Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - LOCKED ON COLTS 12/11/19: Crossover Wednesday with Locked On Saints

Episode Date: December 12, 2019

On today's episode, it's time for another Crossover Wednesday diving into this week's matchup for the Colts. Heading down to the Bayou, do the Colts stand any chance against a high-powered Saints squad?Exploring from all angles, we explore this primetime game. How will the Saints be able to pile on the points? Can the Colts control the clock like we saw earlier this season in Kansas City?From our keys to the game and predictions, plus the most intriguing players on both sides, you won't want to miss this one. Will the Colts' season officially go to nothing after Monday night? We shall see. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello, everybody. Welcome into our latest edition of Cross Over Wednesday here on the Locked On Podcast Network. I am Evan Sirey, the host of Locked On Colts, joined by Ross Jackson of Locked On Saints. Ross, how are you doing today? Oh, man, I'm doing great. Glad to be doing this one with you, man. I've been looking forward to this game all season long, actually, and so it's really, really exciting to get to sit here and actually, like, talk to you about it. It makes it feel real, you know what I mean? And big Monday night game, of course, so you got to love that. Oh, absolutely. I think, unfortunately, from the Colts the cold side of things I think a month or so ago the game would have

mattered a lot more but they kind of got off the deep end and especially we're talking about in July Andrew Luck versus Drew Brees would have been a lot of fun to see but definitely a lot of change for the Colts since then but Ross before we dive into this game I just wanted to ask you we're going to start first with the Saints here for the first few minutes of the show then dive into the Colts and end the show as well with our keys to the game in our preview let's talk about the Saints for a second here because there's a big loss for them as far as the home field advantage situation goes for them the loss to the 49ers 48 46 on Sunday what is the current state of the New Orleans Saints two-year-old uh the one word that I think I can probably use here is pissed um people are pretty upset and I

mean I mean the I mean, the players themselves sort of frustrated with themselves, particularly over on the defensive side. You know, when you have an offense that goes out and scores 46 points, you expect to win those games. But then when your defense turns around and gives up 48, there's not much that you can really do to combat that. And so this is really a team that's very upset and very frustrated with themselves. And, you know, you were talking about a team with the Colts, with injury-wise and, of course, everything that happened with Andrew Luck that just looks different than what was expected. And the Saints are kind of feeling that right now as well

because they're dealing now with two very big losses over on the defensive line for them. Marcus Davenport, the second-year edge rusher, who is really showing out this season, had six sacks on the year so far and was really progressing from his rookie year, taking a big leap. He's out for the year with what we believe to be a Liz Frank injury, so that's going to be, you know, he's going to have surgery, and it's going to be about a five- to six-month recovery period,

so he'll likely be back for OTA's training camp preseason, but certainly out for this very important stretch of the season in playoffs. And then pretty much all but confirmed at this point, Sheldon Rankin's defensive tackle who already missed a few games at the beginning of the season when he was still recovering from an Achilles injury that took place at the end of the playoffs last year now with an ankle injury out for the rest of the season as well said defensive line is going to look a little bit different or really I'll say a lot different from what we're used to seeing from this team

so far this season yeah that means maybe good news for the Colts up at the line because they're one of the best units in the NFL, and that could be an advantage for the Colts actually on Sunday if they want to pull off a huge stunder on the NFL and the Superdome. But let me ask you, Ross, as well about Michael Thomas because incredible year for him so far, just putting up monster numbers. Drew Brees' favorite target, Teddy Bridgewater, who's playing his favorite target too.

He's just snatching every ball left and right for the New Orleans Saints and really being a superstar this year for the New Orleans Saints as well. What's been your impression of Michael Thomas so far this year, Ross? I think it's fair to say he is the best wide receiver in the NFL, at least in my opinion. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I echo that 100% and I try to convince people of it probably every day, but he's outstanding and he's been outstanding this year. This is a guy that at the end of last year in week 17 against the Carolina Panthers at home was trying everything that he could to get one more catch in order to break Joe Horn's franchise receiving yardage record. At this point in the season, just 13 games in, he's already broken that record and the record that he set last season for receiving yards

for the Saints and now becomes the third player in Saints history, rather, with over 100 catches in a season. All three are Michael Thomas. So he's been absolutely outstanding for this team. And like you mentioned, whether it be Drew Brees, Teddy Bridgewater, I'm convinced you put any quarterback back there. Michael Thomas, of course, is going to be their favorite target, and he's going to find some way to produce.

Even in a game like last week's where he was quiet to begin, he ends up with 11 catches and 134 yards and a pivotal touchdown at a pivotal point in the game and so you're seeing uh exactly what it is that uh we've expected and and hoped from to see from michael thomas when he became the lead guy after they traded away brandon cooks a couple years ago and he's been outstanding and one of the things that makes him so great is the fact that you can line him up anywhere he can play either side x or or z you can put him in the slot as well and he'll find a way to affect the game from any position on the field. Yeah, his season so far has been just incredible to watch from the cold side of things.

Pierre Desir has been hobbled all year with a hamstring injury. Did not look like himself again last week against Mike Evans before he went out with his own hamstring injury. So Michael Thomas could be in line for a feast on Monday night in New Orleans. But let me ask you, Ross, as well, about some underrated Saints because I know many know about Drew Brees, Michael Thomas, Alvin Kamara, but who from New Orleans is really flying under the radar this year? Well, one of the guys that I really like and that has been a huge addition to this team is actually over on the special teams unit. And that's Deontay Harris,

the returner that they got out of Assumption College. He holds the NCAA all division record for most return touchdowns in a season with 14 combined punt and kick return touchdowns in his final year at Assumption. But with the Saints, he's sort of revitalized sort of that hidden yardage game portion of the game for the Saints. And he's been huge for them in terms of making sure that the offense is starting off an advantageous field position. And he's not been costly. He's gotten one muffed punt that was very, very early on in on in the season but since then he's sort of buttoned that up and he's just been nothing but positive for the Saints who really have lacked that element of their game since probably the days of Darren Sproles at this point yeah that's been a really interesting aspect because I've noticed

he's maybe not the small or the biggest guy I feel of course he's one of the smallest out there but his his impact is so unique to their New Orleans Saints. I really wonder if he could eventually grow into a bigger role for them, maybe on the offensive side down the line. But another Saints player I wanted to talk to you about a little bit, maybe some Colts fans are familiar with them. I think they follow Ohio State too, like Michael Thomas. But Marshawn Lattimore, I just think he's one of the better corners in the NFL already.

What's your impression of Marshawn Lattimore and the impact he's made for the Saints since he's been there? I mean, he's been outstanding for them. I mean, when you look back at the 2014, 15, and 16 seasons, when you're looking at guys like Brandon Browner and Keenan Lewis and then Delvin Breaux, who was actually a good positive for the Saints but just had a mishandled injury during that time, not a lot to really cheer for when it comes to what that secondary used to be. Another name I'll throw in there is Corey White,

just to stick another jab at Saints fans that remember those days. But Marshawn Lattimore has come in, and he's been one of the better cornerbacks that we've seen in New Orleans for quite some time. And he's been one of the better quarterbacks in the NFL. But the only thing about it is that for the Saints team, they tend to sort of live and die by Marshawn Lattimore. If Marshawn Lattimore plays well, the defense plays well.

If Marshawn Lattimore doesn't, then the defense suffers. And so what that means is that there's some other pieces missing around him in terms of who's playing opposite him. Eli Apple has really struggled lately. He's been one of the guys that is consistently targeted by the opposition when they're on the offensive side of the ball there. And so while Marshawn Lattimore has been a healthy add for the Saints, there's still a little bit of concern in terms of how to put the right pieces around him around in the rest of the secondary, although they've done well with their safeties in Von Bell and Marcus Williams. Last few questions I had for you, Ross.

We're going on some Colts talk here. Just the Saints at 10-3 so far this year. They're right near the top of the NFC. It's going to be a fun race this last few weeks of the season as far as Seattle, San Francisco being in that race too. There's a lot of elite NFC teams this year. Where would you rank the Saints right now in the hierarchy of the NFC? I think right now in the NFC, I'd probably, I'd still keep them in the top three. I'm a little bit, I'm not entirely convinced by the Green Bay Packers right now. Just seeing some of the, you know, scoring 20 points against

Washington, nearly dropping that game. And who knows what would have happened if Darius guys had not gotten injured. When you look at Seattle, I think Seattle is an outstanding team. I think that they have the right quarterback there. Of course, with Russell Wilson, you look at what that team can do and what they've done in terms of revolutionizing their offense and offensive line has helped them for a change in their defense, you know, slowly coming on throughout the season and has been a very good defensive unit as well. And then of course you have to put San Francisco up there. You know, San Francisco beat the Saints straight up one-to-one really in a game that would usually be the Saints style, the slinging, you know, a shootout, you know, is a big part of what the Saints usually are known for. And those are the games that they usually win. And San Francisco

bested them in that, in that version of competition. So you have to put San Francisco above them. I'd put Seattle above them, and then I'd put the Saints in Green Bay kind of at three and four there. Yeah, that's going to be a really fun NFC battle. I think this year so far, it's fair to say the NFC has outclassed the AFC. We're going to have to see how it goes in January and February, of course. But the final question I have for you, Ross,

before we go on to some discussion about the Annapolis Colts and how they can maybe upend the New Orleans Saints if that's possible, I wanted to ask about this game specifically from the Saints point of view, because I just feel like this is a game, especially after Sunday when they lost in heartbreaking fashion in a shootout against San Francisco, they really want to make a statement Monday. I think they had the opportunity to do that maybe when they blow out game and maybe make a statement to the national audience here on primetime. Yeah, absolutely. And I think that that's really what it's going to be for them. I mean, you have a couple of different storylines here. You have a defense that's looking for redemption,

first of all, after giving up 48 points to the 49ers. You have an offense that's trying to keep rolling because really this 46-point offense is the offense that everyone's been waiting to see in New Orleans all season. They finally found it. Can they keep it going? And the other part is that you also look at Drew Brees. Well, let's not even talk about that yet but you look at uh the fact that look this is the super bowl matchup that was 10 years ago in miami and the saints are going to be celebrating that team that super bowl team before the before the game that's going to be a big thing for these fans that are going to be in the superdome that feel like they really got challenged by san francisco 49ers fans on Sunday.

And so they're going to want to come out to prove a point. And then there's the Drew Brees aspect. He's three touchdowns away from breaking the record for most all-time passing touchdowns. So that's something else to keep an eye on as well, and another motivating factor for this offense. Before we dive in now to the second part of our show on this crossover Wednesday, I want to tell you guys really quickly, if you haven't already, we're going to listen to our sponsors here.

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L-O-C-K-E-D-O-N to try it absolutely free. Bluechew is the better, cheaper, faster choice when you think that sponsor of the podcast. All righty, Ross. Let's dive in now from the cold side things. I'll give you the floor here if you want to ask some questions. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, the first thing for me, of course, and something that I think a lot of people are focusing on,

especially after the way that the Saints defense looked last week, giving up a ton of passing yards to Jimmy Garoppolo, four passing touchdowns there, and also another passing touchdown to Emmanuel Sanders as well. But when you look at the struggle that that secondary had, I know a lot of people are wondering, what's the condition of T.Y. Hilton, and does it look like he's going to be able to play? He gets the extra day of rest since it's the Monday game.

So how's that looking from the Colts' perspective? Yeah, surprisingly, Ross, we all thought when he originally had a setback on Thanksgiving Day at practice from his calf injury, he'd be shut down the rest of the year at this point, especially with the Colts losing five or the last six games, really falling right out of playoff contention. They technically have a 2% chance, but they need an awful lot of help to even reach that point. I think with T.Y. Hilton, it's surprising because he actually mentioned today,

when speaking to local media, he wants to play on Monday night in New Orleans. He said, I don't want to quit on this team. I'm a very close competitor. This has been a bad season for me. I want to make up for it for the fans and my team the last few weeks. I think he wants to go out there, even if the Colts don't have a chance to make the playoffs this year. T.Y. Hilton's been a huge asset to this team, and you see it when he's not on the field. They're a completely different team without T.Y. They don't have enough weapons out there when he's not there. His speed and explosiveness and his route running is something that I think is very underrated in the NFL. And I think T.Y. having him out there is going to be huge for

them, even in a decoy role. But I ultimately think that T.Y. wants to make a statement these final few weeks. And even if the Colts aren't going to make the playoffs, I think he wants to show just why he's still one of the top 10 receivers in the NFL. Yeah, he's an excellent player. He's always been one of my favorite players in the NFL. And one of the things that I've always really liked about him is not only him as a player on the field, but also just as a leader. Can you speak a little bit to that? Because I know that the Saints fans love their culture players. They love their leadership players. I think that TY is one of those guys for Indianapolis for sure. Yeah, the first six, seven years of his career while Andrew Buck was still around, he was more of a quiet leader. But

this year, surprisingly enough, he kind of took that leadership role by the horns. It wasn't Jacoby Brissett still a vocal leader, of course, as is Jabal Shearer, Darius Leonard. But T.Y. Hilton's been the voice of this team this year, which actually surprised me a little bit. Because if you guys know him from Indianapolis, he is just a very quiet, no-nonsense type of guy. He lets his work do the talking for him. But this year, he's taken on a role that I think he really embraced once Andrew Luck suddenly retired. Because he knew at that point that he was the franchise player. He was the player that everyone relied on, that fans wanted to really rely on to help him get to

the playoffs journey he's had a huge start to the season before his calf injury and I think he it's a it's really development on T.Y.'s part he's 30 years old now he's entering a different phase of his career he's going to have probably three or four more solid good years left of his career and I think entering this kind of role and really embracing it just shows you the type of player he is and the type of competitor he truly is. And that's something that Colts fans absolutely love and why lot of different quarterbacks, a lot of different backup quarterbacks got options and got opportunities in this season. What's the temperature right now around Jacoby Brissett? It's been a tough stretch over these last six games,

but is there still some confidence in him in terms of what he can do, especially against a defense that put on tape what they put on tape last week? It's interesting because obviously you look at the numbers and Jacoby Bursette still is a top 15, 20 quarterback when you look at the advanced match. But when you dive in even deeper, it's not a good sign for him. And it's really shown the last couple weeks as more teams get film on him. Because in the first and third quarters, when Frank Reich schemes up plays in the first and second half, that's when Jacoby's at his best.

When he gets out of that script and he has to go off his own and make plays on himself, it's usually not going well right now. And you see his second quarter QBR rate is 84.2, and the fourth quarter it dips to 75.5, which is one of the worst in the NFL, and that's just not a good sign for Jacoby Brissett. And he's been far too inaccurate this year. He really has to throw up in his receivers, which he really can't do that often. I think Coltent's are really losing confidence in Jacoby Brissett. That 5-2 start really helped out because the running game and defense was really helping elevate Jacoby as

well. And obviously Frank Rex, one of the best coaches in NFL already. But I believe Colts fans are ready to, as far as Jacoby goes, maybe give him another year. But I'd be stunned at this point, Ross, to be on direct quarterback early. Yeah, absolutely. I understand that. And I think that it's one of those things where, you know, like you have a young leader out there trying to do what he can on a really sort of unprecedented circumstance, but nothing wrong with planning for the future. That's something we've been preaching in New Orleans for quite some time, which is why you have, you know, Teddy Bridgewater as the backup,

at least for the rest of this season. We'll see what happens with the Saints moving into next year, but certainly quarterback conversations are going to be aplenty all throughout the offseason for many different teams. Let's stick with the offense, but go over to the run game for the Colts. Like we mentioned before at the beginning of the episode here, Marcus Davenport out, Sheldon Rankin's out. Those are two big key factors in the run game. The Saints are also kind of banged up at linebacker as well. You've got Craig Robertson and Stephon Anthony coming in for guys like A.J. Kline and Kiko Alonso,

who have been really good for the Saints when it comes to the run game. So is that a portion of the game that we think that the Colts might try to lean on as well as trying to challenge the secondary? What's the plan for them that you feel for the run game? I really feel like it's going to be very similar to the game when the Colts stunned Kansas City in October very early on, and that was just a grinded-out game. You run it 40 times, but run it behind Quentin Nelson, Ryan Kelly,

Anthony Costanza, those hogs up front, because they're one of the best offensive lines in the NFL. It's been proven week after week. It's not been as consistent as it was last year, but they're still way up there. And I think that's going to be the game plan on Monday night. It's going to be a ruckus atmosphere. I'll be very surprised if you go over second dice at that secondary.

I know they've had their struggles recently, but he's not of the caliber of quarterbacks they've seen recently from the New Orleans side. But I really wonder, Marlon Mack now being back healthy, he's a huge asset to this team. He's closing on 1,000 yards in about 12 games so far this year. He's been a monster behind that offensive line. And I believe if the Colts have any chance on Monday night, Ross, I really believe it's going to have to be running the ball, get close to 150, 200 yards, and really grinding out this game, making it a low scoring affair.

Yeah, I think that that's a huge piece of the game plan for the Saints as well as trying to shorten the game up a little bit. And so over on the offensive side for the Saints, when they're looking at trying to run the ball, one of the guys that immediately jumps out to me is, of course, Darius Leonard. Darius Leonard had a great game last week against a fellow NFC South opponent in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. But I do have a hard time basing Drew Brees off of tape that Jameis Winston puts up against the defense the week before.

But Darius Leonard is an undeniable talent. How are you looking with the matchup between Darius Leonard and potentially Alvin Kamara as well? Yeah, Darius is one of those guys in the NFL right now. He's that new age linebacker who can go sit on the sideline, has that 4-5 speed. He's a very smart, instinctual player too. We've seen it all throughout the season. Incredibly enough, Ross, after going all pros rookie year, the last six or so weeks, he's looking like a new player entirely. He's taking a leap right in front of our eyes, which is super exciting to see. I really do wonder once 2020 comes around,

where his odds land a defense player of the year, because I think he's going to be one of the best linebackers in the NFL, not only now and next year, but in the long-term future, which is how incredible a player he is. But you see how instinctual he was against Jameis Winston. I know Jameis makes some really bad mistakes at times, but he baited Jameis into those two interceptions that pick six as well. I wonder if he's going to do the same with Drew Brees. It's going to be a lot of coverages.

Alvin Kamara is obviously a mismatched nightmare. He actually has the speed to stay with Alvin, though, so that's going to be a really fun matchup. But I believe Drew Brees, if he's watching a Tampa Bay film, Ross, he should be salivating because if Jameis Winston puts a corner for these six yards without Mike Evans for three of those quarters, I think Drew Brees could have a field day against this defense. That's certainly what we're hoping for, but we know that one of the things

that affects Drew Brees and the Saints offense a lot is pressure in the interior. Is there anything for the pass rush, particularly interior pass rush, like maybe a Jabal Sheard or anything that Saints fans should be watching during this game? Right now, I would say it's probably just Justin Houston. Jabal Sheard's been hot and cold throughout the year. Kamoko Touré, who was hurt going on for the season with a broken ankle against Kansas City.

He was really just making a huge leap in year two because he was leading the team in pressures. Him and Houston were a great one-two on each side. Jabal Shearer is more of a run-first type of player. He's not really going to get much pressure on passing in situations. Ben Banninger, the rookie, as well from TCU, he has his moments too. But the interior of the offensive line specifically, that's actually one of the Colts' biggest needs this offseason.

They don't have really much there. Grover Stewart, a third-year player, fourth-round pick. I would be stunned at this point if they don't address that in free agency as one of their top needs or in the draft in the first or second round because that's really one of the key areas this Colts team is missing. They're very young all across that defense, but adding in an interior pass rusher is going to be big for that team, and that's really what's missing right now. Gotcha. Yeah, that's something that I'm going to be really keeping an eye out on during this game, especially with, you know, the Saints are dealing with injuries in the trenches on both sides now.

Tron Armstead played last week, but his foot was incredibly swollen after the game. He was in a boot. He was really iced up in bandage. He was all smiles, though, and just goes to show you the type of dedication that he has to the game. And then, of course, the Saints are already without Andrews Peet along the interior, but Nick Easton has stepped in and served pretty well. This is a really interesting game because you have two very good offensive

lines here that are going up against some of the defensive lines that are, at least in the Saints' perspective, are damaged, kind of damaged goods at this point. And so they'll try to do what they can in terms of their rotation. But if the Saints are able to get the time, one of the big things you're going to watch is this Saints game, this Saints team be very pass happy here. So what do the Colts do to try to,

try to limit Michael Thomas as much as they can? I think you're going to see a lot of Pierre Desir on him, even though he's their best cornerback. Like we mentioned earlier in the show, he's very gimpy right now with his hamstring. I expect double coverage on him a lot with safety help over the top. Malik Hooker's one of the best ball hawking safeties in the NFL already. He had a pick again last week against Tampa Bay. He also had one opening week against Phillip Rivers.

That was one of the best plays of the year as far as interceptions go I expect Malik Hooker to be shadowing him from the top of the defense an awful lot on Monday night because if you can somehow win Michael Thomas you're not gonna be able to stop him but if you can contain him at least it might go a long way towards him keeping this game close at least yeah that's the big thing is you're not really going to stop him but containing him and we've seen that bracket coverage style work before against Michael Thomas, particularly toward the end of the season last year. And then I guess my last question here is that if Michael Thomas doesn't get

rolling, the Saints are going to turn to, if he's healthy, Jared Cook over as their tight end. Now he's banged up, suffered a big hit on his second touchdown and his second catch against the 49ers. So he's in concussion protocol, but he does have the extra day. If he's able to get healthy and play and is able to get out there safely, how do the, how do the Cardinals, I'm sorry, how do the Colts usually fare against tight ends? Surprisingly, Ross did really well against tight ends this year. They put their rookie fourth round

pick, Corey Willis, strong safety. He's really taken over that role immediately and put them on their tight ends. And he's done really well in that role over the past few weeks. Also, Rocky has seen if he's healthy. I mean, I heard his ankle on Sunday against Canada Bay. He's good to go. He'll probably throw a rock on him a couple times as well. Those are very aggressive defensive backs that they drafted this year. And they actually have done very well against tight ends.

There's been one game this year that has been, I believe it was Houston early on this year, where Darren Phillips had a good game. But outside of that, they've shut down Travis Kelsey a lot. They've shut down the elite tight ends they've faced. So I think if they can contain Michael Thomas and the outside receivers, it might be one of those games where if Jared Cook can't get going, they might have to rely an awful lot on the running game from New Orleans.

And that could be something that really relies on the Colts favor there. Yeah, absolutely. And look, we've seen Alvin Kamara not really play up to his own standards, just up to usual standards. He's playing fine. But when it comes to Alvin Kamara standards, what we've seen with him, there is a little bit of a struggle there, and there is some concern there with what he's dealing with in terms of injury and his recovery from an injury earlier on in the season. Perhaps we see the Saints lean a little bit more on Latavius Murray in the power

run game, and then potentially it comes down to guys like Ted Ginn Jr., Traquan Smith, and maybe even Deontay Harris if he gets a little bit more involved in the offense. Sounds like it's going to come down to some of those other role-player guys making a big difference for this game in order for the Saints offense to keep rolling. Absolutely. It's going to be one of those games. I feel like the Colts could make it a game, but I really feel like New Orleans could get Michael Thomas going.

It could get out of hand pretty quickly. But we're going to go into our actual preview of this game as well as our keys and our predictions, Ross. But before we go on, a quick word again from our sponsors. Treat yourself to the meal you deserve and have your favorite restaurants come to you with DoorDash. Right now, our listeners can get five hours 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.

And if you're listening on the go and you can't visit DoorDash right now, you can find this and all other offers from LockedOn sponsors at LockedOnPodcast.com slash offers. But if you haven't already, go ahead and visit DoorDash. Get that $5 off your first order for $15 or more. All right, Ross, let's dive in now. I'll give you the floor here to start from the New Orleans side of things. What would you say are the three keys going against this Colts team? Big things for me are going to be pass rush for the Saints,

and that's just as important in this game as it is for setting the tone for the rest of the season. Again, big injuries on the defensive line, big losses for them. They've been really good so far this year in terms of their rotation. They bring in Noah Spence. I expect to see probably Taylor Stallworth potentially elevated. So the Saints usually address eight defensive linemen and then try to rotate them and try to keep everybody as fresh as possible, except for Cam Jordan, of course, who plays every single snap, every single down that he can. But so pass rush is going to be a big one here. The offense continuing its rhythm that they picked up against the San Francisco 49ers,

one of the best defenses in the NFL. They put up Drew Brees on his own five passing touchdowns, and then of course left over the top for a touchdown himself. So he and the rest of the passing game to continue to get rolling. And I think the third key, honestly, and we've talked about this, is just going to be the trenches. How can the Saints offensive line help out Drew Brees in terms of the quick passing game, but also giving him some time for some of those deeper routes to

develop? And how can the Saints offensive line protect so that Alvin Kamara and Latavius Murray can actually get a run game started for the Saints? A big element that we've seen them kind of kind of be a little bit lax on over the last few weeks since Drew Brees has returned. Yeah, from the cold side of things, Ross, I think we should start off with the trenches from their side of things, because obviously, that's the strength of their team. You have the five guys that Fermi mentioned earlier in the show. If they can get the running game going behind Marlon Mack, it could be a game where they grind it out, make it a high, like a time possession. It could be more 40-20 in favor of the Colts. That's what they want to do in these types of games, especially against really elite teams.

If they can do that, it's going to be a very close game, in my opinion. But the second key for me as well is going to be really hitting Jack Doyle. Jack Doyle is one of the underrated Titans in the NFL. If you look at the wide receiver core from week one they had T.Y. Hilton, Paris Campbell, Devin Funchess and then maybe on Monday if T.Y. Hilton can't play we don't know yet it sounds like he will but if he can't it's going to be Marcus Johnson, Dontrell Emme who just signed off the street again from last year as well as you look at a player like Paris Campbell, who was also hurt in that game on Sunday. So they really are down to a player like Ashton Doolin, who is from Malone University, undrafted.

They have no wires to their depth right now. So it's going to be one of those games where I think Jack Doolin is going to have to have a really big game across the middle. Jacoby's going to have to hit him in stride an awful lot. He missed him a couple times last week. That's going to be a really big game plan. Play action pass, get the run game going, get Jack Doolin involved a lot in this one. And also pressure on Drew Brees, like you

mentioned earlier in the show, Ross. If you can get pressure on Drew Brees, it's going to help out this Colts defense. Justin Houston, Ben Banigou, Jabal Shear, those three guys are going to have to have really big games. Maybe they do some exotic looks too with Darius Leonard, who has already five sacks during 10 games. So we might see Leonard himself do a lot of rushing himself. So I really do wonder, it's going to be one of those games like Kansas City. If they can follow that Kansas City model, I think it's going to go a long way. But if they can't, I am very worried about from the Colts side.

Yeah, it makes perfect sense, man. I'm looking at those and, you know, I think that the run game for the Colts becomes very important and limiting the run game as much as the Saints can is going to be incredibly, incredibly important for them too, because the saints don't want that 40 to 20 split unless they're happening to, unless they happen to be able to do it to themselves, which would mean that they're putting up a ton of points. They're not looking for that. They are going to want to control the ball.

They're going to want to control time of possession, especially at home. And they're going to want to give their offense more opportunities on the field than, than you were relying on their defense, especially after what they've seen over the recent weeks. I think that this could be one of those games that's really, really, really more competitive than people expect it to be.

And I think it's going to be one or the other. I think it's going to be the extreme here. It's either going to be a very competitive game or it's going to be an absolute blowout over on one side or the other. It's a tough one to look at, and it's way different than what we expected at the beginning of the year. But I do think that this is going to be a fun Monday night matchup for sure. Oh, I definitely agree with you there.

It's going to be an awful lot of points. I, at least in my opinion, I think it's going to be a very explosive game from one side. If we go into our predictions here, Ross, I'm going to go 34, 24 neurons winning.

I think it's going to be one of those games actually where it might be 34, 17 late in the fourth quarter and the Colts actually get a late touchdown and make it look a little better. I just don't see how this Colts defense right now is going to be one of those games actually where it might be 34-17 late in the fourth quarter and the Colts actually get a late touchdown and make it look a little better. I just don't see how this Colts defense right now is going to stop Drew Brees, especially after Jameis Winston did what he did on Sunday to that defense. I just don't have much confidence in them. I think Drew Brees, like I mentioned earlier in the show, is going to be salivating on that tape.

And just what they've seen the last few weeks is Colts defense kind of going downhill a little bit. No Kenny Moore, too, which is a huge loss for them. He's one of the more underrated pieces on that defense. He's not going to be playing on Monday night either. I'm going to go 34-24 Saints. I think Drew Brees and Michael Thomas are going to have really, really big days. Yeah, it's actually really close to what I had written down as well.

I had for the Saints 34-20, and I had a pretty close idea of the same thing to where there's a couple of late scores for the Colts. But I just think that this defense for the Saints has something really, really, really big to prove and set a tone for for the rest of their season as well as their playoff run. Because let's not forget that even though they lost that game last week, they're still in the playoffs. They're still locked in.

And at least, at the absolute least, they're going to be a number three seed in the playoffs this year. So I think that they feel like they have a job to do and that they have a tone to set. And I feel like this is a team that's going to come in defensively with something to prove, a team that's going to come in defensively with something to prove a team.

That's going to come in offensively with something to uphold because of what they finally struck in terms of rhythm last week. We'll see what happens with Jared cook. Certainly that factors into it. And then also just in terms of what the city is going to be like in new Orleans and what the sort of environment is going to be like in the super dome with the celebration of the 10 years of the super bowl, with it being exactly these two same franchises at that time coming into this game

and with it being a primetime Monday night game where we see Drew Brees thrive I think that that's exactly what we're going to see in this game and I look for it to be a little bit more one-sided and kind of a redemption story for the Saints defense as best as they can make it happen it's going to be a really fun Monday night I appreciate everyone listening on this latest edition of crossover Wednesday you guys can follow Ross here on the cold side of things, or even the same. So you haven't followed Ross yet, which you really should. He gives great information every day for the podcast. You can follow him on Twitter at Ross Jackson, ASC. You can also follow the cold side of things you want to over at locked on Colts. Ross, appreciate your

time as always, man. Absolutely, man. Same to you. Thank you so much and have a good time this week.