Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - LOCKED ON COLTS 12/3/19: Another loss sends the Colts' season into a tailspin

Episode Date: December 3, 2019

On today's episode, Stampede Blue's Zach Hicks is back to go over the Colts' 31-17 loss at home to the Titans. In a game where the defense showed up, the offense once again didn't. Thanks to Jacoby Brissett's disappearing act in the second half, the Colts didn't stand a chance against a red hot Tennessee squad.Speaking of Brissett, we spent plenty of time on why it's time to officially move on from him soon while also discussing why it's not okay to settle. Elite QBs win games, not average. Also, we kicked off the show talking about the kicking unit once again reaching comical levels.This is an episode you won't want to miss as the truth spills out all over. There needs to be plenty of changes made this offseason, and unfortunately quarterbacks is the No. 1 need. 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 host is Evan Setter and Drew Byer, weekly guests on the show. Zach Hicks of Stampede Blue. How are you doing today, Zach? Pretty good, man. You know, it's tough seeing how this season has gone down for the Colts, but we're one step closer to draft season. And, you know, I love watching the Colts win, but I also love draft season. So it could definitely be going worse. Yeah, hey, I'm definitely with you there.

I think a lot of Colts fans are, too. That draft season officially started now in December because the Colts going from 5-2 to 6-6 is definitely a steep fall. We're going to talk about the Titans game today for the first few minutes here, Zach. That game felt like the Colts should have won. They were up 17-7 in this one, but then the second half started. Jacoby Brissett couldn't handle the pressure like we've seen

multiple times this year. If you mix coverages up on him, you can't really get it done. The special teams unit we're going to hit on, too, I feel like at this point, I feel like it's almost a joke, Zach, just the special teams unit, because the kicking operation has been an issue, I believe, on seven or eight episodes already for us this year, and this is the ninth one now. And we saw multiple missed kicks from Vinatieri that most weren't his fault.

He missed one that was a little wide left, but having two blocked kicks I think was pretty inexcusable to me. Yeah, you know, starting with the special teams, I would like to clarify that, you know, saying the Colts have an issue with special teams, I don't think their special teams overall is having an issue. I think it's primarily their field goal kicking or their extra point kicking unit. It's all about that kind of unit. I think their punting game is pretty good. I think their kick coverage is pretty good. I think Chester Rogers' fourth injury was top five in the NFL in return yardage per return. Overall, their special teams units have been pretty good. It's just that kicking unit has been terrible all year. We've seen the blame go from long snapper to holder to Adam Vinatieri.

We saw, you know, two block kicks this weekend. One of them was definitely on the line for missing a block. But, you know, I did watch that first block kick. You know, the line projected pretty well. Vinatieri just kicked it really low. It was a really bad kick. I don't think it was even going to have a chance if it got past getting blocked. You know, you rarely see, you know, 320-pound guy jump up and, you know,

this wasn't an athletic player jumping over a lineman and getting insane elevation to block it. This was just a really low kick that was blocked. But, yeah, overall, you know, like you said, we've talked about this for seven, eight, nine shows now in the year, how this kicking issue has just been an issue all year, you know, from holder long snap or whatever it is you know uh whatever this issue is it definitely needs to be fixed by next year because uh if the Colts want to win in this league you can't be giving up points like that I think someone said the other day the Colts have given up uh they've, you know, lost 30 points this year on this kicks and that's just inexcusable. So, you know, whatever the issue is, I mean, personally, I think a lot of it is Vinatieri obviously, but whatever the issue is,

you know, it definitely needs to be corrected by next season. Let me ask you this, Zach, we haven't brought this point up on the show throughout the year. And like you mentioned there, thanks for clarifying on that point. It's mostly the kicking operations so far this year, like you mentioned the punting has done good. The return has done pretty well. Defending returns have done pretty well.

But I think we're reaching a point here where I heard some others talk about this on Twitter. And do you think there's a chance that this kicking operation continues to be horrible throughout December that Bubba Venturone, the Colts special teams coordinator who, by the way, was not hired by Frank Reich as one of Josh McDaniel's hires, do you think there's a chance that Bubba Ventura loses his job at this point? I mean, he could.

I think there's a lot of variables to it. Because, again, like we said, the overall special teams unit have been pretty good this year. You know, I'm not going to say that, you know, they're all elite. But, I mean, Rigoberto Sanchez is a really good punter. You know, Ashton Doolin, George Odom, Marvell Tau when he's been out there. You know, they cover kicks well. Even the return game, you know, I know a lot of people don't like Chester Rogers returning back there, but for the most part, he's done his job. I mean,

he had that one fumble on the safety return. Besides that, he's done his job for the most part. So I think overall, the special teams has been good. It's just been, you know, missing kicks and missing extra points. And personally, I don't really know what a special teams coordinator can really do with that. You know, I mean, maybe you, I mean, he's not going to show techniques to a guy who's older than him. I mean, I think Benatari is older than Bubba Ventrone. So I don't know. I think it's tough to kind of put all the blame on him. You know, the second block kick was definitely a poor execution by the line,

so maybe you put that on him. But, I mean, the first one was a miss to the left. The second one was just too low of a kick by Venditeri. I mean, it's just tough to place that on a coach, I think, when a player is just going out there and not getting it done, or a couple players, you know, from the long snapper to the holder, whatever all the blame goes on. I'm not a kicking expert.

I never will say I am. But, you know, I think it's tough to kind of blame him squarely for that. And when your only issue really is the kicking team, again, I think it's a little tough to kind of put all that blame on the special teams coach because special teams overall this year has been fairly good for the Colts outside of the kicking team. Let me ask you this though Zach I agree there I believe that Moses has been on the kicking operation and it's really Bubba can't control a lot of the kicks that Vinatieri makes or misses at this point but when you see a team like the Atlanta Falcons when Matt Bryant has one bad game they immediately cut at him I think it's fair to say at this point

Zach they should have done what was right for the team at this point in time. I know he's a captain. I know he's one of the best Colts of all time, but I think them not cutting Vinatieri back in September really was a mistake for this season. Yeah, you know, we talked about it back then after that second game against, or that first game, second game of the year against the Titans when he was missing those extra points. You know, you and I were talking about Ben, that if they keep him going forward, you know, he's going to cost you some games. And it came down to, you know, he missed the kick against the Steelers, which lost him that game.

Missed, you know, three kicks this past weekend. That would have drastically changed the game. I mean, it definitely came back to hurt them, kind of like what we said earlier in the year. And trust me, I wouldn't want to be in the spot that Ballard and Reich were in, I mean, a guy who's so respected in the locker room, who's definitely a Hall of Famer, I mean, the most deserving Hall of Fame kicker in the history of this sport is Adam Vinatieri, so, I mean, I, I get it was a tough decision, but, you know, at the end of the day, I think you got to do what's best for your team and best for winning so uh you know he probably you know Chris Ballard and Frank Reich probably bought so I guess I would say kind of like respect in the locker room for keeping him uh just because you know it's sticking with your guy and showing that how loyal they are to their guys but you know to a degree that loyalty has to run out when a guy's just not performing and he just

hasn't performed this year and it ended up hurting them quite a bit and now we're at the point where you know it's a you know less than two percent chance or whatever it is of them making the playoffs not solely because of Adam Vendeteri but you know the 30 plus points that they've left on the field is definitely a part of it. Away creates thoughtful products designed to change how you see the world. For $20 off a suitcase, visit awaytravel.com slash locked on and use promo code locked on, L-O-C-K-E-D-O-N, during checkout. Listening on the go? If you can't visit Away right now,

you can find this and all their offers from Locked On sponsors at lockedonpodcast.com slash offers. Long day at work? Tough day at school? Still stuck at the office? Treat yourself to the meal you deserve and have your favorite restaurants come to you at DoorDash. Your sweatpants are on for the day, but if you're sick of microwaved leftovers and frozen pizza, enter DoorDash.

Restaurant quality food with a living room dress code. Your parents don't pack your lunches anymore, but you still need to eat, so go ahead and order DoorDash right away. DoorDash connects you to your favorite restaurants in your city. Ordering is easy if you open the DoorDash app. Choose what you want to eat and your food will be delivered right to you wherever you are. Not only is your favorite pizza joint already on DoorDash, but there's over

350,000 restaurants in 3,300 cities, so you might find a new favorite restaurant yourself too. With door-to-door delivery in all 50 states and Canada, order from your local go-tos and choose your favorite national restaurants at Chipotle, Wendy's, Chick-fil-A, and the Cheesecake Factory. And don't worry about dinner. Let dinner come to you with DoorDash. Right now, our list can get $5 off their first order at $15 or more. When you download the DoorDash app, enter promo code LOCKEDON, L-O-C-K-E-D-O-N. Again, that's promo code LOCKEDON, and that's $5 off your first order. When you download the DoorDash app from the App Store, enter promo code LOCKEDON.

Don't forget, that's promo code LOCKEDON, L-O-C-K-A-D-O-N, for $5 off your first order from DoorDash. Moving on here, Zach, to the next point of our show, and it's definitely one that I've seen a swift turn on Colts Twitter, especially the last couple weeks, and it's one that we've been hammering on the last couple weeks ourselves, but Jacoby Brissett, I think, is really proving at this point that he's not the long-term answer quarterback. You put out a mock draft on Monday, having the Colts take Justin Herbert, which I like. Definitely some option from the quarterback, but Jacoby Brissett came out today from Pro on Monday, having the Colts take Justin Herbert, which I like. Definitely some options for them to quarterback.

But Jacoby Brissett came out today from Pro Football Focus, ranks 29th in the NFL out of all quarterbacks as far as their metrics go, ranking him at 29. He is the fourth lowest, 36 out of 40, on positive greater throws this year, and he's 33rd out of 40 and has to go in 10-plus yards down the field, Zach. So I think the numbers are kind of proving it. The film from defense is proving it so far that if you just get pressure on Jacoby Bursette, get him off his first read,

that this guy just isn't an NFL starting NFL franchise caliber quarterback. He's a great spot backup. He's a great player. He can maybe win you some games in a pinch here, but if you put too much pressure on Jacoby Bursette, and it's kind of really proven itself so far this year, Zach, that this regression of the mean is kind of what we should have expected. Yeah, you know, we've kind of touched on it a little bit on this show even before the whole heel turn happened from most of the fan base.

You know, we both kind of have said, you know, since week one that, you know, we like J'Koie Brissett, but we're not completely sold on him. And even as the year progressed and the Colts were racking up wins, we were kind of still saying the same thing on here, being like, you know, we like Jacoby Brissett, but we're not completely sold on him. And even as the year progressed and the Colts were racking up wins, we were kind of still saying the same thing on here being like, you know, I want to see more, you know, he had some of those couple good outings, you know, against the Texans the first game, the Falcons the first time where we gave him credit. But again, for the most part, you really want to see more from him. You want to see more touch, more anticipation, more timing uh you know more aggressiveness down the field a better feel for blitzes and finding his hot reads and and more

control with the line of scrimmage and finding his reads i mean we're at the point where we're looking at a 27 year old quarterback with almost 30 starts in his end of a career under his belt and he really hasn't improved that much from day one maybe maybe outside of, you know, mechanics or, or shedding tackles in the backfield. And that's just not really what you want to see from your franchise guys. So I think it's tough going forward, you know, really evaluating because I think he's a great, great guy. I think he's a, you know, a good quarterback. I think he's an average quarterback in this league. I don't think he's bad by any means, but I don't think he's the type of guy that will propel, team to competing for a Super Bowl.

I think you can always compete in each and every game with him, but I don't think long-term that this guy is the guy who can get you over the hump to the Super Bowl. That's all that really matters in the day is what can I do to win the Super Bowl, and I don't think Jacoby Brissett is that guy who can get this team to a Super Bowl and win the Super Bowl. You know, I hope the best for him. I don't know if, you know, next year he might still be the starter here. I'm assuming Ballard and Reich are going to be looking at some quarterbacks in this next draft or maybe even in free agency. But we've just seen this whole year, you know, he hasn't really progressed too much. And, you know, even this past weekend, he had one of his best games of the year up until he threw that really bad pick in the second half.

And then he got scared, really regressed down to what he was in the Texans game where he was missing reads and not let go of the ball. And it was a real shame because he was playing some really good football up until that point in this game. But that just kind of shows where he's at. I mean, I just don't think, you know, again, if this was a 21-year-old that was drafted in the first round, that's one thing. But this is a 27-year-old quarterback with almost two full years of starts. I mean, time's running out, and we're not really seeing much improvement. So, you know, for me, I think they definitely need to look at, like, different options going forward. Let me ask you this, Zach, because I've seen this from the pro-Bissette crowd on twitter so far about why they should keep them as a starter long term because hey peyton manning and andrew look they put too much pressure on the next quarter after

the cold set you guys were so elite that it's unfair to put them to a stand like that and i just wanted to clarify to the listeners out there that's just a really flawed logic in my opinion because elite quarterbacks win this league average quarterbacks donbacks don't. Subpar quarterbacks don't. If you don't have an elite quarterback, Zach, you're kind of stuck in the middle here. And I don't know why any fan base would accept that. Yeah, you know, one of the points I definitely want to bring up with that, because I think you're referencing mostly definitely some of the fans,

but also I think it was David Carr said that on NFL Network, I think, this morning. You know, the notion that you have to – that you can't compare guys to Luck and Manning, I get it. You know, I mean, you're not going to – every quarterback is not going to be a Hall of Famer. But why should you expect less than that? You know, why should you just be like, oh, this guy is not Andrew Luck. That's great. I mean, we'll settle for this average guy because finding your next Andrew Luck is hard. I hate that notion. I hate the notion of

you have to stick to mediocrity just because it's more convenient. I think that's a horrible lesson for football. And I think it's a horrible lesson in anything, in life or whatever. Why would you ever want to say, oh, it's difficult to find a franchise quarterback. So stick with this average guy who won't lose your games, but won't really win you many either. I just think the logic in that is terrible. I think we should be, you know, maybe not expecting Andrew Luck every single time our court, our next quarterback steps on the field, but we should be expecting, expecting you know something very good or expecting a change you know it should never be oh we have to be happy with average because we are spoiled because of

andrew luck and paint manning uh so now you have to be happy with average because you don't know what it's like you should always be expecting you know a great quarterback or wanting a good quarterback you know if they're not that then you look to move on i think that's a pretty simple logic i don't think you know you should on. I think that's a pretty simple logic. I don't think, you know, you should be happy settling for that middle ground. I mean, if we're talking about teams happy for settling, I mean, where would Pat Mahomes be right now? Where would, where would, you know, where the Ravens and Chiefs organizations be if they just said, Oh,

it's too hard to find a franchise quarterback. We'll stay with Joe Flacco and Alex Smith. No, they, they got aggressive. They went for guys they believed in, Lamar Jackson and Pat Mahomes, and now there are two teams that are going to be competing for Super Bowls for the next decade or two. I'm not saying that every quarterback prospect is one of those guys, but you have to take shots sometimes, and you can't just settle for this mediocre quarterback because that's just not going to get you over the edge. You might get lucky every now and then because there are definitely certain certainly some outliers throughout the history of football. But, you know, history tends to point to having one of the better quarterbacks in the league. You will always be able to compete for a championship.

So, yeah, we shouldn't you know, we shouldn't compare Brissette to Manning and Luck because he's not that good, I mean, at all. And the expectation should be your quarterback being near that level. So if he's not even pushing that level at all, look for your next quarterback. Yeah, if we're comparing Brissette just month by month here, Zach, September I would have thought you were crazy if you said the quarterback was the number one knee on those teams. He did really well in September.

October he went down a little bit. November, though, it was really, really bad. December 1st, if this is how December is going to be, it's going to be really bad for the Colts this month with Jacoby Brissett, a quarterback. I think it's fair to say at this point, I've accepted it, that the quarterback is the number one knee on this team. Do you agree, Zach? Yeah. Even if wide receiver, how do I describe this? If wide receiver is more of like a obvious need, like for instance, like the wide receiver group is weaker than the quarterback player currently, quarterback still has to be the number one need just because of the importance of that position.

You know, it's, it's make or break with that position. You can't have a mediocre thing at that position. You need something that can push you over the edge. So yeah, I think quarterback is definitely a need. That's not me saying that, you need something that can push you over the edge so yeah i think quarterback is definitely indeed that's not me saying that you know i've heard people throw around like oh they shouldn't reach for a quarterback they shouldn't take one just to take one yeah obviously they shouldn't take one just to take one uh but if there's a guy that ballard and reich really like you know let it be herbert love eason hurts whoever in this next class if they find a guy they really like, have conviction and do what you can to get that guy.

Because I trust those guys as talent evaluators, and they definitely need to upgrade that position. Now, looking at this offense, Zach, obviously it's been a lot different than it was in December. Bunches is out for the season now. T.Y. Hilton, I think, would assume be out for the season. We don't know that for sure, but I'd be stunned at this point if T.Y. plays in their game this season with the way his

calf is going. But I think it's just disappointing to me, at least, that the defense has improved so much this year, Zach, especially after the September where they had a really bad month in points per game in yards. And from the Chiefs game on, they've been an elite defense. And just to see the offense kind of waste the opportunity of this

really top five, top ten defense is disappointing to me. I think they should be a lot better than they are with that defense but for the future they're looking ahead long term Zach I really like this defense moving forward here if you add those pieces offensively I think this team could be really good again yeah you know it's crazy to think that this defense at least in my opinion uh if you unless there's a regression in terms of play calling, you know, if he's leaving or whatever, this defense is only going to get better. I mean, they're super young still.

I mean, outside of, like, the secondary, for instance, outside of Pierre Desir, and I think Clayton Gathers, they're all under, like, 25 years old or 26 years old. So the secondary is super young. The pass rush is getting a lot younger, especially with Turek coming back next year. And the linebacker group is awesome. I mean, not getting upset about that linebacker group.

So I think this defense is just going to get better going forward, especially if they, you know, continue to beef up that pass rush a little bit more, if that pass rush can be a little bit more consistent, kind of like what we saw this past weekend. If it can do that, you know, every single weekend. I mean, I think this defense, you know, the sky's the limit. I'm not

saying that they're going to be the best units in football but uh the way they've played recently the way that Matt Egerflus has called this defense since uh since the end of September and you know the potential to kind of keep adding to that group I think the sky's the limit for this group I think this defense is awesome right now and it can only get better from here I saw a report from Tom Pellicer I believe it was in October, about Nick Sirianni being maybe a hot coaching candidate, but I think we should start talking about Matt Iberflues being that guy, Zach, because I'm getting a little nervous at this point with the amount of talent

that continues to be on this defense and the way that Iberflues has really turned this season around for them since that Chiefs game. I think he should be getting some head of coaching looks, but hopefully he's kind of an under-rare, the guy that maybe not many NFL teams are looking at, because I think losing Iver Flusch would be a huge loss to this team. Yeah, you know, we are very lucky, though, that the NFL is still trending towards those offensive rooms

for head coaching jobs. So we might be a little bit – we might be pretty lucky for the next year or two with that regard. And also, I think Iver Flusch, his personality, again, I don't know him personally. This is not coming off of any sources or anything like that. But just from what I see and kind of my feel with it is, I think Ibraflux isn't really that commanding personality where he's going to go out of his way to get a head coaching job or he's going to be super, super impressive in interviews. I'm not saying that he's not going to be a good interviewer or he

shouldn't get those interviews. I'm just saying, I don't think he's going to have that kind of personality that's going to completely win over someone because I think he's very kind of reserved. So I think when you combine that with the NFL, you know, kind of trending towards his offensive gurus, not the defensive guys, I think we might still be lucky enough to have him for another year or two. But, you know, if he keeps trending this way, he definitely deserves a head coaching job. There'd be nobody happier than me to see that because, I mean, he has done an excellent job this year,

especially with everyone calling for his head at the end of September. Let me ask you this as well, Zach, because, of course, going from 5-2 to 6-6, it's definitely a steep change from what we were thinking back about a month ago. But at this point, how should fans look ahead to the rest of the season? Because I think Colts fans should know, if you're hoarding out hope for this season to make the playoffs, I hate to break it to you, they're not going to make the playoffs at this point. This team just isn't good enough.

You can't trust the quarterback. They have a tough schedule still. I personally don't think they're going to win on Sunday in Tampa Bay. I don't think they're going to win in New Orleans. They might not even win in Jacksville with Gardner-Mitchie starting there. And maybe who knows in Carolina, too, even though they just fired Ron Rivera today. So that could be a win for them. But how do you grade the rest of the season, Zach? Because I imagine at this point, the next four weeks are going to be kind of

looking at some young guys. They'll get some players for the future. And outside of that, I don't know how else you evaluate it. Yeah, you know, you just want to see some consistency. You want to see, you know, the offensive line still play well. You want to see some consistency you want to see you know the offensive line still play well you want to see this defense continue to play well especially you know with a very tough matchup against the bucks another tough matchup against the saints coming up you want to see this defense kind of maintain that hot streak but you know at the end of this and then the end of the day the rest of the season doesn't really matter outside of draft position even if they do make a run run, say they win these last four

and they make the playoffs, this team's not going to the Super Bowl. They just don't really have the firepower to do that. So you just want to see guys stay healthy, young guys make some plays, and overall the defense kind of keeping their momentum going into next year. I mean, that's the only way you can really look at it. It kind of sucks to watch these last four games with nothing really on the line, but this is an opportunity to kind can really look at it. It kind of sucks to watch these last four games with nothing really on the line, but this is an, it's an opportunity to kind of really look at player evaluation and see which guys are worth keeping going forward, which guys, you know,

deserve more playing time next year and which areas need to be upgraded. So I think it's, you know, it's a useful time to have these last four games. It's kind of like a, like a mini preseason, but you know, it doesn't really mean too much in terms of anything outside of draft position. Also, I was looking at a quote today. I saw Kevin Bowen talked about it with Chris Ballard about Devin Bunches. It really sounded to me just reading contact clues that they're not going to re-sign Devin Bunches.

I think there's going to be a lot of changes free agency-wise for this team. Outside of Jack Doyle and outside of Andy Costanzo, Zach, at this point in time, I don't know if I'm bringing anyone else back for this team. Outside of Jack Doyle and outside of Andy Costanzo, Zach, at this point in time, I don't know if I'm bringing anyone else back at this point. Maybe Jonathan Williams, but I don't even know what that right now. So how many guys do you expect them to keep this year? Because I tweeted this out yesterday on the Lockdown Colts account, but Chris Bell has had the opportunity to have compensatory picks

really stack up for him. And this could be the opposite now with Ebron, with Jabal Sheard, with maybe even another player like Funchess who gets maybe a contract that we don't expect. They could really stack up some day two, round three, round four cuts to a picture for 2021. I think Chris Ballard's the kind of guy I think would be into that. Yeah, you know, it definitely could happen,

especially if Ballard keeps his philosophy of not really signing many people in free agency. But I do think, you know, say they do prioritize Costanzo, Doyle, and maybe even Williams and Sheard. Let's say they even bring Sheard back. You know, they'll still be working with close to $80 or $70 million in cap space. And I'm not saying Ballard will spend all that, but even if he signs one or two guys to Funchess-level deals,

he will lose you know compensatory picks that he'd get for ebron and and funchess so uh we'll definitely have to keep an eye on that you know if he doesn't want to go big in free agency yeah you could definitely get those compensatory picks but i would like to see him bring in at least a couple guys in free agency this year even if they're not huge contracts or or big time names uh just bring in a couple more players to kind of round out this team. But we'll see. Again, if he doesn't want to go – if he wants to maintain his philosophy that he's been doing right now, yeah, he could definitely get more

compensatory picks. And I know Ballard's not the type of guy who would turn down picks. So it'll be interesting to see what he does this offseason. But, yeah, outside of Costanzo and Doyle, maybe Shearer, because, again, that's just a tough guy to let go because of just who he is. I don't really see any priorities of re-signing. Zach Paschal is a restricted free agent, so he'll be back for sure. Joe Haig, I think, is a restricted free agent, too, and he should be back.

But, you know, outside of that, there's no guy I would say has to be back. Alonzo is definitely a big priority with Doyle close behind. But, yeah, there's not many other big priorities for this team to re-sign. Last Austin question I have for you, Zach, before we dive into a quick Buccaneers preview. With the quarterback position, I know many teams, if you need a quarterback, you trade up nowadays. And we were talking about earlier in the show about how we don't believe

Jacoby's the guy and they probably should address him in the draft. I think at this point, if the Colts finish, let's say seven to nine, around the 14th, 15th, 17th pick in the draft, for example, do you think Chris Bauer would trade up using assets for a quarterback at that point? Because I feel like Bauer's with a guy that if he sees a quarterback, I think he knows how valuable that position is in the NFL, that he would put some chips in the table and move up in the top 10 if he had to get his guy.