Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - Should the Vikings be worried about the Colts?

Episode Date: September 17, 2020

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he is the lead voice for Stampede Blue, Zach Hicks. What is up, Zach? Doing all right. You know, obviously it could be better after week one, but you and I were just kind of talking before this. For both of us, it could be much better after week one. Are you a roller coaster guy? Because me, I feel like I'm very much the sort of dead inside,

I'm here for the show, you know, that kind of thing. I'm always interested in no matter what way it goes. If the Vikings win by 30 points, like, all right, let's dive into what happened. If they get killed and have a terrible defensive performance, okay, let's find out why and let's talk about it. But it seems like you're a little more on the side of following the ups and downs. I will say for content wise, like, you know, a lot of my stuff is writing a lot of it is the film related stuff. People are way more interested when the team's winning. So I always like, you know, the interaction and the content with that. But, you know, I'm kind of dead on the

inside as well. It's kind of where it comes with. And, you know, you interaction and the content with that. But, you know, I'm kind of dead on the inside as well is kind of where it comes with. And, you know, you and I were talking right before this. I grew up a Washington fan. And I think, you know, I grew up watching them for, what, 16 years or something like that, watching every game. And you kind of just lose being excited about football when you watch a team like that for so long. I mean, three playoff appearances in my lifetime. So, yeah, I just kind of, either

way, Sunday doesn't really affect me too much, like on the fandom level, but I'd prefer to see the team I cover win. But at the end of the day, you know, it is what it is. It doesn't really affect me too much, you know. The way that I look at it is, especially for the fans, Vikings fans who have seen so many great teams come just short. That would be the fun part of it for me, is that all these people who have dedicated their lives to this, who ride this roller coaster, and who have gone through all the crazy things with this franchise,

if they were to win, how much fun that would be for all of those people. But yeah, on a week-to-week basis, I'm just looking for things that are fascinating, and what we can take away, and where we can move forward. And let me ask you real quick before we get into what happened with the Colts, because I think a lot of us went, wait, what happened to the Colts in week one? So we'll find out in a second. But has it been hard recently to like the Colts. I mean, this is the most, I think, separated franchise from the Vikings, where Vikings fans have no reason whatsoever to know about the Indianapolis Colts.

You see them every so often, but it's pretty rare. I remember there was a game where Peyton Manning played horribly, and they still beat the Vikings on a field goal or something years ago, but I mean, this is, there is, there is no disdain. There's no hatred. There's no rivalry here, really, that I can think of. So I want to know, post-Payton Manning, has it been tough to be a Colts fan? I wouldn't say tough because the Andrew Luck years were super fun. I mean, obviously, early on with Ryan Grigson running the show and Chuck Pagano, it was really, really frustrating.

They never put any effort into building offensive line for him. They were rolling out 100-year-old Andre Johnson and all these guys out there for him. But 2018 was super, super exciting. That was a lot of fun, especially they started the year 2-5. They went on that huge win streak, and obviously it ended poorly against Kansas City. But I would say probably the hype going into the next season

before his awful retirement, which was just, you know, heartbreaking for every Colts fan. I think it was more heartbreaking even than Peyton Manning leaving the team just because it was so sudden. I think that was really the part where we've kind of been on this, like, decline the last two years. And it sucks, you know, because this team is really good. You know, they've got a lot of guys who are marketable.

They've got guys like Darius Leonard, who's one of the best in the league the last two seasons, the linebacker position. Quentin Nelson is, you know, on pace for a Hall of Fame career already, and they have a lot of good players and stuff. Phillip Rivers is also a fun player to root for when he's coming in here, so it does suck, you know, that, I think that sudden retirement of Andrew Luck, though, like these last two years, we've seen such a decline because last year was just so so boring on offense and even though we're going to be more fun this year I think on offense it still isn't Andrew Luck and it was so sudden and it was just taken away from us that it definitely has dropped a little bit but you know I think the Andrew Luck era was really fun uh very frustrating a lot of injuries uh to such a good player and and it ended in such a horrible note but uh to such a good player and it ended

in such a horrible note but uh personally for me you know just watching it i thought the andrew luck era was super fun for the colts okay so let me make my case that it's been tough because with the vikings they have not had a true franchise quarterback yeah since fran tarkington and it's wild that a franchise could go this long without having a real true franchise quarterback aside for a few moments of Dante Culpepper, the very early makings of that with Teddy Bridgewater. And then I don't know what to call this Kirk Cousins thing quite yet. I mean, he is their franchise quarterback,

but when only about half the fan base is really on board with extending him or less than half of the fan base, I don't want to call him like a Fran Tarkington type of figure for this franchise, which is what you had with Andrew Luck. But to not come away with a Super Bowl appearance when you have someone who's a generational talent who then finally gets people in charge that have a clue of what they're doing and then has to retire because of a bunch of injuries that were kind of caused

by the previous people in charge in a lot of ways bunch of injuries that were kind of caused by the previous people in charge in a lot of ways I guess that to me would be tough I know that Vikings fans would say hey you got a Super Bowl with Peyton Manning so you can't really complain but even then I would counter with you got one with so many times that you were close and then you see the like ghoulish version of manning win with another team that that is even a little bit tough too so any team with a super bowl vikings fans could go hey come on they've got one but but i think that like having those great things not fully pay off is a little bit rough yeah you know i grew up a you know talking about other sports

i grew up a washington capitals fan right and i don't know how much, you guys are in Minnesota, so you guys probably all know all about hockey. Oh, yeah, know all about it. Yeah, tons about hockey. Every single year the Caps were the best team in the league. You know, every single year, best regular season team. OB was scoring 70 goals. You know, just it was outstanding, winning every single year.

Couldn't get past the second round. And I feel like that's kind of where you guys are. Obviously you don't have a superstar. Excuse me. You guys don't have a superstar player like Alex Ovechkin that's been there the second round. And I feel like that's kind of where you guys are. Obviously, you don't have a superstar. Excuse me. You guys don't have a superstar player like Alex Ovechkin that's been there the whole time. But you guys have always been so close with everybody. You know, Adrian Peterson, Brett Favre was just on the doorstep the year the Saints went in and beat the Colts. But just so close and long.

I will tell you, though, when you get that one, and this is why it's hard for me to feel, really, for Colts fans at times because they got the one. When you get that one, it makes it so much easier. You know, the Caps got their one, like, two years ago. And every time they lose in the playoffs, then I'm just like, eh, whatever. I saw the one. Like, you know, so when you get that one, and I think eventually it will come for the Vikings. Just you've been so close for so long. Obviously, you know how to build a team.

It's been really confident for a long time. Just got to luck into that franchise, you know, superstar quarterback or at least, you know, top-tier quarterback, and I think you guys will be good. But when it comes, I mean, when you get that one, I kind of agree with Vikings fans. You know, when you get that one, nothing else really matters. And even when you get to, you know, you get to watch a couple as well because they went to the Saints one, even though that was a heartbreaking one too. So just seeing them in the championship a couple times, winning one, being in AFC championship games all the time, I don't feel too bad for

Colts fans on that department. Obviously, you want to see more of Andrew Luck, but Vikings fans, I get it. When you see other franchises that are complaining, but they have that one, it does feel so much better when you have that one so I agree it is funny that um we were having a conversation maybe a couple years ago when Kirk Cousins signed like what makes the Kirk Cousins era a success and I remember saying okay I mean if they get a Super Bowl appearance out of it and other fans coming back like no they have to win the Super Bowl and there we are with only a one playoff win in the last two years which I don't think is exactly what they were looking for when they signed him with the team that they had so now it's a team in transition

but the Colts are in a very interesting spot here because they were going for the farve they were going for the let's get the washed up guy the cowboy to have one more ride and in week one i see a lot of yardage and i also see in the box score the philip rivers interception so i did not have a chance to watch this game i haven't watched it back you were complaining on twitter everyone else is that the coach's film has not been published yet, which is, you know, frustrating. But, you know, this is a game that I haven't turned the page yet fully to, like, getting away from the Packers game and on to the Colts game. So, Phillip Rivers, Indianapolis Colts era begins with a loss to Gardner Minshew.

What happened? Yeah, so essentially, you know, there's going gonna be a lot of box score scouting that they'll see phil rivers stats and they'll see and and you know they'll say it's empty yards because the interceptions and stuff when it really isn't you know for the entire game rivers was moving the ball up and down the field basically the game came down to the colts to shoot themselves in the foot and then their defense couldn't stop the short game of the jaguars which was that that was probably the most frustrating thing. But talking about shooting themselves in the foot, I mean,

they didn't punt once the entire game, the Colts. They outgained the Jaguars by over 200 yards, like 250 yards in the game. They got stopped on a fourth and one on the five-yard line going in, and that's where one of their missed opportunities came. They missed a 30-yard field goal at one point, and then they had the two Rivers interceptions, which were – you know, one of them was a forced throw. The other was kind of just a misread in the secondary by the coaching staff you know alignment wise but it really was a good day for rivers and I think we saw so many

good things because last year the Colts had just an awful awful passing game I mean they were 31st in in deep passing percentage they were 31st and so many – 31st, 32nd in most categories when it came to passing the football. And yesterday – or Sunday it was, not yesterday now, but on Sunday we saw I think like eight or nine plays of over 15 yards, which were chunk plays for the Colts. They had none of those last year, especially in the passing game. So Rivers really moved the ball well.

I mean, he was moving the ball up and down the field with ease. I mean, there was really no, you know, combatant form from the Jaguars' defense outside of the two picks, which were just forced throws, which is that Rivers' experience. You know, it's kind of what it is. But we were saying all offseason when they brought Rivers in, if you expect him to be a top ten or a top five quarterback and carry this team like Luck did,

it's not going to be a successful marriage here. But if the running game could keep him from not throwing the ball 50 times a game, if the defense can play well, then this is going to work out super well. Rivers is going to be a good quarterback for this team. But ultimately it came down just as missed opportunities, two big mistakes by Rivers outside of, you know, a great game that he had. And then the defense just couldn't stop the short game from Gardner Minshew, which is definitely an issue.

I feel like they're going to definitely tighten it up this week. But that was the big issue, and they didn't really adjust throughout the game. So on the Rivers point, you just sort of know that there's going to be something that happens with him to throw that interception. And the funny thing about Rivers is that if you – and I know that you can't do this. My golf game would be so much better if you said, well, if you don't count the one that went in the woods, it was a four. I mean, that's a par for me, so write that down.

Maybe I do that from time to time, but you can't do that with people's careers. But the post-career from the really early days of unbelievable San Diego Chargers games is a lot of sort of 8-8, nine and seven, ten and six, very Kirk Cousins-y with a lot of big mistakes that cost you games, big games with huge yardage and things like that. And I think that this makes him a very fun quarterback to follow from afar because he seems like a really likable person. But at the same time, I just thought week one looked to me like when you're older now and you don't have quite the skills, that that roller coaster becomes, I guess, even more fine where those last couple years with him with these interceptions and moments like this. And I know the running gag has been the last, like, 10 years. He can't do anything in the crunch time. I know that's been a huge running gag.

And even though that kind of did happen on Sunday, he did get them, I think, to the 10-yard line. And Hilton had two drops on third and fourth down, which ended the game. But for the most part, again, yeah, I would say because it's a weird offseason and him transitioning to a new team, and even with, you know, Wright being very adamant in saying that first pick that was thrown was completely on the coaching staff not aligning the receivers right, it's hard for me to make, like, a definitive, like, you know,

Rivers is going to be this the whole year with the Colts. But we have seen this. We have seen this with Rivers, and that was the biggest concern. But that's kind of where my point came, where in the offseason, you know, if Rivers is throwing 25 to 35 passes a game, you know, that's a fine number. He's going to be good for this team, but he can't be everything. He can't be throwing the ball 46 to 50 times a game and be your Andrew Luck carrying this team every single Sunday, and that's what he had to do this past Sunday. He had to carry the team, and that's where he gets into those Rivers mistakes, where he feels like he has to carry it, and that's what he had to do this past Sunday. He had to carry the team, and that's where he gets into those

rivers and mistakes, where he feels like he has to carry it. And that's what we've seen these last couple years as well. You know, when they lost so much of that talent they had in the early Chargers years, you know, they had LaDainian, Tomlinson, Vincent Jackson, on defense they had Sean Merriman and all those guys that were just studs. He didn't really have to do as much, but he was very efficient and very good. When he lost all that and he kind of had to carry the team a bit, that's when he started forcing things.

I mean, last year I think almost all of his picks came at the end of the fourth quarters or end of the second half or end of the first half just because he was forcing it, trying to make things happen. That's who he is. So if you can take that part of the game out of his hands, he can be a good quarterback. But on Sunday, just with them shooting themselves in the foot with that fourth and one that they didn't convert with the missed field goal,

with the defense just having red zone flops. The big thing about the Colts' defense is they are a bend-don't-break defense. So perfect for a Kirk Cousins guy who's going to put up 100 yards, like 1,000 yards against them. But the big thing the Colts are is don't let you score in the red zone. That's what they've been really good at the last two years. And they just had, I think, two really bad miscommunications on Sunday, which led to touchdowns, which partly I attribute to new players

and the short offseason and everything. And then one time Malik Hooker got beat. So I think that they'll tighten up that red zone part of the game. But, yeah, that's really where it came down to. The Colts' red zone defense didn't step up. There was two times they shot themselves in the foot, and then they asked too much of Rivers. So I think we'll see improvement going forward with that.

But, you know, like you said, it's something that you can be concerned about because we've seen this with Rivers the last couple years. I want to remind you to go to sodastick.com to get your original Minnesota sports-inspired goods. They just launched their official collaboration with Bud Grant. Yes, Bud Grant. You can now get your official Bud Grant shirt and Man Cave art print. If you haven't seen it yet, you have to check it out,

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Pepsi made for football watching. And the game between the Chargers and the Vikings last year, the Chargers are doing fine in the first half, and Rivers is rolling. He had a couple of spectacular throws where he went like, oh, yeah, put that guy in the Hall of Fame, and then gets strip-sacked trying to do too much, throws a couple interceptions trying to do too much, and all of a sudden it's a blowout,

and Vikings Stadium LA version was going crazy there last year. But I do want to get to the defense because it has a former Viking on it, which I noticed his PFF grade was not so hot, but you'll have to tell me about that. But first, let's talk about these weapons because the Green Bay Packers, all offseason, everyone talked about, oh, they've got no weapons. Rodgers is screwed.

He's only going to be able to throw to Adams. And what he did was threw to Adams every play and was amazing. So this group of weapons is interesting. People of Minnesota are very familiar with Jonathan Taylor because he ran the hell over the Gophers last year, which seems like a lifetime ago, but everyone knows he's good at football. Mack is obviously injured. T.Y. Hilton does not look like he had the greatest game here,

but Paris Campbell is now a person. So, like, what are you making of just the group of weapons that they have around Phillip Rivers and even just, you know, your early impression of Jonathan Taylor. Yeah, so starting with the receivers, you know, Hilton had those two, you know, it's hard to really call them drops. Maybe I was wrong calling them drops. I mean, they were contested throws to the sideline. So, you know, it's hard to really just call them straight up drops, but they were plays that a guy like Hilton should make. But I think when you look at this Colts receiving core, what you have is a lot of guys who are pretty solid to good. You know, Paris Campbell looked really good this past

weekend. He's a guy with his speed. We've been talking all offseason. If he ever has off-man coverage, especially against a corner who's not a top-tier corner, that's going to be a win almost every single time. I mean, he just toasted, I think it was DJ Hayden, who was a really good slot corner last year for the Jaguars, toasted DJ Hayden multiple times on Sunday. And I think that's going to be something they're going to look for quite a bit just going forward, especially against this Viking secondary. And, yeah, T.Y. Hilton I think is still a pretty good receiver. I think he's well above average.

Injuries definitely slowed some things up last year. And he had those, you know, again, those plays he should have made at the end of the game. But for the most part, on the outside, he gave C.J. Henderson some good work on the outside. And Henderson, again, just a great prospect, too. Had a really, really good game overall. But then after that, you know, you have other guys who are just really solid. Michael Pittman Jr. didn't get much run, but he's just a really solid possession guy.

Zach Paschal led the team in receiving last year. Another really solid possession guy. Zach Paschal led the team in receiving last year, another really solid possession guy. So I think, unlike the Packers, it's not going to be just throw the ball to Devontae Adams every single play. It's going to be kind of a more spread-out attack. I think Rivers completed a pass to 12 different players on Sunday, so it's just going to be really shelling the ball out to a lot of guys. And then going to Jonathan Taylor,

Jonathan Taylor didn't run the ball super well in week one, and that was mostly because the Colts' interior run blocking was just not outstanding, which was probably the biggest shock of the entire game. But every time they got the ball to Taylor in space, he was just lightning, like so fast, so strong, so powerful. And it felt like every time he touched that ball, like in space near the sidelineeline it was like zero to a hundred I mean he was so quick out of his out of his just explosive like it was insane to see because he's so big and it's crazy to see a guy move like that which you guys know you know Big Ten you guys are watching the last couple years so I think the Colts are you know with him being the number one running back now they're going to

really get him on the outside a little bit more they're going to mix in some things with him get him on some more screens and such and we're really going to see him kind of be the workhorse going forward. And I'm excited. I hope, you know, I hope this week is his big breakout game and his game where he kind of established himself to the football world. But we'll see. They're going to be really unique with him and really take advantage of his ability. Other question about the weapons.

Is Eric Swoop still there? No, Eric Swoop is not still there. No, but they have tight ends. They have Jack Doyle, who had 70 yards, I believe, last week. You know why I'm asking, right, about Eric Swoop. Are you remembering at all the Eric Swoop game against the Vikings where, I mean, he's the most random tight end, right? He's supposed to be one of those, oh, this guy ran a 4-6 or something at the combine,

and he's athletic. But he had a pretty, you know, uninteresting career. But against the Vikings in a 34-6 blowout in 2016, he caught three passes for 50 yards, including an amazing touchdown. And forever, in my mind, that became the Eric Swoop game. Like, we're recording i mean it's a podcast but i can see you and your face when i said eric swoop you're like why are you asking about eric swoop that's why 2016 the eric swoop game so what happened with eric swoop is he

was on the 2018 roster for about four or five games, I think, and he had like four touchdowns. And then they cut him. They cut him for more of a blocking tight end, I believe. And he's been claimed a couple times since then. He played a little bit with the Raiders. He actually got signed by the Niners this offseason, but I think his knees are just completely shot now. So you won't have any Eric Swoop games, you know,

from actual Eric Sw swoop anymore against the vikings but yeah that's great i didn't even remember that i like how you went right into the like jack doyle's still around yeah okay but in this game that game in particular the uh colts forced the vikings to put three linebackers on the field and with two tight ends and just lit them up with freaking eric swoop so uh that was the andrew luck two tight ends and just lit them up with freaking Eric Swoop. That was the Andrew Luck experience, though. He would just turn buddies into – I mean, who was it? Kobe Fleener and Dwayne Allen were, like, one of the best tight end duos

in the NFL for a time. And then once they both left Indy, they were both out of the league within, like, two years. Like, that was just the Andrew Luck experience. I mean, look at Eric Ebron. I mean, he was a superstar for a year. For one year. experience I mean look at Eric Ebron I mean he was a superstar for a year for one year and then back to being Eric Ebron there's a part of me that thinks somewhere uh Andrew Luck at 38 years old comes back and plays for the Vikings because he just has to like every old quarterback coming out of retirement or about to retire has to play for

the Vikings so maybe someday that will happen and they can bring in Eric Swoop. On the defensive side, though, I mean, you broke it down pretty good with just bend, don't break. And the reason that that doesn't really match up great with the Vikings, who if you give them space to move the ball, they've got great playmakers. And then in the red zone, Rudolph is one of the best. Delvin Cook is one of the best. That's going to be problematic.

But what everyone wants to know is does Xavier Rhodes look like he can still And then in the red zone, Rudolph is one of the best. Delvin Cook is one of the best. That's going to be problematic. But what everyone wants to know is, does Xavier Rhodes look like he could still play football because he sure as hell didn't here last year? Yeah, so Xavier Rhodes was a guy when the Colts signed him, I was hesitant about to say the best. I think he had a couple decent moments last year, but for the most part it was bad, especially any time he was putting man coverage for you guys, especially off-man.

Off-man, I mean, Corlin Sutton, Darius Slayton, there were a couple really bad moments where he just got toasted for you guys. And I was hoping with the Colts' more zone-heavy scheme, it could really help him. I think for the most part, he played okay in week one. I know pro football focus is really harsh on some things, but his physicality and his run defense are always things that have been good for him, and he looked really good in that department. Looked like a safety filling at times, but he had two huge mistakes that really hurt the Colts, and that was kind of the story of last year with you guys too.

He would just have a couple of really, really bad plays a game, and that would just kill your team. And one of them was on a pass interference that was like a 40-yard. Always. You could just hear every Vikings fan going, of course it is. Yep, yep. It wasn't even anyone that – he actually had a really good position on it too. He just didn't turn his head and grabbed Keelan Cole.

Like it wasn't even like it was DJ Chark or anything. It was Keelan Cole, which, yeah, it was a bad play. And the second one was even worse, where it was off-man coverage in the red zone. Everyone else played the assignment correctly, but the Jaguars did a play action, and it was a typical play action. It was a post over the top on the right side, it was a crosser on the left side, and Rhodes bit on the play action, took two steps forward, and that gave Keelan Cole like 15 yards of space on him, and he just was able to walk into the end zone. This all sounds so familiar. Yeah, and it was, it was a lot of stuff that I saw last year when watching your guys film, and the thing is,

I think, again, overall it was an okay day. It wasn't anything special, obviously, but those two mistakes were huge. And, again, like I told you, the red zone defense is so big for the Colts. Like that is – they're supposed to be their bread and butter. Don't let them score in the red zone. You can't have a mental mistake as a corner playing the run. Like why in man coverage are you playing the run as a cornerback? There's no reason for it. And that led to just an easy touchdown.

That ended up being the game-winning touchdown too. So, yeah, I have higher hopes for Rhodes going forward. I think he can be okay for this team. But can he? I mean, he's so bad, dude. Rockison's fine. Rockison's solid. He's very solid.

Had a good end of last year, I think, for the most part on Sunday. He was pretty solid. But Marvell Tell, when he opted out, they lost so much depth, and they lost a promising young player. And now they're just rolling out T.J. Carey and Xavier Rhodes, which is rough. It seems like a game to me that has 35 to 31 written all over it because I don't have a ton of confidence that in one week, Mike Zimmer snaps his fingers

and all of a sudden the Vikings young cornerbacks know everything about playing football in the NFL versus future Hall of Fame quarterbacks. I don't think that they'll be much better at stopping T.Y. Hilton than they were at Devontae Adams. They're not quite the same, but still top tier wide receivers. And I also think that the one thing we didn't talk about a lot because Aaron Rodgers just

smoked the Vikings is that early in the game, they were able to run the ball. And I expect that without Michael Pierce, without Linval Joseph, that teams will be able to run the ball more successfully. And we also saw like, you know, Rhodes can tackle. Like, that's one thing he could do really well. We don't know if the young corners can tackle, and they certainly didn't look like it against the Packers. So I'm sort of, like, as we're having this conversation and getting in my vision what this could be, that's kind of how I think it ends up going.

But, Zach, what are the implications here for Indianapolis? Because this is just my outside view. If you lose this game, like, are you burning down the convention center where the combine is? Like, I mean, the expectations, I think, were put very, very high when you bring in Rivers of a team that is strong around him. You start 0-2, I think the people in Indy are going to be pretty upset. Yeah, no, the expectations were pretty high.

You know, and I think for these, for a pretty good reason, I'm not going to say that they should be like a Super Bowl contender or anything like that, but they should definitely be a playoff contender. And I don't know if you saw the stat that was going around Twitter today, but I think only 6% of teams who start 0-2 end up making the playoffs, which is statistically, I think, this is like since 2009, so statistically that's like one team a year. So essentially this game is an elimination game for the Vikings and Colts

if you're going by statistics. So, yeah, it's a huge game. It really is, and especially because they're one of the few teams that are going to have fans. The Colts are going to have fans there on Sunday, and it's their first home game of the year. Again, big expectations for this team against a Vikings team who didn't have a good first week at all.

So, yeah, I think – I mean, I'm not going to go as far as saying they burn everything down, but fans are going to be – I mean, fans are upset after week one loss to a, you know, quote, unquote, tanking team. And if anyone's listening, tanking in the NFL doesn't exist. It really doesn't. Front offices have the mindset, tanking in the NFL doesn't exist. It really doesn't. Front offices have the mindset of tanking, but players don't tank. It's not like basketball where they can kind of – I got the same tweets, though, about like tank for Trevor.

The Vikings are not going to lose 14 games, okay? That's just probably not going to happen. The Nets are going to lose 14 games, but the Vikings. Yeah, I'm giving Adam Gase about two more weeks. But to your point, though, that number will change with seven playoff teams. So this is not quite as dramatic for the loser, but it just seems like if there's early panic from the Colts side, I think that there would be more there than there would be in Minnesota because the Vikings drafted so many players this year, and they are going through a transition

that I think people went in with a little hesitancy of whether this team could win the division. And if they go 6-10, you still look at 2021 as, okay, well, that's where it could all come together. Hunter healthy, Pierce back, and so forth, all the, you know, Jefferson going into his second year. You can already project out. With the Colts, if you fall apart this year, it's like, then what? Yeah, it's a lot of, like, for instance, 2018 was supposed to be year one of a rebuild, like getting luck healthy, getting them going, and they completely exceeded expectations

by making the playoffs and even winning a playoff game against the Texans. So they were kind of on that high, and then expectations had to drop super low when Andrew Luck retired. And that was super unfortunate. So you kind of had to start from the ground up again. And then going from last year, you had a lot of good things happen within a bad year. And going to this year, you upgrade the one big, huge weakness on your team,

which was quarterback, and you get an all-pro like DeForest Buckner in here, and your expectations should be we are a playoff team, which they should be. The one thing that I will add to saying that, at least me, as someone who doesn't tend to overreact too much, just because, again, I don't really feel like I fall into that fandom craze that most people do is with this crazy offseason, you know, going to a new quarterback, going to I think two new defensive linemen, two new guys in the secondary as well, rookies coming in. I just think it's really tough, you know, for – even though the Colts had some

of the most carryover from last year's roster to this year, just there are some changes that some things are just going to happen that are just crazy with how everything went this offseason. So it's hard for me to over-overreact, but this is the year that they should be competing for a playoff spot. Last year they really weren't competing too much for a playoff spot. Even though they finished 7-9, they were eliminated in Week 13, I think, or Week 12. This is the year that they have to really compete for that playoff spot, like be there in that last week or make that seventh playoff spot even.

So, yeah, if they don't get to that this year, it definitely is like where do we go next? You know, is this on the GM? Is this on the head coach? Is this on some of the young players that we brought in and we have to extend here in the next couple years? So, yeah, it's not make or break this season, I don't think, but it's definitely kind of close to that for the Colts, more so than it is for the Vikings.

Yeah, I think that's a good point about, you know, you build rosters and you sort of have timelines when you don't have Patrick Mahomes. And so you look at it as kind of where are we, where the Vikings, you get to kind of the end of one and then go on to the next one that was sort of where you were at 2018 you go on to the next one and then you see the upward trajectory and this is where you should be hitting your peak and if that doesn't happen that's pretty concerning I also go back and forth tell me your opinion on this like I think that a lot of teams that lost showed a little bit of the no off season

but I also don't know how much I want to attribute to that like Tampa Bay there were a couple miscommunications they end up losing to the Saints the same thing might be said for the Colts the Vikings had continuity on their offensive side but not so much on their defensive side but I also don't want to I joked with you earlier today when we were talking, like, no excuses, football, right? Like, there's always that part of me that I don't think that fans love to hear excuses, but there's also context. And I'm kind of deciding, like, what percentage do I want to give to,

no, actually you were just bad and you deserve that. And then the other side of, well, well okay but you do have this kind of thing built in here's the thing that i always like to tell people you know there's there's con there's excuses and then there's reasoning there's right reasons for things and then there's excuses like you can you know if you have like six weeks of the same thing and you're still making excuses yeah that's excuses but week one week one is insane. Like the Colts haven't won a week one game since 2013 or 2014. Really? They've had Andrew Luck for almost all of that. You know, Andrew Luck for almost all of that. And for the most part, they've gone against teams who haven't had winning records after the season.

You know, they went against the Bengals in 2018 and lost to them with Andrew Luck. Last year, they lost to the Chargers who went went like 4-12. So week one is always crazy with this kind of stuff, and I think we just saw so many, you know, again, with this horrible offseason, just so much with miscommunications and turnovers and just bad decision-making from coaches that just aren't in that groove yet. But, yeah, I think you have to attribute some of it to just how everything's kind of been. And also just week one craziness. Like I said, week one is always kind of insane every single year, let alone this year. But, you know, the way I see it, again, is just excuses are you're still making the same kind of reasoning for something week after week, even though nothing's changing. And then reasoning is, you know, if it happens in a one-week thing and that's why something happened, that's the reason for it.

You know, it's like there are reasons why things happen. Not everything is excused. Like, oh, Phillip Rivers sucked because he threw two picks. Well, he was throwing the ball more than what he should have. You know, like there's reasons for it. Now, if he's still doing this into week six and seven, then I'm probably just making an excuse. If he has, you know, 12 picks into week six, then yeah,

then that's probably just an excuse I'm making at that point. But week one, it's really just the reason why it happened as of right now. You know, so you just kind of have to look at it, I think, from that, just kind of be that impartial type of way about it. Get back to the conversation in just a second. But even though sports took a break, your business didn't. You have to keep moving, and that makes hiring more important than ever. Indeed is here to help.

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Oh, man. It's a fun list. I can give you some potential here. You know who it might have to be. For Colts fans, I be for Colts fans? I think most Colts fans would almost kind of agree with this. Is Curtis Painter got the man you love? That is a great answer.

That is an A-plus answer. Great work. And probably the least favorite would be Dan Orlowski because he won them two of the three starts that year. Or was it Kerry Collins? Man, who was one of them? Kerry Collins and Orlowski. I'm them two of his three starts that year. Or was it Kerry Collins? Man, it was one of them. Kerry Collins and Orlowski. I'm looking this up right now. I have Orlowski.

Orlowski went two and three as a Colts starter. And went to the wire against the Patriots too that year. Amazing. So he almost cost them Andrew Luck, but Curtis Painter was clutch down the stretch. And he got clutch down the stretch. You know, the Vikings were in that conversation at one point as well that year. I say, well, of course you've got your Jim Harbaugh,

and he had one great year as a Colt, looked like a franchise quarterback. But if it's not Jeff George's mullet, that is the best quarterback not named Unitas Luck or Manning. It's Jeff George's hair. Did we see John Elway, though? Oh, that's a great answer, too. John Elway is a great answer. He definitely got championships, just not for that team.

Jeff George, as a Viking, won a bunch of games throwing to Randy Moss, but as a Colt, went 14-35, more interceptions than touchdowns. Man, and one of the great arms of all time. Like, he was Josh Allen before we knew Josh Allen. Like, I would just throw it through a wall, but, you know, who knew what he was doing back there? If you had to pick one running back who is a former Colt to play in the Super Bowl, would it be Edrin James or Marshall Falk? Ooh.

Do I get edged when he's healthy and young? Yeah, you get the peak version of both of them. I might go edged just because when he was young, man, oh my gosh, he was unstoppable, man. If it weren't for injuries, I mean, we'd be talking about one of the best

backs of all time, I think. But those injuries piled up early. You can't go wrong with either of these guys. But I would want to see Edge, especially because he never – well, did he win one? No, I don't think he won one. No, no, he was gone, and it was the guys who should have won the MVP of the Super Bowl. It was the two running backs there, right? Dianne Rhodes, I think.

Yeah, that's right. Dianne Rhodes, yeah. So, yeah, definitely want to see Edge in the Super Bowl just so he can have a chance at winning one. Also, he was so good early on in his career. I want to see that. I would say that Falk was so dynamic in the receiving game that there are few players ever like that. That probably brings you a little more value, but you're right. You can't go wrong.

I was just looking up all-time Colts leaders in approximate value, and Edger and james even though he had a classic sort of running back decline is still top 10 so a very impressive career uh last question is do you watch parks and rec i have seen parks and rec quite a few times yeah okay so there are lots of colts and indianapolis references who is your favorite Parks and Rec character? It's either Andy or Ron, I think. You can't go wrong with either. I love a lot of the side characters. The side characters are so much fun on that show, though. April's great.

Yeah, Jerry or whatever they call him throughout the show. Or Gary or whatever his name is. Right, Larry. Yeah, I love the side characters so much. I'd probably say Ron, though, just because I think his cutaways are hilarious when he throws out his libertarian views and stuff on the cutaways. I think those are just outstanding. But, yeah, it's a fun show. I really like the side characters quite a bit on that show.

Yeah, Ron Swanson is absolutely the correct answer, and partly because I eat like Ron Swanson, like breakfast food any time of the day. And one of my favorite episodes is when he just wins the cooking competition by grabbing a burger from a gas station and cooking it on a grill. And just tremendous and lots of good Indianapolis Colts references. And Detlef Schrempf shows up,

which is if you- Roy Hibbert too. Yeah, that's right. Roy Hibbert, right. Uh, depending on whether you are Gen Z or millennial, they, uh, hit both buttons for the NBA, but having grown up watching Detlef Schrempf, that was amazing to see him show up in that show. So, uh, well, Zach Hicks, this was super fun, man. I really enjoyed this. People should check out at Stampede Blue and your personal account at Zach, Z-A-C-H. You're one of those people.

Hicks, too. Not a Z-A-C, not a Z-A-C-K, Z-A-C-H. The correct ones. The correct ones. Check out his stuff there if you are pregame prepping for Vikings-Colts. Oh, you know what I should do, because this is a podcast preparing for a game, is I should ask you who you think is going to win. I forgot about that.

So I'll go kind of with the score that you said off the top here. Well, I'll say 34-31, just change it up a little bit. But I'll say the Colts come away with this one mainly because, one, I think Rivers is going to have a really good day against your guys uh young corners I think that's the biggest thing and the second thing would be one thing we've seen with this offensive line ever since it became this dominant offensive line is when they've had a bad game the next week they come out kind of with like a bloodthirst you know last year yeah last year against the Dolphins for instance they got punched in the mouth by a really bad Dolphins team up front.

The next week the Colts ran for 270 yards against the Jaguars, and Quentin Nelson had like 15 pancakes. So I think this Colts-Office line is going to bounce back in a huge way. We're just going to get the ball out quick. I think it's going to be kind of a high-scoring game because I don't really trust the Colts' defense too much right now, especially with Xavier Rhodes against the Vikings. I feel like the Vikings are going to pick on them a little bit but yeah I think the Colts offense is going to be kind of raring to go and especially in front of

that meager home crowd but in front of the home crowd for sure so I'm going to say 34-31 Colts. I'm picking my score but I haven't decided who I think is going to win yet. And maybe I'll, so I'll include that at a later date. But it was great having you, man. It was super fun. I'm glad that I just reached out to you kind of at random, and I'm really glad we did that and that we, you know, follow each other now. So then like eight years from now when the Vikings and Colts play again, we'll be able to do it.

But just from what I've seen, looks like you do great stuff. So really happy to catch up with you, man, and thanks for the time. Yeah, thank you, man. Anytime when the Colts play the Vikings again in the next ten years with Trevor Lawrence on both of our teams at the same time, then we'll catch up. Or maybe we'll have, like, someone's son, like, Peyton Manning's son on one of our teams or something like that. Or the Super Bowl.

Let's look for eight years instead. Let's hope more and more. The wait is finally over. Football is back. You might not be at the game this year, but you can still be in on the action at BetOnline. BetOnline is going the extra mile to make sure that you can get in on every possible

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