Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Offense lets down defense in 24-10 loss to Ravens

Episode Date: November 11, 2020

On today's episode, Evan is joined by Coast To Coast Scouting's Anthony Smith joins Evan to recap the Colts' 24-10 loss at home to Baltimore. After a hot start, Indy's offense went into the tubes giving them absolutely nothing the rest of the way. It overshadowed an outstanding performance from the defense.Jonathan Taylor's fumble swung the momentum. However, this is now consecutive weeks he's been benched. How should the coaching staff utilize Taylor the rest of the season? Also, another inconsistent outing from Philip Rivers once more raises QB questions.How will the Colts regroup on a short week heading to Nashville? We preview the TNF game as the gauntlet continues on for Indy to prove if they're a contender or pretender. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You are Locked On Colts, your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello everybody, welcome back into your latest episode of Locked On Colts, part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Today's live streamer is Evan Sutter and your mate Anthony Smith of Coast to Coast Skies. We're here to recap here on this Monday night to talk about the Colts' unfortunate loss at home yesterday against the Baltimore Ravens 24-10 in a game where early on, Anthony, the Colts would be pulling off a huge stunner here, maybe blowing off the Ravens here.

Before that, a fumble by Jonathan Taylor really kind of halts the momentum on their set of things as they end up losing that game 24-10. Anthony, how do you do that? I mean, I prefer to come on after a win, but, you know, what can you do? That's the NFL. Definitely a little bit of a tough game, but I'm ready to jump in and talk about it.

Yeah, let's go ahead and hail them in this game. Like I mentioned on top of the show there, Anthony, because this started off really well for the Colts. I mean, they were really on fire defensively throughout this game. A couple possessions here and there against this Ravens team, you expect them to score some points, but the defense was fantastic. But they started off even in the offensive end, Anthony. We'll go right down the field, get a touchdown. Before that, followed by Jonathan Taylor. It might have been a 14-0 game midway through the first quarter. What was your assessment of how it started off for this Colts team on Sunday? It looked like it was a game where, in the very beginning,

it might have been on track for even a possible blowout win for them. Yeah, I mean, this is a game that really, you look at the final score, 24-10, and it doesn't seem like it was particularly that close or maybe the Ravens are just a superior team. look at the final score 24 to 10 and it doesn't seem like it was, you know, particularly that close or, you know, maybe the Ravens are just a superior team, but I mean, like you said, they were, they were marching down the field, uh, ready to go up 14 zero on, on an excellent, you know, Baltimore team. And so for them to, you know, have a couple mishaps, you know,

that really stunted their momentum. Um, and I think it kind of showed that, you know, when this offense, you know, isn't, you know, running at full capacity, points are hard to come by. Yeah, that's the thing, too, with this Colts offense. They really looked like they were in rhythm early on and then just sputtered out control there. They had three points the rest of the game outside that first possession. What was just your overall thoughts on the offense on Sunday?

And let's tell Jonathan Taylor first off because that play really kind of spun the momentum in this one. The offense really never found their footing after that fumble. But, of course, the Ravens had turned for a touchdown, tied the game up at 7-7. And then from there, the Ravens outscored the Colts 24-3 the rest of the way. How do you think the Colts handled Jonathan Taylor in this game? Because he was out doing five yards per carry.

He had about six carries in this one before he got benched. And this is now back-to-back weeks now since we had you on, Anthony, where Jonathan Taylor was benched mid-game. In Detroit, Jordan Wilkins was relied on to get them going on the running game when Taylor was struggling averaging about two yards per carry. In this one, he fumbles for the first time all season long, and they don't run in the rest of the way. Jordan Wilkins once again gets the nod over Taylor to finish this one out here.

I'm just worried now about Taylor's confidence, because it's now back-to-back weeks where the rookie, their top pick, has now been sidelined just due to mental errors or it's not producing well enough. How do you feel like the Colts coaching staff is handling Jonathan Taylor right now, especially over this last couple weeks? Yeah, I mean, first of all, you definitely feel for Jonathan Taylor. I mean, you could see that he was starting to get his confidence, starting to see holes a little bit better just to have

that unfortunate fumble. Still finished with four and a half yards per carry, I believe. And so, you know, I'm not giving up on him just yet, but I think that the offense needs to do, or excuse me, the play callers in Reich and Sirianni need to do a little bit

better job of getting him, you know, out in space. I mean, we see so many times where he's just running straight into, you know, these, these stacked defenses that are stacked in the box. And so, you know, we've seen him, I believe they said on Sunday that he's caught all but one of his passes, I believe that he's been targeted for. So I would love to see Jonathan Taylor get in the run game or excuse me, get in the passing game. The run game as a whole has really just been kind of disappointing. We had that nice performance from Wilkins last week, but I think we see that, you know, when the Colts, you know, don't have, you know, everybody, you know, running at full steam, the offense

starts to really, really decline. And I'm hopeful that we'll see Jonathan Taylor stay, you know, involved in the offense and pick back up soon. Yeah, this running game continues to be a disappointment. So, for sure, they're still lasting NFL yards per carry. Just for some reason, it's not clicking this year like it was the last couple years in Indianapolis for it on the offensive line. And losing Merlin Mack in week one still is really hurting this Colts offense right now.

And when you look at it, too, I mean, missing T.Y. Hilton on Sunday, who's not been himself this year either, but they're not 1-10 without T.Y. in his career. Michael Pittman Jr. is still getting his foot in. He had a good game as well yesterday, missing Paris Campbell. This Colts offense is so devoid of playmakers right now, Anthony. I feel like this offense really is just missing a couple pieces here and there to really go against these elite types of teams where it felt like to me

the Ravens didn't really respect many of the Colts weapons yesterday yeah completely agree um I'm you said it perfectly they're they're devoid of playmakers I mean when you have guys like T.Y. who's not been himself all season and is out goes out with a groin injury um Paris Campbell probably your fastest player you know is is out um for you know who knows how long hopefully he gets back you know before is out for, you know, who knows how long. Hopefully he gets back, you know, before the end of the season. So, I mean, really, when there's, you know, not a go-to guy or a stud, you know, that we can rely on, I think you see that the offense really does suffer. And, I mean, it's tough because, I mean, Pittman got seven targets.

Paschal got six targets. There's just not, you know, a ton of guys there that I think Phillip Rivers is willing to put his confidence in completely. It feels like this is going to be one of the things that the Colts definitely need to work on in the future is getting an elite number one guy that they can go to play after play. Let's hit on Rivers too from yesterday's game because I'd say he started off very well those first two possessions, but then

from there he really tapered off the rest of the way. Rivers was 25-43, returned 27 yards, had a pick as well in this game. That controversial pick at that one, Anthony, I know everyone was talking about that. I don't know how Marcus Peters even had that rules interception that shouldn't have been ruled on in the first place because I just

don't see how that's ever getting a real true possession on it but that's here nor there at this point but what was your assessment of Rivers yesterday because it was one of those games where again he's kind of showing he can be up on these smaller teams like Cincinnati Detroit but against his better defense better overall teams like Cleveland Chicago Baltimore he's really struggling yeah I mean obviously, obviously not a great game from Phil. Another game with a pick and no touchdowns. But I honestly don't really put this performance on him. I mean, this is kind of classic Phillip Rivers we've seen throughout the years.

He's really up and down. I mean, he'll have some great weeks and he'll have some bad weeks. I think what we're seeing now that's different with the Colts versus his time in San Diego and Los Angeles is that he can't move hardly at all. So, I mean, if our wide receivers and running backs, you know, are not getting separation, he can't escape the pocket at this point in his career. So, you know, it's kind of hampering the Colts offense a little bit.

They're not really able to get in space and really get that quarterback out on the move to help spread the field. But I think we'll continue to see this kind of thing. The Ravens are a very good defense, so I don't exactly put all of the blame on Rivers, but would like to see him perform a little bit better, at least with the deep ball.

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it's made for those who watch it. Pepsi, made for football watching. Go to madeforfootballwatching.com to check out the latest football watching content from Pepsi. Burying the lead a little bit here on the show, let's talk about the defense now, Anthony, because outside of the offense that really sparked yesterday, this defense was incredible once again,

really kind of proving at this point they're an elite unit in the NFL. That first half was incredible. Only landed 56 total yards of offense to that Ravens high-powered attack, Lamar Jackson, J.K. Dobbins, and the rest of the crew over there with Baltimore. What was your thoughts on that defense yesterday? Because it just really hammered home to me, allowing only 17 total points and that magical first half they had put together,

really helping the Colts extend things for them and keep them in it. I think it really shows that this defense and Matt Iberflues, they're definitely for real. Completely agree. Yeah, this was the game that you know, that I had circled on the schedule for this first half of the season where, you know, based on that performance, I feel pretty comfortable with saying that this Colts defense is absolutely elite. We already knew that they were one of the best rushing defenses in the league. They're an excellent pass defense. Those

turnovers, you know, have been incredible. incredible um finally got you know a forced fumble which is nice but i believe 11 interceptions which is absolutely awesome um and i think you know even more than that it's just it's not even that there's so much talent necessarily on this defense as far as you know big names of course you have leonard and in buckner and kenny moore uh to a lesser degree but they just play with so much intensity so so much hustle. Lamar Jackson's longest run was nine yards, which is absolutely crazy. We've seen him break off, you know, 50-yard touchdown runs. So I think this defense, you know, absolutely has what it takes to bring this team a Super Bowl.

It's just whether the offense can keep up. An incredible game for Darius Leonard today, too. He looked a little bit, again, being the second half of that leg injury, but even still 15 tackles 13 solo which is the best total for a player in the NFL so far this year in the stat sheet well it seems like to me I mean we kind of saw confirmed yesterday Anthony I talked about all throughout this week that Darius Leonard's kind of built to be that Lamar Jackson stopper and he really is built to stop these modern day quarterbacks seeing what Deshaun Watts before already but against Lam Lamar, how Darius Leonard played, I think it was pretty incredible.

Absolutely, yeah. I mean, the two guys, the two really top linebackers on the defense, Darius Leonard and Bobby Okereke, that's exactly what they're built to do is just be sideline to sideline. They have so much range, so much speed, really solid tacklers. So, I mean, if the defense can keep this up, would like to see maybe a few more turnovers as far as fumbles and strip sacks and things like that.

But, I mean, the defense is absolutely loaded as far as how they're playing right now. And, you know, even against, you know, elite offenses like the Ravens that have really talented playmakers, they're able to hold their ground, which I think is a really good sign for the rest of the season. Let's hit on two. It seemed like, of course, Lamar had a great finish to the game. He was 10-10 in the passing field. We also saw him get open a little bit in the running game,

and even not a lot of chunk runs, but we saw him just be efficient in the run game later on. But it seemed like to me, Anthony, just the way the offense is so inefficient in the second half, just that defense, unfortunately, gassed out at the end there, which shouldn't be surprising how long they're on the field in the second half for that one. But even still being gassed out in the way they were playing, just what does this game show you for the rest of the year as far as how this Colts team is going to play, especially with this gone, they have Conner here against Tennessee, Green Bay, and the rest of them. This is definitely a big stretch coming up. As far as their prospects for the rest of the season, I mean, I think we'll see kind of a similar second

half. I mean, they're going to beat up on the bad mean, I think we'll see kind of a similar second half. I mean, they're going to, you know, beat up on, on the bad teams, I think almost certainly, and they'll probably, you know, steal a couple of games from, from good teams, you know, definitely want to see them split with the Titans. Hopefully, you know, snag one from the Packers, you know, that defense is, has been pretty poor. So I think these next three or four weeks are going to be really telling as far as their playoff prospects. But I don't see any reason why they shouldn't march to an easy nine or ten wins with this schedule. Let's hit on now, I mean, looking ahead,

was there any other general takeaways you had from this one, Anthony? I know the offense sputtered. The defense was really awesome outside of a few moments when they got gassed out at the end. But everything else, I mean, what was your overall assessment of this Colts game on Sunday where it seemed like to me that all around it was just one of those games where the Ravens were just more talented than the Colts were? Yeah, I think that's pretty accurate. I mean, I would definitely say that the Ravens are a more talented team.

Obviously, they have the superior quarterback. And some of the things that we've mentioned, you know, for the Colts to, you know, even put up a good first half against this Raven team, you know, missing their running back one, wide receiver one goes down, you know, not a mobile quarterback. You know, the things that we saw from the Colts on Sunday are encouraging, I would say. As far as, you know, the whole team, I think they'll be okay.

I saw quite a few takes about Frank Reich and, you know, him being on the hot seat and stuff like that. I definitely want to say that I don't agree with that. You know, I still think he's a very, very solid coach. He has some frustrating play calls and stuff, but, you know, again, with the lack of playmakers, I think he's kind of forced to be a little bit more conservative. So I'm not really worried about Frank Reich. It's just all consistency with this team. If they can kind of keep everything on a level field, not get in over their head or overlook some of these teams that they should beat, I think they'll be okay.

They should be pretty much in the playoff race, in the wildcard race at minimum for the rest of the season, I would think. Let's hit on Frank Reich. He's brought that up for a minute. I think, as I know, like you mentioned, a lot of criticism for Frank Reich and I've been pretty steady on, I don't know why he still called it a second and long runs that kind of predictable at this point, but I think more so for those that are curious,

I think Frank Reich have to realize too, that this, like we talked about at the beginning of the show, Anthony, this office is devoid of playmakers. We saw in years past, the Maddie Rupalus in this defense where they got DeForest Buckner on board for that Xavier beginning of the show, Anthony, this office is devoid of playmakers. We saw in years past that Matty Rupalus in his defense where they got DeForest Buckner on board, where they had Xavier Rhodes, the lockdown cornerback, who's really improved so far this year in Indy compared to Minnesota.

I just feel like Frank Reich doesn't have the same piece as he has. I mean, of course, not the elite quarterback like Andrew Lucky like he had in 2018 to really show his full repertoire off. It just feels like to me that Frank Reich is missing stuff to really show everyone how good of a play caller he was. Because in 2018, he was, I mean, we saw he's a coach of the year candidate. Yeah, I agree. I think, you know, his creativity has really been hampered going from Andrew Luck to Jacoby Brissett to now, you know, Phillip Rivers, you know, as he's approaching age 40. I'm not worried about him, you know, as a coach, I think you look at this

Colts team with the way this defense is playing right now, if they still had luck, I mean, you're feeling much, much more confident, the Colts, you know, arguably could even, you know, be as high as undefeated with, you know, luck at the helm. So I mean, it's, it's been a little bit frustrating, you know, some of the some of the play calling and stuff like that. But again, with the lack of playmakers, I think it's really forced him to call, you know, kind of conservatively, unfortunately. I think once, you know, we start to get a little more healthier,

hopefully, you know, T.Y. comes back and can rebound in the second half. I think we'll see the playbook start to open up a little bit more because I think Reich knows that they can't keep doing, you know, the running on second and long and really conservative play calling, like you mentioned. So final takeaway, I mean, I think Reich will be fine throughout the rest of the season. Let's tell him this Tennessee game now on Thursday,

short week coming up about 72 hours away till kickoff, which is you got to love Thursday Night Football, Anthony, because it's just right around the corner. I know the players don't like it, but just for us, selfishly, you always love enjoying football as early as you can in the week. But this is a tough one. I mean, if the Colts want any chance of staying in this AFC South race with the Tennessee Titans, they're going to have to win this one on Sunday.

The Titans won against the Bears. The Colts lost in a game back. If they lose on Thursday, that's two games back at Tennessee, entering in the mid-November. So that's not a good sign if you want to stay in that divisional race. What do you think has to happen here on Thursday against this Titans team that is really proving that last year wasn't a fluke for them? I think they're going to have to, first of all, establish the run, which unfortunately hasn't been very easy for them,

but I think they're going to want to control the clock here, keep the ball out of Derrick Henry, Ryan Tannehill's hands. Injuries are going to play, you know, again, unfortunately, a bit of a factor here. I think I saw an injury report earlier today that the Colts tweeted out that Mo'Ali Cox was a, did not participate for his knee injury. We know T.Y.'s hampered with that groin. Hopefully he comes back for the game.

If the Colts aren't able to control the clock and you ask them to pass on this Tennessee defense and win that way, I think it's going to be a tough game. Defensively, I think they can definitely shut down Derrick Henry. I'm pretty confident in saying that he's not going to go for 200 yards or anything crazy like that. We saw how they were able to stop a good Ravens rushing attack. So I feel like defensively, they'll be okay. This is really going to come down to whether the defense can, or excuse me, whether the offense can execute and especially execute in the red zone.

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Visit buildgo.com, use promo code LOCKED, L-O-C-K-E-D, and you get 20% off your next order of BuildGo. Again, use promo code LOCKED, L-O-C-K-E-D, for 20% off of buildgo.com. Let's go. This was, to me, honestly, a game, Anthony, where it's going to be one of the trenches, like the game against Chicago, like a 19-11 type score that we saw earlier this year at Soldier Field, where I think it's probably going to be a low-scoring game, probably not going to be a lot of points, not a lot of sexy plays out on the field. But the offensive line is going to have a huge game, in my opinion.

The defensive line, the Titans are missing Taylor Watt on their left tackle, and Roger Saffold, their right guard, who got hurt last week too. So this could be a game where DeForest Buckner, Justin Houston, Kimo Katuri won't be playing this game just yet. I think he's going to be making his debut against Green Bay the week after. But those two are going to have to have big games. Grover Stewart as well. This feels like a game to me, Anthony,

where if the Colts do not dominate on both sides of the trenches, they're probably going to be in a position where they're going to be trailing on the scoreboard late in this one. Yeah, I agree completely. We know how good Derrick Henry is and how powerful he is. I think that the kind of swarm defense mentality where everybody is rushing to the ball carrier, I think is really going to help against a guy like Henry, being able to get multiple hands and bodies on him. I do think that that's going to help slow him down a

little bit. The Titans do have some, you know, really talented receivers as well. Namely, AJ Brown, who I'm a really big fan of as well. So I think, you know, you're completely right in that the trenches are going to be, you know, something to watch. I think the defensive line should be okay. We've seen that they're pretty consistent on a week-to-week basis. This offensive line has been getting bullied a little bit, we've seen, which is leading to some of these run game, you know, deficiencies. So if they do dominate, I think that this will be a pretty close game. But I think that the Colts could come away with this one, you this one as long as they are able to stay ahead of the ball.

Let's get your prediction for this one, Anthony. I just checked DraftKings and the Colts are 1.5 underdogs on the road against Tennessee. How do you think it's going to turn out on Thursday? One where I can mention it, you're going to have to have a must win if you want to stay in a divisional race. The Colts are still going to be in the playoff race either way, but I feel like this is one where it's too close to call for me right now, especially on a short week, but if they don't get the running game going, if the offensive line doesn't have one of those games we saw against Kansas City last year, we haven't had that one big game for the offensive line in the running game this year. We saw against Minnesota in Week 2 of John Taylor and his starting

debut, but it was on a lot of volume, a lot of carries there. So, what's your expectations for Thursday, and what is your prediction too? Because I just feel like this one's too close call for me right now. Yeah, this is tough. I really do wish they would get rid of Thursday night football or find a better method for these players and recovering from their injuries and stuff like that.

I think on the short week, going to Tennessee is going to be tough. If I had to give a final prediction, man, the more I think about it, I honestly don't feel super great about this game. So I'm going to go ahead and say 23, 20 Tennessee. I'm hoping that, you know, this offense can, can show a little bit more, but just from what we've seen, you know, this, this past weekend, I'm not

feeling great on a, on a short week. Yeah. I really want to see how this one goes on Sunday. I'll probably get my prediction later on this week. Cause like, like I mentioned, I just don't know where it's going to lean right now, especially on a short week. Jack Doyle will not be playing on Thursday due to concussion. It sounds like T Y he's something he might be playing on Thursday, which is a good sign. My Cox with the C as well, like you mentioned earlier in the show, Anthony. But I appreciate it. As always, you come on the show. Anthony always gives us great analysis here.

Talk about the Colts. You guys can go follow him on Twitter if you're not already, at Ant underscore the Oreo. Anthony, appreciate the time, man. Absolutely. We'll see you next time.