Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - LOCKED ON COLTS 11/26/19: Which unrestricted free agents will the Colts keep this offseason?

Episode Date: November 27, 2019

What will the Colts decide to do this offseason with plenty of upcoming free agents? That was the hot topic on today's show with George Bremer along with recapping Houston and previewing Tennessee.Who are the free agents we discussed? Here's the full list: Eric Ebron, Jack Doyle, Jabaal Sheard, Adam Vinatieri, Devin Funchess, Chester Rogers, Clayton Geathers, Anthony Castonzo.How big is Sunday's game against the Titans? It's simply a must-win as the Colts must go 5-0 or 4-1 down the stretch to make the playoffs now. Their backs are against the wall, so how will they respond? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello everybody, welcome back into Locked On Colts, probably Locked On Podcast Network. Today with us is my host Evan Serger and joined by our weekly guest on the show, George Bremmer of the Herald Bulletin. George, thanks again for coming on. Happy Thanksgiving to you. No problem. Happy Thanksgiving to you. Yeah, thanks again for coming on, George. We're going to recap the Texans game today as the Colts unfortunately lost last Thursday. 20-17 in Houston, dropped in 6-5 in the season. We're also going to look ahead to Tennessee, as we usually do each week with George.

But in the middle of today's show, we're going to talk about free agency a little bit because the Colts have a lot of interesting free agents that are on the list this year. And what George thinks could happen as far as that goes, as far as re-signs and players. But let's talk about the Texas game here first, George. 20-17, like I mentioned, was the final score of that one.

The Colts lost. What was your overall takeaways from that game? I think I was probably the same as everybody else. Number one thing is that they've just got to get more production from the passing game. It's been something that's really been talked about a lot throughout the year. Eight of the 11 games, they failed to throw for 200 yards. That's probably one of the more amazing stats from the season.

And so, really, no matter how well they run the ball, you know, you've got to make those plays in the passing game. I think their longest completion was 14 yards. And there's high school teams in Indiana who didn't have a stat like that, you know, this season. So, they just got to get more production. You know, and the fact that it happened against Houston, Deshaun Watson, DeAndre Hopkins, Will Fuller, they made some big plays.

And, you know, it's not hard to deduce that was the difference in that game. I think a really interesting topic that I really noticed on Twitter the last three or four days, George, is the swift turn on Jacoby Brissett. Just because I feel like that game on Thursday in the national spotlight was just a really bad look for this Colts offense, especially with only getting 125 yards passing. I know you had the chance to speak with Nick Sirianni today at a Colts facility. What have they been saying about Jacoby Brissett's performance on Thursday? Yeah, you know, they're still 100% behind him.

The main thinking over there, and I think Anthony Walker probably put it as well as anybody, Jacoby just had a bad game. You know, I think that's really what it comes down to. But the passing offense as a whole had a bad game. I think it's – there are things Jacoby needs to do better. There's no question about that. His anticipation needs to improve. His touch needs to improve. You know, he needs to probably read the field better in some certain situations. But at the same time, I think they've had problems with receivers at times. They've had problems with

pass protection at times. There's been problems with play calling at times. It's not one thing. It's never really just one thing. I think that's what, to me, one of the most interesting things going forward is going to be how this pass game evolves over the last five weeks because I think it's easy enough when you're winning enough games and running games rolling the way it is, it's easy enough to kind of put the passing game on the back burner and say,

well, there's things we'd like to improve, but it's working. And then you lose a game like that in prime time, and it kind of gets laid out for everyone to see. And a lot of teams, at least, will rethink what they're doing. And so, you know, I'm interested to see when they start using the middle of the field a little bit more. It's been something that really hasn't happened all year long. Will they, you know, be a little more aggressive in the passing game, take some more deep shots?

There's a lot that goes into it, but I think it's going to be one of the more interesting things to watch over the last five weeks or so this year. Yeah, looking at Jacoby's numbers, his first four starts, 228 yards passed per game. His last five starts taking up the Pittsburgh game where he got hurt. He's only averaging 191 passing yards per game. How curious are you to see this passing offense over the last five weeks, George?

Because I feel like this is a lot on the line, not only for this Colts offense, but I feel like for Jacoby percent himself. Yeah, you know, they lost a big piece of it. With Eric Ebron being out for the year, that's going to be a factor. Even when he's not making plays, he's a guy like T.Y. Hilton who does command some attention just by being on the field. So, you know, it's something that they can overcome, certainly, but it's going to be a challenge for them again.

And I think that's one thing to remember. When we start talking about the last five weeks or so, or the last five games for Jacoby Brissett, you know, that's coinciding with losing T.Y. Hilton having Paris Campbell out that's another guy who can kind of stretch defenses and then Jacoby playing on a bum knee you know I wonder how much that's affecting him too if nothing else is he going through the process a little bit quicker in his mind uh than he would you know is he trying to get rid of the ball faster with the knowledge that there's there's people closing in and and it could end

poorly for him I don't know that's pure speculation on my part but you have to wonder if that plays into it so you know I injuries are injuries everybody has to deal with them uh they're not an excuse for poor performance but I do think they play a role in what we've seen the last month or so from from this offense let's pivot over to George now, because I know the passing is going to be a really hot topic for probably the last month of the season, but the rushing attack stabilized still, even without Marlon Mack against Houston on a short week. Jonathan Williams, incredibly, George, had 30 touches on Thursday, had over 150 yards total.

What was your impression of the running game and also Jonathan Williams? Because I feel like Williams himself is kind of showing he could be a valuable backup to Marlon Mack long term at this point. Yeah, oh, absolutely. I think the offensive line kind of got a chip on its shoulder. I think the last couple weeks they've kind of, you know, gotten tired of some of the performances they had in the middle of the season there, specifically, easy for me to say, with the Pittsburgh game

and the Denver game and the Miami game, you know, not getting the job done at the level that they're capable of. And so I think you saw them come out definitely against Jacksonville and even against Houston with a little bit of that mean attitude, you know, kind of falling quick Nelson's lead that helps right there. And then Jonathan Williams has been basically a godsend for this, this offense. I mean, for him to come in and run as hard as he's run,

show the vision that he's shown, you know, it's – look, Mario Mack hasn't had back-to-back 100-yard games this season, and he does it – Williams does it in a game and a half, basically. So, he's been an incredible boost to this offense. I think definitely has set himself up as a long-term backup for Mack. But I think that's what underscores what's not happening in the passing game. When you rush for 175 yards the way the Colts did Thursday night in Houston, you would think it's going to follow that a couple big plays are going to come

from the passing game. And the fact that they didn't I think think, is what makes that still concerning. Yeah, that's for sure. And I think that's going to be something to watch for as well because I wanted to ask you about Jonathan Williams for a second, George, before we go on to our next topic. Because I feel like Williams' running style is what's really staying on the muse so far.

It's the aggressiveness. He never shot away from contact. He really wants contact, I feel like, at some points in the game at Houston and against Jacksonville. He really loves getting hit and really loves bringing it back to the defenders, too. I feel like his rushing style is something that this Colts team has been missing. I know Merlin Mack has his

kind of like LaShawn McCoy-esque running style and Le'Veon Bell running style, but I feel like this kind of mixture from Jonathan Williams has kind of been the missing piece for this rushing attack. Yeah, they definitely make a nice combination. We always talk about the old cliche thunder and lightning, and I think that's what you got there. You know what I mean?

We know what Mac is and his home run ability. Williams comes in there and he has more of a hammer approach. I think what's been really impressive about Williams has been versatile. He's got the ball out of the backfield. He's shown speed and athleticism at times, but then he will run over a linebacker, run over a defensive back. There's really, I don't think there's really much you can say negative about Williams in the sixth quarters or so that we've seen from him in these last couple of weeks. He's done everything you could possibly ask of a running back to do, and it's a real bright spot for this team right now at this

point in time. Yeah, definitely is one of the bright spots for the Colts, Jonathan Williams, that is. Going to the defense, though, defense though George again another great performance for this defense I know they had a couple of chunk plays they allowed to DeAndre Hopkins and Wolf or appeared this year we know it's a little nagged by his hamstring injury it's been plaguing him all season but another game where the Colts only allowed 20 points most of the time the Colts win that game if they're not allowed 20 points I feel like this defense especially the last two months now George I think Frank Wright mentioned it last week too he feels like this is one of the top defense in the NFR right now, and he's kind of proving it right now.

Yeah, they've really come into their own. I think some of the young guys that had to play early, that's paying off for them now. Guys got some experience under their belt. They're able to play. You know, look like a guy like Bobby Okereke, who came in a lot earlier than they were expecting and now has a role that's probably bigger than he would have had

if that hadn't happened. So I think in some ways some of the injuries actually helped the defense in terms of getting deeper and getting guys more experienced. We're starting to see Ben Banigou really come on again now. I thought he had a good game on Thursday night. Justin Houston's been a monster, obviously, and I think he changes a lot of what this defense can do because you have that pass rush element. And I think Houston was uniquely situated to make some big plays against this team because you have Fuller and Hopkins and their ability, because you've got a quarterback in Deshaun Watson

who can keep plays alive with his leg. You know, that pass rush does a great job for Indianapolis. But you saw Watson a couple times be able to get away and then extend a play and then make a big play downfield and those are back-breaking kind of things for a defense for the Colts to be able to make that really the only offense Houston could get that was pretty impressive everything else Houston did really didn't work you know it's just Watson and and Fuller and Hopkins making superstar kind of plays that that put any points on the board for the Texans at all I brought this up on yesterday's

show George we want to get your thoughts on this too just looking ahead here for a second to 2020 these pieces on defense I feel like are starting to come together Leonard going to his third year next year then you add in Justin Houston Kamoka Ture being fully healthy maybe Ben Bango takes that second year leap what do you think are the missing pieces to this defense for them to be a top five top ten unit next year for a full season? I think they still need a little help in the secondary, especially at corner. I mean, we know Desir has been playing great, and Kenny Moore has done a great job. You know, maybe Rocky Senn in year two will be one of those guys that ascends

and kind of covers that. But that third corner, Marvell Tells played well, you know, so he's an intriguing guy in that mix as well. But I still think that they would like to have another guy. Corners are a lot like pass rushers. You really can never have too many. Just keep going out and finding guys who can do that job because sooner or later you're going to need them.

It's been shown again and again. And then the bigger issue is that defensive tackle spot. Grover Stewart has done a great job since he came in. Denico Autry still remains a crazy mismatch in there. But I think, you know, they could beef up that defensive tackle spot a little bit more as well. I think since Stewart came in, you know, that really kind of coincides with him riding to the starting role really coincides with this defense

starting to take off. It solved some of the early run game problems that they had. But I think that's something that just they want to rotate in bodies. We know that. They've made no secret of that. So I think the depth of that defensive tackle spot would be another big spot for them to work on. Attention past, present, and future MyBookie players.

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I think defense tackle and also, like you mentioned, corner and edge rusher, those are just, you can get that anytime you want to nowadays. They're so important in the NFL. And I feel like – I mean, that might be the targets that the Colts really rely on this year in the draft for free agency. But let's move on here, George, to our next discussion. I know you mentioned earlier in the show about Eric Ebron, his season in injury. What did you hear from Frank Reckland's conference call about that

and also just throughout the week at Colts headquarters about what happened there with Ebron? you know nobody's really talking a whole lot of specifics but it was interesting on the conference call Frank Reich was notably angry you know he wasn't yelling he wasn't uh like demonstrably angry but you could tell there was a edge to his voice that's not usually there, specifically when he was talking about when this injury occurred. And so, you know, it seems pretty clear from the information that's out there that this was a decision that ultimately came down to Ibram, that he made the call to go on IR and that, you know, the team, I suppose the team agreed with it, you know, there are injuries. And so

at some point, it is always on the player. But I think that there's a sense that I don't want to go so far as to say that Eric Ebron quit on this team. I don't think that's fair. But there is a sense that he didn't maybe try to do what T.Y. Hilton did a year ago and push it to, you know, to the limit to finish out this season. Yeah, let me ask you about that, George, because I feel like that's a good point to bring up there about T.Y. And especially in a situation like the Colts at 6-5, they have to win pretty much four of the last five games,

maybe even all five of their games with the tiebreakers to make the playoffs this year. Does this feel like – not like you mentioned, I'm not saying quit on that team or anything, but just in the most important stretch of the season where the Colts come in for Ebron to go to IR, him pretty much making a business decision, do you feel like this decision by Ebron hurts his chance

to be signed with the Colts again next offseason? Yeah, I absolutely do. I don't have any inside information on that, so maybe there's more there that's not out there publicly. I know that that's always one of the things. Maybe there's more behind the scenes than what we know, but with the information that that's sort of out there right now uh definitely i i think that it's one of those

things where i felt like he was kind of a in the middle guy anyway as far as coming back uh because some of the inconsistency that we saw because the way the offense is changing in some ways uh but then to have something like this happen, you never say never. We've seen strange things happen, especially with this franchise, but I think it definitely takes a hit to his free agency chances in Indianapolis. Yeah, I certainly agree with you there. I think he might be a player who goes for his big contract.

I don't think the Colts are going to pay him what he wants, but let's go on to our next discussion here, George. Going to some underserved free agents for the Colts are going to pay him what he wants. But let's go on to our next discussion here, George. Going to some underserved grades for the Colts. Eight starters on this team as far as contributors to the team on each facet. But let's start off with Eric Ebron himself, George. You had to lean yes or no right now. Do you need the Colts to bring him back to start things off? I definitely lean towards no.

You know, like I said, I think the inconsistency that he's had throughout the year is a big part of it. And then definitely the way this season is ending for him, we'll leave a bad taste in everybody's mouth. Next up on the list is another tight end here. I think we're probably in agreement with you on this one, Jack Doyle. Yeah, I think you've got to bring Jack back. The question with him is going to be the money.

And he hasn't shown in the past any real desire to push the market or to set any records. So he's one of those guys that's so huge in the locker room, but then way more importantly, he's so important on the field. And we saw last year when he was out, they have a hard time replicating what Jack Doyle does. It usually takes two or three guys to come in and fill his role. So I think he's a guy that they would definitely lean towards bringing back.

I feel like this is an interesting one here, George. I feel like Jabal Sheard, his arrival back in the starting line, really helped propel his defense up another level after he returned. But I feel like Sheard at age 31 now – I'm going to be age 32 next season. He might be a player who wants his last big payday. So what do you think as far as where you're leaning now on Jabal Sheard? Yeah, Sheard's going to be really interesting. I do think that when he came into the lineup, you know,

him and Grover Stewart were probably two of the biggest factors in terms of turning this defense around. I think Stewart helped the run game, as we talked about. I think Sheard helped open up things for Justin Houston. Jabal's one of those guys that his own sack numbers won't look that amazing, but it's hard to really pinpoint the number of sacks he gets for somebody else. You know, he collapses the pocket and he forces the quarterback into a situation.

And then one of the tackles or Justin Houston ends up with the sack, and a lot of it had to do with 93. So I think that – I think the Colts really respect his – obviously his leadership, his experience. He's a veteran on a really young defense outside of Justin Houston. And so I think they would like him back. But, again, I think that's going to be at what price. And I think you're right.

You know, this is a guy who has a lot to bring to the table for a contending team. And I think he is a guy who maybe could find more money elsewhere with a chance to go and possibly win a Super Bowl. This is another really interesting one, George. We've only seen three quarters of him so far this season. I don't even know if we'll see another quarter from this season from what we've heard. But Devin Funches at wide receiver, what do you think there? Yeah, Devin's going to be interesting too because the whole injury thing

for him is a double-sided coin. On the one hand, the Colts don't really have a good feel or as good a feel as you would have for playing a whole season. On the other hand, he was developing some chemistry with Kobe Brissett, and you could even see that in that opening game this year. I know that they brought him in for a very specific purpose. They like his matchup problems that he creates, the size, you know, he's a unique target in this offense. And so you wonder too, you know, will those injury issues drive down his price on

the open market and will it be easier to bring him back? I think he's going to be a real interesting guy in that regard. If he wants that long-term deal, you know, usually you take that one-year deal, you bet on yourself, and you go into a long-term deal somewhere else. I don't know if that's going to be available for him in Indianapolis, but if he wants to kind of get a do-over of this season and take a one- or two-year deal and see where it leads, then I think that might keep him here. Next one on the list here, Adam Vinatieri is going to be 47

in a couple weeks now. If Adam Vinatieri tells Chris Bowery he wants to come back for another season, George, what do you think they'd do? I don't see Adam being back here. I honestly think the odds are that he will retire. Obviously, he's had his struggles this year. He's made his last eight kicks, so that's been one thing that's been a good trend for the Colts in the last two weeks.

But it's hard for me to see a scenario where they bring him back. I just think it's time. You know, I think everybody knows that and feels that. I just hope that he's able to finish out the year the way he's been kicking right now and ends like this and not like it was earlier in the season. Yeah, hopefully this stretch keeps up for Adam so he can go out on top like you mentioned there, George. I think this is one I'll be shocked by, almost like Mark Lewinsky this time last year,

if he ever hits the open market. Anthony Costanzo, because I feel like if he does reach the open market, George, he's going to be getting paid an awful lot of money. Yeah, yeah, there's no doubt. I think his importance to this offensive line is obvious. You look at the way they struggled early last year until he got back in the lineup and how quickly things picked up. To me, if they let him out the door, you'd have to really seriously question the thought

process in the front office. Yeah, I agree with you there. I think Costanzo is going to be one that's going to make an awful lot of money, whether it's the Colts or someone else's offense. I'm with you. I'd be stunned if they let Costanzo go anywhere near the open market. But another one on the list here for you, Chester Rogers at wide receiver. I feel like one who's had an awful lot of chances.

This might be his last one with the Colts. Yeah. You know, I think he's one of those guys. You look at this group of receivers right now, and they've had opportunities to step forward. And you really haven't seen that happen with Chester this year. So, you know, I think he's done some things in the return game and I think they for a guy who's an undrafted free agent they've gotten good value out of him but I think that it I think they're

going to move in a different direction I think you're going to see wide receiver be one of the focal points of this offseason and I'm not sure how Chester fits in that mix. Jonathan Williams we were just talking about him earlier in the show, George. What do you do here with Jonathan Williams? I think we both agree he probably needs an extension, but would you carry four running backs? I just wonder at that point what you'd do with a guy like Jordan Wilkins. Yeah, it's going to be interesting to see. You know, I think Williams has played well enough that obviously he's earned

himself another look and a longer look here in Indianapolis. I think this is another guy, I hate to be a broken record, but I feel like this is another guy that Price is going to be the determining factor. We know how Chris Ballard works. You know, there's a value that's going to be placed on every player. And so I think if Jonathan Williams is happy with that value, and more importantly, with the role that he'll be given, then I think he'll be back. And if not, then I'm sure there'll be more than a few suitors

for him on the open market. Last one here for you, George. Clayton Gathers, who was brought back on a one-year deal last year, a Ryan Grixen draft pick. Do you think Ballard keeps him around this time next year after we've seen Perry Willis and even George Odom break out at some point? Yeah, you know, it's clear that Chris Ballard thinks the world of Clayton Gathers.

He made that obvious during the offseason. But I think that they kind of moved past him in the secondary. And definitely, Corey Willis has been outstanding throughout the season. George Odom has come in,

shown himself to be a ball hawk. And, you know, the Kansas City game alone is probably tell you what you need to know about George Odom. So I really think that Clayton Gathers will be moving on at the end of the season. Treat yourself to the meal you deserve and have your favorite restaurants come to you at DoorDash. Right now, our listeners can get $5 off the first order or $15 or more

when you download the DoorDash app and enter promo code LOCKEDON, L-O-C-K-E-D-O-N. And if you're listening on the go, and if you can't visit DoorDash right now, you can find these and all their offers for Locked On sponsors at lockedonpodcast.com slash offers. Now, going into the Tennessee game, George, we're going to close up the show talking about the Tennessee game. Because at this point, the Colts are 6-5, Titans are 6-5. They've got momentum now at Ryan Tannehill, a quarterback. I think if the Colts lose this game, the season might be over

because I just don't see them winning out, especially against a division opponent. This is really the definition of a must-win game, George. It's a huge game. It's such a crowded group right now in that wild-card race. I think four teams are 6-5, and then you've got Cleveland at 5-6 with a huge game against the Steelers to see if they can stay alive in this as well. And so I think it's got to come down to the wire no matter what.

But much like the Houston game last week this is so important from from playoff standpoint you win this game uh and a couple other things go their way I mean if the Colts win as bad as things are right now if the Colts win on Sunday and Oakland loses the Kansas City and Cleveland beats Pittsburgh the Colts would have the sixth seed again at the end of the weekend. So it's a very big game again. I don't know if it's quite must-win, but it's right there. It's right on the edge of it. You go to six and six, you're going to be in that huge group,

and we know the tiebreakers don't look good for the Colts. So, yeah, it's a tremendously big game on Sunday. This feels like a game, George, too, because we saw in Nashville in September that Jacoby really struggled against this defense. The exact looks that Dean Pease and that Titans defense brought really got to him at points. This feels like a game, though, too, where the running game is going to be really important, but also Jacoby's going to have to air it out at some point for him to win this game. Yeah, absolutely. That's what we talked about earlier. It's going to be really interesting to watch this passing game as they go down the last five weeks of this season. And, yeah, Jacoby definitely had a lot of struggles.

It was week two, and the first week, really, they were playing without Devin Funchess, and they really struggled, you know, to get that passing game up and going. I expect another brawl. I mean, that's what happens when these two teams play. I think it's going to be a Donnybrook kind of game. They both really want to do the same thing. They both want to run the game and pose their will on the other team. But I'm not sure either offense matches up all that well with either defense.

And that's what we saw in Tennessee, a 1917 game. They survived a couple misses from Venetarian that one. And it was, you know, down to the wire, the last possession of the game. Defense gets stopped. The Colts get a win. I think it's going to be the same thing again on Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium. What would you say, then, George, are the keys to this likely kind of slugfest type of game at Lucas Oil?

Yeah, I mean, everybody knows it's no secret. The first thing you got to do is stop the run. You got to tackle Derrick Henry, get him on the ground, not let the Titans get that part of the game rolling. I think with Ryan Tannehill, they do have more they can do in the passing game, but they still want to run first. That's still the bread and butter of this team. And the Colts have done a good job of that the last couple meetings,

so they've got to continue that. They've got to absolutely stonewall Derrick Henry and make sure that he doesn't take over the game. I think, secondly, what you just talked about. They've got to find a way to make a big play or two or three in the passing game. And it's going to be interesting because T.Y. Hilton was not a hundred percent that he's going to play when he was talking earlier this week, today,

actually in the, in the locker room, we don't know the, the status of Paris Campbell, whether or not he's going to be ready to go. He was limited participant practice last week. So there's some optimism that maybe he'll be back. And then Devin Funches, you know, they still have past Sunday on that 21 day window. So they don't have to activate him. They have to activate him by December 8th, but they don't have to activate him for Sunday's game. And I think that's going to be an interesting factor as well see where that bone is has he healed completely and and will he be able to go you get two or three of those guys back it changes the way this passing game looks if you don't it could be very difficult on top of scheme wise it's difficult to throw it could be personnel wise difficult to throw in this game

I think Chicago's got to find a way you know when you look at what happened in houston and you look at the way tennessee brings the pressure and changes up their coverages he's got to find a way to make a couple plays in the passing game and then i think the third one is as it is every week and we've seen it's been so important to this team don't turn the ball over and i think that's another reason why the Houston loss was so hard to swallow for this group they protected the football and they still didn't get it done but we saw in that Denver Miami Pittsburgh stretch how much turnovers can hurt this football team yeah definitely agree to there George because this game like we mentioned earlier there's a must I think it's close to must win because we talked about the playoff inclinations in this one I

think they'd have to win out if they do lose to Tennessee but but what is going to be your prediction for this one, George? I feel like this is going to be like you mentioned kind of a rock fight. Yeah, I think it's going to be another down and dirty battle. I wish I knew how that receiver crew is going to look for the Colts. I really think that's going to be a huge factor in this game. We've seen that they can run the ball pretty well with Jonathan Williams, but they're so banged up in that secondary. Tennessee's done such a good job of kind of confusing Brissette and making him hesitate.

I feel like it's going to be a really, really tough one. I'll say 17-13 Tennessee. Well, yeah, that is the personification of a rock fight, Slugfest kind of match right there. I agree with you. I think it's going to be very low scoring. I'm going to go Colts 20-17 in this one. I just think that in a must-win environment, I think the Colts come through with a couple

late plays late in this one. But overall, George, just looking ahead to the final few weeks of the season, after Tennessee, you have Tampa Bay, New Orleans, Carolina, Jacksonville. How many games do the Colts have to win, do you think, to even make the playoffs? Because I feel like at this point you have to go at least four and one or maybe even one out. Yeah, it's going to be so tough because normally you say,

well, nine and seven gets you in. But, you know, I don't think it will this year for this group, given the fact that they don't really have tiebreakers against anybody in that run. They're probably going to need to win four games, and that's why the Tennessee game is so important because, you know, in that group, most of those games are toss-up games at worst for them. Obviously going to New Orleans in the middle of that stretch is going to be

very difficult, especially if the Saints still have seating and things like that on the line, and they likely will. That'll be a huge challenge. Outside of that, these are winnable football games. Tennessee is going to be a really tough battle, but we've seen them come out and be the victor in that contest before. Carolina is kind of going in the wrong direction. Tampa Bay is very inconsistent.

And then Jacksonville at the end of the year probably won't have anything to play for. And quite frankly, it seems like they've quit already. In the last couple – this game losing streak it doesn't look like a team that that has a lot of fire or inspiration right now so uh it's going to be an important stretch and i think they've got to find a way it wasn't so long ago we were talking about pittsburgh denver miami stretch and how the colts needed to to gain ground so they weren't in this situation they didn't get it done then.

I think this is kind of a second chance for them. They have to find a way to get it done now. This is a fun conversation, as always, George. You can follow him on Twitter at GMBremmer. Read his work, if you don't, over at the Herald Bulletin, which I do every day. He has some great, awesome stuff on the Colts. George, appreciate the time as always, and happy holidays to you.

No problem. Thanks a lot, and hopefully get enough food and family and football on Thursday.