seems like this team relies so much on the offensive line to be elite every week for them to win games. And right now they just aren't elite. Yeah, they absolutely have to get more from the offensive line. And I think the two things that are being overplayed right now to me are the offensive line and Vinatieri. They're both problems. There's no question about it. They're both not helping this football team.
Starting point is 00:04:53 They're both causing major, major problems to occur for a team with a small margin of error. So I'm not downplaying them, but I think they both get more attention than maybe some of the other things. You go back to these last couple of games, the losses in particular, but this three-week stretch, even the win over the Broncos, the first six weeks of the year, opponents had 13 points off turnovers from the Colts. They were doing a great job taking care of the football, doing what they have to do to win games in their new reality right now
Starting point is 00:05:23 as they try to figure things out post Andrew Luck the last three weeks that number jumps to 30 and Brian Hoyer alone has been responsible for 24 points off of his turnovers to me that's bigger than anything else yeah the offensive line's got to do a much better job particularly on the right side if they can get things back together then that's going to help the team in a lot of ways. Yes, Adam Ventura's going to start making kicks, particularly extra points. You can't cost the team every week like that,
Starting point is 00:05:53 but they've got to stop turning the football over. You do that, I don't care who you're playing, and I don't care who you're playing against. If you turn the ball over the way the Colts have in the last three weeks, it is a recipe for disaster. Is that maybe a tip in the cap, so to say, Georgia Jacoby Brissett, because maybe it shows how valuable his style is. I know maybe it is kind of easy for Chris in the throw on Brissett and the way he's kind of conservative,
Starting point is 00:06:14 but with how important it is to not turn the ball over in this league and really in this division right now, how maybe valuable he is to this team. Yeah, I think it shows how much he sacrifices for the greater good. You know, everybody knows Jacoby Brissett's got a cannon of an arm he's probably got as strong as arm as anybody in the league he could go out there and try to throw the ball downfield and be a hero every single snap but he knows that that's not what he's being asked to to do right now and I think there's been times he needs to be more aggressive I think that there's been criticism on that front that's been warranted but I think you also see if he was playing Sunday, you know, and there's no
Starting point is 00:06:48 excuses for Miami. Don't, don't get me wrong there. I'm not saying, well, if only that Jacoby Brissett was there, you don't lose the Miami, no matter who's playing, that's not acceptable under any circumstance. So I'm not trying to say that. But I think it's pretty obvious if Jacoby Brissett had played that game, even at 80%, he wouldn't turn the ball over to the extent that Brian Hoyer did. And I mean, those, just the last two interceptions alone led to 10 points for Miami and a game that Miami only scored 16. So yeah, I think it really shows where Brissett's been smart and helped this football team kind of manage games.
Starting point is 00:07:29 And I know that game manager label is often looked at, you know, really in a negative connotation. But I think right now – and it could change. I think it will grow, you know, over the years. But right now, that's what this team needs for the way it's constituted in a year where they're still reeling from the loss of their starting quarterback. I think another really important loss they're missing right now, George, is on the defensive side. And outside of Justin Houston, who's doing really good over the last six games, I think
Starting point is 00:07:54 he has seven sacks over that period, which is third in the NFL behind TJ Watt and I believe Chandler Jones. What really is a key point missing to this defense, George, I know Ben Banigou's had his moments, but I think Kamoka Ture is really being missed on this defense right now with how consistent he was in the first month of the season. And then for him to break his ankle and be off the rest of the year. Outside of Houston, this pass rush really feels like it's non-existent right now. Yeah, you know, they had really bad luck this year with injuries,
Starting point is 00:08:20 and Ture's right there at the top of the list. He was really having a breakout season. I think a lot of people expected him to be a guy that really came on this year and made a name for himself, and he was absolutely in the midst of doing that when he broke his ankle. They miss him. There's no question about it. I think Shear does a lot that's not necessarily seen,
Starting point is 00:08:41 that doesn't show up on the stat sheet, and he's been doing his job really well. And like you said van de goos had his flashes but ture takes it to a different level and there's no doubt they miss him uh pierre de sere being out it causes guys in the secondary to play roles that they're not necessarily comfortable with uh that aren't their usual kind of comfort zone that's been a big big problem for this team. Obviously, T.Y. Hilton, you know, we don't need to talk about the importance of him to this football team.
Starting point is 00:09:11 Devin Funtis, way back in week one, him being out has been a big, big problem. And now Paris Campbell. I mean, it seems like every time Paris Campbell gets on the field and starts to show some flashes of who he is and what he can do, something happens to set him back. And it really is starting to look like that's going to be the story of this season. We knew when Andrew Luck retired, there was a really good chance this would be a what-if kind of year. And I think with all these other injuries, that's the theme of this year. What if this football team had everybody it was expected to have at the start of the year but that's also life in the NFL you lose guys the Colts have been
Starting point is 00:09:51 particularly unlucky though with with the guys who they've lost I'm going to ask you a couple questions here George about co-players before we go into our Jaguars preview here because they've definitely been the hot topics and we're going to have Vinatieri in a second, but the first one I think flying under the radar a bit is Eric Ebron, his undervalued performance so far this year. He's only had 23 receptions on 43 targets this year. It's his worst catch rate since his rookie year, George. And he also had the ability to catch a touchdown last week against Miami, but it got snagged out of his hands by the Dolphins defender,
Starting point is 00:10:22 and they called an interception in the end zone there for a touchback which really swung the game there in my opinion what's your overall thoughts on Ebron's performance he got 12 targets in that game only got five five receptions out of those what do you think about Ebron and what the Colts are eventually going to do this time next year because I think by every passing game it's really okay he looks like a really good player again but then there's other times where like, oh, wow, he really misses an elite quarterback like Andrew Luck. Yeah, I think he was the guy all along that stood to lose the most by Luck's retirement just because of his style of play and because of the connection that he and Luck had.
Starting point is 00:10:56 And you've seen that come out this year, although that's not all of it. I mean, Luck doesn't catch the ball for him, and obviously he's been far too inconsistent in that regard. Things like the should havehave-been touchdown against Miami, you go back to the Chargers game in week one, and he's got to pull that one in as well. It's a tough catch and it's a tough play, but you've got to pull that in and get that touchdown.
Starting point is 00:11:18 That's two critical scores in a couple games the Colts lost in very close fashion. He's been far too inconsistent. I thought all along he wasn't a real likely candidate to get re-signed because I thought if he matched last year's production, he was probably going to get to a number that might not be comfortable for Chris Ballard to pay. And then if he didn't, if he regressed,
Starting point is 00:11:43 and that was always the most likely outcome whether Luck played or not then they might think twice about it because of that side of things so you know I think he's a guy who's probably going to be moving on we we could see a surprise there you never would say never in this league we've certainly seen enough strange things go on but I think there's been far too much inconsistency and especially you know over the years I look at Dante Moncrief the year that he was in a contract year here there were a couple opportunities that season for him to step forward show that he could could be a big factor for this team play a big role for this team he kind of squandered those and let those opportunities go and I think in many ways you're seeing the same thing for me right now we just talked about all
Starting point is 00:12:24 the injuries that that have have gone into this season and the way they've impacted this team, and none more so than the wide receiver position. Three of the top four guys, the top three guys, however you want to rank that, are out. And this is the time when Eric Ebron should step forward and lead this team and be that pro bowl caliber guy. And he just hasn't been.
Starting point is 00:12:46 And I think that's something that that's haunting this football team now. And it is probably going to lead to him moving on in the future. Peloton is offering a limited time offer. Give 100 yards of accessories in your purse to Peloton bike and get a great critter workout at home. Go to onepeloton.com and use promo code LOCKED to get started. Attention past, present, and future MyBookie players. During Thanksgiving week, MyBookie is offering a free risk bet on the Bears-Lines game.
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Starting point is 00:14:23 even though he's had a bad year. Also, Andy Costanzo, Jack Doyle, and countless others are free agents for the Colts, but I think around the league, even though he's had a bad year. And also Andy Costanzo, Jack Doyle, and countless others are free agents this year. So it's a really important offseason for the Colts to come up here, George.
Starting point is 00:14:30 But let me ask you about Adam Vinatieri next. Because I know he's, a lot of Colts fans are now turning on Adam Vinatieri the way he's been playing the last couple weeks. He's missed, I believe,
Starting point is 00:14:38 15 kicks over his last 16 total games. It's been very inconsistent so far. He's been the worst kicker in the NFL statistically over the last calendar year. What's been your thoughts on the way that Vinatieri played? Because I know that extra point really cost him that game, I think, late at the end there. They were going to go to overtime probably. If they would have made that extra point and if he would have made that kick, they would have gone to overtime.
Starting point is 00:14:58 I know it's really plain, small details there against the Dolphins. Shouldn't be going to overtime against the Dolphins anyways. But the way Vinatieri has been so consistent this year, George, what's your thoughts on that? And what happens again if Vinatieri keeps playing like this? Yeah, I think that his knee is still bothering him. I really do. It's no excuse at this point because he's out there. He's not on the injury report, obviously, so he's not getting treatment
Starting point is 00:15:18 or at least he's not missing practice, you know, whatever his normal workload would be because of it. But we know he had the knee issue in training camp. You've seen a strange inconsistency from him throughout the year, not just in the misses. I mean, he had some misses late last year that, you know, raised some eyebrows. You're seeing it now even in his form. It feels like every time he kicks, every swing he takes is a little bit different than the one before it.
Starting point is 00:15:47 And that's obviously not at all what you want at that position. So, you know, to me, I think he's compensating for an injury. And I think it's costing him in terms of his ability to get both power on the ball and accuracy. And you see it week in and week out. He's missed big kicks. There's no doubt about it uh and it's it's costing this football team i think they're what one point on aggregate ahead of the opponents for the season right now and he's left 21 points on the field so it's not hard to
Starting point is 00:16:16 kind of do the math and understand how difficult he's made things uh with some of these kicks they've won a couple games tennessee and Denver, where he's missed some kicks. But obviously the Chargers, the Steelers game, the Dolphins game, they haven't been able to overcome it. And when you're playing a one-score game every week, that's a hugely important factor. So it's not that I don't understand where the anger is coming from, and it's not that I don't understand the fact that he's hurting this football team.
Starting point is 00:16:44 But even back to the Miami game, I keep hearing, oh, you know, that extra point was so important. Look, the defense still had a two-point lead when they take the field after that. They let two third downs, third and long situations get converted. That leads to a field goal that shouldn't have happened. Miami should have been budding. And then even then, it's a one-point game. The Colts have the ball.
Starting point is 00:17:03 They have a chance to go down at that point and kick the field goal everybody wanted at the end of the game and Brian Hoyer throws an interception deep in his own territory on first down so yeah Vinatieri was a big part of that and it made the degree of difficulty you know worse at the end but I don't let Brian Hoyer off the hook and I don't let the defense off the hook for those third longs it's not just him and I think that's the problem right now is that when he misses a kick, it makes everything else harder. And I don't think this team right now is well-positioned enough to overcome,
Starting point is 00:17:32 you know, when the degree of difficulty goes up, there's a level there where they just can't overcome it anymore. I think that's what you've seen the last couple weeks. Let me ask you, George, if Vinatieri does keep missing kicks, though, like if they lose this game because of a Vinatieri kick at the end or because Vinatieri missed an extra point later or earlier on in the game and they have to do a drive, when does it reach a point where Chris Bauer and Frank Reich have to make a move? Because I know Frank Reich mentioned earlier this week that Vinatieri is their kicker. He's one of the leaders on our team. But at some point, it might bite them to the point,
Starting point is 00:18:08 but maybe it already has, where the playoffs are maybe going to be out of reach because of Vinatieri's leg and his inconsistency. Yeah, I think you could argue that it already has. I mean, they're 5-4 right now, and a lot of that has to do with some missed kicks that could easily be 7-2, maybe even 8-1, however you want to construe it. So you could already argue that maybe that point is past. The only thing that makes sense to me in all of this for why they would be standing behind
Starting point is 00:18:34 him is the locker room. I know every player that I've talked to, Darius Leonard in particular, very vociferous in their support of Adam Vinatieri, challenging reporters at times who even dare to ask if their faith has been shaken. And so, to me, that's the only reason that that makes any sense. Obviously, the performance has been at a level that, you know, many teams would have moved on. Many kickers would have been gone already a while ago.
Starting point is 00:19:04 So I think it's going to take that locker room losing faith in him some kind of a not necessarily revolt there but some kind of a you know mass feeling from that locker room that that he's costing this team games right now it's not there for all the anger in the media for all the anger and angst amongst the fan base it's absent among his teammates. And we all know, you know, most of the time Chris Ballard lays it out there for you. His blueprint is usually pretty obvious. We all know how much locker room chemistry means to him.
Starting point is 00:19:39 And I really think right now he feels like taking him out of the locker room is going to do more damage than Ventari's doing on the field right now. I don't know if that's true, but I think that's the way Chris Ballard feels, and so I think it will take some sort of mass lack of faith from that locker room to see a change made a kicker.
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Starting point is 00:20:16 and mybookie will match your offer over there for 50% on your first deposit. Let's dive in now, George, to the Jaguars game coming up. I think it's a must-win, of course. I think the next three games I can mention are on the show are a must-win for this team if they want to make the playoffs this year. Nick Foles is back for the Jaguars, the first time he's been playing since the first half of week one. So it might be a little rusty, but I think this Jaguars team
Starting point is 00:20:36 might be really motivated now because with Foles back, they might believe they're in the position for a playoff push as well. So I think it's going to be a very close contested game. Jacoby Brissett's had his struggles in the past against his Jaguars defense. What do you think about this game, George? Yeah, it's hugely important. I mean, every division game every year is important, but everybody in the AFC South right now has reason to believe
Starting point is 00:20:56 they can be a playoff contender. Like we just talked about, two games from worst to first right now in that division. Jacksonville is the one team that's probably a little bit behind the eight ball, not because they're in last first right now in that division. Jacksonville is the one team that's probably a little bit behind the eight ball, not because they're in last place right now, but because they've been swept by the Texans. And so you're two games back and you lost two games to them. So they've got the tiebreaker that really makes it three games back. And so probably of the four teams, they're in the worst position right now to win the division. But that makes
Starting point is 00:21:23 them, I think, an even more desperate team coming in this week they want to prove that that that egg that they laid in london two weeks ago was an aberration that they're going to be more competitive than that that they've got their starting quarterback back and that that will lead to you know the run that they think they can get on and they have reason to believe that uh the colts have look at it from, from the other side of the coin, like we were talking about before and the idea that they still control their own destiny, but that goes out the window if they lose to Jacksonville.
Starting point is 00:21:53 Now, maybe they get help from Baltimore. They still could control their own destiny with wins over Houston and, and Tennessee in the next two weeks. But this Jacksonville game is incredibly pivotal. It feels like this season is sort of on on a cliff right now and winning against Jacksonville you can start to get your feet back under you you can start to dream and and have hopes about uh what's possible lose this
Starting point is 00:22:18 game against Jacksonville and the degree of difficulty for the rest of the year goes up immensely so I think the Colts me, this is as important a game as any they'll play this year right now. What do you think, George, are the three keys to this game? Because Versace could be back, of course, so turnovers are going to have to be a key. And like I mentioned before, his strokes and Jaguars are well known. He had 10 sacks in 2017.
Starting point is 00:22:42 Of course, it's a lot different offensive line now than it was back then. But what do you think are the main three keys in this one? It starts with pass protection. I mean, we've seen from Jacksonville, and if you look at their stats this year, really the only thing defensively that they're in the top ten on, there's two things. One is first downs allowed. I think they're eighth, I believe, in that, like 19.8 per game.
Starting point is 00:23:04 And the other is sack rate. They are fifth, I believe, in that, like 19.8 per game. And the other is sack rate. They are fifth, I believe, in the league. They've got about 9.71% of their pass attempts have ended with a Jaguar sack. And that's the way this team beats you. I mean, you look at the last couple years, even going back to the year they went to the AFC Championship game, that's the calling card for this team. When they get hot and they get after your quarterback
Starting point is 00:23:26 and they harass him and, you know, get those sacks rolling, then it just seems like it energizes the whole team. And all of a sudden they can be a very, very dangerous football team. And that's got to be number one on the Colts list this week. Protect Brissette, keep Jaguars defensive line from getting hot and taking over this game. And that's going to be a really significant challenge. The last time Brissette played this team at home, he was sacked 10 times. So yeah, things have changed 14 times in those two games combined in 2017. Certainly things have changed up front for the Colts. I think he's a
Starting point is 00:24:03 different quarterback too, in terms of his ability to kind of read some things and make things happen. But that is got to be priority one. Number two, and I can't believe they didn't get it going earlier against Miami. And that definitely played into the loss as well. They got to get the run game going. For as bad as that Miami run defense was on average yards per rush, Jacksonville is even worse. I think they're 29th in the league, 4. average yards per rush. Jacksonville's even worse. I think they're 29th in the league, 4.9 yards per carry.
Starting point is 00:24:28 That's not something you would expect from a team that has the reputation this one does and the talent this team does up front. But Jacksonville's really struggled stopping the run, and I think it's imperative upon the Colts to get that running game going, not just so that they can protect the ball a little bit because obviously you're less likely to turn it over running the ball than passing the ball, statistically speaking, but also because when you look at this receiving core and how beat up it is
Starting point is 00:24:58 and the fact that Eric Ebron remains inconsistent, sure, Brissette coming back is going to help this team, but there are a lot of worries to be had out there on the edge and so i think if they can run the ball it's going to open some things up for the receivers and you know that they really need to do that uh because right now that passing game is all kinds of problems zach paschal's had a great year, but he literally can't do it alone. So I think that, you know, one is pass protection. Two is getting the running game up and running. And then three, I think the defense has to get some takeaways.
Starting point is 00:25:34 We've seen them play pretty well the last couple weeks. They certainly were the one unit against Miami that acquitted itself somewhat well. I know they had a couple drives there they'd like to have back. But for the most part, you give up 16 points in a game, you figure that you've done enough to win it. Most weeks in the NFL, that'll be true. But the one thing we really haven't seen a lot from them is takeaways. They've had a few here and there, got that interception return
Starting point is 00:26:00 or the interception from Darius Leonard Leonard last week he also forced a fumble that was recovered I think they're going to need more of that this time around they got to keep uh Nick Foles from from getting hot deep you know I guess that's probably the biggest the other biggest thing here uh some four keys uh they cannot let him hit that deep ball with DJ Shark that's something that Jacksonville has definitely got on the table. Foles' biggest strength is probably that vertical passing game. And so I think Malik Hooker is going to be a big part of this game plan. And if Colts can kind of keep that big play contained
Starting point is 00:26:39 and then force a couple of turnovers, I think you do that, you run the ball, you protect Jacoby Brissette, you have a chance to win the game. Yeah, it's definitely a huge game here on Sunday, George. And I think a lot of Colts fans, if the playoffs are in line for this team, they're going to have to win on Sunday and the next two games after that with all three division games on tap here over the next three weeks. But I think my prediction for this game is going to be 19-17. I think it's going to be one of those slugfest type of games
Starting point is 00:27:04 where the Colts barely eke one out, make it the 10th straight game this year, all 10 games within one possession, George. What do you think is the prediction for this one? Yeah, I'm with you on 10 straight one-possession games. That's all we've seen right now. I still have serious concerns about this passing game right now just because – and I know Hoyer had a lot to do with it on Sunday. There's no question about that. this passing game right now just because – and I know Hoyer had a lot to do with it on Sunday.
Starting point is 00:27:26 There's no question about that. But I just don't know who Jacoby Brissett's going to throw the ball to on Sunday. If they can't get that running game going, I really am concerned for this offense and what it's going to be able to do. So I'm going to go 17-10 Jaguars right now unless T.Y. Hilton surprises everybody and comes out and is able to play Sunday. Yeah, that would be a big blow. Let me ask you, George, a question to tell you to show, because if that scenario does occur and the Colts do go to 5-5, what does that say about their playoff hopes? And at that point, you have a short week going to Houston. There's a real
Starting point is 00:27:59 chance of 5-6. Do you think at that point, like, it's tough to say they make the playoffs because, like we mentioned before all throughout today's show, like these next three games I think you have to win in order to make the playoffs. If they lose any of these three games, maybe you can take out Houston if they have a run in the second half of the season against the non-division opponents like Tampa Bay. You can also play against Carolina later on. If they can win those games, maybe you can make that up. But I think if you lose to Jacksonville or Tennessee,
Starting point is 00:28:23 I think the season might be over at that point as far as playoff hopes go. It's going to be really rough. I mean, the one thing that the Colts have going for them is that Texans still have games left with the Ravens and the Patriots. So, I think if you lose this game to Jacksonville on Sunday, you're going to be very much in the spot you were in at 1-5 last year. And they may be there now. You know, I think it's pretty close.
Starting point is 00:28:45 Obviously, the record's 5-4, but I think in terms of what they need to do, it's very similar. You probably can afford maybe one loss the rest of the way, maybe two if you're lucky, if they're the right two games. But if they lose to Jacksonville, and even if they beat Jacksonville, Houston feels like the one that you absolutely have to have. And it's going to be tough on the short week because obviously if they were to lose this week and they get help and Houston loses to Baltimore,
Starting point is 00:29:11 then they'd still be in a situation where winning next week would put them in first place. But obviously you bring the Titans and the Jaguars back in the picture and it would really get to be a crowded mess. So they're not necessarily three must-win games, but if you lose to Jacksonville, the next two are absolutely must-win. George, it's been fun, as always, every week to have you on Locked on Colts. If you guys want to follow him on Twitter, if you haven't already,
Starting point is 00:29:36 you can do so at GMGrammar. George, again, appreciate the time. No problem. Thanks a lot.

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