December 17, 2024 • 38 mins
Jeffrey Gorman and JJ Stankevitz zoom out on the Colts' disappointing loss to the Denver Broncos and look at the implications it has for Anthony Richardson and this team over the final three weeks of the 2024 regular season. The guys also look at exactly what the Colts' narrow, but not impossible, path is to still make the playoffs and why finishing with three wins is important regardless of whether it's enough to make the postseason.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to the Official Colts Podcast. I'm Jeffrey Gorman today
joined by JJ stank. If it's only Lara Overton on
assignment this morning, she will be back next week. JJ
boyle boy, it's kind of I'm glad you're sitting on
a couch to start this official podcast. Let's get it
out right now. The elephant in the room is one
of the most disappointing losses in a long time for
(00:27):
a Colts team. And I'm comparing this one going back
to twenty twenty in the playoff game up in Buffalo
led by Philip Rivers, a high offense day and stuff
like this point kind of a comparison like that, but disappointment.
I want to start there because that one was a heartbreaker.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
I thought about that, Jeffrey, of like, where where does
this one kind of rank?
Speaker 1 (00:46):
Excuse me?
Speaker 2 (00:47):
And I thought about the twenty twenty one loss to
the Jaguars, Right, okay, but that game you just got beat.
There wasn't a we beat ourselves. We you know, had
these you know, critical mistakes, critical moments. That was just you.
You got you got boat raced by a team that
had won win that year. Right, So I think actually
that Buffalo game is a good comparison because you're right
(01:09):
there with the Bills to win a playoff game in Buffalo,
biggest game the Colts have played in years in that game,
and it came down to a couple of mistakes in
that game, you know, missed field goal, what was the
Komoko Terrey uh off side? So that probably is a
good comparison, but just in terms of the like the
(01:30):
the gut punch nature of that game. Like, I think
about that Jacksonville game because I think if the Colts
win this game against Denver, they are cruising right to
the playoffs, cruising and maybe it's not over Denver, maybe
it's over the Chargers. Who knows, but that they are
in really good position. And now you the division is gone,
the Texans clinched. You have a very narrow but still
(01:54):
possible path to the playoffs.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
We're gonna get to that too, and it is possible,
but like.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
But you had it in your control, and you know
you like the plays we're gonna be thinking about for
a long time. Are gonna be Jonathan Taylor dropping the
ball before the goal line. You're gonna be thinking about
the double pass, You're gonna be thinking about Marvin Mimm's
sixty one yard return, like, those are the plays that
are the reasons why we're sitting here right now being like, well,
(02:20):
you know, the playoffs are unlikely at this point.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
First time since two thousand and seven for a Colts
team to have under to have an opponent under two
hundred yards and lose the game. Yeah, since two thousand
and seven. That kind of shows you what that afternoon
in Denver was all about. Because let's just go over
this thing you talked about the tailor dropt at the
goal line. Where does that set the tone after that point?
(02:45):
In your opinion, you were there, you were in the stadium.
As far as setting a tone, We're all saw it
like wow, scratching and said, hey, we all miss a
stop sign now and again. You know what I mean,
we all turn on red sometimes when we're not supposed to.
That's kind of what I equated to. It has, you know,
a heavy degree of boy, we needed that one, but
that's a professional who does that for a living. Had
a brain, you know sort of thing. But the tone
(03:06):
after that, we saw it, because boy, oh boy, they
start rattling off twenty four straight points welcome to the NFL.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
Yeah, you know, I don't want to belabor the whole,
you know, the mistake part of it, because Jonathan Taylor
took accountability for it, sure did.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
He was.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
He left no room for excuses, He left no room
for explanations. It was just I screwed up. It won't
happen again. It never happened before, so he kind of
left it there. So I want to leave it there.
But I do think to kind of contextualize it being
up in that press box in Denver, that crowd was dead,
that they went into that game, that the Broncos team,
(03:40):
every fan in that stand where an orange and blue
was this is the biggest Broncos game since Peyton Manning
won him a Super Bowl, well, since the defense won
him a super Bowl and Peyton, let's be honest, Peyton's yeah.
I mean, you know, Peyton won the Super Bowl. That
defense was yeah, sure, but regardless, that was the biggest
game that that city had experienced since twenty sixteen. And
(04:03):
they were falling flat on their face in that game.
Bo Nix looked overwhelmed and overmatched. Anthony Richardson was punishing
them on the ground, and then you get Jonathan Taylor
kind of you know, okay, he was maybe not as
efficient as he was early in the game. But the
cults are doing that thing where they're pounding it, pounding it,
pounding it and expecting one to get broken, and bam,
(04:25):
there he goes, there he goes, and you're and that
crowd was just the life got sucked out of that
place when he crossed the goal.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
Right.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
But then they they splash the replay up on the
video board at mile high and the fans.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
You hear that, mom, he hear that.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
You hear that murmur from the crowd of like, oh okay,
hold on a second. And then they keep showing it
in the crowd. You know, they're trying. The crowd's trying
to will it into existence, right yeah. And then when
when the official comes out and says the runner dropped
the ball before the goal line inside the ends and
for a touchback, place goes nuts like they just scored
a touchdown. And while that didn't turn the game to Denver,
(05:03):
because the Colts were able to get get a punt
on their next possession that the defense held up, they
gave the offense a lot of chances. What it did
was it meant the Colts didn't have momentum. Yeah, so
then kind of no team had it. And then when
Denver got it was on the Mims punt return that
set up the go ahead touchdown. And then when they
got it for good was on the Benito the double passes.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
Where does the let let's talk about it, because this
is another professional and highly paid and grated his craft.
The Pittman fumble. I mean that also you're talking about
The more the more you.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
Look at that one, the more I just want to say,
that was a good play by p J Yirck.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
Great.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
I mean the guy, the guy stuck his helmet right
in where the ball was. Pittman's not a guy who's
known for having ball security issues with the ball in
his hands. I think you give credit. You know, those
guys get paid to type thing.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
I'm not.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
I'm not worried about that one so much. But the
thing that stunk about it was the way that it
came in the game. Like the flow of the game
at that point was like you get a completion, Okay,
you get ahead of the sticks, you're gonna get a
first down, Bam, balls out, Denver gets it back yep,
and that was another gut punch right there, because Denver
then they get a field goal out of that. They
bring it to thirteen to ten. Again, the defense does
(06:14):
a great job, sure like sudden change, they were off
the field for one play and then because that was
after the cross interception, so you get this this momentum
from the cross pick. You're thinking, okay, we get a
first down, we go down, we get some points here,
we're in really good shape still, and then you get that.
The defense holds up really well right there. But ultimately,
like the short fields, the sudden changes, it just wound
(06:36):
up being way too much to overcome.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
JJ. What does Alec Pierce mean to this offense? The
reason I'm bringing this up is he was out, he's
in concussion protocol, you know, saying our prayers for Alec
that he that he's okay, ready to roll. But like,
what does that mean for this offense? Because obviously we
see ten, we see ad Mitchell getting more reps and
such like that. Alec Pearson in training camp, we were saying,
(06:58):
you know, boy, he's gonna be a competition in everything.
This team, in my opinion, changes when fourteen.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Is completely I think that's a really good point and
one that I've thought about a little bit more after
this game is that losing Alec for the entire second
half I think really impacted this offense. And it's not
just that you know he is your downfield threat, right,
but this year Alec Pierce has been the guy when
you throw it up to him, I kind of expect
(07:23):
him to come down with it more than anyone on
this team. And that's been proven over the like even
on that ball where he got the concussion on where
it's that that deep shot into the end zone. That
ball's in the air and I see it's going to fourteen,
I'm expecting him to come down here in a way
that you know you expect guy you know you want
to see Ady Mitchell, Mike plays, Michael Pittman, those guys.
Josh Downs has made some of those plays this year.
But when that ball's in the air to Alec, I'm
(07:44):
thinking he's going to catch it. And to take that
out of the offense in the second half, that guy
who when you need to play, when the Colts needed
to play against the Patriots, who did they throw the
ball to Alec Pierce? Taking that guy out of this offense,
I think did have an impact, and it also it
compresses things, makes it a lot harder on Anthony Richardson.
And you know, Denver can play coverage differently when you
(08:06):
don't have the threat. I saw Patrick's are ten lined
up over aut Pierce a lot in this game, which
tells me Denver said, we don't want fourteen to beat
us downfield. We're gonna put the best quarterback in the
NFL over him and just take him away. That's a
sign of respect. But when you take that guy off
the field, you can do so much more with your defense,
with Patrick's or ten with your coverages that I think
we saw really impact.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
Overall, No big mystery. They stayed away from side of
the field for the majority of yes, you know, I
mean it's.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
Not the one time they threw it even got an intercept, right.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
Right, So I want to I want to zero in
on Anthony Richardson, Boyle boy playing a great first half
the way they did. You talk about what that twenty
to seven lead would have been, would have been had
that touchdown counted and the momentum. Give me your overall
on the big fellow. What what did you like about
what he did? What what are some things that you
saw in the second half. He goes, you know, you
got goose egg in the second half. On the road,
(08:56):
it's usually a tough, tough hill to climb. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
I couple things on this that I have been thinking about.
One is, I think the game got away from the
Colts in the second half. Obviously after the JT fumble
at the goal line, the offense kind of took a
bit of a step back and it was tough for
them to come back from that. Having said that, I
think you want Anthony Richardson to be able to be
able to pivot and Okay, if we got to throw
(09:21):
to win right now, because Denver's not letting us run it.
We're getting holding penalties on running plays. You want, you
want five to be able to get there. But right now,
at this stage in his career, I think it's also
okay that he's not there. This is this is not
a red flag warning lights that he is not there yet.
He's still a very young quarterback. He just started as
(09:42):
what thirteenth game in the NFL. That is okay. I
am not worried about that. But what I've been thinking
about the most after this game, because you know, playoffs
are not done, but you start thinking about this is
usually a time where you start thinking a little more
big picture. I think Anthony Richardson, since he's returned from
being benched, absolutely earned another opportunity to go with this
(10:02):
team's starting quarterback in twenty twenty five, whether he has
to compete for it or it's it's handed to him
next year, I think he's earned that opportunity to at
the very least say you're gonna have a chance, and
a really good one to go be our starting quarterback
next year. Because I think the strides that he's made
and the identity that this offense has found with him
(10:24):
since he's returned from being benched has been much better
than where it was prior. It's been more sustainable. They've
leaned into him as a runner more. He's running with
a lot more conviction. He's throwing with more conviction. And
I know it doesn't show up in the box score,
but I just I think he's shown me enough. Just
if you kind of take it globally and you don't
necessarily look at just the stats, but you look at
(10:46):
you just kind of is how does it feel out there?
I think he's earned.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
That Yeah, I totally agree with that. I mean, obviously
you have someone of his talent you want to get,
you know, keep him in the pool, as they say,
learning to swim in this NFL waters. You know, It's like,
I'm excited about that sort of thing for these next
three games though, when we talked about hell, we talked
about it last week and say, oh, you want to
must win, you want to must win, same mentality these
(11:10):
next three games. All in, let everything go because we're
going to get to the playoff picture in a minute.
But I'm just talking about the mentality of that, and
we're gonna find out about tomorrow. You're especially gonna find
out about it talking to the players more so. That's
a heartbreaker. That's a heartbreaker. That's is it tough to
come back from or is it? No, we keep this
thing flowing and we beat three teams that, no disrespect,
(11:32):
you know, are playoff caliber, get eleven losses. Yeah. So
so I'm saying, what's your take on that locker room
and being able to stay focused and and do the detail,
not into twenty twenty five, but really making a push
and hopefully having the Chargers collapse.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
You got a lot of guys who are under contract
for next year who are going to be back on
this team. And I think those those are the guys
who are are going to need to talk. You know,
they're going to be need to be thinking about like
pride and they're spot on this team next year, and
that's what you're playing for, but more than anything, And
I thought Joe Wrights and Rick Ventterrey did a good
job talking about the Sun Colts Round Table Live yesterday.
It's it's like you're playing for pride, and yeah, the
(12:07):
season is not going the way you wanted it to.
That loss was gutting, it was frustrating, it was debilitating.
But how do you come back from it? And if
you're gonna play with some pride, you're gonna go out.
You're gonna beat the Titans, You're gonna beat the Giants,
you're gonna beat the Jaguars. You're gonna finish the season.
Nine and eight may not be where you wanted it
to be, but you you go nine to eight, you
(12:27):
have a winning season. You think about what you need
to do better next year and how you can build
on it. What you don't want to see happen is
is the cratering. You know, like I think we kind
of saw that in twenty twenty two, where there are
guys in that locker room. They are veterans who played
with a lot of pride. And I think about Ryan Kelly,
DeForest Buckner, those guys down the stretch who are fighting
through whatever. You you know, you accumulate through the season
(12:50):
and still playing and playing well that year, but that
season just kind of got off the rails, right. You
don't want to see anything close to that over these
final three games. And I don't think Shane's is gonna
let that happen. I don't think guys like Xire, Franklin, Buckner, Kelly,
Quinton Nelson, these guys are not gonna let that happen.
But you also want to help out, you know, show
show the young guys like this. This sucks right now,
(13:12):
This sucks, but we got three games left. There are
no guaranteed opportunities in the NFL. We got to go
out and play with some pride. And I want to see,
like the leaders and the captains on that team really
take over this week and come out and you know,
I'd love to see this. This Colts team just kind
of comfortably beat the Titans and show everyone, hey, you
know what, Yeah, with this season't the season we wanted,
but we can still finish it the way that we
(13:34):
want to.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
Finish and possibly find yourself in a playoffs atmosphere in
three weeks like that. But more importantly, like you said,
setting a foundation, a young talented quarterback comes in like
that and changes an organization. That's Anthony Richardson. So all
eyes will be on the quarterback this year and next year.
But boy, we talked a lot of offense today. I
gotta let's give some love to that defense that went
(13:54):
up to Denver in the thin air up there and
really and you know, had a hot team putting a
lot of points on the bar. But you know, as
far as bow Nicks and a Sean Payton led offense,
but boy oh boy, on the defensive side of the ball,
you get three turnovers on that among other things like that.
There's some names that we got to give him that
a boys and pats on the back. I want to
start with the difference that DeForest Buckner makes in a
(14:15):
football game. We've talked about this ad nauseum, but go.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
Ahead, he's so good. Yeah, he's having such a good season.
And it's a shame that he's probably not really in
that Pro Bowl conversation because he missed some time. But
what he's done every time he's taking the field this
year has been incredible. And excuse me that he is
a difference maker for this defense. We see it the
way that the Colts defended the run in this game,
(14:40):
estimate McLoughlin Williams. They didn't do anything. I think the
average three yards of carry. They got shut down. Denver
could not get anything when they handed the ball off
in this game. And then on the back end, you
talk about a game for Sammy Womack, like gets a pick,
he gets a PBu. Excuse me, boy, he is a
great game. At the back end, you're seeing more strides
(15:02):
from Nick Cross. You know, Jalen Jones had a bit
of a tough time early with a penalty, but he
came back. He had a really nice PBu in this game,
like you and then Zira Franklin. I know he maybe
wanted that one on Adkins back, but the pick he
had was awesome. Some of the tackles he made in
this game are awesome. Guys are gonna miss tackles every
(15:22):
now and then those other guys get paid to not
worried about z at all in that he leads the
NFL and tackles. He's fine. He's having another really good season,
a Pro Bowl type season. That defense, though, Jeffrey, they
just played collectively better than I think they've played all year,
And I thought that that's why you saw Denver their
longest stride is fifty four yards in this game. They
could not move the ball, and I think that's why
(15:43):
this one stings so much too, when you kind of
dial it back, is had the Colt's gone up twenty
to seven, I don't see a world where Denver puts
up more than twenty one points in that game. Agree,
I don't see a world where they are able to
move the ball consistently. Maybe they get you know, one
short field off of them MIM's punt return or something
like that. Maybe that one still happens, but I don't
(16:03):
think they I don't think they score two touchdowns when
the Colts offense can kind of play keep away a
little bit with a thirteen point lead. I don't think
Denver is able to sustain a seventy yard drive, a
fifty nine yard drive, any of those things in this
game because Nicks was erratic, they couldn't run the ball,
and the Colts are keeping a lid on their downfield
(16:25):
passing game. So those three things in concert meant I
really don't think Denver was gonna put up twenty one
points in this game. Good luck to him. Hey, they
did what they did. They found a way to win.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
Where I'm zeroing in on some defensive players, where does
Nick Cross rank in the AFC South? Where does he
rank in the AFC for that matter, as far as
top safeties in the league. Kid has been playing his
tail off for the last couple of years right now.
And I'm telling you what another big momentum changer or
a huge interception against the Bronco.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
Yeah, he's having a good season. I mean, just a
straight up good season. And that, Like I was thinking
about this driving in, it was like, okay, like two
of the biggest questions coming into this year that I
had about specific players who were you know, maybe we're
not talking about rookies here, but it was about Nick Cross.
It was about Alec Pierce. What are the cults going
to get out of these two guys? And you've got
really good seasons yea, both of those players. Cross has
(17:14):
shown he is a starting safety, he is a good
starting safety in the NFL. He's physical, making plays on
the ball at these interceptions. And then obviously Alec Pierce,
it stinks that he's in the concussion protocol because he
he no longer qualifies for the NFL lead in yards
per reception. But at twenty two point two yards per
reception or two or seven?
Speaker 1 (17:34):
Did he somebody has a higher r He doesn't have
enough reception doesn't. Okay, that's so.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
But I mean, if if alt continued and he was
able to play the whole season, he probably would lead
the NFL in yards perception, regardless of whether he does
or doesn't. Though we can say Alec Pierce had a
good season this year, right, we can say Nick Cross
had a good season. So getting those out of those,
those performances out of those two guys is encouraging going
into next year when both those guys are going to
be back, and I would think you would expec both
(18:00):
those guys to be starters on this team next year.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
How about big Grove got the big his big mid
up there and stopped the third down and stuff like that.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
I mean it's a Grover Stewart being Grover Steart.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
I'm nitpicking some plays, but it was all afternoon where
we totally were just one up in these Broncos and
obviously thirty one to thirteen final.
Speaker 2 (18:15):
I mean, we don't we don't talk about Grovenoff. Yeah,
you know, Buck and Grove in the middle there they
bost that entire game. And yeah, I mean for the
defense to let up fewer than two hundred yards and
to lose by eighteen points, that's tough. That is a
really tough one to swallow.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
That one was because of the depth of what that meant.
And you know, we can go back to you know,
the Green Bay game earlier, the Jacksonville first one that
we spoke of, and those heartbreakers like this, but there
is still some hope and I want to talk about
giving some hold. All right, let's talk about it, because hey, JJ,
the NFL is a squirrely price, it really is. There's
three games left, we have a fifteen or so percent
(18:52):
chance to make the playoffs. But some things need to happen.
So listen, we're all out there. It's a huge game
at Lucas Oil Stadium against the Titans. Then you go
to New York and then he got Jacksonville. You need
to run the table. So get us in playoff mode.
I know it's tough, but get us there. Okay, how
we do that?
Speaker 2 (19:07):
All right? So it starts with winning out. You go
three to zero, you at least put some heat on
the La Chargers. They're the team you're chasing. Now, you're
not really chasing the Broncos. Yes, if Denver loses out
and you win out, Denver has the head to head tiebreaker.
Now okay, here, I'm trying to figure out where to
(19:27):
go with this. First, Let's start with the Chargers. The
Chargers are eight and six. They just got boat raced
at home by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They lost forty
to seventeen. If the Denver Broncos beat the Chargers, that
game's at Sofi Stadium on Thursday night, Thursday night this week.
That games at Sofi where the Charger is just lost
(19:48):
by twenty three points. If Denver goes in and wins
that game and the Colts beat the Titans, now you're
talking about just a one game gap, because guess what,
the Colts will own every tiebreaker over the Chargers in
head to head. If there are multiple teams involved, the
Colts will own the tiebreaker based on conference record. So
(20:08):
that means the heats on the Chargers to win one
of their last two games if they or excuse me,
they would need to win both of their last two
games if they lose this game to Denver. So the
Chargers finish the season, though they got a kind of
a pillowy soft end of the season. They go to
New England, they go to the Raiders. Those are both
(20:29):
road games, so you know, bit of chance there, but
those are, let's be frank, those are two of the
worst teams in the Patriots and the Raiders. So if
the Charger, if there's any shot at the Colts making
the playoffs, the Chargers probably gotta lose on Thursday night
to the Broncos. The other route here, the one that
(20:50):
is more difficult to and look, there are a lot
of detours that the Colts got to follow right now,
but the Colts have to win out. All these are
what the Colts winning out. Here's how the Colts can
still make the playoffs at nine and eight. With the
Broncos going nine and eight, a third team has to
go nine and eight, So Let's say the Colts, so
(21:11):
the Broncos have to lose out. So Broncos lose on Thursday,
they lose on the road to the Bengals. They lose
at home to the Chiefs to end the season. Not
impossible to envision based on how Denver kind of played
against the Colts in the game. If that happens, the
Colts go nine and eight. Obviously, if it's just the
Colts and Broncos at nine and eight, Broncos make sure.
(21:32):
But say the Cincinnati Bengals, so they beat the Broncos
in that stretch. Let's say the Bengals win out. That
means the Bengals are nine and eight, the Broncos are
nine and eight, the Colts are nine and eight, the
Colts make the playoffs.
Speaker 1 (21:45):
Why how's that? Because you get Denver. Explain that one.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
It goes to conference record as the tiebreaker, the top
tiebreaker because Denver, because the Colts have not played Cincinnati, right,
So there and Denver Denver. For Denver to do that,
they would have to have wins over And I don't
think the Broncos have played the Bengals this year either.
They played the Ravens. So yeah, no, So that that's
(22:10):
why is that Denver would not have wins over the
Colts in the Bengals. The Bengals have not played the Colts.
So it goes to conference tiebreaker, conference record tiebreaker, which
the Colts, if they went out, they will have a
better conference record than the Broncos and the Bengals.
Speaker 1 (22:25):
And there's nine and eight Broncos and there's nine and
eight Colts and the Colts.
Speaker 2 (22:28):
The same, by the way, goes for if the Dolphins
up to nine and eight, or if it's Broncos Chargers Colts,
the Colts would which is possible, not unlikely, but possible. Actually,
if it's Broncos Chargers Cults too, the Colts would get
the six seed. So a lot it would have to
happen here, like a lot. But it is not over yet.
(22:51):
And I think the thing that if you're still rooting
for this, which I totally understand, by the way, if
like you're a Colts fan and you're just like, I
can't I can't get my heat around this yet, totally
get it. But it's my job to kind of look
at this stuff and kind of be aware of it.
So if you're looking at this Thursday night game, you
probably want the Broncos to win because now you put
the heat on the Chargers. And look, if the Chargers
(23:13):
beat the Patriots, you go and you beat the Titans
and the Giants, you go into Week eighteen. There's a
chance that the Colts are kicking off against the Jags
at four to twenty five to play at the same
time as the Chargers, because the NFL might want those
games playing at the same time. So you know, if
the Colts go beat the you know you want to have, right,
you want those games kicking off at the same time.
(23:34):
So the Chargers game means something, the Colts game means something,
and you know, we could be really scoreboard watching that
game Chargers in Las Vegas. That hey, I mean, stranger
things have happened absolutely. Twenty twenty one, the Pittsburgh Steelers
went into the final week of the season being like,
there's no way the Cults are losing to the Jaguars, right,
(23:56):
and they snuck into the playoffs. Stranger things can happen, man,
the stranger things can hand.
Speaker 1 (24:02):
I know it's a little bit confusing, but if you
do want to find out what the latest is the
playoff chances, follow JJ on Twitter on Twitter x if
you will at JJ Stankmans. Of course you can read
them on Colts dot com and watch them as well.
Keep us updated the next three weeks. Because we keep winning,
everybody's going to be asking. That's the bottom line. Here's
the deal. Win. That's what you have to do. Most
important thing to do. You'll win. You go into Lucas
(24:24):
Oil Stadium, you take care of business this week, you
go on the road, come back to Lucas, take care
of business. So it is there's still a slight chance.
But this crazy NFL. JJ I'm really optimistic and I
hope that Shane Stikeen's in the back right now telling
his guys, Hey, we got to play with our pants
on fire, because anything can happen in this NFL. We
have to have a three game winning streak to really
(24:44):
put a cherry on this season. Obviously, you said it earlier,
like Joe WRIGHTSID said, you want to finish with a
winning record. You want to finish on a high note.
But at the same time, don't forget you can get
into the dance and if you have a chip in
a chair, anything can happen in the playoffs.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
I mean, and look like I understand if you don't
want to be opt if you're if you're watching this,
you're disappointed, I don't want to hear this. You like, absolutely,
that's how you should feel right now. You should be disappointed.
I'm I'm just gonna say, don't don't just pack it
in yet. If we get to week eighteen and the
Colts are sitting there at eight and eight and the
Chargers are sitting there at nine and seven, just it
(25:18):
could it could mean something. And maybe you're sitting there
at home watching this or listening to this in your
car or whatever, and you're thinking, does it really matter
if the Colts make the playoffs at nine and eight?
Does it feel like you back in and you go
to Buffalo, you know, or you go to Pittsburgh, or
you go to camp, whatever it might be. But it
does matter. It does matter to the fifty three guys
on this team. It matters to the coaches, it matters
(25:39):
to the front office, and that that it'll count for
something if you do make the playoffs. It's a big if,
but it is.
Speaker 1 (25:46):
It is.
Speaker 2 (25:47):
The odds are very low. I want to make that clear.
They're very low. A lot has to happen, but don't
pack it in just yet.
Speaker 1 (25:54):
Okay, time for the Homer portion of this. Who wants
that we do? I'm going deeper than that. Even Listen,
if you have a three game winning streak and you're
going into the playoffs with a drive because the Chargers
are helping you somehow, who wants to play Anthony Richardson
and the Colts offense right there on a three game
hot streak. I'm saying. I'm just saying, if you want
to find some optimism there, it is. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:15):
I mean, I don't think any team that makes the
playoffs is going to be a tough opponent.
Speaker 1 (26:22):
It is going on the road, like you said, to
potentially Buffalo or something.
Speaker 2 (26:25):
But I think I think Buffalo is the best team
in the NFL, so that would be tough. I think Buffalo, though.
Put it this way, I don't think Buffalo is scared
of any team in the NFL. Give me went into
Detroit and won forty eight forty two. I mean, I
don't think Buffalo would be scared of any team coming
into their house.
Speaker 1 (26:43):
Okay, let's flip the switch, because I don't want to
talk about the AFC right now, but we can talk
about the NFC about who we think over there. If
I take away Philly and I take away Detroit, yeah,
I take them away. Who am I still leery of
of a team that can come out of the NF
screen Bay, Okay, okay, Jordan Love and the boys.
Speaker 2 (27:03):
Have you seen those stats about Jordan Love during Toyotathan?
Speaker 1 (27:06):
What was it?
Speaker 2 (27:07):
Google? Google Jordan Love Toyotathan. It's one of the funniest
things I've ever seen?
Speaker 1 (27:10):
Is it?
Speaker 2 (27:10):
How good he is during Toyotathan? He's got He's got
like twenty five touchdowns and three interceptions. This makes no sense.
This means absolutely nothing. But since we're on a colts
podcast talking about the Packers and Medals, will bring up
his stats during hired him?
Speaker 1 (27:23):
Yet they should? Yeah? Yeah, uh how do you come
up with the stats?
Speaker 2 (27:29):
I mean, okay, but I I kind of like the Packers. Yeah,
I like what they're doing. Their defense is really good. Yeah,
they're they're kind of coming on strong about Sammy Darnold.
What about Minnesota that you know what? Minnesota's fun? I
think they're gonna have a good defense that NFC. Man,
it is we're not even talking about Washington with Jayden Daniels.
Maybe rolling into the playoffs. Uh, you know Tampa all
of a sudden they have just speaking of the Chargers,
(27:51):
how Tampa went in and won that game. That's one
of the more impressive wins this year against a Chargers
defense that's really good. To put up forty on them.
Speaker 1 (27:58):
Baker Mayfield man, say what you will.
Speaker 2 (28:00):
There are some there're some good teams, yeah, in the NFC.
And you know, while we're talking about the Colts trying
to sneak into the playoffs as a seventh seat, there's
not a single team in the NFC. It's can sneak
into the playoffs right right? You know those are teams
that are tuned up. And but okay, just to zoom
out a little bit, how funny is the NFL that
a year ago we're looking at the AFC and you're
(28:20):
looking at Alan Mahomes, Jackson Burrow, Herbert Lawrence Tua. You're like,
my gosh, how are you stroud it coming off last year?
My gosh, how are we going to compete in this conference?
And now the AFC looks a little bit weaker. Maybe
they got the best team in Buffalo. But then you
go over to the NFC and you're like juggernaut, juggernaut.
I think Philly might be the best team in the
(28:41):
NFC right now because all those injuries to Detroit. Detroit,
though they're a juggernaut on offense, Philly's a great team.
That Vikings are a great team, The Packers are a
great team. You got Washington coming on strong, Tampa looks
really good, like and all of a sudden, here come
the La Rams of Sean McVay, you know, potentially out
of the West like that NFC is gonna be loaded
(29:02):
in a way that we thought the AFC was gonna be.
So never never assume you know a lot about how
a season's gonna go, about the strengths of a team
of a conference, of a division, because it can flip
real quick.
Speaker 1 (29:15):
I remember, I don't remember. Well, I shouldn't say this, boy,
I'm getting old. But there was a certain play that
Jake Plumber completed a touchdown pass for the Cardinals that
sprung in upset in week sixteen ninety seven and allowed
the Colts to get the number one overall pick and
(29:36):
obviously Peyton Manning. So like anything can happen, is my point.
At the NFL, especially over the course of the three
games which is a marathon. So I like your optimism
and staying up. But at the end of the day, boy,
you're getting my juices flowing because nothing beats playoff football.
And now we're talking NFC and we're talking about AFC
and stuff, but that's going to be coming up in
a weeks. I hope we do talk a lot of playoffs. Yeah,
through that, whether the Colts are part part of it
(29:58):
or not, I want you please to do that. I
talked about the give us hope section there when it
comes to the playoffs. But JJ just foundationally speaking, foundationally
speaking of the Indianapolis Colts, I want some names, and
Colts fans you're gonna know him, but just give me
a handful of names that you're encouraged about. The foundation
of young players. I know Quenton Nelson is a great
(30:18):
foundation piece here, but I'm not talking about q I'm
not talking about Zaire Franklin right now. Some young foundational
pieces to look forward to because twenty twenty five is
right around the corner. Obviously we're gonna get through twenty
twenty four and this playoff season, but I'm saying like
next year, foundationally.
Speaker 2 (30:33):
Speaking, yeah, I mean we already talked about Anthony Richardson
and how I think he probably deserves that that next shot.
Josh Towns is right up there. You've got a really
good left tackle in Bernard Rayman.
Speaker 1 (30:43):
Nice.
Speaker 2 (30:44):
I think you've seen some good things out of Macknsalvaz.
So you've got young tackles on either side that I
think you should feel pretty good about. Defensively speaking, you know,
I think you've seen some flashes from Layatu Latu this year.
We talked about Nick Cross, Jalen Jones, I think has
had a really solid season. So you've got some guys
(31:05):
there that you know, you you you could look at
next year is could they take another step for it?
We talked about Alet Pierce, same thing. Uh, these guys
are all in rookie contracts, so they're gonna be inexpensive
to build your team around. With your vets like Quentin Nelson,
DeForrest Buckner, Zire Franklin, Uh, you know, Michael Pittman, those guys,
Jonathan Taylor. So you know that the Colts are gonna
(31:29):
have some work to do this offseason, certainly, but it's
not a baron cupboard, and it's a team that with
some you know, some of the right moves in the offseason.
Absolutely could go ahead and be a contentment.
Speaker 1 (31:38):
With short your thoughts. I know I'm coming out of
left field, but Mark Lewinsky, are we giving him a
second consecutive at a boy? After his performances saying and
what do you do with a guy like Glow who's
in his thirties And I know he's you know, on
the thing, but boy, you have a veteran presence.
Speaker 2 (31:50):
He's yeah, you don't what to forget about Will Fryes though, Yeah,
when when Will Fryes got hurt? He was playing some
of the best football in the NFL for.
Speaker 1 (31:55):
For another foundational piece, for gosh, a guy.
Speaker 2 (31:58):
Who his contract is up, he's gonna be a free agent,
but you know you could could you bring him back
coming off the injury. It's a pretty serious injury that
he had. But you know, he's been in the building.
I've seen him around here, walk past the training room
here in Springsteen blasting. There's Will Fries and they're getting
some work here, you know, and also just a good
guy to have around the locker room too. Could you
(32:20):
bring Will Fries back to you know, maybe be a
right card next year. We'll see how that plays out
in the off season.
Speaker 1 (32:25):
Hey, you mentioned it. We'll we'll get into this in
the off season. But Dio Dangbo is another guy that's
gonna he'll be a free agent free agent Will Fries.
You want to who am I missing on that? Because
we will have plenty of time.
Speaker 2 (32:35):
Yeah, I don't have it right in front of me,
but Moley Cox, Julian Blackman, uh, Ryan Kelly, I think
I would have to pull that up in front of me.
But we'll got plenty of time to talk about We
will have plenty of time to talk about that.
Speaker 1 (32:51):
All right, good stuff. Obviously a disappointment that comes in,
but we're still looking at the bright skies and and
the blue skies of Indianapolis being Hey, let this team
do what they have to do the final three weeks
of the season to take care of business, and whether
that means a playoff birth or not, you really do
want to go into twenty twenty five. I'm not overlooking
these playoffs, but I'm just saying I'm the upswing like that,
and especially to get five home and at the rate
(33:13):
that he needs to, so I know I'm encouraged after this.
I know it's a different podcast, and if we end
up going Nicolet will end up beating the Broncos. But
I am encouraged. I'm I'm encouraged about this team this year.
I'm encouraged about this team next year with the leadership
and to watch an Anthony Richardson grow.
Speaker 2 (33:31):
I will say this though, like I don't know if
right now I like your optimism. I don't know if
right now I'm feeling encouraged. But I think we can
realistically look at this, like when you kind of remove
the emotion and the negative just oh, god sucked feeling
about losing that game, I think you can kind of
take like a realistic look at this and say, Okay,
it's maybe not as bad as it seems, but right
(33:53):
now it is okay. If you're listening to this, you're
watching this in your feeling like I don't want to
hear these guys talk about it. Yeah, there's a lot
of your sunshine and rainbows.
Speaker 1 (34:00):
I get it. I get it.
Speaker 2 (34:01):
We'll be right here for when you're ready to come back.
But right now, if you're just like I don't want
to hear this, that's fine.
Speaker 1 (34:08):
I guess it is. I gets appointed we're disappointed, and
we even talked about that coming up as like, oh
this show today, we wanted it to be so different.
So great stuff. Man, let's do this and let's keep
this thing rolling. We're gonna be coming at Yell off
season as well. Follow him on Twitter x at JJ stankomits,
and of course you got the latest and greatest from
Colts dot com that always keeps you up to to
(34:28):
the latest as far as Colts happenings go. Okay, I
just want to end on a high note. I call
it what would JJ do wwjj D. I'm switching gears
on this because I found something out about you this
morning that I was uh, you know, it was pretty
like an a boy JJ way to go. You got yourself.
I want you to sell the community of Colts fans
out there in Indianapolis on why pickleball is such a
(34:50):
great winter sport. By the way, coming off a huge
win the other night, I think you were over at
where'd you play that one?
Speaker 2 (34:56):
Where you uh so I was able to sub in
for are our PR team?
Speaker 1 (35:01):
How about that duo? That's what I'm talking about.
Speaker 2 (35:03):
We we Matt Contey and I ran the table. We
went fun.
Speaker 1 (35:06):
You're like Glewinsky. We picked you right off the street,
like there sit you into the starting lineup.
Speaker 2 (35:10):
And like like Mark Lewinsky, I was training as well,
you know, playing a little pick a ball? It's great, Go.
Speaker 1 (35:16):
Ahead, sell us. Why why should everybody play, especially this
winter because there's a plenty of indoor courts.
Speaker 2 (35:21):
Yeah, why should everybody play pick a ball? It's fun?
I don't know. I mean, it's like I like it
because I was never good at tennis, so I was
just like, I'll pick you know, pick this up. It's
super easy to get the hang of. You don't need
to be really skilled at it. You just you know,
you need to pick up a paddle and go have
some fun.
Speaker 1 (35:39):
I see you as a Greg Maddox type guy. I'm
taking that analogy as a picture. He's gonna pick his spots,
throw a little curve on here, throw a little Scroogey
on here. Is at you with the with the.
Speaker 2 (35:47):
So uh uh Greg, Greg Maddox is probably a little
too generous for me. But I will okay, I am
going to actually take this in a different direction because
I want to share this. I know Lara occasionally on
this podcast has been like I had this really weird
dream last night. Yeah, so I had this really weird
dream last year we got that. You want to know
where because if you've made it to this point of
(36:07):
the podcast, thank you, by the way, you're a diehard.
So this is where my brain went last night. I
have no idea why. I legitimately had a dream that
I was watching in Oakland Athletics versus Toronto Blue Jays
game in probably two thousand and two. I was wearing
a Barry Zito jersey. Remember Barry Zito big over her ball,
(36:29):
one of my favorite pictures growing up. But Mark Mulder
was starting for the Oakland A's and Carlo still Gotto
hit a five hundred foot home run off him.
Speaker 1 (36:37):
Just a tank in your dream.
Speaker 2 (36:39):
In my dream, I'm dreaming about Barry Zito, Mark Mulder
and Carlo still got I love. My brain is like, hey,
you know what you need to do. You need to
remember some guys. Remember those guys. And I woke up
in a great mood thinking about ah remember, and I
woke up with a cold. I'm all congested. Just you know,
my kids are yelling.
Speaker 1 (36:56):
At meat dream.
Speaker 2 (36:57):
But ah, man, remember those guys. These guys are awesome.
Where did Dougado Chase take that shot? Where did he
take him? It was? I mean was for some reason?
It was at Chase Stadium. I think it's because I
went to bed watching a highlight of Mova and hitting
a tank at Chase Stadium.
Speaker 1 (37:10):
Employer.
Speaker 2 (37:11):
Yeah, I follow account on Instagram. That's just like old
home runs.
Speaker 1 (37:14):
Can I ask?
Speaker 2 (37:15):
Can I ask why are we talking about? I have
no idea.
Speaker 1 (37:18):
What can I ask our controlled studio owners before we
say goodbye to Ava and a man? Can you help
me with this? I don't remember my dreams.
Speaker 2 (37:27):
Like once or twice, rarely do once or twice a year.
Speaker 1 (37:30):
I'll wake up and I'll go, wow, I had you,
But I don't remember my dreams a youngster. When I
was young, I did. I remember dreams and stuff, but
I don't. This was So what does that mean about me? Yeah?
Regular dreams, you know, but.
Speaker 2 (37:44):
Like I most like ninety nine percent. But I guess
if I'm, you know, remembering some guys like tomorrow, I'm
gonna wake up and be like, I had this awesome
dream about Vinie Castilla, I.
Speaker 1 (37:53):
Will I love the Baseball Off Sea's a baseball podcast
with you. Let's get out of here before it gets
too late. JJ s it already got too late. It
is a little bit at Twitter ax. You can follow
him at JJ Stegmitz and of course at Colts dot com.
I'm Jeffrey Gorman. Let's go. It is time, three games,
the run starts. There's a white out this weekend at
Lucas Oil Stadium. Go on the road to the Big
Apple and after that right back at home. Let's do it.
Speaker 2 (38:14):
We got to take care of business, most important thing.
Speaker 1 (38:17):
Win three in a row. But it starts this weekend
at Lucas Oil Stadium. Thanks for staying up late and
watching this thing, JJ. Good stuff. As always, we'll talk
to you all next week.
Welcome to the Official Colts Podcast. I'm Jeffrey Gorman today
joined by JJ stank. If it's only Lara Overton on
assignment this morning, she will be back next week. JJ
boyle boy, it's kind of I'm glad you're sitting on
a couch to start this official podcast. Let's get it
out right now. The elephant in the room is one
of the most disappointing losses in a long time for
(00:27):
a Colts team. And I'm comparing this one going back
to twenty twenty in the playoff game up in Buffalo
led by Philip Rivers, a high offense day and stuff
like this point kind of a comparison like that, but disappointment.
I want to start there because that one was a heartbreaker.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
I thought about that, Jeffrey, of like, where where does
this one kind of rank?
Speaker 1 (00:46):
Excuse me?
Speaker 2 (00:47):
And I thought about the twenty twenty one loss to
the Jaguars, Right, okay, but that game you just got beat.
There wasn't a we beat ourselves. We you know, had
these you know, critical mistakes, critical moments. That was just you.
You got you got boat raced by a team that
had won win that year. Right, So I think actually
that Buffalo game is a good comparison because you're right
(01:09):
there with the Bills to win a playoff game in Buffalo,
biggest game the Colts have played in years in that game,
and it came down to a couple of mistakes in
that game, you know, missed field goal, what was the
Komoko Terrey uh off side? So that probably is a
good comparison, but just in terms of the like the
(01:30):
the gut punch nature of that game. Like, I think
about that Jacksonville game because I think if the Colts
win this game against Denver, they are cruising right to
the playoffs, cruising and maybe it's not over Denver, maybe
it's over the Chargers. Who knows, but that they are
in really good position. And now you the division is gone,
the Texans clinched. You have a very narrow but still
(01:54):
possible path to the playoffs.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
We're gonna get to that too, and it is possible,
but like.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
But you had it in your control, and you know
you like the plays we're gonna be thinking about for
a long time. Are gonna be Jonathan Taylor dropping the
ball before the goal line. You're gonna be thinking about
the double pass, You're gonna be thinking about Marvin Mimm's
sixty one yard return, like, those are the plays that
are the reasons why we're sitting here right now being like, well,
(02:20):
you know, the playoffs are unlikely at this point.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
First time since two thousand and seven for a Colts
team to have under to have an opponent under two
hundred yards and lose the game. Yeah, since two thousand
and seven. That kind of shows you what that afternoon
in Denver was all about. Because let's just go over
this thing you talked about the tailor dropt at the
goal line. Where does that set the tone after that point?
(02:45):
In your opinion, you were there, you were in the stadium.
As far as setting a tone, We're all saw it
like wow, scratching and said, hey, we all miss a
stop sign now and again. You know what I mean,
we all turn on red sometimes when we're not supposed to.
That's kind of what I equated to. It has, you know,
a heavy degree of boy, we needed that one, but
that's a professional who does that for a living. Had
a brain, you know sort of thing. But the tone
(03:06):
after that, we saw it, because boy, oh boy, they
start rattling off twenty four straight points welcome to the NFL.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
Yeah, you know, I don't want to belabor the whole,
you know, the mistake part of it, because Jonathan Taylor
took accountability for it, sure did.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
He was.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
He left no room for excuses, He left no room
for explanations. It was just I screwed up. It won't
happen again. It never happened before, so he kind of
left it there. So I want to leave it there.
But I do think to kind of contextualize it being
up in that press box in Denver, that crowd was dead,
that they went into that game, that the Broncos team,
(03:40):
every fan in that stand where an orange and blue
was this is the biggest Broncos game since Peyton Manning
won him a Super Bowl, well, since the defense won
him a super Bowl and Peyton, let's be honest, Peyton's yeah.
I mean, you know, Peyton won the Super Bowl. That
defense was yeah, sure, but regardless, that was the biggest
game that that city had experienced since twenty sixteen. And
(04:03):
they were falling flat on their face in that game.
Bo Nix looked overwhelmed and overmatched. Anthony Richardson was punishing
them on the ground, and then you get Jonathan Taylor
kind of you know, okay, he was maybe not as
efficient as he was early in the game. But the
cults are doing that thing where they're pounding it, pounding it,
pounding it and expecting one to get broken, and bam,
(04:25):
there he goes, there he goes, and you're and that
crowd was just the life got sucked out of that
place when he crossed the goal.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
Right.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
But then they they splash the replay up on the
video board at mile high and the fans.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
You hear that, mom, he hear that.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
You hear that murmur from the crowd of like, oh okay,
hold on a second. And then they keep showing it
in the crowd. You know, they're trying. The crowd's trying
to will it into existence, right yeah. And then when
when the official comes out and says the runner dropped
the ball before the goal line inside the ends and
for a touchback, place goes nuts like they just scored
a touchdown. And while that didn't turn the game to Denver,
(05:03):
because the Colts were able to get get a punt
on their next possession that the defense held up, they
gave the offense a lot of chances. What it did
was it meant the Colts didn't have momentum. Yeah, so
then kind of no team had it. And then when
Denver got it was on the Mims punt return that
set up the go ahead touchdown. And then when they
got it for good was on the Benito the double passes.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
Where does the let let's talk about it, because this
is another professional and highly paid and grated his craft.
The Pittman fumble. I mean that also you're talking about
The more the more you.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
Look at that one, the more I just want to say,
that was a good play by p J Yirck.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
Great.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
I mean the guy, the guy stuck his helmet right
in where the ball was. Pittman's not a guy who's
known for having ball security issues with the ball in
his hands. I think you give credit. You know, those
guys get paid to type thing.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
I'm not.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
I'm not worried about that one so much. But the
thing that stunk about it was the way that it
came in the game. Like the flow of the game
at that point was like you get a completion, Okay,
you get ahead of the sticks, you're gonna get a
first down, Bam, balls out, Denver gets it back yep,
and that was another gut punch right there, because Denver
then they get a field goal out of that. They
bring it to thirteen to ten. Again, the defense does
(06:14):
a great job, sure like sudden change, they were off
the field for one play and then because that was
after the cross interception, so you get this this momentum
from the cross pick. You're thinking, okay, we get a
first down, we go down, we get some points here,
we're in really good shape still, and then you get that.
The defense holds up really well right there. But ultimately,
like the short fields, the sudden changes, it just wound
(06:36):
up being way too much to overcome.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
JJ. What does Alec Pierce mean to this offense? The
reason I'm bringing this up is he was out, he's
in concussion protocol, you know, saying our prayers for Alec
that he that he's okay, ready to roll. But like,
what does that mean for this offense? Because obviously we
see ten, we see ad Mitchell getting more reps and
such like that. Alec Pearson in training camp, we were saying,
(06:58):
you know, boy, he's gonna be a competition in everything.
This team, in my opinion, changes when fourteen.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Is completely I think that's a really good point and
one that I've thought about a little bit more after
this game is that losing Alec for the entire second
half I think really impacted this offense. And it's not
just that you know he is your downfield threat, right,
but this year Alec Pierce has been the guy when
you throw it up to him, I kind of expect
(07:23):
him to come down with it more than anyone on
this team. And that's been proven over the like even
on that ball where he got the concussion on where
it's that that deep shot into the end zone. That
ball's in the air and I see it's going to fourteen,
I'm expecting him to come down here in a way
that you know you expect guy you know you want
to see Ady Mitchell, Mike plays, Michael Pittman, those guys.
Josh Downs has made some of those plays this year.
But when that ball's in the air to Alec, I'm
(07:44):
thinking he's going to catch it. And to take that
out of the offense in the second half, that guy
who when you need to play, when the Colts needed
to play against the Patriots, who did they throw the
ball to Alec Pierce? Taking that guy out of this offense,
I think did have an impact, and it also it
compresses things, makes it a lot harder on Anthony Richardson.
And you know, Denver can play coverage differently when you
(08:06):
don't have the threat. I saw Patrick's are ten lined
up over aut Pierce a lot in this game, which
tells me Denver said, we don't want fourteen to beat
us downfield. We're gonna put the best quarterback in the
NFL over him and just take him away. That's a
sign of respect. But when you take that guy off
the field, you can do so much more with your defense,
with Patrick's or ten with your coverages that I think
we saw really impact.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
Overall, No big mystery. They stayed away from side of
the field for the majority of yes, you know, I
mean it's.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
Not the one time they threw it even got an intercept, right.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
Right, So I want to I want to zero in
on Anthony Richardson, Boyle boy playing a great first half
the way they did. You talk about what that twenty
to seven lead would have been, would have been had
that touchdown counted and the momentum. Give me your overall
on the big fellow. What what did you like about
what he did? What what are some things that you
saw in the second half. He goes, you know, you
got goose egg in the second half. On the road,
(08:56):
it's usually a tough, tough hill to climb. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
I couple things on this that I have been thinking about.
One is, I think the game got away from the
Colts in the second half. Obviously after the JT fumble
at the goal line, the offense kind of took a
bit of a step back and it was tough for
them to come back from that. Having said that, I
think you want Anthony Richardson to be able to be
able to pivot and Okay, if we got to throw
(09:21):
to win right now, because Denver's not letting us run it.
We're getting holding penalties on running plays. You want, you
want five to be able to get there. But right now,
at this stage in his career, I think it's also
okay that he's not there. This is this is not
a red flag warning lights that he is not there yet.
He's still a very young quarterback. He just started as
(09:42):
what thirteenth game in the NFL. That is okay. I
am not worried about that. But what I've been thinking
about the most after this game, because you know, playoffs
are not done, but you start thinking about this is
usually a time where you start thinking a little more
big picture. I think Anthony Richardson, since he's returned from
being benched, absolutely earned another opportunity to go with this
(10:02):
team's starting quarterback in twenty twenty five, whether he has
to compete for it or it's it's handed to him
next year, I think he's earned that opportunity to at
the very least say you're gonna have a chance, and
a really good one to go be our starting quarterback
next year. Because I think the strides that he's made
and the identity that this offense has found with him
(10:24):
since he's returned from being benched has been much better
than where it was prior. It's been more sustainable. They've
leaned into him as a runner more. He's running with
a lot more conviction. He's throwing with more conviction. And
I know it doesn't show up in the box score,
but I just I think he's shown me enough. Just
if you kind of take it globally and you don't
necessarily look at just the stats, but you look at
(10:46):
you just kind of is how does it feel out there?
I think he's earned.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
That Yeah, I totally agree with that. I mean, obviously
you have someone of his talent you want to get,
you know, keep him in the pool, as they say,
learning to swim in this NFL waters. You know, It's like,
I'm excited about that sort of thing for these next
three games though, when we talked about hell, we talked
about it last week and say, oh, you want to
must win, you want to must win, same mentality these
(11:10):
next three games. All in, let everything go because we're
going to get to the playoff picture in a minute.
But I'm just talking about the mentality of that, and
we're gonna find out about tomorrow. You're especially gonna find
out about it talking to the players more so. That's
a heartbreaker. That's a heartbreaker. That's is it tough to
come back from or is it? No, we keep this
thing flowing and we beat three teams that, no disrespect,
(11:32):
you know, are playoff caliber, get eleven losses. Yeah. So
so I'm saying, what's your take on that locker room
and being able to stay focused and and do the detail,
not into twenty twenty five, but really making a push
and hopefully having the Chargers collapse.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
You got a lot of guys who are under contract
for next year who are going to be back on
this team. And I think those those are the guys
who are are going to need to talk. You know,
they're going to be need to be thinking about like
pride and they're spot on this team next year, and
that's what you're playing for, but more than anything, And
I thought Joe Wrights and Rick Ventterrey did a good
job talking about the Sun Colts Round Table Live yesterday.
It's it's like you're playing for pride, and yeah, the
(12:07):
season is not going the way you wanted it to.
That loss was gutting, it was frustrating, it was debilitating.
But how do you come back from it? And if
you're gonna play with some pride, you're gonna go out.
You're gonna beat the Titans, You're gonna beat the Giants,
you're gonna beat the Jaguars. You're gonna finish the season.
Nine and eight may not be where you wanted it
to be, but you you go nine to eight, you
(12:27):
have a winning season. You think about what you need
to do better next year and how you can build
on it. What you don't want to see happen is
is the cratering. You know, like I think we kind
of saw that in twenty twenty two, where there are
guys in that locker room. They are veterans who played
with a lot of pride. And I think about Ryan Kelly,
DeForest Buckner, those guys down the stretch who are fighting
through whatever. You you know, you accumulate through the season
(12:50):
and still playing and playing well that year, but that
season just kind of got off the rails, right. You
don't want to see anything close to that over these
final three games. And I don't think Shane's is gonna
let that happen. I don't think guys like Xire, Franklin, Buckner, Kelly,
Quinton Nelson, these guys are not gonna let that happen.
But you also want to help out, you know, show
show the young guys like this. This sucks right now,
(13:12):
This sucks, but we got three games left. There are
no guaranteed opportunities in the NFL. We got to go
out and play with some pride. And I want to see,
like the leaders and the captains on that team really
take over this week and come out and you know,
I'd love to see this. This Colts team just kind
of comfortably beat the Titans and show everyone, hey, you
know what, Yeah, with this season't the season we wanted,
but we can still finish it the way that we
(13:34):
want to.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
Finish and possibly find yourself in a playoffs atmosphere in
three weeks like that. But more importantly, like you said,
setting a foundation, a young talented quarterback comes in like
that and changes an organization. That's Anthony Richardson. So all
eyes will be on the quarterback this year and next year.
But boy, we talked a lot of offense today. I
gotta let's give some love to that defense that went
(13:54):
up to Denver in the thin air up there and
really and you know, had a hot team putting a
lot of points on the bar. But you know, as
far as bow Nicks and a Sean Payton led offense,
but boy oh boy, on the defensive side of the ball,
you get three turnovers on that among other things like that.
There's some names that we got to give him that
a boys and pats on the back. I want to
start with the difference that DeForest Buckner makes in a
(14:15):
football game. We've talked about this ad nauseum, but go.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
Ahead, he's so good. Yeah, he's having such a good season.
And it's a shame that he's probably not really in
that Pro Bowl conversation because he missed some time. But
what he's done every time he's taking the field this
year has been incredible. And excuse me that he is
a difference maker for this defense. We see it the
way that the Colts defended the run in this game,
(14:40):
estimate McLoughlin Williams. They didn't do anything. I think the
average three yards of carry. They got shut down. Denver
could not get anything when they handed the ball off
in this game. And then on the back end, you
talk about a game for Sammy Womack, like gets a pick,
he gets a PBu. Excuse me, boy, he is a
great game. At the back end, you're seeing more strides
(15:02):
from Nick Cross. You know, Jalen Jones had a bit
of a tough time early with a penalty, but he
came back. He had a really nice PBu in this game,
like you and then Zira Franklin. I know he maybe
wanted that one on Adkins back, but the pick he
had was awesome. Some of the tackles he made in
this game are awesome. Guys are gonna miss tackles every
(15:22):
now and then those other guys get paid to not
worried about z at all in that he leads the
NFL and tackles. He's fine. He's having another really good season,
a Pro Bowl type season. That defense, though, Jeffrey, they
just played collectively better than I think they've played all year,
And I thought that that's why you saw Denver their
longest stride is fifty four yards in this game. They
could not move the ball, and I think that's why
(15:43):
this one stings so much too, when you kind of
dial it back, is had the Colt's gone up twenty
to seven, I don't see a world where Denver puts
up more than twenty one points in that game. Agree,
I don't see a world where they are able to
move the ball consistently. Maybe they get you know, one
short field off of them MIM's punt return or something
like that. Maybe that one still happens, but I don't
(16:03):
think they I don't think they score two touchdowns when
the Colts offense can kind of play keep away a
little bit with a thirteen point lead. I don't think
Denver is able to sustain a seventy yard drive, a
fifty nine yard drive, any of those things in this
game because Nicks was erratic, they couldn't run the ball,
and the Colts are keeping a lid on their downfield
(16:25):
passing game. So those three things in concert meant I
really don't think Denver was gonna put up twenty one
points in this game. Good luck to him. Hey, they
did what they did. They found a way to win.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
Where I'm zeroing in on some defensive players, where does
Nick Cross rank in the AFC South? Where does he
rank in the AFC for that matter, as far as
top safeties in the league. Kid has been playing his
tail off for the last couple of years right now.
And I'm telling you what another big momentum changer or
a huge interception against the Bronco.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
Yeah, he's having a good season. I mean, just a
straight up good season. And that, Like I was thinking
about this driving in, it was like, okay, like two
of the biggest questions coming into this year that I
had about specific players who were you know, maybe we're
not talking about rookies here, but it was about Nick Cross.
It was about Alec Pierce. What are the cults going
to get out of these two guys? And you've got
really good seasons yea, both of those players. Cross has
(17:14):
shown he is a starting safety, he is a good
starting safety in the NFL. He's physical, making plays on
the ball at these interceptions. And then obviously Alec Pierce,
it stinks that he's in the concussion protocol because he
he no longer qualifies for the NFL lead in yards
per reception. But at twenty two point two yards per
reception or two or seven?
Speaker 1 (17:34):
Did he somebody has a higher r He doesn't have
enough reception doesn't. Okay, that's so.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
But I mean, if if alt continued and he was
able to play the whole season, he probably would lead
the NFL in yards perception, regardless of whether he does
or doesn't. Though we can say Alec Pierce had a
good season this year, right, we can say Nick Cross
had a good season. So getting those out of those,
those performances out of those two guys is encouraging going
into next year when both those guys are going to
be back, and I would think you would expec both
(18:00):
those guys to be starters on this team next year.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
How about big Grove got the big his big mid
up there and stopped the third down and stuff like that.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
I mean it's a Grover Stewart being Grover Steart.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
I'm nitpicking some plays, but it was all afternoon where
we totally were just one up in these Broncos and
obviously thirty one to thirteen final.
Speaker 2 (18:15):
I mean, we don't we don't talk about Grovenoff. Yeah,
you know, Buck and Grove in the middle there they
bost that entire game. And yeah, I mean for the
defense to let up fewer than two hundred yards and
to lose by eighteen points, that's tough. That is a
really tough one to swallow.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
That one was because of the depth of what that meant.
And you know, we can go back to you know,
the Green Bay game earlier, the Jacksonville first one that
we spoke of, and those heartbreakers like this, but there
is still some hope and I want to talk about
giving some hold. All right, let's talk about it, because hey, JJ,
the NFL is a squirrely price, it really is. There's
three games left, we have a fifteen or so percent
(18:52):
chance to make the playoffs. But some things need to happen.
So listen, we're all out there. It's a huge game
at Lucas Oil Stadium against the Titans. Then you go
to New York and then he got Jacksonville. You need
to run the table. So get us in playoff mode.
I know it's tough, but get us there. Okay, how
we do that?
Speaker 2 (19:07):
All right? So it starts with winning out. You go
three to zero, you at least put some heat on
the La Chargers. They're the team you're chasing. Now, you're
not really chasing the Broncos. Yes, if Denver loses out
and you win out, Denver has the head to head tiebreaker.
Now okay, here, I'm trying to figure out where to
(19:27):
go with this. First, Let's start with the Chargers. The
Chargers are eight and six. They just got boat raced
at home by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They lost forty
to seventeen. If the Denver Broncos beat the Chargers, that
game's at Sofi Stadium on Thursday night, Thursday night this week.
That games at Sofi where the Charger is just lost
(19:48):
by twenty three points. If Denver goes in and wins
that game and the Colts beat the Titans, now you're
talking about just a one game gap, because guess what,
the Colts will own every tiebreaker over the Chargers in
head to head. If there are multiple teams involved, the
Colts will own the tiebreaker based on conference record. So
(20:08):
that means the heats on the Chargers to win one
of their last two games if they or excuse me,
they would need to win both of their last two
games if they lose this game to Denver. So the
Chargers finish the season, though they got a kind of
a pillowy soft end of the season. They go to
New England, they go to the Raiders. Those are both
(20:29):
road games, so you know, bit of chance there, but
those are, let's be frank, those are two of the
worst teams in the Patriots and the Raiders. So if
the Charger, if there's any shot at the Colts making
the playoffs, the Chargers probably gotta lose on Thursday night
to the Broncos. The other route here, the one that
(20:50):
is more difficult to and look, there are a lot
of detours that the Colts got to follow right now,
but the Colts have to win out. All these are
what the Colts winning out. Here's how the Colts can
still make the playoffs at nine and eight. With the
Broncos going nine and eight, a third team has to
go nine and eight, So Let's say the Colts, so
(21:11):
the Broncos have to lose out. So Broncos lose on Thursday,
they lose on the road to the Bengals. They lose
at home to the Chiefs to end the season. Not
impossible to envision based on how Denver kind of played
against the Colts in the game. If that happens, the
Colts go nine and eight. Obviously, if it's just the
Colts and Broncos at nine and eight, Broncos make sure.
(21:32):
But say the Cincinnati Bengals, so they beat the Broncos
in that stretch. Let's say the Bengals win out. That
means the Bengals are nine and eight, the Broncos are
nine and eight, the Colts are nine and eight, the
Colts make the playoffs.
Speaker 1 (21:45):
Why how's that? Because you get Denver. Explain that one.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
It goes to conference record as the tiebreaker, the top
tiebreaker because Denver, because the Colts have not played Cincinnati, right,
So there and Denver Denver. For Denver to do that,
they would have to have wins over And I don't
think the Broncos have played the Bengals this year either.
They played the Ravens. So yeah, no, So that that's
(22:10):
why is that Denver would not have wins over the
Colts in the Bengals. The Bengals have not played the Colts.
So it goes to conference tiebreaker, conference record tiebreaker, which
the Colts, if they went out, they will have a
better conference record than the Broncos and the Bengals.
Speaker 1 (22:25):
And there's nine and eight Broncos and there's nine and
eight Colts and the Colts.
Speaker 2 (22:28):
The same, by the way, goes for if the Dolphins
up to nine and eight, or if it's Broncos Chargers Colts,
the Colts would which is possible, not unlikely, but possible. Actually,
if it's Broncos Chargers Cults too, the Colts would get
the six seed. So a lot it would have to
happen here, like a lot. But it is not over yet.
(22:51):
And I think the thing that if you're still rooting
for this, which I totally understand, by the way, if
like you're a Colts fan and you're just like, I
can't I can't get my heat around this yet, totally
get it. But it's my job to kind of look
at this stuff and kind of be aware of it.
So if you're looking at this Thursday night game, you
probably want the Broncos to win because now you put
the heat on the Chargers. And look, if the Chargers
(23:13):
beat the Patriots, you go and you beat the Titans
and the Giants, you go into Week eighteen. There's a
chance that the Colts are kicking off against the Jags
at four to twenty five to play at the same
time as the Chargers, because the NFL might want those
games playing at the same time. So you know, if
the Colts go beat the you know you want to have, right,
you want those games kicking off at the same time.
(23:34):
So the Chargers game means something, the Colts game means something,
and you know, we could be really scoreboard watching that
game Chargers in Las Vegas. That hey, I mean, stranger
things have happened absolutely. Twenty twenty one, the Pittsburgh Steelers
went into the final week of the season being like,
there's no way the Cults are losing to the Jaguars, right,
(23:56):
and they snuck into the playoffs. Stranger things can happen, man,
the stranger things can hand.
Speaker 1 (24:02):
I know it's a little bit confusing, but if you
do want to find out what the latest is the
playoff chances, follow JJ on Twitter on Twitter x if
you will at JJ Stankmans. Of course you can read
them on Colts dot com and watch them as well.
Keep us updated the next three weeks. Because we keep winning,
everybody's going to be asking. That's the bottom line. Here's
the deal. Win. That's what you have to do. Most
important thing to do. You'll win. You go into Lucas
(24:24):
Oil Stadium, you take care of business this week, you
go on the road, come back to Lucas, take care
of business. So it is there's still a slight chance.
But this crazy NFL. JJ I'm really optimistic and I
hope that Shane Stikeen's in the back right now telling
his guys, Hey, we got to play with our pants
on fire, because anything can happen in this NFL. We
have to have a three game winning streak to really
(24:44):
put a cherry on this season. Obviously, you said it earlier,
like Joe WRIGHTSID said, you want to finish with a
winning record. You want to finish on a high note.
But at the same time, don't forget you can get
into the dance and if you have a chip in
a chair, anything can happen in the playoffs.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
I mean, and look like I understand if you don't
want to be opt if you're if you're watching this,
you're disappointed, I don't want to hear this. You like, absolutely,
that's how you should feel right now. You should be disappointed.
I'm I'm just gonna say, don't don't just pack it
in yet. If we get to week eighteen and the
Colts are sitting there at eight and eight and the
Chargers are sitting there at nine and seven, just it
(25:18):
could it could mean something. And maybe you're sitting there
at home watching this or listening to this in your
car or whatever, and you're thinking, does it really matter
if the Colts make the playoffs at nine and eight?
Does it feel like you back in and you go
to Buffalo, you know, or you go to Pittsburgh, or
you go to camp, whatever it might be. But it
does matter. It does matter to the fifty three guys
on this team. It matters to the coaches, it matters
(25:39):
to the front office, and that that it'll count for
something if you do make the playoffs. It's a big if,
but it is.
Speaker 1 (25:46):
It is.
Speaker 2 (25:47):
The odds are very low. I want to make that clear.
They're very low. A lot has to happen, but don't
pack it in just yet.
Speaker 1 (25:54):
Okay, time for the Homer portion of this. Who wants
that we do? I'm going deeper than that. Even Listen,
if you have a three game winning streak and you're
going into the playoffs with a drive because the Chargers
are helping you somehow, who wants to play Anthony Richardson
and the Colts offense right there on a three game
hot streak. I'm saying. I'm just saying, if you want
to find some optimism there, it is. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:15):
I mean, I don't think any team that makes the
playoffs is going to be a tough opponent.
Speaker 1 (26:22):
It is going on the road, like you said, to
potentially Buffalo or something.
Speaker 2 (26:25):
But I think I think Buffalo is the best team
in the NFL, so that would be tough. I think Buffalo, though.
Put it this way, I don't think Buffalo is scared
of any team in the NFL. Give me went into
Detroit and won forty eight forty two. I mean, I
don't think Buffalo would be scared of any team coming
into their house.
Speaker 1 (26:43):
Okay, let's flip the switch, because I don't want to
talk about the AFC right now, but we can talk
about the NFC about who we think over there. If
I take away Philly and I take away Detroit, yeah,
I take them away. Who am I still leery of
of a team that can come out of the NF
screen Bay, Okay, okay, Jordan Love and the boys.
Speaker 2 (27:03):
Have you seen those stats about Jordan Love during Toyotathan?
Speaker 1 (27:06):
What was it?
Speaker 2 (27:07):
Google? Google Jordan Love Toyotathan. It's one of the funniest
things I've ever seen?
Speaker 1 (27:10):
Is it?
Speaker 2 (27:10):
How good he is during Toyotathan? He's got He's got
like twenty five touchdowns and three interceptions. This makes no sense.
This means absolutely nothing. But since we're on a colts
podcast talking about the Packers and Medals, will bring up
his stats during hired him?
Speaker 1 (27:23):
Yet they should? Yeah? Yeah, uh how do you come
up with the stats?
Speaker 2 (27:29):
I mean, okay, but I I kind of like the Packers. Yeah,
I like what they're doing. Their defense is really good. Yeah,
they're they're kind of coming on strong about Sammy Darnold.
What about Minnesota that you know what? Minnesota's fun? I
think they're gonna have a good defense that NFC. Man,
it is we're not even talking about Washington with Jayden Daniels.
Maybe rolling into the playoffs. Uh, you know Tampa all
of a sudden they have just speaking of the Chargers,
(27:51):
how Tampa went in and won that game. That's one
of the more impressive wins this year against a Chargers
defense that's really good. To put up forty on them.
Speaker 1 (27:58):
Baker Mayfield man, say what you will.
Speaker 2 (28:00):
There are some there're some good teams, yeah, in the NFC.
And you know, while we're talking about the Colts trying
to sneak into the playoffs as a seventh seat, there's
not a single team in the NFC. It's can sneak
into the playoffs right right? You know those are teams
that are tuned up. And but okay, just to zoom
out a little bit, how funny is the NFL that
a year ago we're looking at the AFC and you're
(28:20):
looking at Alan Mahomes, Jackson Burrow, Herbert Lawrence Tua. You're like,
my gosh, how are you stroud it coming off last year?
My gosh, how are we going to compete in this conference?
And now the AFC looks a little bit weaker. Maybe
they got the best team in Buffalo. But then you
go over to the NFC and you're like juggernaut, juggernaut.
I think Philly might be the best team in the
(28:41):
NFC right now because all those injuries to Detroit. Detroit,
though they're a juggernaut on offense, Philly's a great team.
That Vikings are a great team, The Packers are a
great team. You got Washington coming on strong, Tampa looks
really good, like and all of a sudden, here come
the La Rams of Sean McVay, you know, potentially out
of the West like that NFC is gonna be loaded
(29:02):
in a way that we thought the AFC was gonna be.
So never never assume you know a lot about how
a season's gonna go, about the strengths of a team
of a conference, of a division, because it can flip
real quick.
Speaker 1 (29:15):
I remember, I don't remember. Well, I shouldn't say this, boy,
I'm getting old. But there was a certain play that
Jake Plumber completed a touchdown pass for the Cardinals that
sprung in upset in week sixteen ninety seven and allowed
the Colts to get the number one overall pick and
(29:36):
obviously Peyton Manning. So like anything can happen, is my point.
At the NFL, especially over the course of the three
games which is a marathon. So I like your optimism
and staying up. But at the end of the day, boy,
you're getting my juices flowing because nothing beats playoff football.
And now we're talking NFC and we're talking about AFC
and stuff, but that's going to be coming up in
a weeks. I hope we do talk a lot of playoffs. Yeah,
through that, whether the Colts are part part of it
(29:58):
or not, I want you please to do that. I
talked about the give us hope section there when it
comes to the playoffs. But JJ just foundationally speaking, foundationally
speaking of the Indianapolis Colts, I want some names, and
Colts fans you're gonna know him, but just give me
a handful of names that you're encouraged about. The foundation
of young players. I know Quenton Nelson is a great
(30:18):
foundation piece here, but I'm not talking about q I'm
not talking about Zaire Franklin right now. Some young foundational
pieces to look forward to because twenty twenty five is
right around the corner. Obviously we're gonna get through twenty
twenty four and this playoff season, but I'm saying like
next year, foundationally.
Speaker 2 (30:33):
Speaking, yeah, I mean we already talked about Anthony Richardson
and how I think he probably deserves that that next shot.
Josh Towns is right up there. You've got a really
good left tackle in Bernard Rayman.
Speaker 1 (30:43):
Nice.
Speaker 2 (30:44):
I think you've seen some good things out of Macknsalvaz.
So you've got young tackles on either side that I
think you should feel pretty good about. Defensively speaking, you know,
I think you've seen some flashes from Layatu Latu this year.
We talked about Nick Cross, Jalen Jones, I think has
had a really solid season. So you've got some guys
(31:05):
there that you know, you you you could look at
next year is could they take another step for it?
We talked about Alet Pierce, same thing. Uh, these guys
are all in rookie contracts, so they're gonna be inexpensive
to build your team around. With your vets like Quentin Nelson,
DeForrest Buckner, Zire Franklin, Uh, you know, Michael Pittman, those guys,
Jonathan Taylor. So you know that the Colts are gonna
(31:29):
have some work to do this offseason, certainly, but it's
not a baron cupboard, and it's a team that with
some you know, some of the right moves in the offseason.
Absolutely could go ahead and be a contentment.
Speaker 1 (31:38):
With short your thoughts. I know I'm coming out of
left field, but Mark Lewinsky, are we giving him a
second consecutive at a boy? After his performances saying and
what do you do with a guy like Glow who's
in his thirties And I know he's you know, on
the thing, but boy, you have a veteran presence.
Speaker 2 (31:50):
He's yeah, you don't what to forget about Will Fryes though, Yeah,
when when Will Fryes got hurt? He was playing some
of the best football in the NFL for.
Speaker 1 (31:55):
For another foundational piece, for gosh, a guy.
Speaker 2 (31:58):
Who his contract is up, he's gonna be a free agent,
but you know you could could you bring him back
coming off the injury. It's a pretty serious injury that
he had. But you know, he's been in the building.
I've seen him around here, walk past the training room
here in Springsteen blasting. There's Will Fries and they're getting
some work here, you know, and also just a good
guy to have around the locker room too. Could you
(32:20):
bring Will Fries back to you know, maybe be a
right card next year. We'll see how that plays out
in the off season.
Speaker 1 (32:25):
Hey, you mentioned it. We'll we'll get into this in
the off season. But Dio Dangbo is another guy that's
gonna he'll be a free agent free agent Will Fries.
You want to who am I missing on that? Because
we will have plenty of time.
Speaker 2 (32:35):
Yeah, I don't have it right in front of me,
but Moley Cox, Julian Blackman, uh, Ryan Kelly, I think
I would have to pull that up in front of me.
But we'll got plenty of time to talk about We
will have plenty of time to talk about that.
Speaker 1 (32:51):
All right, good stuff. Obviously a disappointment that comes in,
but we're still looking at the bright skies and and
the blue skies of Indianapolis being Hey, let this team
do what they have to do the final three weeks
of the season to take care of business, and whether
that means a playoff birth or not, you really do
want to go into twenty twenty five. I'm not overlooking
these playoffs, but I'm just saying I'm the upswing like that,
and especially to get five home and at the rate
(33:13):
that he needs to, so I know I'm encouraged after this.
I know it's a different podcast, and if we end
up going Nicolet will end up beating the Broncos. But
I am encouraged. I'm I'm encouraged about this team this year.
I'm encouraged about this team next year with the leadership
and to watch an Anthony Richardson grow.
Speaker 2 (33:31):
I will say this though, like I don't know if
right now I like your optimism. I don't know if
right now I'm feeling encouraged. But I think we can
realistically look at this, like when you kind of remove
the emotion and the negative just oh, god sucked feeling
about losing that game, I think you can kind of
take like a realistic look at this and say, Okay,
it's maybe not as bad as it seems, but right
(33:53):
now it is okay. If you're listening to this, you're
watching this in your feeling like I don't want to
hear these guys talk about it. Yeah, there's a lot
of your sunshine and rainbows.
Speaker 1 (34:00):
I get it. I get it.
Speaker 2 (34:01):
We'll be right here for when you're ready to come back.
But right now, if you're just like I don't want
to hear this, that's fine.
Speaker 1 (34:08):
I guess it is. I gets appointed we're disappointed, and
we even talked about that coming up as like, oh
this show today, we wanted it to be so different.
So great stuff. Man, let's do this and let's keep
this thing rolling. We're gonna be coming at Yell off
season as well. Follow him on Twitter x at JJ stankomits,
and of course you got the latest and greatest from
Colts dot com that always keeps you up to to
(34:28):
the latest as far as Colts happenings go. Okay, I
just want to end on a high note. I call
it what would JJ do wwjj D. I'm switching gears
on this because I found something out about you this
morning that I was uh, you know, it was pretty
like an a boy JJ way to go. You got yourself.
I want you to sell the community of Colts fans
out there in Indianapolis on why pickleball is such a
(34:50):
great winter sport. By the way, coming off a huge
win the other night, I think you were over at
where'd you play that one?
Speaker 2 (34:56):
Where you uh so I was able to sub in
for are our PR team?
Speaker 1 (35:01):
How about that duo? That's what I'm talking about.
Speaker 2 (35:03):
We we Matt Contey and I ran the table. We
went fun.
Speaker 1 (35:06):
You're like Glewinsky. We picked you right off the street,
like there sit you into the starting lineup.
Speaker 2 (35:10):
And like like Mark Lewinsky, I was training as well,
you know, playing a little pick a ball? It's great, Go.
Speaker 1 (35:16):
Ahead, sell us. Why why should everybody play, especially this
winter because there's a plenty of indoor courts.
Speaker 2 (35:21):
Yeah, why should everybody play pick a ball? It's fun?
I don't know. I mean, it's like I like it
because I was never good at tennis, so I was
just like, I'll pick you know, pick this up. It's
super easy to get the hang of. You don't need
to be really skilled at it. You just you know,
you need to pick up a paddle and go have
some fun.
Speaker 1 (35:39):
I see you as a Greg Maddox type guy. I'm
taking that analogy as a picture. He's gonna pick his spots,
throw a little curve on here, throw a little Scroogey
on here. Is at you with the with the.
Speaker 2 (35:47):
So uh uh Greg, Greg Maddox is probably a little
too generous for me. But I will okay, I am
going to actually take this in a different direction because
I want to share this. I know Lara occasionally on
this podcast has been like I had this really weird
dream last night. Yeah, so I had this really weird
dream last year we got that. You want to know
where because if you've made it to this point of
(36:07):
the podcast, thank you, by the way, you're a diehard.
So this is where my brain went last night. I
have no idea why. I legitimately had a dream that
I was watching in Oakland Athletics versus Toronto Blue Jays
game in probably two thousand and two. I was wearing
a Barry Zito jersey. Remember Barry Zito big over her ball,
(36:29):
one of my favorite pictures growing up. But Mark Mulder
was starting for the Oakland A's and Carlo still Gotto
hit a five hundred foot home run off him.
Speaker 1 (36:37):
Just a tank in your dream.
Speaker 2 (36:39):
In my dream, I'm dreaming about Barry Zito, Mark Mulder
and Carlo still got I love. My brain is like, hey,
you know what you need to do. You need to
remember some guys. Remember those guys. And I woke up
in a great mood thinking about ah remember, and I
woke up with a cold. I'm all congested. Just you know,
my kids are yelling.
Speaker 1 (36:56):
At meat dream.
Speaker 2 (36:57):
But ah, man, remember those guys. These guys are awesome.
Where did Dougado Chase take that shot? Where did he
take him? It was? I mean was for some reason?
It was at Chase Stadium. I think it's because I
went to bed watching a highlight of Mova and hitting
a tank at Chase Stadium.
Speaker 1 (37:10):
Employer.
Speaker 2 (37:11):
Yeah, I follow account on Instagram. That's just like old
home runs.
Speaker 1 (37:14):
Can I ask?
Speaker 2 (37:15):
Can I ask why are we talking about? I have
no idea.
Speaker 1 (37:18):
What can I ask our controlled studio owners before we
say goodbye to Ava and a man? Can you help
me with this? I don't remember my dreams.
Speaker 2 (37:27):
Like once or twice, rarely do once or twice a year.
Speaker 1 (37:30):
I'll wake up and I'll go, wow, I had you,
But I don't remember my dreams a youngster. When I
was young, I did. I remember dreams and stuff, but
I don't. This was So what does that mean about me? Yeah?
Regular dreams, you know, but.
Speaker 2 (37:44):
Like I most like ninety nine percent. But I guess
if I'm, you know, remembering some guys like tomorrow, I'm
gonna wake up and be like, I had this awesome
dream about Vinie Castilla, I.
Speaker 1 (37:53):
Will I love the Baseball Off Sea's a baseball podcast
with you. Let's get out of here before it gets
too late. JJ s it already got too late. It
is a little bit at Twitter ax. You can follow
him at JJ Stegmitz and of course at Colts dot com.
I'm Jeffrey Gorman. Let's go. It is time, three games,
the run starts. There's a white out this weekend at
Lucas Oil Stadium. Go on the road to the Big
Apple and after that right back at home. Let's do it.
Speaker 2 (38:14):
We got to take care of business, most important thing.
Speaker 1 (38:17):
Win three in a row. But it starts this weekend
at Lucas Oil Stadium. Thanks for staying up late and
watching this thing, JJ. Good stuff. As always, we'll talk
to you all next week.
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