Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - LOCKED ON COLTS 11/4/19: Colts lose heartbreaker in Pittsburgh as injuries pile on

Episode Date: November 4, 2019

On today's episode, Zach Hicks of Stampede Blue stops by to go over the Colts' loss against the Steelers. Not only did they lose in heartbreaking fashion, but more injuries continue to happen for this team. Jacoby Brissett strained his MCL, while Parris Campbell fractured his hand. Brissett's timetable is great, could only miss one game, but Campbell will be out until December at the earliest.We went over all of the following along with Brissett and Campbell: Brian Hoyer, Colts' OL struggles, Zach Pascal, Adam Vinatieri. Also, is it time to stay really worrying about the long-term future of Quincy Wilson and Tyquan Lewis, who were both healthy scratches once again?Finally, we look ahead to the Dolphins game where Brissett or Hoyer should be able to easily win this one. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello, everybody. Welcome back into Locked on Colts, probably Locked on Podcast Network. Today's audience is Evan Sutter and your weekly guest on the show, Zach Hicks of Stampede Blue. How are you doing, Zach? Pretty good, man. You know, it's a tough week following the Colts' loss. You know, their first loss in a couple weeks, but, you know, get back to the grind and hopefully get a win against the Dolphins here next week. 26-24 is the final score in Pittsburgh. The Colts lost.

They're now 5-3 on the season. A very interesting game, Zach, because Jacoby Brissett was hurt actually in the first drive of the game. He was 4-5, 59 yards. Brian Hoyer came in in his absence. Who would have thought this time in July, or obviously he was saying Brian Hoyer would be the Colts' correct any time this year.

But he was 17-26 for 168 yards, three touchdowns and a pick. What was your overall impressions of the Brissett injury, but also how Hoyer stepped in in his absence? Well, the number one impression was just how different Hoyer is from Jacoby Brissette. I mean, Brissette does a lot of things well in terms of how he moves in the pocket, how he can get out of pressure, his accuracy and his arm strength and his quickness to find the check down. I think Brissette does that stuff all well.

But I think Hoyer really, we saw a different quarterback in terms of going through his progressions, in terms of, you know, just getting his eyes to the next guy so much quicker than what Brissette was doing. And also, we saw a guy that was much more willing to take chances. And we saw that, you know, with the good with a couple of the Zach Paschal catches. And we saw that with you know, with the good with a couple of the Zach Paschal catches. And we saw that with bad with the pick six. So, you know, I'm not going to say that Hoyer came in and was better than Brissette by any means. But we saw a very different quarterback.

You know, we saw a guy who wasn't scared to get the ball down the field kind of sling it out there for the players. And as a result, the offense looked pretty good. But there was a couple more mistakes in there. And that's kind of the result. So a very different breed of quarterback, and it almost got the job done on Sunday. Yeah, let me ask you about just the style of play, because I know a lot of Colts fans, at least on Twitter,

were talking about this during the game. It might just be because some of the playbook was thrown out a little bit because Bursette was obviously the quarterback. Brian Hoyer doesn't take the snaps that much during press because Bursette's obviously a second – it's in his full year being the actual man of the team right now. So he needs all the reps he can get. But I think the way that Hoyer was throwing down the field,

Zach in this game, he did a lot more often than Bursette did. And he actually came through on a couple of times, Zach Paschal down the boundary a little bit. Was that surprising to you at least that Hoyer was taking more deep shots than we've seen before with Bursette? Not really. I mean, Bursette's a little bit more of a conservative quarterback. We all kind of know that at this point.

But Hoyer's the kind of quarterback who, you know, he's a veteran. He's a backup. He really has nothing to lose when he gets out there. And also, when you talk about a veteran quarterback like him, I mean, he has so much experience reading defenses and sitting in film rooms, sitting with some of the sharpest minds. You know, he's been Tom Brady's backup before, among other star quarterbacks' backups. So he's just been around the league for so long

that I think he trusts what he's seeing. And the second he sees it, he trusts his own ability to get the ball out and down the field, where I'm not saying that Jacoby doesn't trust that stuff, but it's definitely not as second nature it is for Brian Hoyer. So again, Hoyer's coming out there. nature it is for Brian Hoyer. So again, Hoyer's coming out there, he trusts himself a lot more because he is a veteran in this league, and also, you know, he's a backup quarterback coming in relief in this game that he has

nothing to lose, you know, so Brissette may not force a pass, he doesn't have to, where Hoyer, he will because, you know, at the end of the day, he's still going to be a backup or anything, you know, it's not going to really change his status with anything, he's still going to be a backup or or anything you know it's not going to change his status with anything he's still going to be a backup quarterback so he can kind of take more chances out there uh so again it's very different styles uh you know not one way is you know the absolutely correct way and one way is the wrong way but uh it was kind of interesting to see a different style in frank reich's offense from jacob reset this year yeah speaking of verset zach actually came out earlier today from chris morrison and Frank Reik in his press conference a little bit ago. It actually confirmed the news that he has a knee strain,

or MCL strain, not a sprain, which is really the best-case scenario for this team because a strain is a lot easier than a sprain. What would you do in this scenario, Zach? Because I think the Colts want to play it for cost here with Jacoby Brissette, but after losing the game against Pittsburgh, you're now 5-3 in the season. We need to keep a separation going here.

What do you think happens here on Sunday? I think if Jacoby Brissette's good to go and he wants to play, I think he will play against Dawkins. I think they should do the conservative approach and let Hoyer play Sunday and then get him ready for Jacksonville and Houston a few weeks after that. Personally, I think you kind of have to go through this week as if Hoyer's your starter. But, you know, at the end of the day, these guys are football players.

They know what's right for their body, and the medical staff knows as well. I know a lot of people don't like the medical staff here in Indy, but at the end of the day, if the medical staff says he's good to go, and he says he's good to go, and Coach Reich says he's good to go, he is your starting quarterback, so put him out there. That being said, I do think the best way to attack this is go into the week with Hoyer as your starter in mind. That way, you can get him a lot of first-team reps this week in case he has to be the one to go out there. At this point, Versette's taken a lot of first-team reps with this offense,

so even if he doesn't practice all week or he doesn't get those first-team reps all week, he'll still be ready to go on Sunday, whereas Hoyer, you want to get him as ready as possible just in case. So I think you kind of prepare this whole week like Hoyer's going to be your starter regardless. But if Versette's good to go and he says he's good and the medical team says he's good, you know, don't hold him back just because there is, you know, a slight risk or something like that.

Just if he's good, then play him for sure. But I think you definitely got to go into this week with Hoyer as a starter in mind. Looking at that real quickly, pivoting the offensive line for a second, Zach, because they allowed five sacks yesterday, won the Brissette and then four to Hoyer as a starter in mind. Looking at that real quickly, pivoting the offensive line for a second, Zach, because they allowed five sacks yesterday, won the Bursette and then four to Hoyer. What's been standing out to you from the offensive line standpoint over the last couple weeks? Because I feel like this has been

Quentin Nelson's worst stretch of his career so far. Maybe that just stands out to me because he's always just dominating people out there. He's just being average right now. Mark Lewinsky's really struggling at right guard himself. And then Costanza and Smith going against some elite edge rush the past couple weeks. But they've allowed almost seven or eight sacks in the last two games.

Look ahead to Houston. They also got to get some good pressure on Bursette when they had to. What's up to you about the offensive line the last couple weeks and their struggles? Because it's really – the offensive line is the backbone of this team. When they're struggling, this team usually struggles. Yeah, you know, I think there's a couple factors for sure. At this point of the year there's a

little injuries uh going around you know uh quentin nelson's had that hip injury the last couple weeks and i'm assuming that's kind of resulted in this uh you know lack of elite play these last two games uh but also we got to keep in mind that they're going against really really good defense the front you know uh going against houston jJ. Watt was having maybe the best edge rushing year of anybody this season. One of the best edge rushers in the NFL this past season before he suffered a season-ending injury.

They had to go against J.J. Watt. They had to go against a pretty good defensive front there. But then in these last two games, you go against Vic Tangio, who is one of the best defense coordinators or best defensive play callers in the league. And this past weekend's the Steelers who the Steelers might have the best front four in the NFL uh TJ Watt and Bud DeGruy are both great and in the middle they have uh just a ton of talent there in the middle so you know I I think it's something

to worry about something to monitor but you know I'm not going to say it's acceptable to get beat by those teams but I mean they won against some really good teams here. I mean, again, the Steelers' defense up front is no joke. We saw it all game. Those are just some really legit pass rushers. So I think for the most part they've been fine. I think Glinsky's had his struggles. I think Nelson hasn't played at his best level.

And then obviously Ryan Kelly missed the game the other day or missed most of the game yesterday. So there were definitely some struggles. But I think overall they're going to be fine. Again, these are just tough matchups. And last year they didn't face many top matchups, and that's why the Zach numbers were so low. You know, I think they're going to be fine, though, going forward.

I know this is looking ahead a little bit here, Zach, toward the draft. I know we both love to talk about the draft here. But do you think maybe if Glowinski's struggles continue, I don't think they're going to bench Mark Glowinski because obviously that continuity out there with those five guys is pretty strong. But do you think there's a chance that if these strokes continue from Glowinski, as we all know, he's probably the weakest link on that front five for the offensive line. Do you think there's a chance that Ballard maybe takes an offensive guard again

on day two of the draft next year? Oh, certainly. I think Ballard is the type of guy again on day two of the draft next year? Oh, certainly. I think Ballard is the type of guy who is always going to be looking to upgrade positions that he deems as weak, but also he's the type of guy who will always build his trenches. I mean, we've seen the last two drafts he's taken, what, three second-round pass rushers or three second-round even sublinemen. He's always trying to address the trenches. So it wouldn't shock me at all if he took another guard in this next class, or three-second round, even some linemen. He's always trying to address the trenches.

So it wouldn't shock me at all if he took another guard in this next class, maybe day two, maybe day three, to kind of either fill in for Glowinski or maybe be a guy that, you know, if they have to yank Glowinski at all next year, they could throw him out there. So, yeah, I wouldn't put it completely past Ballard in this front office to be looking to upgrade, you know, any position on this offensive line. Maybe if they feel like DeSanzo can walk, they might go for an offensive tackle. Maybe if they want to move Brayden Smith in at guard and go for a right tackle, even though I'm not really for that, it's another possibility.

They could definitely go that route as well. So I definitely think they're going to be doing their due diligence on offensive line in this next class. And luckily it looks to be a really good class for offensive line play. So we'll see how that plays out. Yeah, definitely far away as far as the draft goes, but certainly some of the monitor here, of course, with some struggles in this team and what they could fill the holes with in the

draft with cheaper placement players for the next four to five years. But let's pivot to Zach Paschal now, Zach, a guy who on the podcast last couple of weeks, we've been really big fans of the way he's been playing. Another huge game from Paschal, this time as a WR1 in Hilton's place. Fly catch of 76 yards, one touchdown, six total targets. Had a really good acrobatic catch from Boyer and also that touchdown from Boyer later in the game.

What's taught the most to you, Zach, about Zach Paschal? And he's a player, and I feel like he's gaining extreme confidence now and a player who really is going to be hard to take him off the field at any point the rest of the season. Oh, yeah, certainly. And, you know, it's funny. I feel like there's not much more we can say about Paschal that we've already said here of the season. Oh, yeah, certainly. And, you know, it's funny. I feel like there's not much more we can say about Pascal than we've already said here on the pod.

I mean, I feel like we talk about him every single week, but he's just been one of the stars of the team this year. I mean, he's done everything right, and he's gotten better every week. I think what really impressed me this past week, though, which I haven't really seen coming up until this game throughout this year, even though this is breakout year, was really the ability to catch the ball away from his frame, even in traffic. We saw it a couple times with the back shoulder catch, with the touchdown catch,

with the toe-tapping catch down the sidelines as well. He made a lot of catches away from his frame, and even though maybe his hand placement wasn't perfect when he was making the play, it was still great catches, and he was able to bring the ball in. So I think being able to catch away from his frame, the ball tracking there on the sidelines and the awareness gets feet down. I think those are things that we haven't really seen from him, even this season, even though this is a breakout year. So even seeing that and seeing him even progress in those areas, I just think we're seeing a guy playing with a ton of confidence, who's doing everything right and turning into a great season for him.

So I'm really happy for him. It couldn't happen to a better player and a better guy. So hopefully he continues this upward trend, especially with all the injuries to the receiver group. He seems to be the one guy who's healthy and playing well, knock on wood. Most guys have tried different ways to last longer, but saying the Pledge of Allegiance in your head or counting backwards from 10 doesn't always work. The folks at Roman, a men's

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GetRoman.com slash LockedOnNFL. Speaking of injuries, Zach, this is, I think, a big blow to the Colts' offense here. I mean, he hasn't really been involved much throughout the season, but I think he was just starting to come on here. His best game of the year happening on straight pair is Campbell.

Had five catches, 53 yards on five targets. Also ran the ball in a gadget, like since three carries for 27 yards. So had a big day for Campbell, his career best day so far without a touchdown. I think with Campbell and his injury, the way they're using him was really exciting, but also the injury that was just announced today. Fractured hand for Paris Campbell. He's going to be out until a minimum of December.

Haven't ruled him out yet. I haven't put him on IR, but missing Campbell again this season. It's been a nightmare kind of rookie season for Paris Campbell because he's been injury after injury after injury. He keeps stagnating in his progress a little bit. Yeah, and you know, it does suck when rookies get this, but it's part of the NFL. I mean, Fractured Hange can't really do much about that. Those things just happen playing in the NFL. It definitely hurts the Colts. I would definitely assume they're going to call up, I would guess, Marcus Johnson this week because he has experience in the offense.

He is sitting on the practice squad right now. So I'm assuming they have to call him up to at least get to five receivers for this next game. But yeah, it's definitely a blow. He hasn't been perfect this season by any means, but he definitely seemed to find his role this past game with T.Y. Hilton out. So it kind of hurts that progress that he was making going into this Dolphins game. But hopefully he can come back strong in December. You know, injuries happen, you know, not just to rookies but to everyone. And, you know, nothing you can really do about, like, a fractured hand, for instance. It's just going to happen regardless.

But hopefully he comes back stronger when he comes back. I know this is revisionist history at this point, of course, Zach. But with T.Y. Hilton getting injured 24 hours before the trade-on that happened, you see Paris Campbell go down. I know Funches is back in a couple weeks, two weeks exactly for the Jacksonville game. But do you feel like this team could have definitely used an upgrade at wide receiver? Or do you think just this team and the way Frank Wright can scheme up in players,

that there really wasn't that big of a worry? Because, of course, T.Y. Hilton was 100% healthy, at least before that cap injury happened during practice yeah you know i think it's just tough uh to to kind of say that you know revisionist history like you said mainly because you know you know going into the year they had ty hilton who we all agree is you know top 10 receiver in this league uh one of the better deep threats and they had a guy in devon flunches who they were very high on and and you know personally i was very high on as well. And then Paris Campbell, a second-round rookie who they had a lot of, you know,

they had a lot of excitement for and a plan for. You can't really anticipate the injuries happening to not just one, not just two, but all three of them at the same time. So I think when you factor in, you know, all three of those guys would have had a bigger role than what they've had so far this year if it were not for injury. And also the strong play of Zach Paschal. I mean, you've got four receivers right there that are pretty good.

Just three of them are injured. So I don't really think they need an upgrade, so to speak. Obviously, you want to see more of guys like Deion Kane and Chester Rogers. But, you know, at the end of the day, it's tough to say that just because – and, you know, any team around the league, if you take away their top three receivers they're going to say oh we should have done more in the offseason not nobody's really that deep at any position so it's kind of tough to say that right now looking back with all these injuries. That's a good point to bring up there I think you're spot on because I think T.Y. Hilton was

playing on Sunday he was going to play on Sunday until his calf injury I think it would have been a lot different story for this Colts offense and just the way that this offense functions right now without holding out there. But let's pivot over real quickly to the defense. I want to hit on a couple points with you before we go on to our Dolphins preview. And we were talking about last week where technical difficulties got in the way, Zach, but Quincy Wilson once again is a healthy scratch, even with Pierre Desir being out again. Marvell Till played actually a really good game, I thought, for them, the rookie corner fifth-round pick, former safety from USC.

Does this feel like at this point, Zach, that Quincy Wilson, or at least the Colts have lost trust in Quincy Wilson, that Marvell Tell, at least in practice, has usurped him? Yeah, you know, I don't know if it's – it's tough to say without really being in the building. But, you know, I wouldn't say that they've lost trust in Quincy. But, you know, if they're seeing every've lost trust in quincy but you know if they're seeing every week in practice that marvell tell is performing better than him and honestly

uh these last two weeks marvell tells probably had two better performances these last two weeks and what wilson's had all year uh so i completely understand their decision you know they're seeing tell play better in practice and when we're seeing him play better on the field and on sunday so uh it's tough to really say that that Quincy deserves to be out there over him. I know it's tough, you know, seeing a guy who was a former second round pick be scratched every week and not really having a true explanation from the team. But, you know, it's simple as that. I mean, Marvell Tell is out playing him and that's his direct competition for playing

time. And Tell is having great games on Sunday and good practice throughout the week. So, yeah, I definitely think this is Tell's spot to lose. And even when Desir comes back, I think Tell's is going to be the primary backup there. I don't really see Wilson getting in this lineup anytime soon, unless there's an injury or Tell just has some pretty bad practices or games going forward. You know, Quincy wasn't horrible this year, but Tell's playing really good football right now. So I completely understand the decision. Speaking of another disappointing draft pick, at least a high draft pick so far from the Chris Bauer era,

2018 draft, they traded back into the second round to get Tyquan Lewis, the defensive tackle, defensive end of Ohio State. He's been a healthy scratch in every game he hasn't played in so far this year outside when he's been injured, Zach. How worried should Colts fans be about Tyquan Lewis and maybe the lack of progress? Because now we're seeing Trayvon Coley,

who just signed off the Ravens a couple weeks ago. He's now playing ahead of Tyquan Lewis, who was a fully healthy participant last week. Yeah, I think it's kind of an area where they don't really know what to do with him, which, you know, you never want to hear that. But, yeah, to a degree, I think that's what it is, though. I mean, they don't want to play him at defensive end because they have, you know, Bonnegout and and other even uh Al-Qaeda Mohammed who they

have over him at defensive end and they want him to play that defensive tackle that kind of pass rush role from the defensive tackle spot um you know but they need more big bodies in there so they can't really afford to put him in there because he's not that big of a body so it's kind of a tricky you know area that he's in right now I don't really know what the plan is going to be going forward for him maybe this offseason or the rest of the season they either slow him back down to play some defensive end or or they beef him up to play defensive tackle more full-time but I don't feel like they're completely done with him yet I think that as of right now the the issue is he's too much of a tweener you know he's he's too like they're not too big to play defense then but he's just not as good as guys like al-qaeda and muhammad and ben

bonigoo to play defense then and then he's just too small and too able to be moved around to play defense tackle right now so it's kind of a bit of a tweener spot where they don't really know what to do with him and then obviously it hurts uh when he's had those injuries so he can't really be on the practice and kind of be learning uh his new spots or kind of developing that way so it's a tricky situation i don't think they're done with him by any means i just think it's a tough spot right now for a competing team uh to kind of play him and who's a bit of i guess i would say a bit of a project tweener right now uh that they're trying to still figure out so i i understand why he's not playing on sundays uh but yeah it's definitely frustrating

when he was that high of a pick for sure. Last point here Zach before we go on to our Dolphins preview what was your thoughts on Ivan and Terry yesterday he missed a kick at the end that would have won 27-26 but the laces were in when they should have been out from Rigoberto Sanchez Luke Rhodes I was watching the Pat Mackey video earlier say you explained that that was Luke Rhodes fault for not having the laces out when he was snapping it then it was kind of just a pink situation from Sanchez that went to Vinatieri. But we also missed an extra pointer in the game,

which wasn't anyone else's fault, but Vinatieri himself on that. This is 10 missed kicks now through eight games of the season, Zach. And I feel like it's going to be maybe a couple-week stretch here and there where Vinatieri's doing really good, but then a couple-week stretch where it's going to be really bad again. And at this point in time, Vinatieri is going to be 47 in December. I feel like this is just where we're going to get the rest of the season and Frank Reich again was very adamant that Vinatieri is our kicker probably throughout the

rest of the season so it feels like the Colts are certainly backing Vinatieri and this is probably the Colts going to have for the rest of the season. Yeah and you know I'm not an expert on kicker mechanics by any means or kicker laces or whatnot. I really don't care, honestly. So, you know, even if that kick wasn't on him, I mean, are you going to say that all of his misses? I mean, he's kicking 60% from field goal range this year. I believe it's like 75% from extra point range. Even if half of those are with the laces in because of terrible snaps

or terrible holds, I mean, he's still missing way too much. So I think it's tough. I mean, it's tough to kind of convince. I know the locker room is a big Adam Minoteri guy, but it's tough to go in the locker room and say we're going to hold everybody accountable except for this kicker. So I'm not blaming the loss on him by any means, but at the end of the day, him, Rigoberto Sanchez, and Luke Rhodes,

they just didn't get it done. So something has to at least be held accountable there because they had a chance to win the game. You know, regardless of all the mistakes they made throughout that game, they had a chance to win at the end, and they just came up way short. And it's happened a lot this year. You know, it happened with the Chargers game as well. They missed way too many kicks in that game, and it resulted in a loss. It almost happened in the Titans game the week after,

and I think you and I were saying this earlier in the year. If they kept Vinatieri after that week two game against the Titans, he was eventually going to lose them a game. I'm not saying, again, I'm not saying that he lost this game, but that kicking kind of comes back to hurt you. So I trust Frank Reich I guess you know he has a lot of trust in Adam Ventari and and he's adamant that he's the guy still but uh you know it's you're gonna lose games going forward if you can't make all your all your picks because you're just you know costing your team points so I don't know if it's been the Terry all year maybe maybe it hasn't been him at all this year it's just been some horrible holds all season I I have no clue

uh at the end of the day though the kicks are just not going in at the rate they need to be going in Maybe it hasn't been him at all this year. It's just been some horrible holds all season. I have no clue. At the end of the day, though, the kicks are just not going in at the rate they need to be going in. And, you know, I feel like there should be more accountability there from whoever is responsible. Now, before we dive into our previous, I want to get one more point on Benatari's act because this is three games now, the Titans game, the Chargers game, and now the Steelers game where he's had these kind of games,

and that's through eight games so far. So halfway through, that means we're probably going to get at least two or three more of these games, you imagine, Zach. So just what should Colts fans expect now with this kicker situation throughout the rest of the year? Because I don't think at any point in time that Colts fans should get comfortable with Benatari as a week or two of a good stretch. Yeah, you know, I think we're just going to have to be accustomed

to seeing this text, you know I think we're just going to be accustomed to seeing this text you know he won't miss all of them obviously but I think for the rest of the year we're going to be seeing you know this 60 to 70 field goal make percentage and you know 80 maybe on extra points if we're lucky I think that we just had to get used to that for the rest of the year and obviously that's not something that you want going forward and you know you know, he's 47 years old, like you said earlier, so he won't be in the league much longer. But, you know, I guess that's what we're going to have to expect this year. You know, he's not going to be Adam Benatary of old.

He's going to be a fairly below average kicker for the rest of the year. And I think we have to just swallow that because I don't see the Colts really changing that at all this season. Treat yourself to the meal you deserve and have your favorite restaurants come to you with DoorDash. Right now, our listeners can get $5 off their first order of $15 or more when you download the DoorDash app and enter promo code LOCKEDON, L-O-C-K-E-D-O-N. Again, that's promo code LOCKEDON, L-O-C-K-E-D-O-N.

I agree with you there. I think they're going to keep this kicker situation throughout the season and just see what happens after this year. But let's dive into our Dolphins preview now, Zach. The Dolphins actually won a game on Sunday against the New York Jets and their former coach Adam Gase in Miami. They're now 1-7 on the season. They're actually out of the tank for 2-0 spot.

That goes to the Bengals now. So I couldn't imagine trading away all those players and you don't get the guy you want. But that could happen for the Dolphins this year. This team, this Dolphins team, I don't blame you at all, Zach. I haven't watched a minute of them play this year. But what can Colts fan expect from this Dolphins this year. This team, this Dolphins team, I don't blame you at all. Zach, you didn't watch a minute of them play this year. But what can Colts fan expect from this Dolphins team? Because I feel like we saw this last week against the Jets, or on Sunday, I mean.

This team is going to roll over and go 0-16. They're actually going to come out and play pretty hard. Oh, yeah. No, I think they have a really good coaching staff. I love Brian Flores. I think he's an excellent coach, and I think he's their guy going forward. I just don't think they have the overall roster talent to be great right now. And honestly, you know, they have some talent in their secondary.

They have some good linebackers. They even have a couple good weapons on the outside. The biggest factor where this team is really getting beat this year and why there's so many blowouts and so many beatdowns is, one, their quarterback play. Fitzpatrick and Rosen have been up and down to say the least. And then two is the trenches, you know, offensive line and defensive line have just been, you know, they've been getting bowled over all season for the, for the Dolphins.

And that's really where a lot of their struggles have come. So I think, you know, we got to expect the Colts to kind of come out and dominate in the trenches because if they don't this week, then the Dolphins are going to put up a good fight. You know, they're not a horrible, horrible team. You know, they're not the worst team of all time. They obviously got rid of a couple players that were pretty talented. And they all, you know, they have the tank for two and stuff. But they're a good coach team. They have a great coach.

And I think that they're a hard-nosed team. You know, they're going to come out there and they're going to play hard. So I wouldn't expect this to be the easiest game ever, especially with, you know, potentially Brian Hoyer starting and your top three receivers down. Yeah, I could see this game actually being closer than some expect here. I know the point spread I saw today was 10.5 points, and that was 11.5 originally, but went down because of Jacoby Persep

possibly being out there. So what do you think, Zach? Do you think the Colts could cover 10.5 points? Because I feel like this game could be like a 21-10 type of game, but there's a real chance if Hoyer does play and the Dolphins step up and play well, this could be kind of a slugfest game like we saw for Denver. You know, actually, I think if Hoyer plays, I think the Colts will have a really good, like, I think the Colts will beat him down pretty good, only because I think he's more aggressive, and I don't think the overall talent,

I guess, of the, you know, again, like I said, they have some talent on their team, but I don't think overall it really matches the Colts too well. So I actually do think if Hoyer plays and he's, you know, he takes into quarterback one reps all week, I do think the Colts could hit that mark. I don't know if Jacoby would have them hit that mark just because, again, he's fairly conservative. He'll take what the defense gives him and he won't really push it too much. But I think if Hoyer plays, he'll sling it around a little bit and maybe make a couple of mistakes, but I think they could definitely cover. But I'm not a betting man. I would not bet that spread. I think that's too risky. Again, especially considering that the Colts might be starting

their back of quarterback, which could always be disastrous and be down their top three receivers. So I wouldn't bet that, you know, for them to hit above 10.5. But, you know, I think they could definitely get up that far. I mean, again, this Colts team is a lot better than this Dolphins team, but nothing's given in the NFL. The Colts still have to come out and play on Sunday. Before I let you go here, Zach, give me your three keys against this Dolphins team

and your final prediction before I let you go here, Zach, give me your three keys against this Dolphins team and your final prediction before I let you go. Yeah, so number one key is the offensive line getting back on track. You know, they've had a couple rough matchups and a really, you know, tough game these last three weeks. Get back on track against the Dolphins. Don't let Hoyer or Bursette, whoever's back there, you know, get touched really and let them kind of be comfortable back there and let them pick apart this offense secondary.

So that's a huge key. Again, on defense, just kind of keep the pace they've been on. These last three games, the defense actually played really well. The last four games, actually, we go back to the Chiefs game. The defense has played really well. There's been a couple mistakes here and there, especially these last two games with penalties. But overall, I think the defense has played really well.

So just keep on track, you know, keep playing the way they are. I'll force them to have these last couple games and it'll be fine. And the final, the final point, the final key of this game is get Marlon Mack kind of rolling again. You know, these last couple games, Marlon Mack has played well, a lot better than what his box score would say, but I want to see a big game from him this week, you know, kind of feed him, make him the focal point of the offense and really run behind him all game. Let him really showcase the ability of this game against the Dolphins and let that offensive line go to work in the run game. I think they can hit those three marks there.

They should be fine against this Dolphins team. And I think overall I agree with you there. I think this should be a game where Marlon Mack really does a lot of damage because we've seen it often. Like Marlon Mack has these games where he puts up really good numbers, but unfortunately I don't think they run the ball enough some games. I think this might be the type of game where you just run it down and the Dolphins throw and see if they can stop it.

So I really like your plan there, Zach. We're both in agreement that the Colts should win this game. Before I let you go here, Zach, as well, this division race now is becoming, I think, a two-team race unless the Colts come up here against the Jaguars a couple weeks. Colts versus Texans for the AFC Divisional crown. They have next four games, Zach. You have the Dolphins, then you also have the Jaguars, Texans, and Titans,

and the Texans have a biweek sandwich between there, but they have the Patriots, Colts, and the Ravens next four weeks as well. So I think this is a crucial next month for this division race. Oh, yeah, for sure, and it's going to be a really good one because the Tex Texas team is playing really well. You know, Deshaun Watson is playing at a borderline MVP level right now. And, you know, this Colts team is just a really grinder-level team.

You know, they just grind out games. So two different directions of teams. You know, one that's kind of relying on their star quarterback to carry them, and the other one that's just kind of willing games and grinding games out. So it's going to be interesting to see which style prevails in this division race. That'll do it for today's episode, guys. Appreciate everyone listening in. As always, you can follow Locked on Colts on Twitter, at Locked on Colts.

You can follow Zach on Twitter as well, if you haven't already, and read his work at Stampede Blue, at Zach Hicks, too. Zach, appreciate the time, as always. Of course, man. Thanks for having me.