Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - LOCKED ON COLTS - 9/16 - Colts News and Notes Heading Into Week 2 Matchup With Broncos, and Alex Acton Stops In

Episode Date: September 16, 2016

#Colts news and notes heading into Sunday's matchup with the #Broncos, and Alex Acton (@alacton) of USA Today's The Broncos Wire stops in to discuss the game with Matt. Can #Luck continue his hot streak against the Broncos? Can the Colts continue to have Gary Kubiak's number? Can the Colts rattle Trevor Siemian? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Talkspace.com slash BOOM. B-O-O-M. You are Locked On Colts, your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Welcome back to Locked On Colts, Colts Nation. I'm your host, Matt Dainley, and today is our Friday show for September 16th, and we are heading into a big game Sunday for our week two matchup against the Denver Broncos. We're going to have on Alex Acton from Broncos Wire of USA Today Sports Media Group to talk to us a little bit

about the matchup and kind of break down what he sees on the other end of things up there in the Mile High City. So today I'm just going to kind of go through with you some of the news and notes and such, the things that were going on during the interviews today down at the Colts facility. First of all, I'll give you the, as I have been the past several shows, I'll give you the injury status of everybody and kind of let you know where things are heading in that direction. Henry Anderson, again, was limited today as he was Wednesday. Darius Butler was also limited both days, as well as Antonio Cromartie.

And today, Clayton Gethers was actually limited, whereas he didn't practice yesterday. And also today, Jonathan Harrison went from limited on Wednesday to full practice today. Zach Kerr, Andrew Luck was limited. I don't think that's a big deal. They've kind of expressed that. Robert Mathis was also limited today.

But we had a lot of guys not practicing today, like Trent Cole, Vontae Davis, as was expected, TJ Green, T.Y. Hilton, DeQuell Jackson, and also Patrick Robinson. Now, I wouldn't look for Patrick Robinson in the next week or so. It just never seems to happen. If they're going through the concussion protocol, he's going to be out for a little while, I think. That's usually a pretty good sign of a dinger, a pretty good dinger. So we've got some guys that are still on the,

on the injured area or that are still injured and need to get back. But we, you know, the sun is going to come up for some of these guys, and this is going to bring a lot of people back once they all get healthy. So we can all rest assured that things are going to pick up a little bit. Now Chudzinski, when he was interviewed today, was happy, obviously, with the offensive line, Andrew Luck. That seems to be kind of the trend among people who are paying attention to the Colts. The offensive line looked good, Andrew Luck looked good, and there's a lot of question marks outside of that. But he said that he was seeing real progression in Luck in the finer points in his decision making. Made several comments about how the offense will have to be unpredictable in order to have success against the Broncos defense.

And I think that's a pretty basic question. A lot of his stuff was very basic and he wasn't elaborating a whole lot. Was very bland with his responses. But, you know, I don't know what you – you know, we're not going to get any outlandish remarks or anything like that. Setting up the Broncos with any billboard material is obviously not the way to go in this regard. So, Monachino was also available to the media,

and he also spoke mostly about missed tackles from Sunday, how preparations have to be in order every week, some of the blah-blah stuff. trust that defense to stand up with 37 seconds on the clock, referring back to their final drive, the Lions final drive against the Colts on Sunday where they kicked a field goal to seal the game. Now, I've talked a lot about my disdain for the timeout at 115, but that doesn't mean that Monachino is wrong. They absolutely do have to be able to stop scoring opportunities in that time frame. I mean, they have to stand up. They got to do something. But they've also got to be able to run their defense in that position as well. Not this Tampa 2, whatever, the cover 2 stuff that Pagano said that they were trying to run in the last little bit there. Running that Tampa 2 style prevent at the end of the game isn't doing anything but what it's always kind of facetiously

referred to. Defense prevents you from winning, and that's just the way it goes because it does, and it also gives them somewhat of a scoring opportunity. I mean, even if this happens several times, we've all noticed it. We've all seen it, whether the Colts are up 10 or somewhere in between, somewhere around a two-score lead, and they'll let somebody take all the way down the field and get within one score, and then it all comes down to the onside kick. Who gets it? Whoever gets it is going to probably win the game.

But we've seen those situations far too many times to want to allow to get to that. But there was none of that with a one-point lead at the time. So it wasn't something that I think a lot of people realize is just a game killer. They have to be able to run there. Like I said, they have to pressure the court or they have to pressure the wide receivers, maybe not at the line of scrimmage, but give them a five to eight yard cushion, send the safeties back in their cover to shell. But you have to have some sort of pressure on something,

whether you're sending a fifth guy to get after the quarterback by chance to get a piece of him or at least make him hurry up or get out of the pocket or something. But you've got to have some sort of pressure somewhere. You can't just sit back in a cloud and expect a guy like Stafford not to pick you apart. A couple other guys who were available to the media were also Darius Butler and Clayton Gethers, who've been on the injury report a lot recently. Gethers hadn't been out on the field much at all, if at all, since the beginning of camp. And Butler has been down for a little while as well, both in the secondary, both, you know, whether we are going to give them the benefit of the doubt of being great defenders or anything like that is another, it's, you know, neither here

nor there. The bottom line is they are defenders and they are experienced. So we need them. We need them back in order to round that secondary out. But they both spoke today. And as far as interesting goes, Butler, after talking about how happy he is to be getting back on the field and practicing with the team, was asked about whether he'd be playing at safety or cornerback. Now, Butler responded, I don't care. I'll play wherever they put me. Why is this interesting? Butler, in the absence of gethers in camp, was filling in at safety

and for all intents and purposes was pretty decent at it. He looked solid in coverage. He's not a huge guy. He's not a great, he's not a big hitter or anything like that, but the guy can, it definitely doesn't hurt to have him back there in certain packages or anything, or at least to have him to have the versatility to be back there if needed. He looked comfortable for the most part. Early in the week, I spoke about maybe switching up the nickel corner roll with some of the available options who have been recently added to the secondary, like Cromartie and Melvin and a couple others. But naturally, my suggestions were in regard to when Vontae and Patrick Robinson are back in the mix. But it is an interesting thought nevertheless.

So something to think about. We are going to have Alex Acton on here shortly. We're going to have him on the line. He's from the Broncos Wire, USA Today Sports Media Group. So looking forward to getting him on here in just the next couple seconds. If you're looking to get news and notes about the entire NFL all in one show, go check out Locked On NFL with Matt Williamson. Check out the

Locked On Fantasy podcast with Vinny Iyer. And also check out the Locked On NFL draft with Kyle Krabs and Joe Marino. Those guys really know their stuff. It's a real interesting show. A couple guys who have worked together for a while. They work well off each other,

and they're going to give you some pointers on some guys that you don't know much about. Also, if your target audience is men 18 to 44, and you're local to Indianapolis or national or whatever the case may be, and you want to advertise on the show, you can email me at lockedoncoltspod at gmail.com, and we'll get that rolling. Now, 18 to 44, why is that important? The 18 to 44 age range is over 80% of my listeners.

So if that's who you're targeting, this is the place to do it. So get at me on lockedoncoltspod at gmail.com, and let's get that ball rolling. Now, kind of getting back into this with Butler a little bit. On the other hand, though he's a possibility at safety at some point or another, or at least somebody who could fill in if there's more injuries that start plaguing the Colts during game, more than likely that's going to be an in-game move. That's not going to be something they're going to start him at, I don't think.

But it is interesting just to think about some of the movement that could go around. But on the other hand, they need Butler at corner for the time being, especially with Robinson's sideline and the concussion protocol. And Clayton Gethers being back on the field is nice. Whether that means he's going to be back this Sunday for a game is another story, I think. But he's definitely moving in the right direction. As long as he's been out, Gathers says that he's been doing all he can to stay in the mindset mentally and feels like he's grown in that aspect. As in, he's sitting around and he's watching these guys

go at it and he's taking mental snaps. Now, that, a, a hot button phrase or whatever, but the guys learn, he's watching and he's seeing as opposed to being on the field and just reacting. He doesn't have his legs. And you know how that is. If you have an ankle injury or something like that, even just, you know, you're tripped up the stairs or something like that at your house, you envy everybody else who can walk just fine. And that's what he's doing. He's sitting there watching those guys, watching them play, and he's watching what's going on. Of course, he's got to learn more because he can't get out there and play. So it's kind of like losing one of your senses

and having the other ones accentuated a little bit maybe. He obviously says that getting back on the field is beyond great, but they may try to ease him back a little bit, like I said, as long as he'll need to fully rehab in order to get back in game shape. I think that's something that's going to take a little while. Then we're going to have Alex on here momentarily, and then after Alex is done and you hear our conversation, I'm going to give you guys my pick for the game and tell you what I think we can expect this weekend from our Colts as they go into the Mile High City.

Alex Acton is next. Colts Nation, as promised, we are here with Alex Acton of the Broncos Wire, of the USA Today Sports Network. Alex, how you doing, man? I'm doing good, man. How are you? Real good. It's a big game this Sunday. Big game. Yeah, this has been kind of circled on my schedule for a long time. I always love to see this matchup.

So it's unfortunate Peyton's not playing, but it's okay. Just for backstory and everything, it was always a good sign to see Peyton out there in another jersey. Just kind of made the matchup just that much more exciting. But there's plenty of excitement for this matchup nonetheless. These two teams have some pretty interesting history in the brief four years of Pagano and Luck's tenure. And we'll get to that here in just a minute. But first, last night I did a podcast kind of explaining and breaking down Wade Phillips'

3-4-1 gap scheme. Can you elaborate on that a little bit? You've seen it a lot more than most of us. What makes Wade Phillips' scheme so special? You know what I think what makes his scheme so special is i think he trusts his defense he especially trusts his secondary and his cornerbacks obviously you got some of the best to play the game right now uh and and what was interesting about last week is i think we saw we saw a lot last year of how aggressive he is with this scheme and i think early on they seem

to play a little bit more conservative and uh early on in the first half against Panthers. You saw in the second half when they started to turn it up and kind of let their guys be playmakers and not necessarily put them in the box. It was interesting to see his scheme actually take over in the second half last week, and I think what he has done that we've seen, we've seen a lot of conservative defensive coordinators in Denver over the last couple years, that when he came in, he's not scared to be aggressive.

He's not scared to bring the blitz. And I think he leaves his cornerbacks to be playmakers. And that's something I don't think you necessarily see often. And that's something that's really succeeded here with the talent that Denver does have. Yeah, he's really, I don't want to say exotic, but he's very nuanced about where he sends guys and when, and very unpredictable as well.

He'll send a guy, they'll twist at the line on first down when it's not necessarily a passing situation either. He's very hard to read and very difficult to do that. But there is something about Luck that maybe has given him, Wade Phillips, some trouble in the past. The Colts are 3-1 against the Broncos since Luck's been in the league. Is there anything behind that, or is that kind of just dumb luck maybe? You know what's funny is sometimes football trumps logic.

I know the Broncos, I'm thinking a little less. And I could be completely wrong about this. I wrote about this a while ago. But I think in two of those four, the Broncos are seven-point favorites that they lost, or two of the three that they lost. And sometimes, I think you're right, maybe it's just dumb luck. But when you're dealing with a quarterback

that has tools like Andrew Luck, I don't see how there's any way in the world that you can necessarily consider that dumb luck. The guy is amazing. And with his playmaking ability, I don't know. There's no way that you can even say that's a dumb luck. Well, they've got some fines that are on the books now from last week's game with the hits that went on Cam Newton.

Will the fines affect, though, how the defense plays against a big mobile quarterback like Luck, kind of built similar to Cam Newton? You know, I don't think that it'll affect him at all. I really don't think it's that big of an issue. It's really been blown out of proportion, I think, to be honest. But I don't think that's going to affect the way that they play at all. They're playing like they did last year. We had been known for so long, especially with Manning, to be considered kind of a finesse team and kind of soft.

They kind of changed that aura around them the last year and a half. I think they'll continue to bring it this year. They don't mind being physical. I think it helps a lot that you have somebody like Aqib Talib. I mean, he's done some ridiculous things, obviously. Because last year, he was poking people in the eye. But he's brought kind of an in-your-face kind of ability to the Broncos that they necessarily didn't have before he got there. So I wouldn't expect anything to really be different Sunday

when they meet up. Now the Colts' defense is noticeably banged up, especially the secondary. But they've got some guys in there that are capable, we'll put it that way. But Simeon, however, very cool and collected in week one against the Panthers. Can he repeat that cool and calm performance? Is he fairly efficient with the little experience that he does have in the NFL? You know, I would like to tell you, obviously, as a Broncos fan, that I certainly hope he could.

But it's funny. We just don't know a lot about him. I wasn't even necessarily pulling for him to start. I was still kind of a Mark Sanchez guy. I will say that he came out last week and played way better than I expected him to, especially against the Carolina defense. I know

the two picks, both of them, but I think he had a couple balls fall his way and a couple balls didn't fall his way. The tip ball he got picked, he was maybe a yard and a half short of being a touchdown to Emmanuel. And, you know, he came out and played so well last week that I'm actually really excited to see if he can come out Sunday

and repeat it, especially against a banged-up secondary that the Colts have. You know, I'd like to say that he can come out and perform just as well as he did last week. The one interception that he had last week uh was on the corner route was about as perfectly thrown ball as you could ask for it just he just didn't happen to put it over the defender's hands uh far enough or their leaping ability and out of their reach enough because that would have landed right in the basket i mean it was a perfect throw it just so happened to be a defender there uh to be able to get up high enough to get a piece of it and haul it in.

Yeah, and I think just going off kind of what you talked on there, I think that that's a lot of stuff that you're going to learn, too. I mean, that is his first game. And I think maybe the only thing that you could criticize him there for is that, okay, you're kind of in scoring position. Maybe you don't need to make that dangerous of a throw. But to me, I like it. I like the aggression out of him, especially in that situation. You know, I that situation. I really think he's a yard and a half from it being a spectacular play, and everybody loving him. I think that's going to come along. There's growing pains for sure, but he was not far off from making that a spectacular play. Right, and Kubiak is inching him along. Kubiak's pretty well known for doing that too, especially with

younger or inexperienced or kind of lifelong backup type at the position. So this is something that I think is probably going to end up growing for Simeon within the Broncos offense as he goes. Now, Kubiak hasn't had a ton of success against the Colts, and they have seen plenty of each other in the past with his days back in Houston. Is this set of skill position players for the Broncos a unit that can push a different outcome this time around? You know, I would have thought that last year when they met up in Indianapolis,

that they maybe had the playmaking ability. But, you know, sometimes teams just have other teams' numbers. And the playmakers that we do have on this team, I'd love to see them go out and, you know, put up what they're capable of. But I think you're right. I don't know. It's kind of like a wait until Sunday and we'll find out how they perform. But, you know, with Demarius,

Demarius has been recovering from his hip injury earlier this week. It looks like he's going to play. And when you have somebody like that on the field, I think it's always a threat whether he's not 100%. He's still got big hands. He's still going to go up and catch the ball. And then CJ ran like a madman last week. And I think that those

playmakers like those are something that Kubiak maybe didn't have in the past that the Broncos may rely on a little bit more Sunday. So we'll see. We'll wait and find out. But I'm definitely looking forward to that. Yeah, he definitely had some running backs in Houston

that he gashed the Colts' defense with as well. And as well as that Denver offensive line block for C.J. Anderson last week, it could be another long night for the Colts front seven there, especially with Kubiak having so much familiarity with that Colts scheme. So this is, it's going to set up to be a really exciting game, I think. I think the fanfare on both teams kind of is going to end up extending this excitement that was built when Manning went to Denver. They seem to be playing each other every year now. So this is going to be something that I think is going to continue to build. It's a great matchup for the Colts, whether they're,

you know, looking down on the year or whether they're looking up on it. But what do you think is the key to the Broncos' success this Sunday against the Colts? Where are they going to exploit the Colts? I think, you know, I would have told you maybe in the offseason that they would exploit them with a run because I truly did expect them to come out and run the ball a ton last week, which they did. They threw the ball way more than I was expecting, and especially with what has happened really last week and even before then with the injuries and the cold secondary, I think that really a key to the game is going to be, once again, how Trevor Simeon plays

and if he can't exploit some of the secondary issues. And obviously I expect him to run the ball plenty too, but maybe some of those big plays to the air is really what's going to change the outcome of this game. That's a good point, too. We're here with Alex Acton from the Broncos Wire USA Today sports media group. All right, Alex, I'm going to put you on the line here. What's your prediction for the game?

You know, my prediction for the game, I originally had it at 2016 Colts just based on the history of playing Andrew Luck over the last couple seasons. But, you know, with the injuries that has come along in their secondary and really the play that Trevor Simeon has come in and shown me, he's been cool to collect. I think maybe the Broncos have a slight edge this weekend, maybe 24-20. So we'll see. We'll see kind of how that ends up.

But it would not surprise me in the slightest bit if, you know, that score was reversed. This is one of those games I do actually have at the beginning of the season I predicted the Colts to go start 0-2 just against, you know, they start slow for week one and then coming back against the Broncos. This is a very talented team and the Colts are noticeably a little shy in some areas. But it's a team that, like you said, it could go either way. It's an interesting matchup either way.

The Colts, for some reason, the Colts offensive line, you know, they're not the most athletic group in the world. But they had a really good showing last week, especially in the final three quarters of the game. And for some reason, despite all the athleticism and speed that the Broncos front seven have, they seem to handle their own against them pretty well. So it'll be interesting to see. It's just going to be a good game, I think. I would never say that either way it would be any kind of a rout, but stranger things have happened for sure.

I agree. I think I'd be very surprised if the final score was more than two touchdowns, truly. Yes, I would too. I have one more question for you, kind of a bonus question, though. What would have to happen for Trevor Simeon to see the bench and for Kubiak to put Paxton Lynch out there on the field? Man, this is a question that has been circulating around the Denver fans

for, I don't know, weeks, even before they've been named Trevor Simeon, or therefore what we thought was going to be Mark Sanchez, Johnny quarterback. You know, I would expect that Paxton Lynch, maybe if Simeon loses three in a row, I think that's the only way you can make the switch. I don't know. I think that everything that Kubiak has come out and said,

I do think he truly does have a lot of confidence in Simeon. It would surprise me that unless the Broncos have a team that is built so much like last year. It's funny because last year, the Broncos just kept winning in the most ridiculous ways.

And once again, starting this year, week one, they won in another ridiculous fashion. That's just crazy to me that they just continue their trend kept winning in the most ridiculous ways. And once again, starting this year, week one, they won in another ridiculous fashion. That's just crazy to me that they just continued their trend of winning in these crazy, crazy games. But, you know, I think Kubiak does have so much trust, especially in his defense. And he has only been saying good things about Simeon since OTA. So, you know, it would take really three or four game losing stretch,

I think, for them to even think about putting in Paxton Lynch. But, you know, with the success that I know Dak Prescott lost last week, but I think he actually played pretty good, that the success of throwing some of these guys under the fire is showing that it may not necessarily be a bad thing. I wouldn't surprise me either if Paxton Lynch saw the field this year. But I do think it would take maybe a three or four game losing streak for that to happen.

I think that's a pretty fair threshold as well. Either that or Simeon will have to take a slight dip in his production and there's going to be some fantastic revolution from Lynch in practice or something like that at midseason to get him out there. Well, Alex, I appreciate your time. You can catch Alex on Twitter at ALACTON, A-L-A-C-T-O-N. Alex, thank you for being with us tonight, man. I appreciate it, and good luck this weekend.

Thanks, Matt. Appreciate it. Really appreciate Alex coming on and talking to us a little bit. But now it's my turn. After listening to everything that Alex has said, taking my own thoughts into regard, like I said, I did pick the Colts to start out 0-2 and to drop this week to Denver.

I still kind of have to hold true to that. I just don't think the Colts are fully healthy enough. But here's the thing, and like Alex said a little bit earlier, anything can happen in this game. With Andrew Luck under center, and if that offensive line can block and keep him healthy and maybe open some holes for Frank Gore throughout the process, that would be a big help, by the way.

And if the receivers and tight ends can be as sure-handed as they were Sunday, this offense can put up a ton of points. Now, defensively, they're going to have to be really opportunistic. I'm excited to see Rashawn Melvin again. I think I've talked about him quite a bit, a little too much for a guy who's been in an NFL uniform, at least in Indianapolis, for all of about a week. But I am excited to see him get back in it. I really hope that Henry Anderson is back this week.

But at the same time, if he's not ready to go, I hope that they shelf him another week, let him take his time coming back. Whoever comes back, whoever doesn't. The Colts need a pass rush. They need Robert Mathis. They need, if it's Eric Walden or Trent Cole or whoever, they need an interior pass rush and they need an edge rush. And they need those linebackers to get on the ball and cover some of these guys out of the backfield. Now, C.J. Anderson isn't necessarily a quick, shifty back out of the backfield like we've seen or like they will see, kind of those scat-back guys who can catch the ball, make a

couple guys move and be gone. But he is a quality receiver out of the backfield. They've got good tight ends, not great tight ends, but they've got really good wide receivers. Simeon seems to be on par with being a quality starter. A lot of this is just unknown at the moment. So we'll have to hope that the secondary can stay healthy throughout, not only come in a little healthier, but stay healthy during the game, not get broken up. And we've got to keep Andrew Luck clean because without him clean, the game's going to be pretty ugly. So thank you for listening this week. Again, I really, really appreciate it.

I encourage all of you to go. If you like the show, let me know about it. Get on iTunes, rate and review the podcast, and like I said, write, like I said, write a quick review. Doesn't have to be long or nothing like that. Kind of just whatever you want to relay in the review. But get a hold of me on LockedOnColtsPod at gmail.com. Let me know what you think about the show. Is there things you guys would like to see in the future? Things that you like already? You know, just let me know whatever it is. then follow the show on Twitter. This thing has to grow people and I need your help to do it. So locked on Colts on Twitter, follow the locked on Colts, Facebook page, go there, follow it there. Podcast five

times a week, at least five a week. I'll try to break everything down for you guys. Every week we'll have a bevy of different guests on the show. I'm still looking at having some sort of a giveaway, just everything. Help me build this Locked on Colts podcast, and the better things are going to end up coming out of it. Thank you again for joining me this week. I'm Matt Dainley. I'll talk to you guys next week.

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