Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - LOCKED ON COLTS -12/9- Indianapolis Colts/Houston Texans Locked on Crossover w/Robert Land

Episode Date: December 9, 2016

Locked on #Texans host Robert Land joins Matt of Locked on #Colts to go into this pivotal Week 14 matchup that could very well decide the AFC South. Each fan base should be resting on a win as the rest of each team's schedule still leaves a lot left to be determined. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

That's for my crazy day. My packed commute. All those unread emails in my inbox. But I'm getting stronger, faster, and pushing myself further every day. I don't care if I'm not like everyone else. This punching bag is the best way to end my day. Fearless is knowing yoga isn't your style. That's the power of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Federal Employee Program.

Learn more about our healthy benefits at fepblue.org slash getmore. No, I'm not for sale. You are lockeded On Colts, your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome to a Locked On Crossover. I'm Robert Land from Locked On Texans, back with Locked On Colts, Matt Dainley. Great to talk to you again. It's another simulcast between the two of us and a huge game this week. And it's always a big game when the Texans and Colts meet.

It seems like there's always really something at stake in the last few years. Let me ask you, is there a big difference between the Colts that we saw earlier this season and how you guys are performing right now? I think there is. If you want to just look at it with a broad brush, the Colts right now are playing well despite some of their lackluster areas. Obviously, Andrew Luck's playing phenomenal level, but the rest of the team, nothing else is consistent. It's hard. I think that the Colts are a better team than the Texans right now. If you were to just put them two on the field 10 times,

I think the Colts win seven to eight out of 10 times. And, you know, that really is hard to tell, though, when you look at all the injuries that have come up. You know, and the Colts are injured week to week, you know, with different guys. And I just think both these teams have huge holes. And I really do just think that the end result of these two current teams is that Andrew Luck's the far better quarterback, and that the uh the end result of these two current teams is that Andrew Lux the far better quarterback and that makes them the better team I mean it's so hard to tell they're both so flawed right now but uh yeah I think uh I think they're playing a little

bit better I think they've got a little bit of a hot streak in them uh and I think uh on the other side Houston really doesn't have uh much of a an identity at the at the moment and I think that's going to help have them struggle a little bit. Do you feel like there was much collateral damage that happened after the Texans beat the Colts, or do you think that's going to play a role at all in this game, the fact that they were able to make the great comeback on national television? No, I don't think that.

Now, if we were talking about some of how they'll have a two- or three-week difference in between games with them, but I don't think that'll play any. That was in week six. I mean, we're closing in on week 14 right now. I don't think that'll have any bearing on this at all. And I really think that the Colts have a downhill mind frame going into the rest of these games. They have no choice but to try to plow people. And if they can get it done, they need to get it done.

And I'm hoping that they all have this killer instinct. And when I say all, I mean coaches, because they can't afford to allow any wiggle room, anybody to come back. And they really just have to learn how to stop on the opponent's neck when it comes to third quarter and they've got a lead. And they have to be able to play intelligent football. And those two things will help them greatly with their schedule the rest of the year. And it's a coin flip. You never know what you're really going to see until, you know, basically the game's over. You don't really know how things are going to turn because they've been so hot in one half, cold in the other. And then it flipped after about week

five and it went to the other direction. They were cold in the second half and then hot in the first half. And you just don't know what you're going to see. Now they seem to be putting together a little more balanced game plan throughout the four quarters, so we'll see. There are three major personnel things going on that I've seen so far this week, and it might not seem like a major thing to the rest of the NFL, but the Texans getting back Jalen Strong this week as a possibility. He is now practicing, and I mentioned this in yesterday's show.

That's a big thing because the Colts know that maybe he hasn't done anything against anybody else, but Jalen Strong. He sure has against the Colts, huh? Yeah, he's been fantastic. And, you know, the two touchdowns, his first two touchdowns in the NFL were against the Colts on national television in the first game last season between the two teams. And then the second game, he scored a touchdown from a Brandon Whedon pass. And then this past game, he had that huge play at the end of the game that set up the game winning field goal by Nick Novak.

So that that's a big factor. And really, the Texans have been fighting issues with injuries all through the year at wide receiver. We talked about it in yesterday's show, but between Will Fuller and Braxton Miller and Jalen Strong, and these are all young guys that are just trying to get their footing in the NFL, and they've all been in and out. Jonathan Joseph was another story that came out over the last few days. He came out of the game against Green Bay. He's a major factor in the Texan secondary, obviously, the veteran back there. And he has two cracked ribs and a bruised lung. They haven't counted him out, believe it or not, for this Sunday's game. But he might not play. And then I wanted to ask you about what's going on with you guys and DeQuell Jackson, the suspension, the PED suspension. How big a deal is that there? I think it's a, personally, I think it's a huge deal. You're going to hear the same coach speak that you hear

from just about anybody who's in the NFL about next guy up, we're all going to work our butts off. And that's basically, you know, I think that Chuck Pagano rolls out of bed with cliche cliches just falling out of his mouth, you know, and that and that's basically where he's at. So I mean, you can take all the coach speak out of it and try to make your own thought process on it. But I think that it's a big deal because they've you know, they're and I wrote a piece about this for fan rag Sports the other day, specifically to both of these issues, the PEDs and the Colts' current linebacker conundrum, if you want to call it that. C.O. Moore was on the team, and they basically slotted him in preseason.

He was going to be the starter, and whoever was going to try to beat him out had an uphill battle. And he was junk in the season. They got rid of him. and whoever was going to try to beat him out, you know, had an uphill battle. And he was junk in the season. They got rid of him. Then they finally put in Edwin Jackson, who's a young guy, an up-and-coming guy, and has done a pretty good job. But he is that second or third inside linebacker, you know, typically. If you're looking at a good quality NFL team, he might be the third linebacker

in that group in an inside rotation. But he's good enough in this Colts team to be the second. And now he's going to end up being the quarterback of the defense because DeQuell Jackson's gone. And I don't want to rant any further on the PEDs I put on yesterday's show. I ranted on that for a little bit. I just think these guys are stupid for that. It just drives me nuts, and they all try to come up with an excuse. Basically, it's selfish, and they put their team in a huge hole, especially the Colts with their linebacker situation as it is.

They have struggles covering from that inside linebacker position as it is. And now they're going to have guys like Deion King, people that nobody has any idea who they are for the most part. Josh McNary is going to get some rotation in there. And Antonio Morrison. And he's the real thumper there. And he's a really – he's like DeQuell in that regard about as far as run stopping but he's absolutely awful against the pass I mean absolutely awful it's just

not even he can't pay attention long enough to cover anybody out of the backfield or a tight end or anything it's just unreal how bad he is and how he just has no ability whatsoever to cover in the past game. And he had been regulated basically back to special teams help because he was so bad. And so this is a huge deal. I mean, they brought a guy up the other day from the practice squad and nobody knows anything about him. He and King are both rookies, and it's a huge void. I mean, they've got to really be creative in how they're going to switch guys in and out,

what their sub packages are going to look like, or it's going to be a field day with the tight ends and the running backs this week. It's just a scary situation, but nobody would, nobody would ever accuse DeQuel Jackson of being a great coverage linebacker, but he's better than the alternative. And that's kind of where they're at. Well, speaking of a guy, that's not really a great coverage linebacker, at least anymore. He isn't, he used to be a really good one. And a guy that also had a PED suspension. We got one right here in Houston, Brian Cushing. And PED suspension and all, guess what? He was nominated this past week for the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award.

Amazing. So there you go. So there's hope for DeQual Jackson down the road. He could be a Man of the Year Award candidate. He's got to stop of the Year award candidate. He's got to stop punching pizza delivery guys first. Oh, no. Yeah, that was last year's offseason.

Oh, that's not good at all. Well, let me ask you about the game itself. And what do you think might be different that you've seen from the Colts the last few weeks that they didn't show in the Texans game. The one thing that I'm looking at is I'm really hoping at some point, and I've asked this from the coach and I asked this from the quarterback, why the Texans haven't sped up their offense a little bit. It's a offense that doesn't do hurry up. You'd hardly ever see it unless they're behind trying to play catch up late in the game. And you don't see quick snap counts. And, you know, both Brock Osweiler and Bill O'Brien gave me the answer.

Well, that sounds like, you know, maybe we should do that. And, you know, it almost was like I was coming up with something that they hadn't thought about or they had forgotten about or something like that. But, you know, I didn't see any difference in the Green. I asked him about that before the Green Bay game. Nothing changed there, but that was weird field conditions. And with the success that they had at the end of the game against the Colts, you would think that might be something that could change with the Texans. What about the Colts?

Well, specifically with the Colts, the last time they went around, T.Y. only caught three balls and their tight ends only had six total targets. The Colts are phenomenally better when they go after teams with their tight ends. Eight to ten targets a game, that's needed just to mix it up. And not only that, but then you have Gore getting 22 carries, the 100 yards, finally. That's something that he's continued to do is carry the ball well. Now, I wouldn't say that he's averaging four and a half to five yards per carry. But all year, he's been that guy who can at least get you three no matter what.

You know, anytime he gets more than a couple carries in a row, the defense is going to stop him at the line of scrimmage. That's just the way it goes, because this this Colts offensive line just does not run block or pass block effectively enough to do anything the same twice or three times in a row. But, you know, they've they've Chester Rogers was a guy who who led the team in receptions in the last game with four catches, and I think he was close to 70 yards, I think 65 or something like that. But their defense has also come to play. Now, you take those three interceptions they had this past week

out of the game against the Jets, and they still covered really well. So it was something that they've struggled all year. They only had three interceptions on the season before that, but they're defending the passes better. The biggest problem right now is that our best corner can't cover deep, and that's an issue against some speedsters, and especially if Will Fuller does come back to play or any of these guys get matched up with Vontae Davis,

then Vontae's going to get beat deep. Patrick Robinson's an issue right now because he's in and out of health. Right now they really like using Darius Butler at the safety position. He was basically their slot corner and used a lot in nickel situations. And we've got Clayton Gethers, who's more than likely not going to play and he's definitely one of two or three best defenders on the team and so you've got a bunch of issues on defense but they've got a lot of guys that they're moving in and out so they're probably this week is the biggest cram session on defense that they've seen all year with some new faces and some guys

who are at least going to get a healthy snap count because of other injuries. It's just, there's a lot of things different. I mean, you go through the season and it's been five or six weeks, a lot of things change. And so I think it's just the general turnover of a season for that matter. But right now, like I said, you've got Andrew Luck on absolute fire. And as long as his offensive line can protect him, I truly believe that the Colts should put up at least 30 points. And the thing, on the other hand, for the Texans is they've been unable to put up what they put up against the Colts last time ever since. They put up 26 in week six, and they've been unable to outscore 24 points to this point ever since,

and they've only done that once. They have a couple 20-point games and then 9 and 17 and stuff like that. So I think the Colts are just naturally a better firepower team, and the Texans are a better defense, and who wins that battle is going to mean everything because on the other sides of the ball you've got a terrible Texans offense right now and a pretty stinking terrible Colts defense so those two teams you're going to let the three year olds go out and beat each other up and then you put the big boys on the field and that's

what's going to determine the end result in the game. Yeah, you summed it up pretty well. It's two bad units going up against each other in defense and offense. And then you've got the sort of two mediocre units going up against each other on the other side of the ball with the Colts' offense and the Texans' defense. And one of the things that I think is going to be interesting is just that this division and what happens and who's going to win the is just that this division and what happens and who's going to win the division, who's the favorite going in. What do you see happening from here on out?

I mean, I'm interested from the other perspective because as a Texans fan, you know, it looked really good a couple of weeks ago, and I think the Chargers game was a real key loss for them at home. And now I feel like the most complete team in the division, to me, looks like the Tennessee Titans. What do you think? I do think that they are, but I don't think that they can put enough wins up to surpass one of the other teams in the league. That's the only thing I think, and being that the Colts have beaten them twice, I think that that's the one thing that would keep the Titans out, to be honest with you, is just the

tiebreaker. I don't think that they can get to, I think they can get nine wins. I don't think they can get 10. And they've got the most difficult schedule of the three between the Colts, Texans, and Titans as they go down the road here. But like you said, they've also got the most complete team. That's a fact. It's really hard to tell. You just never know in the AFC South. Because any matchup, it doesn't even make a difference. And the Jaguars showed that last year. Even with an average Colts team going up against a terrible Jacksonville team, the Jaguars put up a 50-burger on the Colts. I mean, that was embarrassing, you know, but that doesn't happen very often, no matter what the two teams are. And I mean, there's never blowouts in this division, and there's very seldom blowouts in a lot of other divisions. You put two teams on the field

that have something to play for, and you're going to have a good game. You're going to have a really tight bang-up game. And I think that those three teams right now, now the Colts and Titans don't play each other again. Do you guys play the Titans again? Yeah, we've got all three division games, and the Bengals are left on the schedule. So that's our last four games.

And the Bengals game is on Christmas Eve, and the Bengals, I would assume, are going to be ready just to – it's here in Houston, and I'm assuming they're going to have mailed it in at that point without A.J. Green and the injuries that they've got. So I think the key games really the rest of the way are this game with the Colts and then the last game of the season, we've got the Titans. And that's where it could come down to. It could boil down to that.

You're right. It's just so hard to tell. Like I said, I think that the Titans are the best team front to back in the roster on both sides of the ball. I think the Colts are the most explosive team of the three. I think the Colts can put up more points than any other of the other three. And I think that the Texans are a team who are completely reliant on their defense and explosive plays, and they're not getting a lot of those. And I think it's just, you never know who's going to come to play, what situation is going to present itself in each game. And this game this week, you know, it's hard to make a decision on

if you're throwing a prediction out, you know. My prediction is definitely that the Colts should win by 10 because I think they should. And I'm looking at just scoring opportunities. You know what I mean? I think that if you were to tell me that the Texans won by 10, I wouldn't be a whole lot surprised by that either because the Colts can certainly dig a hole in a hurry,

and it only took seven minutes for the Texans to come back last time by two scores and put it into overtime and win. That's something that the Colts absolutely cannot allow to happen. And both teams, all three teams, are dangerous when it comes to them playing each other. It's just one of those, it's like an area football game. You know, you've got two rival football teams. One could be number two in the state and the other could be unranked. But you put those guys on the team or on the field together and there's a lot of stuff that

comes into play other than record and rank. Which is true with just about every NFL team in the division, except for maybe the Patriots that just seem to roll the ball. Occasionally, the Bills get them or the Dolphins might get them on a weird one. But, yeah, that's pretty typical in the NFL, the division games. It's like two fighters that know each other, so they kind of know what to expect. I don't want to scare you, by the way, but Brock Osweiler said after the Green Bay game, and he reiterated at the press conference yesterday, which I was at, he said, yeah, the Texans' offense is on the verge of breaking out.

It's about to happen. Well, I would hope so after week 13. It should have been broken out a long time ago. They've got the weapons. I mean, he definitely uses his tight ends, which is, in my opinion, a fantastic thing for a quarterback to do. You know, use your security blankets inside. But he's also got that big playability downfield, and that's something that I just don't understand. Their offensive play calling maybe have a little bit to do with it, but he's made some really bad decisions,

and he's just not taking the opportunities to try to stretch the field when he does have the opportunity, and he's got some of the weapons to do that. So, I mean, if he's waiting for a breakout at week 14, I think he's a little crazy because eventually you get yourself into a – it's almost muscle memory at this point. What are you used to what have you been doing you know uh for throughout the uh the first 12 weeks 13 weeks of the season and throwing the ball downfield is not that that doesn't mean that he can't he uses that scene pretty well so

we'll see but i think if he uses if he goes downfield at all it's going to be to his tight end yeah it's i just don't see it yeah you're right it's nobody here sees anything changing it just feels it feels like we live through groundhog's day with the with the quarterback and it seems like with our quarterbacks the last few years and it's pretty pretty frustrating it's gotten old and we're interested to see what what could happen there you know tom, who people kind of wanted to take a look at. He had a pretty decent preseason this past preseason. He had an elbow infection or some weird infection in his throwing arm right before the Green Bay game. Ended up in the hospital, so he wasn't even

available. Brandon Whedon was active for that game. Brandon Whedon, which you guys saw a little bit last year. But I think the Texans fans would just want to see anybody else at quarterback right now besides Brock of those other two guys just to see what would happen. Because, yeah, it's the same thing over and over again. And let me ask you about that. What exactly is the fans or the media's take on that? Is it we already dumped a boatload of cash on this guy and we're just going to ride it out? Or is it, you know, hey, anybody else want to take snaps from Tom Savage to get him ready?

You know, I mean, what's the outlook from everybody down there about that? Well, you know, fans, I mean, let's see who else can play. They don't care about what a guy makes. And look, you can keep playing a guy just because he's making that amount of money and they can start doing that again next year. And he's going to be on the roster next year because he's guaranteed so much money going into next year. After next year, they can let him go and that's the end of that. But I just think if that's your

mentality if your mentality is we're going to plan because we're paying him the money that's the that's not the right mentality for an nfl management and that's the problem sometimes with the texans is you wonder what their mentality is as far as winning and how important they put that and where they put it as far as mediocrity is concerned. And, you know, they must really think Tom Savage has no potential. He's a guy that they've been, you know, coddling and working with for, you know, three years now. He was a guy that, you know, has a great arm, great physical tools. He's got all the physical tools. He looked terrible in the first game that he got out there and looked like he was,

didn't even belong on a college field, much less an NFL field in his first action against the Colts two years ago. You guys might remember that that was up in Indianapolis. But, you know, since then, he's you know, he's I think he's much better from what we've seen. It's just the big concern with Savage is might might be that he holds on to the ball sometimes a little bit too long. But, you know, you kind of want to see what he's got. You know, you don't wish any injury on a player. But if, you know, Brock Osweiler missed a couple of series, you'd be interested to see what Savage would do if he came in just to see if there's any potential there or maybe he could ignite something or get something going or whatever but uh yeah i

mean the fans would i think they would love to see somebody else but you know it's it's almost to the point in houston where you know we just know we know we know what's going to happen we know oh it's we're going to run out the same gm every year and he's going to be kind of mediocre and occasionally hit with the guy and occasionally but missed with some really important draft picks and you know the the coach is going to be pretty much the same it took that 2 and 14 to get rid of Kubiak after you know he spent the first five years not making the playoffs before he actually did of course now he's a Super Bowl winning coach so I don't know you know where you throw him into the mix of coaches around the NFL I think he's uh I think he's better than average, or maybe he's average, but I think a lot of that has to do with what Denver does as far as personnel goes and the GM

position and stuff like that. The other thing that killed him when he was in Houston, by the way, for those that didn't know, is the first few years his defensive coordinator was a disaster, and then they finally put a gun to his head and said, you're going to hire Wade Phillips, and that's what changed things around. And you've seen what Wade Phillips has done in Denver. So, yeah. So, yeah, the situation here, it's a it's the fans are frustrated. And, you know, let's run somebody else out there.

I mean, there's no question they want to see somebody else. And they're tired of what they've seen from Brock Osweiler. But, you know, they also they also have that thing that, well, this is the way it is. That's the way it's going to be. And that's kind of what we're stuck with, and it's gotten really frustrating from that perspective. So you think it's going to be a blowout, basically? I think it should be at least a two-score game.

I really do. Ten points, I think, is fair, but I think it could be as many as 17. And this is just, I don't know. And I feel stupid because I actually picked the game against the Jets last week, 31-13 for the Colts, and I don't pick blowouts. This is just, you call it a feeling about the way that they're playing, their mentality on the field, how you can see that they're all very deliberate in what they're doing. I just feel like the Colts know that they absolutely have to just step on the neck of

their opponents every week if they get the opportunity. And I wouldn't say that I feel that way. You know what? It's hard for me to gauge their coaching, but it's just, it's aggravating sometimes. But I really feel like everybody's on the same page on the organization right now, and it's something that I can't say that I've felt at all this year until recently. And it just seems like everybody's, you know, in lockstep with each other, with the coaching staff and the players, and I just have to assume that they should at least win by 10. And it wouldn't surprise me if it was a little bit more than that.

Now, you guys have some notable injuries as well. What does J. Davion Clowney and, you know, maybe like you spoke of earlier, Jonathan Joseph, what do those guys have? What's their opportunity to play, first of all? I mean, because they didn't practice on Wednesday. But how significant is them not being in the lineup? Well, I mean, Clowney's huge because he's been fantastic against the run. His pass rush, the one thing that you were kind of hoping that he would bring

when you drafted him was that incredible pass rush. Maybe it's not there, but it's hard to say because he's probably double teamed more than he ever would be if J.J. Watt was playing. So who knows with that? But, you know, he's not J.J. Watt, and the Texans' pass rush is not good. And they had nothing against Green Bay. Would have loved to see them, you know, throw a blitz in, throw some more pressure at Green Bay. have loved to see them you know throw all blitz in throw throw throw some more pressure at Green Bay you had to take that chance you just couldn't let you can't let Aaron Rodgers just sit back there and same thing with with Andrew Luck you just can't let

that type of guy sit back there and stand there all day and and just wait till somebody gets open so Clowney's a big deal from the run perspective, but he also, it would help, he would give you something on the pass rush perspective, which they really had nothing last week. And Joseph's huge because they've lost Kevin Johnson for the season. They've had guys nicked up. Kareem Jackson's been nicked up off and on this year. And Boye was out for a game recently. So, and it's just,

they've lost a lot of that depth that they had at quarterback. So that's a game recently. So, and it's just, they've lost a lot of that depth that they had at quarterback. So that's a big deal. And obviously, you know, with T.Y. Hilton, I don't know who they put on him. I won't be interested to find out what they do with that. But yeah, those are big deals, especially,

I think Joseph might be bigger this week than even Clowney goes. But I think Clowney should be, it seems like he'd be more likely to play it's it's been kind of wrist and hand issues with him which seems a little bit uh lighter than say a bruised or bruised uh lung and cracked ribs and stuff like i mean that just doesn't sound good at all no it doesn't that it sounds crazy to me that they wouldn't even rule him out um now now what is everybody's thoughts on O'Brien,

too? I want to kind of get this because as the team has these games every so often where they just seem to crumble, you know what I mean? And it seems like it's such a downtrodden feel around the organization. And you've got O'Brien there, and he's the way he is. And then it gets to the quarterback talk and the defense talk. You guys have injuries. Watt's been out all year. You know, what's the thought process around him? And what's the thought process on that he can lead the Texans into the playoffs this year?

Well, overall, and I've said this a few times, and I don't think it's hyperbole. I think he was actually really good. His teams were really good in the fourth quarter. And recently, though, they haven't been good in the fourth quarter. But I think that has more to do with the fact that the defense is out on the field all the time, and the offense doesn't give you a whole lot. And what happens is the defense, you know, at some point they're going to crack, and it's going to happen in the fourth quarter when they're tired and they've been out on the field a lot. And that's, that's an issue

that has everything to do with the offense and Brock Osweiler. And, you know, me personally, and I've been talking about this more and more, you know, he's, to me, he's not coming back unless you tell him, look, you're going to get an offensive coordinator. I mean, that's just, that's got to happen. God see is not the answer. There's a lot of things that I've seen offensively this year as much as any year where I just don't see the creativity. I don't think they're using personnel correctly.

I feel like he's a guy that uses Brock Osweiler to how he wants a quarterback being used. And I feel like Bill O'Brien's kind of, he gets stuck sometimes. And, you know, I'm sure he's backed off on the playbook with Brock. And I'm sure there's things that he's done with Brock that he hasn't done with the two veteran quarterbacks that he had that had played a little bit more and Hoyer and Ryan Fitzpatrick. And, you know, that could very well be the case.

But there are just things that I've seen offensively that that need to change as far as the fan base goes I don't think they would care if O'Brien came back or didn't I think they don't think I don't think the feeling is O'Brien is the main issue the quarterback's obviously the main issue uh they're not a huge fan of the GM that's never changed a ton but uh I think that rick smith's very you know he's pretty mediocre as far as gms go and that's fine if you want to be mediocre and that's what the texans seem to be about but i think the biggest thing for me is with o'brien is the defense has been great all three years and you know with jj watt it seems like it should have been great but without jj watt this year that was very impressive and rome And Romeo Cornell's done a great job.

We don't know, by the way, if Romeo is going to be back either because there's talk that he might be near retirement. And one of the things is Mike Vrabel, the linebackers coach, who's a kind of assistant defensive coordinator, he was a guy that was being looked at for other jobs last year, might have been offered other defensive coordinator jobs, didn't take them. So we assume maybe they've told him just behind the scenes that,

look, Romeo's about to retire, and you're going to take over as soon as he's done. So that's my guess is what might happen there. But defensively, overall, I've never had too many complaints about Romeo. But offensively, that's got to change. O'Brien, he's never going to be popular with the fans because he's kind of got that gruff attitude. He's very surly.

There's not a whole lot likable about his personality if you see him on a daily basis. We just haven't seen some things change. And when your offense isn't doing anything, try something different. That's what we haven't seen with them. I don't know if that answers the question, but that's the way I see it anyway. Yeah, absolutely. So what do you see?

You know that I think that this could be uh somewhat of a uh have a healthy uh disparage between the two scores on this what's your thought process on this game i i just can't see the texans winning to be honest i mean i agree with you there i don't know if it blow out i don't know the texans managed to keep things close their defense is relatively good at not giving up the big plays one of the big plays they gave up last week was uh charles james uh slipped in green bay and charles james got cut on monday so that's the end of him and that's the problem like i said with the cornerback issues now they could give up big plays maybe this week if if joseph is isn't playing and with the depth at cornerback but they manage usually to stay in games. I don't

see them. I don't see a blowout against the Colts when they've been blown out. It's been against teams, uh, on the road. Yes. But teams far better than the Colts. The Vikings don't look as good right now. Uh, when the, when the Texans played them, they were a much better looking team. The blowout against the Patriots was kind of this weird Thursday night game. The Broncos game, I didn't think of it as a blowout. The score looked worse than it was. The Texans were in the game and then they had a key turnover late in the game. There was a fumble and then the Broncos go down and score.

They get the ball back and they score again. And then it looks worse than it was. But yeah, I would be surprised if the Texans lost by two touchdowns. I guess 10 points wouldn't be crazy like what you said. But yeah, the Texans, I don't know why I should pick them to win. I just can't see a scenario. Yeah, both teams were even on the turnover battle in the last game, and both teams only had seven penalties. So they didn't necessarily either one of them shoot themselves in the foot in those regards. But I think that each team's defense is the most critical juncture and point in this game. The Colts absolutely have to have a fantastic

showing out of their defense. And more or less, in my opinion, the Texans simply just have to limit Andrew Luck and be hopeful to get a turnover. And this, like we've talked about, as far as the division goes, this might be the biggest game of the year in the division, period. It could decide everything. You said the Titans' schedule is much tougher, and that will play a factor into it. So this could be the game that decides who wins the division. And if that's the case,

you guys look like you might be in the driver's seat to me. I would agree. Although stranger things are definitely having the ability to happen. I mean, it's amazing how you're in week 14 or heading into week 14 and you feel like you've got 15 different games that could go in one way or the other. You know what I mean? It seems like you're nowhere near the end of the season. And I think that's only because they've been so up and down. Their peaks and valleys have been so noticeable and so defined that it's really hard to tell from week to week what you're going to get.

Yeah. Well, I don't know if I've got anything else to add. I was just going to wrap up the show, and I'm looking forward to this one. We'll see what happens. I know you're at MattDainley underscore NFL for any of the Texans, Lockdown Texans people that want to check out and see what's going on with the Colts on the other side of the equation in the division. And you also write for FanRag Sports, right?

That's right. That's right. So, you know, if you want to check us out, we're at Locked On Texans. And our Facebook is, of course, Locked On Texans. You can find us there. Just like same with you guys at LockedOnColts, and the Facebook is LockedOnColts. If anybody wants to follow, great to talk with you, Matt. Always

fun, and looking forward to it. Hopefully, we'll do this again next year. Absolutely. Last 30 seconds here. Let's pop out prediction real quick. What do you got? Oh, you like a score, don't you? I do, yeah. Oh, no. Let me just make an obvious prediction that the Texans will not score more than 20.

So that's the Texans. So I can – let me put them – I'll give them 17 points this week, and we'll give the Colts 24. I was pretty close last time, if you remember. I do. I do. You were real close. I'm going similar to you.

I'm going 28-17 Colts. All right. That sounds good. Great to talk with you, you. I'm going 28-17 Colts. All right. That sounds good. Great to talk with you, Matt. Hey, you too. Thanks, man. You are Locked On Colts, your daily podcast on the Indianapolis Colts, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. We'll see you next time.