Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Twitter Tuesday with George Bremer of The Herald Bulletin

Episode Date: September 15, 2021

On today's episode, Evan is joined by George Bremer of The Herald Bulletin to recap an eventual weekend for the Indianapolis Colts. After losing 28-16, what were the biggest takeaways? Evan and George dissect each angle.Then, we answer all of your listener mailbag questions for our first Twitter Tuesday of the season. Make sure to follow @LockedOnColts if you haven't already.Closing out the show, Evan and George preview Colts vs. Rams with their keys and predictions. 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 audio host, Evan Seri, joined by George Bremmer, the Indianapolis Colts beat writer for the Herald Bulletin. You can follow him on Twitter if you're not already, at GMBremmer. George, how are you doing today on this Tuesday evening after a,

I'd say, rather disappointing loss for the Colts in Week 1 at home against Seattle? Yeah, I'm doing well. How about you? I'm doing great, and I'm glad to have you on today because we're going to be bringing back our Twitter Tuesday segment with listeners asking you questions, George. But let's start off the show for the first five or 10 minutes

talking through exactly what happened on Sunday. The Colts lose their season opener once again for the eighth straight year, 28-16 to the Seattle Seahawks. What was your biggest takeaway from that one? Because it really felt like a lot of the game was ebbs and flows where the first half, the defense really was a disappointment.

The second half, the offense really could never get back in a flow after the defense kind of stymied them a little bit on a couple possessions late in that game. And also the play calling from Frank Reich. A lot of listener questions about Frank Reich and his play calling come here in a little bit, George. But what was your overall biggest takeaway from that one on Sunday? Yeah, I felt like two of their biggest pillars.

I mean, two of the things that you knew going in they were going to lean on the most this season, let them down. The defense is supposed to go out and join the elite this year and take that next step forward. And the offensive line, you know, it's just supposed to, again, be one of the best in the league. And those two units just did not deliver. And I think ultimately that, along with just the general sloppiness

from really none of the offense being together very much at all before Sunday, it was too much to overcome. And then, you know, on top of all that, they made mistakes in critical situations. So I think it was, in a lot of ways, a perfect storm. You know, I just feel like you have a couple fourth downs that if you convert, the game changes. You know, you don't. One of those is a fumbled snap.

You know, how many teams don't get fourth and inches on the quarterback sneak? That fumbling snap is about the only way that doesn't happen. So, you know, it was just one thing after another. But I think ultimately, to me, the two biggest takeaways, the way that doesn't happen so you know uh it was just one thing after another uh but i think ultimately to me the two biggest two biggest takeaways you know defense in the first half was completely unacceptable and the offensive line really pretty much throughout the game but especially in the second half when they were trying to get back into it uh just couldn't protect carson wentz couldn't open up holes in the running game uh it was very disappointing and i

think those are two areas that those two units have to play well for this team to win football games. Let's hit on Carson Wentz making his cold state beat Georgia, and we'll dive right back into the negatives from this game because there was an awful lot. Arguably, Carson Wentz might be the only positive from this game as a whole. 25-38, 251 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran the ball for four carries for 23 yards.

Showed off his mobility we haven't seen in the last couple years since. Andrew Luck as a starting quarterback for the Colts, George. But even with that being said, two touchdowns, I'd say a very efficient day for Wentz with everything went on around him. A lack of running game, a lack of protection. I think it might be the worst offensive line performance I've seen, George, in the last three years since 2017. What was your thoughts on how Wentz kind of ran Reich's offense and also kind of was

baptism by fire, so to say, with how bad the offensive line was, how bad the lack of running game was around him? I think he did pretty good under those circumstances. Yeah, absolutely. I think he was, like you said, maybe the only bright spot out there. I think that the biggest number to me is what he didn't do he didn't throw an interception i think when you look at last season in philadelphia how many times when things were going like they were on sunday the offensive line was struggling

the defense was struggling a game was starting to get out of hand and Wentz made a bad decision, forced the ball, you know, through an interception somewhere and just kind of added on to the pile. He didn't do that on Sunday. And I think that's an important thing to come out of that. You know, he really was pretty smart with football. You know, I think there's a couple of throws, obviously he'd want to have back one third down to Mo Alleycock right before the half in particular i know that uh you know frank right kind of mentioned that stretch after the game is kind of a turning point where the colts had i think third and seven and then the ball just overthrew mo alley cox it wasn't by a lot uh but i think that's a throw that the colts really like that back you get that first down

it's still 14 to 10 you never know how that drive ends, how the game changes. We all know what happened instead, second and 20 in a 69-yard touchdown pass. And really, for all intents and purposes, that was the ballgame. The Colts never really threatened to get after that. But, you know, aside from a handful of throws, and that's going to happen to every quarterback in every game. I don't know very many times where a guy comes out of a game and feels like he took advantage of every single opportunity he could. I didn't see a lot of

rust, you know, despite the fact that he missed about a month of the preseason. And then most importantly, I didn't see that sort of panic. I don't know if that's the right word, but, you know, whatever was causing him to make some of those bonehead plays a year ago, you didn't really see that. That doesn't mean it's not going to happen at some point in the season. But the conditions were right for him to throw a pick or make a really bad decision on Sunday. And I thought he really did the best he could with what was at his disposal. Yeah, real quick on Wentz, just wanted to ask you this.

I know this is a big flaw of his in Philadelphia. I know a lot of Eagles writers were saying this when this trade first happened back in February, but him targeting the running backs, obviously a lot of us do the offensive line and the lack of coverage for him to make reads down the field, but targeting Taylor and Naheem Hines a combined 15 times, I think it's a positive sign, George, as far as like you mentioned, taking care of the ball. Moving forward here, I know it was a week one loss and he looked at times a little inefficient, but more often than not, it was a week one loss, and he looked at times a little inefficient, but more often than not it was a good game from Carson Wentz.

Does this game give you more confidence down the road, George, that maybe Frank Breck and the coach staff are getting to Carson Wentz, what they're trying to fix with him as far as turnovers and making those reads, almost like Phillip Rivers last year? Yeah, you know, I think it's a really good comparison. I think Phillip Rivers, it took him a few games, you know. It really wasn't until after that Cleveland game when we started seeing him kind of make the decisions to kind of, you know, check the ball down where he needed to

and not necessarily force it. You know, I think that loss to the Browns kind of helped reinforce to Rivers that he couldn't do it all by himself. You know, I think it'll be interesting. I really feel like the team let Carson Wentz down on Sunday. I think he played well enough to at least be in that ballgame, and all the other pieces of the puzzle that are supposed to come together just didn't.

So, you know, I do think it was a very encouraging start for him. Now, you know, there's 16 more games this year, so we'll see how things go. But I definitely think it was a very reason for optimism the way that that Wentz played on Sunday let's go to the offensive line now George we're getting on some negatives here for Devin to our mailbag questions from our Twitter followers looking here at the offensive line and I mentioned this earlier in the show I think you might be there with me as well I can't remember a game I know they're missing Eric Fisher left tackle but they've even done this when they're missing guys on the field since 2018 when Quentin Nelson was drafted.

I can't remember a time since Nelson's been a Cole where this offensive line looked as bad as it did on Sunday. Just a lot of leakage. Braden Smith was bulldozed a few times, which was a very big surprise. Ryan Kelly, the same thing. Quentin Nelson was kind of the only stabilizer up there, and we kind of saw on Sunday when one good guy is up there, it doesn't really matter because the four of the guys can beat one-on-one.

What was your opinion of what happened on Sunday? Because I think if Carson Wentz had time consistently, George, this might have been a different outcome. Yeah, I mean, the few times they actually gave him time to throw on third down, he made really big plays. The two of them in particular I can think of to Mike Strawn. But, you know, more often than not, he was running for his life. To me, it felt a lot like watching Andrew Luck from like 2012 to 2015

where almost every snap it was just run for your life and see what you can make of it. I think the offensive line showed more than any other unit the problems from not being together the entire preseason. I mean, Grolowinski was, I think, the only guy who pretty much was there all of training camp. Braden Smith didn't miss a lot of time, but he was out a little while with that foot injury,

and now there's something back. Obviously, we're going to see whether or not he can go on Sunday. I'm sure we'll get into more of that later. But he missed a little bit of time, and he's dinged up again now. Obviously, Quentin Nelson was out three weeks. Brian Kelly was out three weeks. Julian Davenport missed the very beginning of training camp, wasn't there the first 10 days,

and had to battle for a couple weeks before he got that job. It just didn't look like there was any cohesion. It looked like what it was, five guys playing together pretty much for the first time. I think that's one of the most important things. Yeah, it's concerning to see Ryan Kelly get bulldozed a couple times. It's concerning to see Braden Smith. But we've seen enough from those guys.

I don't think that's going to be the way they play all year long. I think the bigger issue there, people talk about it all the time with the offensive line. It's so important, more than any other unit, for them to play as one. Five guys coming together on the same them to play as one five guys coming together on the same page playing as one unit together and there was no evidence of that which really shouldn't be a surprise given how little time they had together you know retrospect it probably shouldn't have been as big a surprise but i think what's most concerning about it is seattle's not a dominant front this wasn't the Rams who are

coming in on Sunday this was a team that has struggled up front you know one of the worst last year at getting the quarterbacks putting pressure on them and the Colts made them look like all pros on Sunday one more thing on the offensive line George before we dive over to defense real quick and then head into our listener mailbag questions looking at the running game which is obviously a big focal point to this team with the offensive line and Jonathan Taylor back there, when you add Taylor and Naeem Hines' carries together, 26 carries for only 90 yards, about 3.4 yards for Jerry George.

Maybe week one, I mean, I feel like this is obvious with how the Colts have built their team, but if they can't run the ball, they're pretty much in trouble when they go against a good team like Seattle on Sunday, and that could be a formula for teams to follow, where if you stack the box and make Carson Wentz be you and put more pressure on him, maybe that's the formula that we see now teams take from what Seattle did and we've won.

Yeah, you know, I think, again, a lot of that goes back to line. The offensive line plays better. They get more things going early on. They get more protection for Wentz. I think it all works together. I think it's all, you know, Carson said after the game, he felt like they didn't play good complimentary football. He was referring specifically to the offense and the defense, you know, when the offense did have some things going in the first half, the defense obviously was struggling. And then in the second half, it was

reversed. But I think it went for the offense as well. That offensive line not being able to really get anything going made that running game not get going. That put more pressure on the passing game. It all goes hand in hand. I think if the line plays better, the passing game gets going a little bit earlier, that can open things up for the run game too. It can work both ways. But there were a couple times early. I think Jonathan Taylor was a little more hesitant than he was at the end of last year. Looked a little bit more like he did the year before. There were a couple holes early in the game where he didn't hit it quick enough. But I think more often than not, there just wasn't enough there. That first drive, that first 14-play drive, I think that's what they want to do.

I think that was sort of the blueprint. They ran a lot on on that drive they didn't finish it the way they wanted to but after that you know it wasn't they got the ball one more time and went three and out and after that it was 14 to three and from that point on I think the the game plan going in kind of went out the window so uh it all works together you know I think the running game definitely has to get going but I I'm going to keep coming back to this probably all day. But, again, it's the offensive line not doing its job and the defensive struggles early. I think that all played into what you saw for the running game results.

Let's go to defense now, George. Russell Wilson, 18 of 23, return of 54 yards, four touchdowns, no picks, four touchdowns and only five incomplete passes. If you add in Gardner Minshew in the season over the last year, George, that's seven touchdowns to six incomplete passes. That's just an incredible stat. But even looking back with Russell Wilson and other elite quarterbacks, it's concerning to me, George, that we're now in year four

of Matty Rufus' scheme. I know there were some moments on Sunday that were good with the pressure, but you're banking an awful lot with this zone scheme against these elite, elite quarterbacks like a Russell Wilson type where the evidence over the last three or four years now has shown, George, that if you go get the top five, top-tech quarterback in this defense, they're going to get diced up. I mean, what was your thoughts on the secondary with Russell Wilson on Sunday?

Yeah, it was not anywhere near good enough. And I agree with what you said. I think it's a situation where this scheme, when you play anybody, but especially when you play somebody like Russell Wilson or one of the better quarterbacks in the league, there's such a small margin for error right now certain play it's going to show up in a big way and I think that's what happened on Sunday you know they they had guys they have miscommunication they had guys who weren't where they were supposed to be uh the biggest ones obviously that 69 yard touchdown pass you know why you're not in in a quarters coverage there why you're not in more of a shell trying to take away that big throw over the top, it's hard to really fathom how you let that happen.

Second and 20 and time running down, really the Seahawks' only option at that point was to throw deep and hope for something like that to hit. To not really be in a position to take that away, it's really hard to understand you know how that that came to pass um they got it together in the second half as we've seen a lot of times with this team but i think that's the other part of it that's concerning kenny moore said after the game it was very much like last year all last season one good half one bad half kind of mixed it up

sometimes it started good and you know didn't have as good a second half. Other times it was exactly like Sunday was. They've got to find consistency. You know, I think first and foremost, they've got to find consistency. And I think that's hard to do when you run in a scheme that is such a small margin for error. All 11 guys pretty much have to fire on every play. And if they don't, definitely the good quarterbacks are going to take advantage. I think one underrated aspect to the Colts' defensive struggles on Sunday,

I know you've touched on this a little bit, George, yourself before and also some others on the beat, but the rushing attack for the Colts' defense against the Seahawks' team, 27 carries, 140 yards, over five yards per carry. Was that more concerning to you on Sunday than what Russell Wilson did because I honestly felt going into that game that Russell Wilson was going to do whatever he wanted against that team but if they were going to make them one-dimensional would have helped an awful lot and that's exactly what didn't happen on Sunday Chris Carson ran for

almost 100 yards and six yards per carry was that more concerning to you honestly looking back on it was how the Colts really got dominated on the line of scrimmage yeah you know I think we talked about it last week in the lead up to the game that the one thing they absolutely could not do was let this team run the football because you knew that Russell Wilson was going to cause enough problems on his own and once you start letting that running game get going as well then Seattle can literally do whatever it wants to do and defense is in a really bad position and And it started right out of the gate. I mean, the biggest play in that game early was probably that third and one that became a 33-yard run.

And at that point, I think they had 59 rushing yards on – or 59 yards on that drive, and all of them were on the ground. It was a statement by Seattle coming out right away, punching the Colts in the mouth running the ball down their throat and you know the thing that improved most in the second half was that run defense i think they had 13 carries for 44 yards which is still not excellent uh defense but certainly much better than what they they did in the first half it's you know breck reich mentioned it already this week the number one thing going into the Rams game,

they've got to shore up that run defense. And I know fans don't like to hear that because they're saying, well, look at the passing game. But you see the result. When they don't defend the run, the way that they failed miserably in the first half, they don't get anything done on defense. When they let teams run the ball, it just becomes open season,

and you see, you know, how it turns out. We're back and better than ever. All eyes are on the great owners. Teens are back on the start of football season. As always, BetOnline is your number one spot for the pro and college bowl action this season. With a new updated site interface, even more odds, props, and contests, BetOnline.ag continues to be the number one source for everything football. Head to the website you use to mold a device right now to sign up today to receive your 100% off welcome bonus. That's double your initial deposit just for signing up.

Don't forget to use the promo code NFL100 when signing up. From football, basketball, boxing, right to your favorite Vegas casino games, don't wait to take advantage of all the amazing offers available for the 2021 season. BetOnline, the fastest and easiest way to bet on all your favorite sports. BetOnline, your online sports book experts. Make sure to use the promo code LOCKEDON, L-O-C-K-E-D-O-N as well. Let's dive into our mailbag now, George. Thanks everyone for putting in some questions here on Twitter Tuesday. Go ahead and follow, if you haven't already, at LockedOnColts, and you can submit questions every week here for George. But let me go ahead

and get to our first one. I'm going to actually combine a few questions here, because we got a lot of the same thing, a lot of frustrated Colts fans about this, George. Frank Reich's play calling, especially near the red zone on Sunday's game, a lot of people are saying, people like BJ Moody and also Andrew are asking about Frank Reich's play calling, why he's being so aggressive in these situations when they could have taken the points but only down six points or excuse me, five points, 21 to 16, when Seattle got the ball back and then drove down and scored.

What's your overall opinion of Frank Reich's play coming on Sunday, and especially those situations where it was fourth and one, fourth and three, and the Colts just couldn't convert in those key situations? Yeah, you know, I'm not surprised. That's who he is, and I don't think you're going to see that change. And the last thing a coach wants to do is go away from who he is you know I've seen a lot of that comment a lot of the anger from the fans that let the defense down I can tell you right now it did not let the defense on defense knows that this is what's going to happen and I think what would be worse would be

him to go out of character and kick the field goal because then the Colts are going to feel like they're surrendering I think what the problem is, they have for now three years and starting in year four, it feels like more often than not, in big situations, they have not executed in these situations. You know, they're going to do it. Everybody knows they're going to do it. Maybe that's part of why the defenses are having some success, you know, stopping it. And it's a multitude of things. I mean, you look at the two big fourth downs, the ones in the second half that really turned the game in a lot of ways, or at least stopped this team's comeback from materializing. And it was, you know, pretty unique mistakes.

The first one we already talked about, fumbling the snap. You know, neither Ryan Kelly or Carson Wentz had a really good explanation for that. mistakes the first one we already talked about fumbling the snap you know neither ryan kelly or carson wentz had a really good explanation for that but i think the fact that neither one of them practiced together much before sunday probably played into it somewhat uh and then you notice the second fourth down they went and shotgun they weren't going to let that happen again and what happened then even rolled wentz out a little bit like well let's let's understand that seattle's been bringing pressure and brayden smith gets steamrolled and the sack happens and it's you know those are two things that if you're frank reich those are not in your mind you know

what could go wrong on this fourth down a fumbled snap and brayden smith getting destroyed are probably the last two things on his mind so you, you know, it's not working. There's no question about that. They've got to tighten it up. But I don't think he's going to change. And I don't think he should change because that's who he is. That's his philosophy. The Colts know that they've talked about it since day one, when he came in, if it's fourth and short, they're going to go for it. They've just got to find a way to execute. Kind of snake bit a little bit on Sunday in some ways, but you can go back to the Buffalo game last year. You can go back to the Houston loss in Reich's first year.

It's a recurring theme. There's no doubt about it. Another question here about Carson Wentz and Frank Reich from at the Dan Bradbury on Twitter. He's asking about Frank Reich and the control against Carson Wentz in the line of scrimmage. How much do you think that is right now, George? Do you think Carson is checking into different plays at this point,

or do you think it's more minor adjustments at the line right now instead of full audibles? And one thing just to add on to what Dan's saying there, George, I think the mental acumen, something we talked about in the offseason when the trade first happened with Carson Wentz, Phillip Rivers has seen everything at this point in his career. He was able to check into everything. If Frank Reich didn't call what he think was the right situation,

Rivers would have audibled out of it. We saw a couple of kill audibles from Carson Wentz on Sunday, but not that much. What's your opinion of that situation with Wentz, the line of scrimmage, and how much control he has right now? Because when we talked about the trade originally, the Colts might have been sacrificing a little bit of the mental acumen department when getting Carson Wentz on board for the more explosive,

obviously tantalizing talent. Yeah, no, absolutely. There's no question that those were the two big differences between Wentz and Rivers. You know, Rivers had seen it all and done it all and probably could tell the defense what they were going to do better than some of the guys on the defense. You know, in some weeks, he just knew them that well uh and that's not where carson

wentz has been in his career that's not his biggest strength i don't think he's terrible at it by any stretch but anybody being compared to philip rivers is probably gonna pale in comparison at least in currently active in the nfl maybe aaron rogers uh somebody like that might be able to max rivers you know encyclopedic knowledge but there's no doubt the colts are going to take a active in the NFL. Maybe Aaron Rodgers, somebody like that might be able to match Rivers, you know, in psychopedic knowledge, but there's no doubt the Colts are going to take a hit there, especially early in the season. And then Wentz gives you that athleticism, that ability to extend plays, which we saw a lot of on Sunday, the Rivers didn't have. So it's a trade-off. There's no question about it. He's got a decent amount of control. That's always been part of what, that's always been part of Reichich's offense and that hasn't changed here uh they go to the line with three

plays that that's pretty common across the nfl actually but absolutely the case in this scheme and you know frank reich mentioned he liked a lot of what he saw from carson wentz on sunday like most people i think he gave him a a fairly favorable. But the one thing that they wanted to clean up, he felt like there were a couple pre-snap issues, you know, a couple times where they maybe should have checked into something else and they didn't. And that's one thing that they're going to be working on, you know, heading into this next week against the Rams.

But I definitely think that's going to be part of this. You know, I think we talked a little bit last week. There's going to be a slow start because a lot of these guys weren't together. Even if it had been a pristine, perfect preseason, they got the starters every snap that they wanted to get. Everybody was healthy. I think there was always going to be a little bit of, you know, learning curve for Wentz at the line.

It's just, I think it's just natural. You know, it's going to take him a while to get used to this team, but also to, you know, he's still, he's a veteran, but he's still only in his sixth year. You know, we talked about Phil Rivers being in year 17 last year. There's obviously a little bit of a difference between the two. And I think it's one of those things that it, hopefully it will get better as the year goes on. But I think that's obviously a little bit of a difference between the two. And I think it's one of those things that hopefully it will get better as the year goes on.

But I think that's a real concern. I think it's something that's especially going to be a problem here the first month or so of the season. Another question here is an interesting one from at Indy Cold Season, asking about Michael Pittman Jr. What is the next step for Michael Pittman? We all expected this to be the start of a breakout season for him, and yet he was nearly invisible on Sunday. Feels like he's being underutilized running these inside routes crossing the field for the entire game. What's

your thoughts on that assessment, George? It was a relatively quiet game for Michael Pittman, but I imagine a lot of that had to do with the offensive line. They want to get Pittman more down the field vertically this year, and that was going to happen with the way the offensive line was holding up in front of first and Wentz. But what was your opinion of Pittman on Sunday where he was still kind of in that role sometimes where he was just being used in the middle of the field yeah I definitely expect him to have a bigger year and to have bigger days than he had on Sunday you know I think there were two two factors one you mentioned the offensive line struggles obviously you're not going to be able to to drop back and let plays develop and throw deep when the offensive line is not getting the job done

to the extent that they weren't on Sunday. The other part of it, Seattle was intentionally trying to keep the Colts from going deep. They knew that Carson Wentz wanted to show off that arm strength. They knew that, you know, the Colts would want to take those big shots, and they pretty much stayed in a shell coverage most of the game. You know, they were basically telling the Colts, it was really the old Tony Dungy theory.

If you can go down and run that 14-play drive and score a touchdown, then more power to you. But we're going to bank on the idea that you're going to mess up somewhere along the line often enough that we'll score more points than you do. And it worked out. The Seahawks saw that happen. You know, it wasn't a lot of turnovers from the Colts on Sunday,

but there were a lot of just missed opportunities. You know, they weren't good enough on third down. I mean, it starts right there. We talk about the things the Colts need to do to win football games. Defense has to be better. The offensive line has to be better. One of the biggest things, certainly since frank reich's been here one of the biggest indicators of how well this team performs is third down and they were terrible on third down that you would think would be a michael

pitman eric you know you would think he would be a big third down guy expecting to see some 50 50 balls for him down the field this year expecting to see him have more of an impact in that game, you know, in the vertical passing game. Didn't happen on Sunday. And I don't think it's – again, I think it's, at this point, unique to this week. You know, as we talked about here at the very beginning of this answer, you know, it had to do with the way the offensive line played.

It had to do with the way Seattle's defense played. But they need him to be that vertical threat, especially with T.Y. Hilton not on the field, and that's going to continue probably at least into October. They're going to need somebody to step up and make plays downfield, and he really needs to be one of those guys. We're going to hit two more questions in the mailbag, George, and dive into a quick Rams preview and get your prediction heading into Sunday's game at Lucasolo Stadium. The next one here is from IndyTex in 1986. He's asking about the Colts' signing today of Andrew Sandejo.

They tried out Sandejo and for their safeties yesterday. They ultimately signed Sandejo. He's played with the Vikings and the Browns throughout his career. What was your opinion of them signing Sandejo, George? What does that mean for the safety room that this question is asking? But also, is it admitting that the Colts are internally feel like they made a mistake letting Andre Chachere go and their 53 man roster when they got cutdowns. Yeah, I definitely, they, they made a mistake letting Chachere go.

That was a weird one too. It was the second day. I think they thought they could sneak him through. I honestly think a lot of times you hold on to a guy on the first day of cuts, you cut him on the second day, and then you can sneak him through and everything works out for the better. And it didn't happen. The Eagles snuck in there and grabbed him. And the Colts, obviously, I don't think that was something

that they wanted to see happen. Probably should have cut somebody else, kept him around. I think they admitted that mistake when they called sean davis up on sunday you know they had a thin ish wide receiver group uh you you normally want more than four guys up there uh but that was the situation on sunday and i thought for sure they were going to call a wide receiver up but then danny pinner wasn't ready to go and they had to call joey hunt up just in case you need somebody to play center and now all of a sudden you had to choose between a receiver and a safety i think the fact that they brought up sean davis on sunday showed you that you know they

they made an error and letting chachere go and they understood that i think today how coming in is just all about numbers there you only have until he signed you only had three safeties on the active roster you know i don't know how you you're going to go through a season that way you had to do something you had to bring somebody else in and situation where the rookie sean davis is not ready uh and they've kind of shown that by cutting him and putting him on the practice squad nobody else in that that group and training camp aside from from Chachere, really stepped up. So you had to go outside the organization, go bring in a veteran, and now you hope that you've

got some depth there. We'll see. They've had some good luck to various degrees bringing in veteran safeties during the season. Mike Mitchell probably stands out most, you know, during this era, during the Chris Ballard time here. But, you know, they had some good – Tyvon Wilson had some good and some bad last year, I think. I think they're going to hope that Sandejo's probably somewhere in between those two. Yeah, I hope that Sandejo plays well. I know a lot of Browns fans looking back at their tweets about Sandejo were not pleased with how he played last year.

But he's a veteran. He adds some depth to that position that desperately needs it. I think Andre Chachere should have made the roster. I think the Colts are admitting that mistake at this point. Last question here is from Cap and Joshua. George, asking about Eric Fisher and Braden Smith. What are the probabilities that Eric Fisher plays on center from what you've heard and also about Braden Smith's availability?

I imagine you'll find out more about that later this week on Braden Smith, especially with his practices. But I think just with the desperation for this Colts off the line, it's sort of gelled a little bit. and Eric Fisher was limited at all last week should press a little bit more throughout this week I'd say there's a really really good chance that Fisher plays on Sunday against the Los Angeles Rams George what's your thoughts on that and also Braden Smith yeah Smith we'll just have to wait and see we really don't have a lot on that aside from what Frank Reich said yesterday you know just gonna have to wait and see how he gets through the practice week.

If he's out there Wednesday, then he'll play. You know, if not, we'll have to just be one of those things sort of like it was with Clinton Nelson, where you're just kind of waiting all the way through probably the Saturday to see what, you know, how that turns out. Fisher, I'm not as optimistic as you are. You know, it's just seven or eight months since he played a football game. He's only practiced twice so far, both of them limited practices. It'll be interesting to see because I think the Braden Smith thing plays into that.

You know, do you want to have basically Julian Davenport and Porter as your tackles on Sunday. Probably not. You know, probably Fisher even at 75% or 80% is a better option in that role. But a lot of it just depends on physically where he's at. He looked really good in training camp. And I think before the COVID situation kind of settled in, I really think there was a chance he was going to play week one. And the way that Frank Reich has talked about that in the last week or two

only makes me further convinced of that. I think they really thought that he had a shot. Those 10 days off from COVID, you know, obviously couldn't go on Sunday. You know, you might be right. You may see him come out there. I go back to what Frank said about Carson Wentz. You know, he really wanted two, two solid weeks from him. One week of limited, one week of full, wasn't a full week of limited for,

for Fisher last week, but he did get the last two days. So maybe, you know, if he's cool on Wednesday, I'll probably be a little more optimistic than I am right now. This episode is brought to you by Rock Auto. With the ever-increasing numbers of makes and models, it's now impossible for your local chain auto parts store to stock all the parts you need. So why endorse seemingly intimidating questioning when the counterman is waiting for the parts

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Content varies by package. Let's dive into a quick Rams-Colts preview on Sunday. From what we saw on Sunday Night Football in Georgia, this Rams team looks very legit. They have a really good ground game. The offensive line did well establishing the run. Matthew Stafford is a huge upgrade from where Jared Goff was. Now Sean McVay can open up his playbook more and take more deep shots as we saw against the Chicago Bears. That defense, of course, Aaron Donald, Jalen Ramsey, Leonard Floyd, a lot of big names on that defense. What's your thoughts

heading into this game? I feel like it's going to be a lot of the same cues talked about last week heading to Seattle, George. This feels like another game here where the Colts need to win the trench battle on both sides of the football. If not, maybe another long day like we saw against the Seahawks. There's no doubt about it. You know, I think offensively, LA is going to be a lot like Seattle. Shane Waldron came in, Seahawks new offense coordinator. He'd been with the Rams. I think they're going to see a lot of the same things that they saw against Seattle. And they're going to have to play obviously more like they did in the second half than in the first half. Obviously, Stafford and Wilson are completely different quarterbacks.

Stafford's much more of a pocket guy. And so maybe they can get a little more pressure on him than they were able to get on Wilson because of Wilson's ability to escape. They absolutely have to. I mean, I think that's the two biggest things defense is going to have to do. Stop the run, like we talked about before, and get in Matt Stafford's face. Too often, especially in the first half, they let Russell Wilson be too comfortable. And when they did get a little pressure, they didn't have that discipline,

and he was able to escape and extend drive. I think they need to definitely get Stafford on the ground probably at least two or three times and then get takeaways. This team came in saying they wanted 40 takeaways. They want to be one of those rare teams to do that with the extra game. It was a lofty goal, but it was certainly a realistic goal. You only get one on Sunday, and I think they need more than that. They need two or three a game. They know that.

You know, they've got to – and part of that goes with pressure. You know, a lot of interceptions are caused because somebody gets the ball out too early, hits a guy while he's throwing, whatever that may be. And like you said, that goes back to the trenches. That front four has to do a really good job. It just wasn't consistent enough by any stretch of imagination on Sunday. And then, you know, it'll be interesting to see how the secondary bounce is back because does Xavier Rhodes play?

That would probably give him a little bit of a lift. If he doesn't, can those guys play better as a unit than they did against Seattle because I think the number one thing in that first half that really stands out, the number of explosive plays, big passing plays down the field that were allowed and really uncontested catches most of the time. And it didn't feel like it was really hard. It was pitching catch there for Russell Wilson. Matthew Stafford can do the same thing if they allow that to happen. Offensively, got to protect Carson Wentz. That's going to be a real challenge with Aaron Donald out there wrecking lines. You've got to get the running game going.

You know, I think it was pretty obvious from that first possession what they wanted to do. Like I said, 14 plays, almost nine and a half minutes off the clock. That was the game plan Sunday. Obviously finishing the end zone, not with three points. But that's the goal again against the Rams. You don't want to get a shootout. They're not at a point yet.

Maybe later in the year, this will be a team that, that can do that. But you know, with the offensive line banged up and not playing well, the quarterback still feeling his way. You're still better off at that offensive line can bully some people, which is a really big task on Sunday,

get that running game going, shorten the game and keep it in the lower twenties. We'll see how it turns out. I know that that would be the, the that running game going, shorten the game, and keep it in the lower 20s. We'll see how it turns out. I know that that would be the goal for Indianapolis on Sunday. Let's go ahead and talk really quickly about one matchup that I'm looking forward to, George. And I have to wonder how much we'll actually see it, especially if Breen Smith misses time on Sunday

and doesn't play against the Rams. But how excited are you to watch the opportunities that we get the snaps to see it of Quentin Nelson versus Aaron Donald? That's the first few seconds of every snap with the Colts offense versus the Rams defense. I'm going to watch when they're matched up. But if Braden Smith does miss time, George, I do wonder if they just put Aaron Donald exclusively on the other side

to have him go against Julian Davenport and Mark Lewinsky on that right side. If Eric Fisher does play on the left side on Sunday, what's your thoughts on that matchup? And do you think maybe LA kind of avoids it a little bit in playing Donald on the other side? Yeah, it'll be interesting to see. They moved Donald around quite a bit, even against Chicago. But I think, you know, the times that it does happen,

that's the heavyweight battle. That's the price of admission here. I think you're going to – I'm sure the TV copy is going to focus on it at least early in the game. It's one of the best matchups you could possibly have, maybe the best in the NFL. I think you can make a really good case that Donald's the best interior defensive lineman and that Quentin Nelson's the best interior offensive lineman in this league. I think that, to me, is a marquee, top of the main event type of matchup.

It will be interesting to see because L.A. does like to move him around. I think if Braden Smith can't go, it's going to be even more enticing to move him to that right side, like you said, and cause whatever havoc they can. But I'm sure that matchup is going to happen a handful of times. I think every one of them is going to be worth the price of admission. Last thing here for you, George. I can't let you go without getting a prediction.

I'm looking at the spread right now. The Rams are favored on the road at Lucasville State by three and a half points. The over-under is 47 and a half. What's your opinion on this game on Sunday, George? After what I saw in week one, I'm very hesitant to go with the Colts here. I think the Rams probably get this one done. It might be a close game, though. But what do you think here, George? How do you think week two is going to go for the Colts here. I think the Rams probably get this one done. It might be a close game though, but what do you think here, George? How do you think we two is going to go for the Colts?

Yeah, you know, I didn't see much from the Colts in week one to give me a lot of confidence. And honestly, you know, I picked them to win week one when I was talking with you, but after Xavier Rhodes went down and we knew that he wasn't going to play on Sunday, my mind changed quite a bit on that one. Right now, I'm assuming he doesn't play. I'm assuming Braden Smith doesn't play. I'm assuming Eric Fisher doesn't play. And if those things happen, I think it's gonna be like 34 to 17 in favor of the Rams on Sunday. If that happens, George, how bad is your Twitter mentions going to be on Sunday after the game? I think a lot of Colts Twitter, we've already seen it this year after week one,

where if they get blown out week two, it going to be like like Armageddon on Twitter yeah you know and I think everybody has to remember this is the longest season in NFL history and you know Frank Reich's teams have had a history of not playing well early in the year getting it together late in the year so really the funny thing is probably the best start they had is the one year they missed the playoff they went five and two with Jacobyissett, and then things fell apart. Every other year, it's been more, you know, hits and misses. It'll be interesting to see. I think they were 5-2 last year as well,

but that Cleveland game always just sort of colors my opinion of how last season started. And hopefully, you know, looking back, that's the way we'll look at the Seattle game, that that was sort of the outlier. Certainly not worse than last year's season opener, losing to Jacksonville and the only win the Jaguars got. So it'll be interesting to see how it goes.

But there's no doubt, no Frank Wright team has started 0-2 yet here in Indianapolis. I think the Colts have a huge task ahead of them to avoid that happening this year. George, always enjoy having you on here. Thanks again, listeners, for throwing George some great questions. Go ahead and follow George Vianna already on Twitter, at GMBremmer, and go read his work, as always, over on the Herald Bulletin. George, appreciate your time today. Thanks a lot, Evan. Anytime.