Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Matt Ryan, Indianapolis Colts Host Pittsburgh Steelers On Monday Night Football

Episode Date: November 28, 2022

The Indianapolis Colts host the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday Night Football. What should we expect from the potentially shorthanded Colts, and what might the final score be?Find and follow Locked On Colts on your favorite podcast platforms:📺YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLdpxJspi1hMh5HL7ExpWOQ🎧 Apple https://itunes.apple.com/podcast/id1151621306🎧 Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/6meP450baAtjX4rTENZ5ij🎧 Audacy https://www.audacy.com/podcasts/locked-on-colts-daily-podcast-on-the-indianapolis-colts-21701🎧 Google https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vUFBZODk1ODUyODkyNQ🎧 Megaphone https://cms.megaphone.fm/channel/lockedoncoltsFollow Jake and Zach's written work on HorseshoeHuddle.com (@ColtsOnFN), and give them a follow on Twitter @JakeArthurNFL, @ZachHicks2, and @LockedOnColts!Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!LinkedInLinkedIn Jobs helps you find the candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONNFLBuilt BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnlineBetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds, and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!PrizePicksFirst-time users can receive a 100% instant deposit match up to $100 with promo code LOCKEDON. That’s PrizePicks.com – promo code; LOCKEDONSimpliSafeWith Fast Protect™️ Technology, exclusively from SimpliSafe, 24/7 monitoring agents capture evidence to accurately verify a threat for faster police response. There’s No Safe Like SimpliSafe. Visit SimpliSafe.com/LockedOnNFL to learn more.TuroForget boring rental cars and find your drive at Turo.comAudibleHead over to Locked On NFL for a sneak peak of Block Forever or catch the full series available anywhere you get your podcast. Available everywhere now! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello everyone, we have been waiting all day for Monday night. We're just a little bit away from tonight's matchup between the Indianapolis Colts and Pittsburgh Steelers. And we're going to give you our final thoughts and predictions right here on today's episode of Locked On Colts. Let's get to it. You are Locked On Colts, your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your of the day. This is your daily podcast covering your Indianapolis Colts, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. This is Jake Arthur alongside Zach Hicks, finally back together again.

You know the two of us from HorseshoeHuddle.com. You'll probably notice that we're streaming on Zach's Twitter as well, so if you guys want to interact with us or anything, just head over to YouTube. YouTube is the main hub for us, so go ahead and look at us over there. Today we wanted to chat with you guys for the first time together about this game, you know, between it being Thanksgiving weekend. I've had some stuff come up. Zach's been moving. It's been a crazy past couple weeks for us. But again, we're finally back with you together. And we wanted to give you the latest updates on the Colts on both sides, offense and defense, and then give our final predictions as well. So, Zach, looking at the offense.

Well, first, let's just kind of give some background info. The Colts and Steelers, two kind of lowly teams at the moment. Colts are 4-6-1. Steelers are 3-7. You know, the Colts have lost the last seven in this series, dating back to 2008. And for both teams, playoff hopes are on the line. This is kind of a death knell to each of them if they don't come away with the W. The team did make some updates to their injury report

on Sunday, some ones that really affect the game greatly if they come to fruition. So Zaire Franklin was added back to the injury report with an illness, this illness that's going through the team right now, offense and defense. Kylan Granson is now doubtful with that illness. And then Quidipe is out with the ankle injury. Where did Jake go? Okay. Well, I guess it's just me, guys.

So let me fill you guys in the best i can uh what jake was about to say was that deforest buckner and yannick and gawkway are both also questionable for this game uh so let me pull up the script right here yeah they're both gonna be questionable i know that there is some optimism that both guys can play uh but that's gonna come down to uh kind of a game time decision and see what's going to, you know, how those guys look in the pregame. So, yeah, the Colts are kind of banged up coming into. I know Jake just got paused in there. I have no clue where Jake ended up going.

So, yeah, Jake got knocked out. His whole Internet went out as well. He just texted me. So I will be taking over the show right now, guys. So don't worry. Buckle up So I will be taking over the show right now, guys. So don't worry, buckle up. I will find some things to say. But anyway, yeah, again, that's going to be DeForest Buckner with ribs and illness. A little banged up there. Yonkin Gakwe with his back injuries. Ira Franklin with an illness. They're all questionable, doubtful. Kylan Granson with

an illness. And then out is Quidipe with his ankle. They did say on Saturday they were going to try out his ankle just to see if he could potentially go. And I guess it just did not look right on Saturday. So he is going to be out to kind of replace those guys or kind of add some insurance. The Colts did call up tight end Nikola Kalinic, who has been up the last couple of weeks. I think this is his last call up that he's allowed to have from the practice squad. So we'll see if the Colts keep going that way with him or they try to call him to the active roster after this or, or, or, you know, what happens with, with Kalenic after this week and then linebacker Forrest Ryan, who I, it's unfortunate that Jake is not here. Forrest Ryan was Jake's guy all

off season, talked very high about him throughout all of training camp. He was released from the practice squad, brought back to the practice squad, and now he's finally getting his shot off the roster. I did mention today on social media that, you know, does this kind of say that Zyra Franklin could potentially be out tonight? You know, you kind of have that linebacker insurance. I think that's something that we're going to have to look at coming up to game time. But, yeah, you know, the Colts are really banged up right now. Their season is kind of in the balance right now.

You know, if they want to have a chance at making the playoffs, they can maybe afford to lose one more game. So they really can't afford to drop this one against the Steelers when they have the Cowboys, the Vikings, the Giants and the Chargers coming up. So we'll see if they can if they if they can get out this win tonight. Going to the offense, you know, this is where Jake wanted to go with this show before his internet just exploded on him. He wanted to kind of go offense, defense, and then give our score prediction. So we're going to talk a little bit about the offense, guys. Looking at the Colts offense right now, the biggest thing, the thing that we've always had to talk about with this offense every single week is can the offensive line block

whoever they're going against outside of two games, you know, games against the Las Vegas Raiders and a game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. The second time out, uh, this Colts offensive line has not been able to get it done. They have just been putrid. Uh, and, and every time that we had a little bit of hope where we're like, okay, look be able to to to get something going they they just they kind of bottomed out and they just struggled uh quite a bit so now in this game against the Steelers you know they got TJ Watt on the other side Alex Highsmith Jr. uh they got uh Cameron Hayward Jake is subbing in for Zach Hicks right there on the other end but anyway Cam Hayward you know this is this is an extremely talented Steelers defensive front. So if the Colts want to get it going on the run game, if they want to throw the ball, it all starts up front.

And as we've seen in a lot of the Colts' losses this year, it has not really gone very well whatsoever. So, Jake, welcome back to the show. I was just talking about the Steelers' defensive line versus the Coltsts offensive line after I finished the injury report uh so yeah I'm I think this uh this is a really bad matchup for the Colts on paper because TJ Watt obviously has been one of the best pass rushers in the league for years but Highsmith I think is at what like eight sacks this season on the other side nine sacks yeah nine sacks and Bernard Ryman is far away from being a starting left tackle. Like, he's going to go through a lot of bumps and bruises. And I think tonight there's going to be a lot of bruises and a lot of bumps against Highsmith.

So I'm very, very worried about that matchup. I know you have some positive things to say here about this matchup tonight. But that's where I'm just concerned. Up front, I think the Colts are going to be in for a tough night against the Steelers front. Yeah, no doubt. I mean, I know Jeff Saturday said he, you know, he challenged the Colts line and their front to play up to their standard, but you know, they shouldn't need that because, you know, hopefully they've been trying to do that all year. It is kind of pick your poison, you know, TJ Watts back for a couple a couple weeks now but Alex Highsmith has more than picked up the slack while he's been out so that is really tough you know I'm not super worried about Will Fries I think a lot of his stuff has been with penalties but Bernard Ryman

got kind of bullied in his actual performance gave up a couple untimely sacks so that's that's what I'm pretty worried about as well I I'm not going to lie to you. Yeah. But you did have a good thing written down here that the Steelers are the last ranked pass defense. So, I mean, the Colts are one of the worst ranked pass offenses. So, I mean, something's got to give something, something's got to give here, but yeah, I do think if they can at least get the ball out of Matt Ryan's hands, some good things could happen. But as, boy stats Matt here says the pass defense isn't great but their weakest spot is

getting beat deep because they've had a lot of injuries to their quarterback group and and their safety group the Colts cannot really attack the ball down the field whatsoever with their quarterback play with their offensive line issues so something's got to give something has got to give but I do think that there are avenues for the Colts to score on the Steelers defense. It's not this super tough defense that they were in the past, but if they can just get past that defensive line, I think they can do some good things. Yeah, and for that reason, I think it kind of sucks that Kylan Granson probably won't be out there. I would rely heavily on those quick over-the-middle routes if they're there.

Michael Pittman Jr. and Paris Campbell. It's kind of got these guys written all over it. If Matt Ryan has time to pass, you'd love to see Alec Pierce get more involved with those longer developing plays. I just don't know if it's going to happen. I think the Colts could win those matchups if they're able to take advantage of them. Otherwise, I just don't know if it's going to happen. I think the Colts could win those matchups if they're able to take advantage of them, but otherwise, I just don't know. Yeah, I don't know. We'll see.

Again, if the Colts can just get a little bit of blocking up front in this one, I think their offense can have some success. But, I mean, look, we saw last week against a really good Philadelphia Eagles defensive front where they were throwing Josh Sweat out there, Fletcher Cox, Javon Hargrave, Hassan Redick, and they just had their way with this Colts offensive line. I'm not saying that this defensive line is at that same level, but it's close. I mean, again, healthy TJ Watt, Alex Highsmith, Cameron Hayward.

That's a really, really good trio right there. I think that's going to be really tough for the Colts in this game. And that's really what the whole game is going to come down to. If they can get even some blocking on that defensive front, I think the Colts can score with ease, but as we've seen all year, it's not been easy for the Colts to score. Yeah. And we we've even seen some of the Colts best offensive players struggle with

that front. Quentin Nelson versus Cam Hayward was a problem. For example, last time we saw them play. Yeah. But anyways, we'll, we'll go over to the other side of the ball here shortly, but today's episode is sponsored by Turo. Turo is the world's largest car sharing marketplace. With Turo, you can book any car you want, wherever you want it from a community of local hosts. Browse a huge selection of vehicles for just about any occasion or budget across the US, UK, Canada, and now Australia. Book a spacious SUV or minivan for a family road trip. Get a classic or luxury car for a special event, birthday, or holiday. Maybe find an affordable

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Quidipe is out. That's tough, man. That's really tough for basically everyone to be dealing with something because Grover's been on the injury report recently as well. Yeah, I think Buckner and Franklin are so important to this Colts defense this season. I mean, of course, Buckner, obviously, outside of Grover Stewart, has been the best defender on this team. Like all season, that has been their top two players, probably overall, too, not just on

the defense. Overall, those have been the top two players on this Indianapolis Colts team in 2022. And then Zyre Franklin has just been a phenomenal fill-in for Shaquille Leonard. I mean, he came in and he was mostly a reserve player, mostly a special teamer. You know, special teams capped in the last couple of years. And he went out there as a starter this season. And he's really, really grown into that role as the Mike linebacker. And he's done a lot of really good things for this team.

So I do think this Colts defense could be kind of ailing quite a bit if those guys are either limited or they don't play. Yannick Ngakwe too, you know, he's always good for an occasional pressure sack there. So I'm not going to discount him not being in there. But luckily, again, they're going against a really, really bad offense. You know, the Steelers offense has just been made. I mean, we're talking about the Colts offense struggling. The Steelers offense has just been made. I mean, we're talking about the Colts offense struggling. The Steelers offense has been a struggle as well. Kenny Pickett is

having a rough rookie season. This offensive line is not really blocking well outside of George Pickens. They don't really have much of a pass, you know, pass catcher game at all. And then they're really only getting their run game going the last couple of weeks. But still, if the Colts are missing this many key starters starters it's going to be a bit of a struggle even against a really bad offense so I'm curious to see if these guys play and how much they do play because already missing Quiddy Pay missing any more of those other guys would just be really tough for a defense that's shown out quite a bit this season yeah I think it's advantageous for for Najee Harris for example because he's going against a really banged up defensive line with poor depth, to be honest with you. And then Zyre Franklin being a quality run defender as well.

That, of course, hurts, but it might mean more snaps for EJ Speed. But the Colts kind of luck into this one. Like you said, Kenny Pickett, not been great. Three touchdowns, eight interceptions. That's his ratio so far. He's lost a fumble also. So as tough as it's going to be for the Colts against the Steelers defense, that can be the same flip-flop.

That's why this game could be like a 10-13 just kind of gross matchup. They've got to stop putting the Colts on prime time. Every time you put us on prime time, it's just going to be 13 to 10 or 13 to 12, just sloshes like that. It's just an ugly, ugly game. But I really do think it's going to go that way tonight. And we'll get to that with our score predictions.

But this Colts defense, I mean, again, unless Buckner and Franklin are both out, I just think this Colts defense is going to find success against the Steelers offense. They just have too much talent. They're playing too well together. And we've seen them against two top offenses. You know, Philadelphia Eagles last week,

the Kansas City Chiefs back in week three, this Colts defense came to play and held those two really, really good offenses down to some of their lower point totals of the season. So I'm bullish on this Colts defense. I do think they're a really good defense. And if they have all their guys out there, there's really no reason that the Steelers should be able to move the ball and score touchdowns on them. The Steelers just don't have much going for them. But you did mention here, Najee Harris against the Colts defensive line. That's a little banged up. You know, Najee Harris has kind of gotten a go in recent weeks,

but he has struggled a bit on the whole season. You know, I've seen Steelers people kind of arguing for Jalen Warren to get more snaps than Najee Harris, you know, a lot this season. I'm not saying I completely agree with that or anything like that, but Najee Harris has had some struggles. Some of it is with that offensive line and with the lack of a passing game. But, you know, again, if Buckner and Franklin are out, Harris could probably have a pretty good game. But as long as you have Big Grover in the middle, I'm not too, too concerned.

Exactly, exactly. No, it's I mean, this this seems like a lesser version of Washington's offense, I guess, if you're looking for some sort of comparison. Taylor Heineke was kind of that wild card. He'll give you some gifts occasionally, which the Colts took advantage of. That's what it's going to be like with Pittsburgh. I feel, except for Kenny Pickett, doesn't really have the experience that Heineke does. So it's even a potentially riskier quarterback under center for them. So I love the Colts defense in this one for sure. They're the unit I am most comfortable with in this whole matchup. But the defensive line being hurt scares me. But, I mean, they have enough guys out there that know what to do

and have played really well this year that I'm just not really worried about it. The Colts could be going against the number one offense and the worst defense in the league, and I would still have more faith in the Colts defense showing up than the Colts offense.'s just like the colts defense has come they have come to play in every matchup i mean outside of what the the first fires game maybe i guess the second jaguars game too uh and maybe some of the parts of that raiders game they have really really shown up all season long so uh i i really am confident in this colts defense and

you know i might have to eat my words maybe ken Kenny Pickett has his career best day tonight. But I do think this Colts defense is legit. They're real. And hopefully they can finally get some turnovers because they just that's the only thing holding them back this year. It's not getting many turnovers. So hopefully tonight they can kind of get some turnovers off the rookie quarterback. That's kind of forcing things right now. But up next, guys, we are going to talk about our score prediction and give a little overview again of what we think is going to happen in tonight's game but first today's show is also brought to you by audible audible is releasing a slate of new football podcasts that we're sure you're going to love find block forever now wherever you get

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available everywhere now audible get in the game all right jake so you've done a couple predictions this week you're kind of you're kind of flipping around a little bit with your predictions what what do you think happens in this one what what's how do you think you know i think this is a great question by the lockdown steelers host when we were talking um the other day he he said give me your prediction but also give me what is like the game changing moment that happens in this game what what really decides this game uh you know middle early late whatever. And what's the main reason why you're going with your score prediction? Yeah. So my base prediction is 20 to 10 Colts.

Although I was on with Alex Cazorra on the terrible podcast this morning, and I'm pretty sure I told him 20 to 16 Colts. You're being nice on the Steelers podcast. Yeah, honestly. Yeah. No, I, I think again, like I said, I'm really confident in the Colts defense. I think they'll hold things down. But with that said, that doesn't excuse the possibility of like a big play from George Pickens, Pat Fryer, Muth, you know, tight ends have had some success against the Colts.

Deontay Johnson has been quiet compared to expectations. But another kind of factor that the Colts struggle with occasionally is quarterbacks who can buy time or something I mention a lot is a quarterback who can just pick up those third and fours with their legs or something that can be really demoralizing. Look what the difference was last week with Jalen Hurts. Now Pickett is not Hurts, obviously, but still it's guys who can pick up those, those very manageable third down. So that's something that could work in the Steelers favor and give them a touchdown or two. Still, I, I would, I have to think that the Colts defense is up for the challenge of a rookie quarterback. Like I'm just thinking of Stefan Gilmore and you know, Bobby O'Kererrick. I think they'll be fine.

The Colts' defense will be fine. But with that said, I don't really think the Colts are going to score much beyond 20 points, if that. Because it is a tough defensive front from the Steelers. If the Colts had a better offensive line, I would think that they could go 23-27-30 even. But I'm just not confident in this yet because every time you see a good performance from their line, it's followed up by a disaster, it seems like, or just a big step back.

Now, last week it was the young guys. So it's guys you expect. It was mostly Bernard Ryman and Will Fries that you had issues with. So, I mean, yeah, you know, Ryan Kelly, you can pepper that in there too. Kelly. Nelson had some struggles with Javon Hargrave too, but honestly, everyone does.

Javon Hargrave is awesome. Doesn't he always? Yeah. But yeah, Quentin versus Cameron Hayward. I've said it earlier this year, but these superstar matchups, Quentin versus other aliens, hasn't always worked in his favor.

Well, I know we're going off on a little tangent here, but look, being an office, not us, not us, but offensive line is so hard to play because you could win 99.9% of your snaps on the season. But if you get trucked on that one snap that you lost,

you are the worst. You suck. You're terrible. Get him out of the game. He's not that dominant he's overrated so yes i do think quentin nelson has had some low lights and top matchups but he's really again he's seen cameron hayward he's seen jeffrey simmons twice a season you know he's seen chris jones quite a bit you know he's seen a lot of really good players so uh yeah i think that

again i'm not i think quentin nelson's having a down year this season i think he will struggle a bit against cameron hayward uh but i i do always love the pushback on that narrative because it's tough it's it's so tough to be an offensive lineman uh but going to my prediction i think i said on the crossover i think i said 16 to 10 stealers and literally my whole reason i love again i love that chris uh asked me to pick like the the, the play that changes the game or whatever changes the game. And I said it right there. I said, Alex Highsmith is going to hit a spin move or a bull rush on Bernard

Ryman in the third quarter, strip sack, Matt Ryan, they're going to return it for a touchdown. And that'll be, that'll be the game winning play right there in the third quarter. So we'll see if that ends up being right. I'm not trying to be pessimistic. It's just this Colts offense. I just don't have much faith in, and they obviously could come out and score 30 this

tonight, but I just don't have faith in them overall. Because like you said, every time we've seen something good, the next week it's something bad. So maybe they have a great night tonight. Maybe they put up 30 points or something like that tonight. Next week, they get the buzzsaw that is the Dallas Cowboys. And we're going to get all excited going into that week that the offense has figured out. And then that buzzsaw is coming to town and it's going to be brutal. But focusing on just on this one, again, I just think the Colts have really, really struggled on offense in any matchup that has featured a really good defensive line or a couple good defensive linemen. I mean, look at both Titans matchups. Look at the Eagles matchup. These are just really good defensive lines or really good players on

defensive lines that the Colts have just had no answer for. And I think the Steelers are a well coached team despite the record. And I think they're going to throw a lot of guys at Will Fries, a lot at Bernard Ryman. They might even line tj watt over bernard ryman a couple times just to get that matchup for them i think it's going to be a bit of a struggle yeah that i mean they're a well-coached team they will uh so yeah i think it's gonna be a bit of a struggle for this colts offense you know again if they can just get some time i think they can throw the ball on this on this defense but it's a tough defensive line man it is uh and and i don't trust the colts offensive line i don't trust their play calling And I don't trust the Colts offensive line.

I don't trust their play calling. And I don't trust the quarterback right now. So again, all you guys saying that the Colts can win, I absolutely think they can win for sure. I 100% think they can. This is not by any means a game that they are for sure losing or anything like that. I just think these two teams are on a pretty similar playing field. And I'm just going to pick the team with the better defensive line, or I guess the better advantage in that matchup there. But I hope I'm wrong. And I hope that they come out and they

have fun tonight and they look pretty good. But yeah, we're a couple weeks away from the end of the season here. So it's just the way it is it is yeah all i know is what i think will happen is what i told you guys but what i also know is i will be surprised by nothing if the colts win 40 to 10 or lose 40 to 10 i'll be like yeah that that sounds about right i i just don't i don't know this is a matchup of it's just almost totally evenly matched like the Colts offense at times has played like you would expect the Steelers to with a rookie quarterback like I don't know it's not okay Tony I wanted to answer this question because we do have a couple minutes here the Colts are four six and one like it's not me just being always negative they're

they're a below average football team they played well against the Raiders who are the second worst team in the entire league this season like they're not a good football team at all and the Colts you know they took them to the wire and they won that game at the end and it was a great win and then Philly they played Philly kind of similar to how they played Kansas City where their offense couldn't really do anything their defense kept them in the game and the offense just couldn't put it away at the end. I'm not trying to be negative or hateful. It's just like, again, we're looking at a four, six and one team that fired their head

coach, fired their offensive coordinator, has benched their quarterback, brought the quarterback back. Like I'm not being I'm not being negative or hateful. It's just the state of the Colts right now. You know, they are on a similar playing field with a 3-7 Steelers team right now. I don't know. I don't think that's very refutable. Like, again, yeah, since Jeff Saturday's been here,

it's been a big difference. Again, they beat the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 3. Like, in a similar way to how the Eagles game went, I don't know what the difference was. Like, yes, I think the offensive line has played a little bit better since jeff saturday got here and there definitely was some energy in that first game against the raiders but it's kind of been the same team you know poor offensive production out again outside of a couple decent little plays there against the raiders who have a putrid defense uh it's kind of been the same colts team like again they're they're

four six and one they're they're struggling and and they, they have some things they have to clean up going forward. But yeah, I, again, I just think they're on a similar playing field with the Steelers team. I mean, I hope that they can turn it around. I hope they can make a big run here, but I'll have to wait until, you know, I can kind of see it. Okay. But anyway, Jake, before, before I just kind of get in here and jump into all these comments here which again I love you guys jumping in here I'm not trying again I'm not trying to be super negative I'm just it's just kind of the way this Colts team has been but Jake since we have a couple minutes left on this show and we want to talk about this game tonight who is one player that you want to see have a huge game tonight you know this doesn't

have to be a player that you are expecting is going to have a huge game tonight. But who is one player that you just want to see that big game from? That's a good question. I'm going to give it to Jelani Woods because tight ends can eat Pittsburgh's defense alive, especially over the middle. And with Kylan Granson, you know, being doubtful, it's a really big opportunity for Woods out there. And, you know, he's a freak. He's a physical freak, alien. He can win down the field, middle of the field, whatever. We know Mo Alleycox is not very involved in the passing game. So you've got to think if Granson is not out there,

then Woods could be the next guy up. So I think it's really advantageous matchup for the Colts there. I'd love to say Alec Pierce as well, but I, I mean, he just hasn't been super involved lately. I think it's a little more likely that it's Jelani Woods. How about you? Yeah. So actually Jelani Woods was the guy I was thinking when I was asking you that question. So that's exactly who I was going to go. So I'll go to the defensive side of the ball.

I want one of these free safeties to start making some plays. Julian Blackman, Rodney Thomas II. Again, this is a quarterback where he is susceptible to throw some picks, make some turnovers, throw some risky, interceptable passes. The Colts' defense this season has been very, very good. But they are lacking that ball hawk, that playmaker at free safety, who, again, I'm not saying that either of these guys have played poorly at all this year. They both played really well. And I think they're both doing fine in the scheme, but they're lacking a free safety who makes those insane plays. That Earl Thomas,

I'm not saying that I want either of these guys to be Earl Thomas, but I want to see some range. I want to see some guys who can take the ball away, even when it's not really a turnover worthy throw. And you know, you're going to get some downfield shots. You're going to get some lofted balls up there tonight. You're going to get some jump balls outside. I want to see one of these free safeties make a big play. I don't know. I know Julian Blackman's kind of getting the bulk of the snaps lately, but Ryan Thomas is still getting some playing time. But whichever one's out there, I just want to see something from these free safeties. I want to be confident going forward in them because right now I'm like, you know, these are fine players, but for the scheme to really take off, they need a dominant free safety or really good free safety. And I don't know if they have that

yet. I think they have two solid young players, but I want to see one of them take the next step. And I think tonight's game is a great but I want it to be realistic. So I'll fit this within their game. Blackman and McLeod, especially are guys that can fly upfield, have no fear whatsoever. I'm going to say Kenny Pickett floats a screen pass to Harris or Warren, whatever. And it's bobbled. It's just one of those ugly slow balls.

And one of those guys flies up, gets it and takes it the other way oh there's the difference i'll give you that one there's a difference in your score there's your 20 to 10 prediction right there colts put it away with a bobbled screen pass there you go yeah yep i think that's all we got for today though guys i mean yeah you guys want to talk some more game with us you know we're going to be on on twitter social media at zach kicks 2 at jake arthur nfl wherever and then we're going to be on Twitter, social media, at ZachKicks2, at JakeArthurNFL, wherever. And then we're going to be back on here right after the game tonight

to talk about what happened in the game. So hopefully it's something great. Hopefully they can start. Like Tony says here, hopefully they can start off winning. You know, like I think this would be a great starting point. You know, if they come out and they win decisively for the first time all season, cool, I'm feeling good about them. I'm having fun again. But if they lose tonight, yeah, Tony's right. We're dead. Focus on next season. But yeah, we're going to

talk about all that after the game tonight. Jake, do you have any final words here before we close it out? No, I think that's it. I mean, it's just going to be a fun matchup. Looking forward to heading down to the stadium here shortly. So shortly. Thank you guys for making us your first listen of the day. For your next listen, check out the Locked On Sports Today podcast. It's the biggest stories of the day, plus instant reactions, big game recaps, and the take of the day. Available on the Odyssey app, YouTube, and wherever you get your podcasts. We'll see you guys soon.