Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - LOCKED ON COLTS 12/17/19: An embarrassing loss officially ends the Colts' season in New Orleans

Episode Date: December 17, 2019

What an embarrassing showing that was for the Colts on a national stage in the Bayou. 34-7 was the final score where Drew Brees was 29-30 and Jacoby Brissett had his worst game of the season. All around, it's a loss this team can't afford to take right now.Bremer helps diagnose what exactly went wrong against the Saints, including the whole offensive scheme and why Brees sliced them up on defense.Speaking of Brissett, how important are these next two games for him? Will it even matter in the end with how much he's regressed?We close talking about how elite this roster truly is. NOLA was undefeated without Brees earlier this season, so what's missing here? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello, everybody. Welcome back into Locked On Colts, pretty locked on podcast network. Today, as always, I'm your host, Evan Sutter, and joined by our weekly guest here on each Tuesday throughout the season, George Brimmer of the Herald Bulletin. How are you doing, George? Good. How are you doing? Doing good. I think we're doing a lot better than the Colts are today after what happened last night, because that was, honestly, I think the worst loss of the season. It's pretty easy to say that for the Colts. They're down 34-0 in New Orleans on Monday Night Football, and they're losing 34-7 thanks to a garbage garbage time touchdown late from Jordan Wilkins on a drive.

But George, what was your takeaway from this one? Because I know we were talking off the air for a little bit. I think you're glad you didn't have to go to New Orleans, but that was just a really embarrassing game from the Colts on both sides of the ball. Yeah, we were talking about driving down. There would have been a 13-hour drive. i'm pretty glad that i didn't make that trip uh and got to watch it from the couch and go to sleep right after and wake up today in indiana and not driving back from louisiana so i guess those are the positive takeaways for me from the weekend uh outside of that it i would go even a little bit further than you i think it was the worst loss of the frank reich era you know i i go back to games like the jets and some of those games last year that were just kind of gut-punch games, Dolphins even this year.

To lose like they did on Monday Night Football and just to not have any kind of fight at all, nobody's happy. I can tell you that. From the conference call today, Frank Reich used the word disgusted at least three times. They're well aware of what happened. And I think it's really just, to me, when you look at that game, it's a case of playing a very bad game against a very good team,

and you see the result. Yeah, a really ugly one for the Colts there. And let's start off with the offense here, of course. I know the quarterback is a very hot topic here, so we'll start off with Jacoby Bursette. He started, I believe, 6-21 in this game, ended up finishing with about 175 yards, I believe. I'm going to pull up his stats here in just a moment.

But I think it was really surprising, again, George, just the regression from his accuracy standpoint of Jacoby Bursette. Because I saw Frank Reich mention today that he doesn't believe his knee is bothering him that much, and I don't think that's the issue either. Just what's going on with Jacoby Brissett and his accuracy? Because it's not a third straight game where he's under 60% completion percentage. And that didn't happen all season prior to these last three weeks. Man, it's not been close. I mean, that's the thing.

It's one thing. Sometimes I think just the completion percentage on its own, you know, that can be good or bad depending on what actually happened in the game. Sometimes you've got a lower completion percentage. It's not really your fault. That not the case on on Monday night he was missing open guys again it it really to me it looked a lot like the Houston game where even his completions were kind of not in the right place and guys weren't getting the yards that they maybe could have gotten with a better throw it's one of the bigger questions right now is why has that happened?

Because as you mentioned, you know, he was the most accurate he's been at any point in his career for the first half of this year or close to it. The injury happened in Pittsburgh, and since then, he's not been the same quarterback. Colts have not been the same team. And last night was really kind of the the low point of that as bad as it's been i don't know i don't have an answer for why that's happened i agree with with both you and coach reich i don't think the injury is that major of a factor he's

basically dealing with the same injury that ohio state's justin fields has played with the last couple weeks uh and and you see you know if you you watch Ohio State during the year, you see it affect Justin running. He's not been as likely to take off out of the pocket as he was earlier. And that has affected Ohio State in some ways because that was a big part of their offense. But it hasn't affected him noticeably in his ball placement and some of those things. So I don't know. You know, I think it's a really tough situation for the team because they've got some hard answers that they're going to be searching for.

And I don't think Jacoby Brissett is answering them the way that they would like to see here as the season comes down to a close. Yeah, Jacoby Brissett, for those wondering, 18 of 34 for 165 yards last night. He was sacked once, no touchdowns, no picks. The offense really couldn't do much at all, but just really interesting to me, George. I'm going back to the Denver game here about a month ago because I feel like that's when it started to turn as far as teams really stacking the box against this Colts rushing attack. The Colts haven't had a really monstrous rushing attack since then, and you look

at the teams on that schedule, Denver, Pittsburgh, Miami, Jacksonville, Houston again, Tennessee, Tampa, New Orleans. They're all stacking the box, making Jacoby Brissett beat them. And the Colts now have 6-7 because of that. Do you think that maybe the formula is out on how to stop this Colts offense? Yeah, I think some people did it before then too. I mean, Houston did it the first time the Colts played them. Atlanta did it in week three. In those cases, Jacoby was able to come through and perform, but far more often than

not, it's been a result more like last night where the offense suffers greatly. I think it's not just the lack of big plays from the passing game that are a problem. You see some of the formations they have to get into as well. I mean, they're pretty bunched up right now because they don't have that. When Andrew Luck's out there, you're pretty bunched up right now because they don't have that. You know, when Andrew Luck's out there, you're going to put four or five receivers and spread them out across the entire formation. You don't see that very often right now. A lot of that has to do with the fact that the quarterback's not been very accurate. He's not been making big plays, not been making defenses pay for blitzes. Some of that's been going on all year, quite frankly, as far as trouble against the blitz

and things like that. But when you do that and you start having to bring in more protection and have those more bunch-type formations, that's bringing more defenders into the box, even when they don't want to do it themselves. It's kind of naturally bringing them in. It makes it even harder on the running game. So I think all the way around, the passing game has really been the biggest bugaboo with this offense and I don't think that that's breaking news to anybody everybody watching this team can see that um I just think last night was exhibit a yeah I totally agree with you there George and looking at the rushing stats for this team too I believe Jacoby was actually the leading rusher at halftime

he had his seven yards at halftime and he didn't have anything else after that. But Marlon Mack, 11 carries, 19 yards. Jordan Wilkins, three carries, 10 yards. Naeem Hines, two carries, 10 yards. 17 carries for 46 yards, 2.7 average on that. Just a really odd game rushing for the Colts. And when they couldn't establish the run, I feel it goes over already. It seems like this offensive line, I know we're talking about being an elite unit. I still believe it is, of course. It's a big sample size from last year and the beginning of this year but very odd to me how this Colts rushing attack in this offensive line really hasn't picked up steam since that Denver game a little bit yeah and I think to me it really goes back to the passing attack I just think defenses know what they have to do and they're taking away the running

game and as you said they're saying point blank if you're going to beat us you're going to do it on Jacoby Brissett's arm it's a bet that defensive coordinators have been winning uh with great consistency here in the last month month and a half and i think some of it you know definitely there are plays that they can run better uh that the offensive line can can block better but some of it too is is just the simple nature that if your running game is going to work you're going gonna get it up and going you've got to be able to spread the field a little bit threaten the that defense with with the deep ball or at least spread them out and the coaches can't do that right now they've

tried and it every time you know you've seen them go to a spread formation or try a deep throw doesn't work because right now i don't think the quarterback's playing well enough to allow it to work. Looking at, as well, just this overall receiving core, looking at T.Y. Hilton for a second, George, because he was actually a participant in Monday's game. You know he only played 50% of the snaps. Frank, you had an interesting quote during his conference call

I wanted you to elaborate on because you said that he thought T.Y. was 100%. You just didn't get him involved more often. What was your overall thoughts on how he used T.Y. last night and why he didn't play as much as he thought he would? Yeah, I don't buy the 100%. I know that that's what they're saying. It didn't look like he was 100%. I think he might have been 75% or 80%.

I think he looked better than he did against Houston. But if he was truly 100%, you would have had him out there, especially with the offense struggling the way it was. You would try to get him out there as often as possible it was pretty clear that they came in i don't want to say he was straight up a decoy but that's the way it was used especially early in the game uh you know get him out there line him up make the defense be aware of him and obviously his presence alone is going to affect the way defense plays but i think once the saints realized pretty quickly he wasn't playing,

you know, his normal amount of snaps and he wasn't getting targeted really early, they went away from that and didn't give him as much respect as they might have if they felt like he was full go. And Reich, as part of that answer, he said that, you know, there were plans to get him the ball earlier and to get him involved earlier in the game. He didn't really elaborate on what happened and the reasons for that, but they didn't.

Obviously, from my eyes, he didn't look like 100% to me. If you're a Spotify listener, use Spotify Wrapped to show us your top Locked On podcast for the year. Take a screenshot and tag us at LockedOnLive and also at LockedOnColts on Twitter. We'll be sure to share and retweet for you guys. Yeah, definitely agree with you there as well, George, because I think TY, if he would have been 100%, he should have played 100% of those snaps. But going across to the defensive side of things, incredible numbers from Drew Brees last night.

Broke Peyton Manning's record for all-time touchdowns. He had four touchdowns, zero picks, but 29 of 30 for 307 yards. It's like a rookie mode of Madden 20 for me. It seems like they had just an easy time of just going around the field and just hitting guys left and right. Michael Thomas couldn't be stopped at all. 12 receptions on 12 targets for 128 yards and a touchdown. What was your thoughts on the Colts game plan defensively, George? Because we saw an awful lot of zone again. I know Kenny Moore out there and Kenny makes a big difference, but I just feel like Matt Iberflues needs to mix up more often against these types of really elite quarterbacks you've seen it with Phillip Rivers this year Deshaun Watson

and now with Drew Brees especially and even Jameis Winston we saw it last week too like these average to above average quarterbacks even elite quarterbacks tennis slice up this defense they don't mix things up a little bit yeah you know I don't really buy that they didn't mix things up last night I thought they did quite a bit they got beat everything they did i mean it was just fact of matter they weren't getting home with pass to us and that's number one no matter what you do in this defense whether they're in man which they were in man a lot more than it seemed like last night at least from what i saw uh when i say that it seemed like then then i hear from the fan base uh whether in zone either way they've got to get home.

They weren't close. I mean, there were maybe like two snaps where I felt like Breeze had to move around in the pocket. He was basically sitting comfortably, picking apart whatever scheme he was seeing. And I think when you go back to when Tony Dungy was here, you can look at the Tampa teams. You can look at the Bears in the 2000s.

Get pressure on the quarterback in this defense. It really doesn't matter what else happens. It's going to look terrible. Yeah, and looking at that point, I'm glad you brought that up there, George, because I was going to talk about that next with you because I was looking at the stats for Justin Houston and Jabal Sheard. They didn't do anything against New Orleans,

of course, but Justin Houston over his last month has one sack. Jabal Sheard only has one sack the last month. Do you feel like maybe against New Orleans, of course, but Justin Houston over his last month has one sack. Jabal Sheard only has one sack the last month. Do you feel like maybe this defense is kind of collapsing a little bit late just because the pass rush is just non-existent now the last month? I think that has a lot to do with it. There's a lot of factors as there always are. Quarterbacks are getting rid of the ball quick too. I mean, you don't see Breeze get a lot of pressure ever because, you know,

he's going to throw it very quickly. But yeah, I don't think that, I don't think the front four has been as effective as it was earlier in the season certainly hasn't been as effective as it was when this defense was kind of humming when they beat the chiefs and the texans and back-to-back weeks and when there was a lot of reason to be optimistic about where they were going and i think you know quite frankly part of it turret get, you know, quite frankly, part of it, Turek got hurt. You know, I'm not saying that he was a beast and that his absence alone is the problem, but I think he's another guy that they brought in there. The defense has had to really worry about it, open things up for Houston.

When Sheard first came back, I thought he had some of the same effect, but I just don't feel like he's gotten that the pressure the way he did last year because not even just the sack numbers you know last year he got sacks for so many other guys and i don't feel like that's happened as much this year he's not collapsing the pocket the way he was and you know i know boogers said a lot of things that were controversial at times last night but i thought he was spot on in a couple things and one of them was he's talking about they need that pass-rushing defensive tackle. I think that from a pass-rush standpoint,

Denico Autry's been disappointing this year. I think he would probably be the first to say that. He hasn't gotten into the backfield the way he did a year ago, hasn't put that pressure on. This defense needs its version of Warren Sapp, and I think that when you're looking at all the different things that they want to pick up this offseason, that's going to be high on the list. Without that guy, there's always going to be some dysfunction in this scheme.

Yeah, locally for the Colts, I think this is a very good defensive class, that defense tackle in the 2020 draft. Also some good free agent ops for him too if they want to really spend money. But let's talk about special teams for a second, George. I feel like we've been talking about it almost every week throughout this podcast, throughout the season here, because it wasn't Ben and Terry this time. Chase McLaughlin didn't have to do much last night. But starting off the game with a blocked punt there,

it just was a bad look for this Colts team. And just continue to be issues on that special teams unit throughout the year. Every week. You know, I was doing a local radio show here uh just a little bit before i jumped on here with you and we were talking about that very thing this special teams unit has been a disappointment almost all year inventory struggles are well known but even just looking through this four game losing streak that blocked field goal against tennessee that turned the game you know there's no doubt about that They're going with five minutes to go.

They're lining up for a kick to take the lead. And a few seconds later, they're down a score. It changed everything. It turned it on its head. And you've seen, you know, muffed plays in the punts, return. You've seen bad decisions bringing the ball out of the end zone, like at the beginning of the game last night. But that blocked punt, to me, that set the tone for the whole day.

I mean, right before that, you get a punt down at the two and it's thinking, well, defense is going to have a chance now. This is the best kind of situation they can be in. And there's a holding penalty, and they have to re-kick it, and it's blocked, and there's a holding penalty on that. And I think somebody said it was a 65 yard swing between those two picks um you just can't do that and it something like that feels like it happens every week i think the special teams especially when andrew luck retired you

knew this team was going to have to have a very small margin for error they're going to have to go out and do things very well, performing at very high efficiency. And I think special teams week in and week out has not done that. And you just can't afford that. You're going to end up six and eight out of the playoffs. George, just a general question here for you, because I mean, the Colts are off five and two. They're now six and eight. They're one and six in the last seven games. How are you going to remember, since they're officially out of the playoffs now after week 14, How are you going to remember, since they're officially out of the playoffs now after week 14, how are you going to remember the 2019-20 cold season?

Because I know it started off when we were talking in August after that shocking Andrew Luck news. This has to be one of the weirdest seasons you've covered, George. Yeah, it's been – this whole season's really been weird, one thing after another. I've made this analogy before, and I think it's probably what I remember most about this season. This whole year to me felt like a pinata. You know, I've been getting hits all year long,

people taking swings at that pinata, and sooner or later it was going to crack. And I feel like that happened a week or two ago, whether it was a loss to Houston or a loss to Tennessee. I think at that point, you know, all those hits piled up. That's what I'm going to remember. Injuries aren't an excuse in this league. Everybody knows that. But, you know all those hits piled up that's what i'm going to remember injuries aren't an excuse in this league everybody knows that but you know i saw where zach keifer was reporting last night that ty said injuries are well held this team back this year and i think there is some truth to that at the end of the day whoever's out there has to has to produce and has to execute there are teams this year that have overcome things. Pittsburgh at the top of that list.

It's not an excuse in that it's a pass. And what happened last night, there's no excuse for. Nobody anywhere in the NFL is going to look at last night's tape and say that's acceptable in any way for any reason. The Colts are no exception to that. But I think when you look at who got hurt and when they were missing, that's been such a big part of this story. To not include that in the story of this year, I think, would be malpractice.

It's not something that immediately gives anybody a free pass, but to look at what happened at wide receiver, to be missing Kenny Moore these last couple weeks, to have Pierre Desir in and out of the lineup and undoubtedly affected from a physical standpoint when you watch him the last couple weeks, to have Pierre Desir in and out of the lineup and undoubtedly affected from a physical standpoint when you watch him the last couple weeks on the field. Those kind of things, I don't know many teams in the league that can withstand that over the amount of time that the Colts have had to this year.

Yeah, it certainly has been one of the weirdest seasons I can remember just being a Colts fan in general following this team because we've just been so used to Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck's stability and now that's kind of all in disarray now and we're going to find out what Chris Proud does in the quarterback position and really all around the roster in 2020 this offseason but I wanted to ask you George as well because Frank Reich an interesting comment to the

conference call you just got off a little bit ago before you joined the show here I think an interesting point he made just about the season so far someone asked about Chad Kelly if he was going to play and he mentioned, no, Jacoby's going to be the guy next two weeks. They're going to try to implement more things for Jacoby that maybe haven't worked in the past. Maybe tweak some things around for him a little bit. What should Colts fans look forward to the next two weeks with the season pretty much over, the playoffs are out of there? What do you look for as a Colts fan or really as a follower the next two weeks? Yeah, you know, I think what Reich said

right before that, too. And first of all, he did say that there are probably going to be more small, little subtle things than maybe the way that they call play or the timing or something. So it might not be all that obvious, you know, on the field, whatever it is that they're switching up these next couple weeks. It'll be fun to see how that looks and whether or not you can tell a big difference.

One thing that I think that they should try, and no one asked me, no one really cares, is a little more tempo. You know, I think I was surprised they haven't done that more often this year, trying to force a little bit faster tempo. I think that Jacoby, when he's been at his best, both in 2017 and earlier this season, he's a rhythm guy. And I think if you can get into a little bit more of an up-tempo game

and get him thinking less and reacting more, I think that he plays better. Most quarterbacks do. It's not like it's just a Jacoby Brissett thing. I think the majority of quarterbacks probably play better when they're in rhythm. But I think with him in particular, that's been something that I remember riffing Trey talking about that back in training camp before any of us knew that Jacoby was going to be the starter this year.

You know, look, when he's in rhythm, he can be very good. And when he doesn't find that rhythm, he can really struggle. And so I think maybe trying to find ways to get him into that rhythm earlier in a game and extend it and let him be in that rhythm for longer periods that's what I would focus on if I was coaching in these last couple weeks I think what right pointed out uh on the conference call is yeah these two games don't meet anything in the standings I think I said on Twitter last night they're basically playing two exhibition games now to end the year because they essentially are. But he said the way you finish this year will carry over into next year.

And I believe that. I really do. I think this team, if they had Andrew Luck, would have looked a lot more like the 2018 team than they ended up ultimately looking like this year. I think they know if they can finish this year on a high note, whatever that looks like, it should carry over to the start of next year.

And I think that's what you look for. And that doesn't even necessarily mean winning both games. It means not looking like they did last night. If you're looking for your last minute fun sports gift for the holidays, go to BreakingTea.com slash LockedOn. Breaking Tea makes sports t-shirts around teams' most passionate moments. It's great for all fans and it's a go-to. If you have an array for BreakingTea.com BreakingTea.com

And then feel free to search the site for great shirts and fun sports goods for your family. This is a hypothetical here for you, George, because I feel like this is impossible to answer, at least from your vantage point, until we really know what's going to happen to the Colts here. But let's say Jacoby Brissett has a really good game against Carolina and a really good game against Jacksonville to close out the season. Maybe his two best games of the year, for example. Does that change the Colts' mind, if at all, at this point in the season?

I know two games shouldn't really change much for them in their evaluation of Jacoby over a 16-game sample size. But how important are these next two weeks for Jacoby Brissett, you think? Yeah, they're important because I think everybody in the NFL, you're playing and you only get 16 shots of that a year, and that's out there for everybody. So, you know, every player, these games are important to them personally because it's going to determine how your organization feels about you,

how other organizations feel about you. But I don't think it's going to affect much of what the Colts think of him. Those evaluations are ongoing, and they're looking at the season as a whole. They'll be, you know, the 15th and 16th data points and nothing more. I just think when you look at the way the Colts are handling this situation now and what they're saying, I think it's a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush kind of a situation. They know what they have in i think it's a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush kind of a situation they know what they have in jacoby percent they know that he has some tools the toughness the leadership that they really like they don't know what they're going to do with

that position in the draft or how it's going to look the next couple years and so you can't really come out right now and and you know downplay him him and his role. He's a real leader in this locker room. He needs to execute better. Everybody knows that. I don't think he's done anything to this point in the season that would convince anybody that he's the quarterback for the next 10 years here. I don't think he's going to do anything in the next two weeks to do that. And so, you know, I think he goes in the same way any other position goes in you're looking

at a guy in Chris Ballard who's all about competition who as I've mentioned before went and found Brissette when he had Andrew Luck brought in Chad Kelly as kind of a lottery ticket kind of guy this offseason he hasn't really sat pat at the quarterback spot since it bit him in the butt frankly in 2017. His first year, he kind of let that go, and then you saw what happened. He went into the season with Scott Tolzina as a starter, and it all fell apart. He's been very careful not to do that in two years since. And I think you're going to see him go and add somebody,

but I think the Colts are aware that the odds of that guy being better than Jacoby Bursette I don't think are as good as maybe some people in the fan base are expecting them to be. I think Brissett's exactly who Frank Reich said he was. I think he's a top 20 guy in the NFL, but there's 32 quarterbacks in the NFL. If you're number 20, you're still in the bottom half of the league. I don't know that there's going to be a guy they bring in that's a top 19 guy this year. We'll see. I think they're going to make every effort to do it.

But I think they understand, no matter the evaluation, no matter the feeling, the odds are very much that Jacoby Brissett will be the starting quarterback in at least week one of 2020. Yeah, it's certainly going to be a very interesting situation for this court position throughout this offseason. Because like you mentioned, George, it's certainly going to be a very interesting situation for this court position throughout this offseason because, like you mentioned, George, it's so fluid right now. It's going to be fluid all the way up until draft night for A&C if they make a trade. Who knows at this point what the Colts are going to do at that position.

Maybe they'll stay pat, but I wanted to ask you before I let you go here, George, appreciate the time as always just about this Colts roster overall because we saw in New Orleans, actually, for an example, Teddy Bridgewater played five games this year after Drew Brees went out. They didn't crumble after Drew Brees went out. They won five straight games with Teddy Bridgewater. Other examples like New England, a team like Green Bay, Kansas City, these elite rosters

that they have. I think it's obvious at this point the Colts don't have, quote unquote, an elite roster just yet. How close do you think they are, though? I mean, how many more years do you think this Colts front office needs to really get an elite roster in tap? Yeah, that's a really good question. I think that one's going to be difficult to answer. I think they were really close. You know, if you look at the roster they actually built for this year, not the one that ended up playing out the season, I still contend,

and I've said this before, and it's easy for me to say right now because it can't be proven or disproven. So it's real easy for me to say right now because it can't be proven or disproven. So it's real easy for me to make this statement. But I feel like if Andrew Luck had played as expected, this was a team that was capable of winning the AFC. And what I saw play out over the year, I completely still feel that way because how many of these games came down to fourth quarter, having that closer, and how much it had to do with with

the lack of something in the passing game i feel like he was out here he would have covered for that you look at jacoby percent if it was more a situation where andrew luck was coming back at mid-season from injury instead of retiring they were five and two at one point and they were still had everything in front of them and i feel like this roster had to go even deeper than it ever thought it would have to, especially at receiver, somewhat in the defensive secondary spot. And so it's hard to say where it really is, because I think there were some really unique situations.

I think Pittsburgh obviously showed these are overcomable obstacles. They lost Roethlisberger in week two, I think. They're down to their third-string quarterback in Devlin Hodges. But at the end of the day, the difference between those two teams right now is two games. Pittsburgh's eight and six. The Colts are six and eight. How far off is that really?

And one of those games is a missed field goal at the end by the Colts. It's a really hard question to answer. What I'm interested in now is I feel like Ballard did a really good job his first three years of building a team that, in my mind, would have been a title contender with Andrew Luck. Now he's got to shift that focus. And how's he going to make this team a title contender without that franchise quarterback?

I don't know how long that's going to take, but that's the goal now. That's the new challenge in front of me. Yeah, it's certainly, like we mentioned already on the show, it's going to be a very, very interesting offseason for this thing up as Colts team. A lot of questions to be answered. But you can follow George on Twitter if you haven't already at GMBremmer. Read and digest his work, as always, over on the Herald Bulletin for his awesome Colts card.

Appreciate your time, as always, George. No problem. Thanks a lot, Evan.