Episode 582 | Colts Miss Playoffs Again + Chris Ballard’s Future

Intro – 0:00  

What KB Didn't Like – 4:07 

What KB Liked – 13:12  

Chris Ballard – 22:55 

Twitter Questions – 45:30 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
We are back. It is another edition of Colts Corn
with myself, Kevin Bowen, Eddie Garrison across the way, and
we are coming at your Monday morning after the Colts
have lost now six straight games and officially eliminated from
the playoffs. I guess on Saturday evening, and this pot
will be maybe a little different than our usual Monday pod.
We'll still, you know, go over the game itself and

(00:23):
what I liked, what I didn't like, and then definitely
want to hit the big picture stuff, because no point
ignoring the elephant in the room. I get why people
are curious about it. Certainly I am as well. And
who knows what could happen a week from today when
it is Black Monday across the NFL. If they bring
everybody back at you, do they just use the same
letter they used last year?

Speaker 2 (00:45):
I would hope not.

Speaker 1 (00:46):
Maybe just change a few words, like it's you know,
you taking your buddy's assignment back at Decatur Central High School?

Speaker 2 (00:50):
Uh no, you see, it was the other way around.
People were taking my assignments.

Speaker 1 (00:55):
Of course. Yeah, I should have clarified that, so I'll
get to that. I know. Some Twitter questions also hit
on the big picture stuff. But we'll go over the
Chris Ballard, you know, Shane Stike and combo there. But yeah, overall,
game wise, Eddie, just I guess you go back to
Saturday and just wild frankly, you know, you go back
to two thousand. I was looking this up. There's been

(01:17):
ninety six teams that have started eight and two, and
the Colts were the first, the first to have not
made the playoffs. And you look at a stat like
that since two thousand, of course, from twenty to twenty nineteen,
you know, you only had six playoff teams in each conference.
You know, since twenty twenty, of course, the Ballard era
and a little bit of the Stiking era has benefited

(01:38):
from the additional playoff team. And yet that didn't matter
this year. You couldn't even get to Week eighteen with
your playoff chances still available. And it is definitely a
two way street. You know, the Colts got little to
no help at all. It is wild how little help
they got. But they also did none of their part
in trying to whatever recover from the sinking ship that

(02:00):
I guess is still sinking. Six straight losses, seven of eight.
I want to say the Raiders maybe the only team
that I was a longer losing street currently in the NFL.
Maybe I have to double check that, but pretty pretty
ugly and yesterday, Yeah, I think it largely went. I
think how you would expect it in the sense of
Jacksonville controlled that game. I know it might not have

(02:21):
indicated that scoreboard throughout, but you know, you look at
the yardage total at the end of the game, they
really were in control. Its just a matter of time
before the scoreboard indicated that. It eventually did. Kind of
a wild little sequence there at the end of counting
Cat and Mouse and Riley Leonards Tailmary when the balls
in the air, I thought to myself, I had a chance.
Alex Paris is down there somewhere right, but cannot run

(02:44):
underneath it. So Colts now will head to Houston and
we'll see. I assume it'll be Raley Leonard, but we'll see.

Speaker 2 (02:51):
Yeah. I think was it Schefter Rapp report that had
that on Sunday?

Speaker 1 (02:55):
Yeah, and yeah, I think it might have been one
of them. Again, my thought is, I guess the kind
of get that question out of the way. I think
the Anthony Richardson vision impairment is real, and I think
putting him out there in a game setting, there's some hesitancy.
Now we'll see if another week if that clears up
any because technically there's only three quarterbacks around. Brett Reppan

(03:16):
the Vikings brought him back, so you know, Leonard start
rivers backup. That's probably what I would do. And you know,
if you're bringing back everybody for twenty twenty six, I
mean there's a possibility. Rather Leonard is your Week one starter,
depending on Daniel Jones and how that situation goes. I'm
assuming Richardson is gone, but I don't think Sunday's going

(03:38):
to go very well for him, given the defense you're
about to face and your first ever NFL start. But
still I think it'd be beneficial for him to experience that,
and not if you need him in September at all,
not to run in to any of that.

Speaker 2 (03:50):
Two teams, by the way, have a longer losing streak
than the Indianapolis Colts. You had one of them, correct,
is it Cardinals? Yes, Raiders have lost ten, Cardinals have
lost eight, and the Chiefs have lost five ever since
they defeated the Colts.

Speaker 1 (04:06):
Yeah, crazy, crazy, crazy crazy.

Speaker 2 (04:09):
Let's briefly dive into the game in terms of what
you did not like, Kevin, starting with the offense. You
called it a dinosaur offensive approach yesterday for the Colts
and their lost to Jacksonville.

Speaker 1 (04:21):
Yeah, we're back to the Seattle game. It's just a
it's an archaic offense. And I guess let me throw
in the caveat the Philip Rivers story is awesome. It's
a movie. It's incredible. He doesn't need an actor. He
can play himself. He's that unique of a character, all
of it. We're gonna look back on it five to ten,

(04:41):
fifteen years down the road and we're gonna be like,
that was cool as long as you don't realize the
current playoff dro out. The cults are in. But yeah,
it's a hell of a story. Now NFL reality is
set in. If you want to continue the movie analogy,
Friday Night Lights, Permian has met the Dallas Carter. It
just he just looked his age and again they sprinkled
in some good Not going to deny that. But when

(05:03):
I say a dinosaur offense, Eddie, basically I mean this.
You average three point seven yards per play on Sunday.
That would be the third fewest in the stike and era.
The second fewest was the Seattle game two weeks ago.
So with Rivers, in the three games, you've been three
point six yards per playing three point seven yards per
playing two of those games. You only had one drive
of more than thirty yards. Yesterday, I mean Ashton Dulan

(05:27):
kick return game sparked so much of your scoring, really,
and I think the limitations with Rivers that we don't
probably acknowledge enough comes from the run game. Like how
many plays did Trevor Lawrence make with his legs yesterday?
A ton a ton of plays. And again I'm not
talking about just the natural actual scrambling of Lawrence scoring

(05:49):
two touchdowns. It's just the extension of some stuff in pocket.
I mean, hell Rivers getting sacked by running into his
own offense alignment. So you just have a lot of restrictions. Obviously,
the Jonathan Taylor aspect of it, I think it's contributing
to it. And you know, if you look at Alec
Pearce and Michael Pittman Junior, I mean they're numbers. I

(06:10):
want to say it was eight targets and two catches
for them yesterday, and those are your outside wide outs.

Speaker 2 (06:16):
Also worth noting that Pittman was dealing with a bit
of a calf injury. Yeah, I didn't feel like he
was out there as much. I haven't looked at the
snap count, but yeah, I.

Speaker 1 (06:23):
Don't think he missed as much time as maybe. I
don't know if it indicated on TV or not, but
two catches and eight targets. It just so you know,
River set after the game he thought it was a
worst he's played so far. I would agree with that.
I thought it was late a couple of times. Could
have been picked off on a few occasions. Obviously, you
have the you know, huge pick there, health a tackle

(06:43):
by Josh Downs there to save the save the touchdowns.
So yeah, just a dinosaur offense. That's where you're at
right now.

Speaker 2 (06:54):
I had a number two that you did not like
from yesterday's loss. The Sauce injury seemed to reaggravate that
calf issue and hopefully it's you know, he can heal
it during the course of the off season.

Speaker 1 (07:05):
You know, I always thought the Jacksonville game was a
game that'd be circled for his return, Eddie, But I
guess I assume the Colts would practice more than one
time last week. You know, with the short week, the
only practiced once Friday and Christmas being on a Thursday.

Speaker 2 (07:20):
And comparatively speaking, Jacksonville still practiced on Christmas.

Speaker 1 (07:24):
I believe they did. And also they had the extra
day of course playing on a Sunday, so they might
even practice Wednesday. I forget exactly what their practice cadence was,
but yeah, I believe they did. So when the fact
that Sauce and I believe he did, like work out
on Christmas, I don't act likely you didn't do anything.
But still the fact that the only practice one time,

(07:44):
I was kind of like, damn, that's I don't know,
I'm not necessarily love and loving that. You know, when
you look at Sauce on the field yesterday, I don't
know if this is ironic or not, but I believe
all seven of the Colts quarterback hits took place in
the first half yesterday, and that was when Sauce played.

(08:07):
And then the second half he leaves, I believe in
the second drive, and you don't have a quarterback kid
on Lawrence the rest of the game. So you know, again,
sometimes the corners you kind of got to get in
the weeds to really feel their impact statistically, it's kind
of hard to feel, you know. I'm trying to think
of you know, he made the one tackle near the
goal line, and I think Jacobe Myers caught a calmback
ball on him. And then the next play, I want

(08:28):
to say, Brian Thomas Junior, he you know, was in
on a pass break up there, so it's not like
he gets targeted a ton. But I will say, Eddie,
I was looking down for the press box yesterday. I
don't know if you feel this way when you like
watch him. Mean, you obviously watch the Pacers on a
very religious basis, given you are the radio producer for them.

(08:48):
But over time you watch enough of and I think
any fan can frankly speak to this. You get used
to guys in their body language, Like I always think
this way about Lance Stephenson. Lance Stevenson, that man faked
more injuries than my kids fake crying. And it was like,
wait a minute, is he really hurt? Or is the

(09:11):
stan Van Gundy that says the ball has healing powers.
As soon as you touch the ball, all of a sudden,
everything in your body feels better. So I'm watching Sauce yesterday,
and there are times during the game before he left,
where I'm like that, man does not look healthy to me.
Now again, is that just like natural body language or
is that real? And you know he ends up getting

(09:32):
the wrap on the lower left leg and tightness in
the calf there. So I mean, obviously injuries have played
into this, Eddie, it's the sole reason. But it is
wild that the on field impact of this trade. Ady
Mitchell did more for the Jets and Sauce Gardner did
for the Colts. Like, that's just amazing. And again, injuries

(09:52):
have obviously played into it. Boy, Yeah, three and a
half games, right, that's what it'll be here. And Sauce
really has not had injuries no his career. He's been
a pretty healthy guy. I assume he won't play on Sunday,
But man, do you need him big time next year
with the Ward situation and Justin Whally coming back from
the ACL and I don't know, it feels like anymore

(10:15):
maybe either he's lost a step or isn't the best
fit for this defense. Just yeah, you need Sauce obviously
big time here so early, and we'll get more in
the Sauce straight because I feel like it's just a
popular topic. When we're getting into the evaluation of the
cult organization right now.

Speaker 2 (10:31):
Yeah, the final thing to cover what you not what
you did not like. I thought they did a good
job early in the game, Kevin controlling Trevor Lawrence and
kind of getting him off rhy them as you mentioned
whatever it was those seven quarterback hits all in the
first half, and it really affected the timing and the
confidence of Lawrence. But in that second half they did
a really poor job of containing him within the pocket.

(10:53):
He was able to manipulate the pocket, get out and
evade pressure. Of course, he had those two touchdown runs
as well, So controlling Lawrence was something you didn't like
from the Colts defense.

Speaker 1 (11:03):
Yeah, And honestly, it's probably best if I would have
just just kind of controlling the game. You know, when
you think about how the game unfolded. Why the hell
did they run the hooking ladder on the first drive?
I'm not sure. When I saw that, I thought, like
some Jags fan had won a charity prize at a
shod Con event in the offseason, Like you get to
call a play, how do you get to pick the

(11:24):
game that you call the play in?

Speaker 2 (11:25):
Did you watch the Sunday night game last night. Well,
the Bears did that inside two minutes in the fourth quarter.

Speaker 1 (11:30):
Well, and the Bills did too. The Bills did it
against the Eagles, but again those are like fourth and tens.
It was a fourth and ten for the Bills at
least where you had to have it. You know, this
is the opening drive of the game when they're just
moving at will. And I thought that was a bit odd. Obviously,
the decision to throw the ball with Jermaine Pratt and coverage.
It was a great play by Pratt to get the
head around make that play. I was a little surprised

(11:53):
Liam Cohen went for the fourth and one in the
fourth quarter mm hmm and snuck it like it just
seemed like Jacksonville stuff was a lot of self inflicted.
It just kind of halted them. But for the most part,
they moved it at will. I mean, what was the
yardage total. I mean it had to be nearly double
double the Colts there.

Speaker 2 (12:11):
So three seventy for Jacksonville two to four for Indianapolis.

Speaker 1 (12:15):
Yeah, I mean that's a big, big discrepancy. See, I
just thought Jacksonville.

Speaker 2 (12:20):
Largely one more drive.

Speaker 1 (12:24):
Yeah, there you go. But nice early pass rush turnovers
are huge, but I was kind of watching it like, yeah,
the Jackson are a better team. I think eventually they're
going to figure it out. And that Pratt, you know,
that Pratt interception saved some awful clock management I thought
by the Colts late in the first half when they
were trying to I don't know what they're trying to
do backed up there when I think somebody ran out

(12:44):
of bounds and third and seven, they decided to throw
it and Taylor.

Speaker 2 (12:49):
That would have been Taylor running out of bounds throwing.

Speaker 1 (12:51):
The ball to Tailor's just boy, that's a that's a
coin foot that best situation.

Speaker 2 (12:55):
It seems like, Yeah, like I've said on the podcast,
it's when you get him moving that's the issue.

Speaker 1 (13:01):
Yeah. No, that's a very good point.

Speaker 2 (13:03):
It's whenever you get him on those screens or those
you know, kind of stationary checkdowns or let him just
folks on catching the football and not moving his legs.
At the same time, let's dive into what you did,
Like we'll start with one particular player, Ashton Dolan. Two
big returns Kevin and he got the Colts to jump
started offensively with that big return to start the game.

Speaker 1 (13:23):
How do you not love it? I mean, how do
you not love Ashton Dolan. He's just a great NFL
story and he's back. He's from my you know, back
off injured reserve. He has two big kick returns, he
makes a couple of plays in punt coverage. You know,
maybe it's a little nerdy and maybe it's not the
most sexy thing in the world, but I mean, without
doing I don't think it's a guarantee this offense gets
the seventeen points.

Speaker 2 (13:44):
I mean, you saw what Jacksonville did after those two returns.
They didnt kick to him again, right then you started
kicking through the end zone.

Speaker 1 (13:49):
Yeah, I mean they had one Colts had one drive
over thirty yards yesterday, one offensive drive that is awful.

Speaker 2 (13:57):
And it took him fifteen plays to score. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (14:00):
I took Will Mallard and making a hell of a catch,
right so, you know, dueling providing that is just was huge.
And obviously last week he had a huge fumble on
kick returns there so again part of this is maybe
just more of a career thing. I just want to
give a little acknowledgement to Ashton Doolan. But in all seriousness,
I thought if the Colts would have won that game,

(14:22):
he was definitely a deserving of a game ball.

Speaker 2 (14:24):
Yeah. Uh. And then you like to start in general
from the Colts.

Speaker 1 (14:27):
Yeah, I mean you're up ten to nothing. I mean
that again, they gave you the gift on the hook
and ladder. But you know, playing from ahead with Rivers,
I think is a massive recipe. That's massive ingredient. I
guess I should say to staying in the game, you know,
being in it, and you know that obviously didn't happen
against San Francisco. And you know, again I don't. This

(14:49):
is weird. It's you know, I'm trying to isolate the
Rivers movie versus like, oh wait, I also have to
talk about him like he's an NFL quarterback. And you know,
when you look around the league, Addy, there's been a
couple teams that have one with their third stringer this year.
They've largely won it in very different ways than your
third stringer actually coming in there and playing good football
for you. And the Colts of course haven't found all

(15:11):
that complimentary needs. But man, there's just so much stress,
so much stress in the other parts of the game,
and really so much stress on Rivers is a passer
when he's in the game, because the run game is
going to be steymy, the downfield passing game is going
to be stymy. And you just mentioned you said it
was a fifteen play drive on the touchdown drive.

Speaker 2 (15:29):
Yeah. Yeah, they've had two drives over thirty yards.

Speaker 1 (15:32):
Yeah, I mean it's got to be so so methodical
when you look at that and yeah, I don't know, yeah,
so awful.

Speaker 2 (15:40):
And both of those drives or not one of them
had the duel in return. So yeah, there you go.
Before we get into what everyone's tuning into. I feel
like Kevin and Chris Ballad and Shane Stikeen just a
hat tip to Philip Rivers and just what he's done
in the last three weeks for this team.

Speaker 1 (15:59):
Oh sure, yeah again, I mean it's yeah, I mean,
the story is awesome, you get I mean, you see
his A motion pre game, you see his A motion
post game. I mean, he's got the kids in the
building now rent in the house for Christmas here, Yeah,
I mean all of it. It's got the high school
team too. Yeah. Honestly, if you weren't a fan of

(16:19):
the Colts, you'd probably appreciate it even more just seeing
exactly what he's doing. I guess maybe it can be
hard for some fans to separate yourself from where you're
at as a franchise as a whole. You know, I
think I've been pretty consistent throughout. I probably would have
rather have seen Leonard do. I think we've ever's played
better than I thought I do. I don't know, if
it turned out to be maybe overwhelmingly better, maybe the

(16:42):
Leonard thing would have just been, hey man, you it's
more volatile, like you still go in three. But maybe
there are some bigger lows and maybe a few bigger highs,
but in the end, it's just a wash.

Speaker 2 (16:57):
And maybe there was some concern potentially about a further
aggravation or significance to that knee injury.

Speaker 1 (17:02):
And the knee Andrew is weird. I mean, the fact
that he ended up practicing full the first day after
it with nothing on the knee. I mean, you hardly
ever see that, right, So yeah, I don't know exactly
what that aspect was, but yeah, I mean, Derek Jeter
gift respect hat to Philip Rivers just awesome, an awesome human.

(17:23):
I think it will help his Hall of Fame candidacy.
I think humans are biased, and I think even though
it's not like you set the world on fire, I
think people will be impressed by that. So he's one
of a kind, one of a kind. I know people
have asked like, oh, you should come back and be
a coach. I can't imagine he's going to leave his
son and coaching him. I think life is pretty good

(17:44):
for him down there, and I don't think being a
position coach in the NFL is anything that he wants
to do anytime soon here, especially with what a two
year old kid or whatever. It is. So yeah, awesome,
awesome story, but in the NFL, reality unfortunately, is hard

(18:04):
to push this side. And I think Rivers has done
a great job throughout this process aty of acknowledging that
mm hmm. Like he's been very accepting of the questions
about the uniqueness to his story, which you appreciate. But
he also is quick to point out like we need
to win. Yeah, you know, there are some teams that
have won the third string quarterbacks this season, Like we
need to find a way and if the Colts would

(18:25):
have just won one more, like if you get to
week eighteen, you know, I every think it's out the window.
I mean, you saw Houston, I think, play with a
little bit of a pano on their back at times
against the Chargers. They were fortunate they got some breaks
in that game with Cameron Dicker and all that. SEEJS
thro out through some awful interceptions in that game. So
I think that's a disappointing aspect of it is you know,

(18:46):
you get the one sixty minute football game. The Browns
can beat the Steelers, the Dolphins can beat the Bucks,
the Vikings can meet the Lions. You know when you
think about some third string qbs that have done it
throughout the league.

Speaker 2 (19:00):
So, yeah, did you mention this key stat that's in
your five things learned? Colts losing Street continues at home?

Speaker 1 (19:08):
Is that the since two thousand and one? Yes, yeah,
I'd say the other stat that is pretty I guess
as we transitioned into Chris Bout and changed Sekond Well.

Speaker 2 (19:16):
Yessady, we should share it for the pot if they
didn't see it online.

Speaker 1 (19:18):
Get well, yeah, I think I thought I said that's
a lead off lead off today's pod. But yeah, since
two thousand ninety six, teams have started owing have started
eight and two or better. And the cults of the
first team to have not made the playoffs and another
feet for Chris Paler right, And as I said earlier,
that's with an additional playoff spot available to you. Obviously,
from two thousand to twenty nineteen it was still at

(19:39):
six teams and you didn't even make it the week
eighteen with a playoff chance being available to you. I
think the other thing that's really damning about this current situation,
and maybe it's more stiking than anything, the fact that
you're two and nine against the Texans and the Jags
and the Stike and era is awful. And Eddie, think
about that two and nine and one of your two

(20:01):
wins was the meaningless game last year over Mac Jones
over time, and look at the Jacks, I mean they
got a first year head coach, they have a new
GM look at Houston. The Miko rans was hired win
the same coaching cycle as Shane sykein two to nine
against those teams, That to me is just it's probably

(20:21):
the biggest sike in negative Honestly, when evaluating him as
a head coach.

Speaker 2 (20:26):
Did I make a quick comment, yeah, oh yeah, of course,
I think it comes down to this when you mention
like Jamiica Ryans, and you look at you know, look
at Seattle, look at New England, Jacksonville for example, Chicago,
all these teams Los Angeles recently the Chargers, all these

(20:47):
teams Detroit would fall into this category as well. You
look at these teams and how they've been able to
turn around with their head coaches, and I think there's
an element that all those guys have that I don't
know if Shane Syken has is Denver as well. Their
head coaches all have a little bit of a hole
in them, like they're not afraid to rip some dudes.

(21:07):
They have a very very high standard in which they're
wanting their players to play at, and practice at, and
prepare at. And I don't think from what we've seen
so far in the Shane Stikeen era as the head coach,
that we have seen that out of these Colts teams.

Speaker 1 (21:25):
Yeah, I can hear where you're coming from. You certainly
don't get the public a hole. From a media standpoint
in sideline, you don't really see the either. Yeah, I mean,
you definite see energy and passion, but you know, from
an undressing standpoint, it's maybe the officials it's never right,
you know, from a player. I guess we want to
look there. You know, granted, I don't know how much
of the you know, sideline undressing you see towards players

(21:47):
around the league. You know, all kind of settle back
on my general stichen thought wearing the head coach hat,
and look, you're gonna look at the playoff field that
addy of fourteen teams, and you'll probably see a split
of offensive play callers and head coaches versus CEOs. I
would have to do the math, but it'll probably be
pretty even in terms of that. But I think at

(22:09):
times he does lose the pulse of his entire football
team or not acknowledge it as consistently seven days a
week as it needs to be.

Speaker 2 (22:20):
Right now that number is at six, It could go
to seven, depending on Carolina.

Speaker 1 (22:26):
Yeah, so seven would be half of it. So yeah,
it just and I think that's a difficult thing to
maintain when your offensive unit needs so much damn attention.
You know, it's not like you have a quarterback over
there that all of a sudden is consistent or whatever,
trustworthy or you know, I guess Daniel Jones was for
a couple of months, but that's it. And even the
Daniel Jones thing, he's still new to this offense, and

(22:49):
there's just a lot of you know, baby in Frankly,
I don't know if that's the right word, but I
would use there. Okay, I guess as we transition to
the Ballard Stichen big picture debate, let's just go over
all the basics here before we get going. Last division
titles twenty fourteen. I believe it's twenty five teams have
won a division since you last won one, and every

(23:11):
team in the AFC South has won one multiple times.
Your last playoff win is twenty eighteen. I believe that
number is twenty two teams have won a playoff game
since you last have and that number could be added
to Chicago, Carolina, Denver, Pittsburgh and then your last playoff trip.
If Carolina were to win, I think it's only the

(23:32):
Jets and the Falcons would have a longer playoff drought
than you currently have. That would be five years. So again,
those are the kind of hardcore elements to it. And
I'll point out what I said earlier. I think what
gets lost in some of the historical data, Eddie, like
when you look at you know again since two thousand,

(23:54):
blah blah blah, we've added an additional playoff team. That's huge.
You went from six to seven. That's big when we're
talking about sixteen teams, a third wildcard spot. That's how
they made it in two thousand. Two thousand was the
third wildcard team. You were the seven seed taken on
Buffalo there in that round one, and that's how you
would have made it this year.

Speaker 2 (24:14):
Of course.

Speaker 1 (24:16):
You know, I think another thing on the I guess
the ballard side of it. It's now the second late
season collaps you've had with two different head coaches, So
how much of that is GM based roster base however
you want to slice it there, and again eliminated before

(24:36):
week eighteen now for the second straight year. That I
think also kind of adds to it. So you know,
I'm trying not to just kind of throw in the
towel in the ballard conversation. But like I mean, Eddie
I said on this very pod last year, after Week
seventeen he should have been fired. So yeah, here I

(24:59):
am saying the same thing like it just and I
guess my first question would be, this, are we evaluating
nine years of Chris board or one year.

Speaker 2 (25:10):
I think you have to evaluate the entire thing, the
entire body at work.

Speaker 1 (25:14):
Right, Well, then there's no debate, right, So that to
me is a lost like if it and I agree
with you, I guess the answer my own question. But
if it's a nine year evaluation, there's no debate, now, okay?
Is it If it's the one year evaluation? What do
we say? Injuries are an excuse, vowed excuse?

Speaker 2 (25:37):
Yeah, but I can't hear you out on that, right.
Look at San Francisco. I mean Kittle went down, party
went down, They Bosa went down. Like they've had Warner, dude,
Fred Warner. They've had dudes go down, right, and they've
been able to replace all of them in fine production.

Speaker 1 (25:54):
Again, I don't think it's the most egregious of the
nine Ballard seasons. But yes, I would largely agree on
the I don't think it's a valid excuse. Where I
do have a little bit of pause is this, And
again I'm probably shifting hats here from my own opinion
of what the cults will do. Carli Ersa. Gordon used

(26:14):
the eye word this offseason. We don't have many words
to go off of. We have no actions really to
go off of with her or very few, I should say,
but we don't have many words either. But she mentioned injuries.
You know, you can't commit to anything because you don't
know how seasons will unfold. What if injuries happened, well,
injuries have happened. Is that her out on this of

(26:38):
running a back? And then the biggest AREI pause in
the carli ersa Gordon. Element of all this is the trade,
and I think you could slice and dice the trade
on several levels. When you make a trade of that magnitude,
you obviously are saying we think Sauce Gardner is an

(26:59):
elite all Pro player at a premium position, etc. Etcetera, etcetera.
But that is just one little I could argue that's
one third of the trade. The other two chunks of
the trade are you're indirectly saying Daniel Jones is our
quarterback of the future. You're indirectly saying Chris Bout and

(27:22):
Change Sichin are our decision makers of the future. You
basically are handing them contract extensions without handing them contract extensions,
if that makes sense. That trade had three very key
elements to it. Even though the flashy one is just
the two first round picks and eighty Mitchell for sass Gardner.
And so that's where I go back on this trade.

(27:44):
And I think we've gotten into this in the last
couple of pods, but Eddie and I probably haven't had
this conversation. Hindsight can get really twenty twenty on moves
always does you know sports fans, sports analyst, etcetera, etcetera.
But you know, I remember saying this in the time
that trade happened. The fact that you committed to Daniel

(28:06):
Jones in the manner you did by making that trade, yep.
The fact that you committed to Chris Ballard and Shane Steichen.
Now again you could admit you're wrong, but let's just
talk about it in that world. The fact that you
committed to them was such a massive trade, in my opinion,
was beyond premature. M h Is the Sauce Gardner trade

(28:28):
available three hundred and sixty five days out of the year.

Speaker 2 (28:30):
Of course not.

Speaker 1 (28:31):
There's actually a real trade deadline, so it couldn't be available,
you know, in late November and December. But Eddie, I
think back every Thursday, my mom and I we would
go to the grocery growing up. She taught the same
elementary school that I that I went to. It we
go to the grocery store and I know which isles
I could pick out a candy bar from and which
isles I couldn't pick out a candy bar from. And

(28:52):
oftentimes it was, you know, maybe a little cheap. Maybe
we're going to Bazuka gum. There's no, there's no problems
with Bazooka. No, no, it trust me for eight year old,
definitely not. But I wasn't getting big lead chew every week,
I guess to answer the question, so does that you know,

(29:14):
does that mean you miss out on potentially whatever, acquiring
a player like Sauce Gardner. Yeah, perhaps it does. But
that's also the reality of the bad the bed that
Chris Ballard had made himself, or the crew that Daniel
Joneses had. Like before Halloween, you said that Daniel Jones

(29:35):
was your franchise quarterback for X amount of years. Before Halloween,
you said Chris Vauer deserves multiple years, even though his
resume said what at that point? And I think that's where, honestly, big,
big picture, that's a little worrisome. I think that Carlier

(29:55):
say Gordon greenlight. I get there's a lot of people
out there to say, hey, it's about time you push
your chips in the middle table. Darn right. Okay, that's fine,
but it's also not just a Madden video game. There
are some ramifications when you make a trade of that magnitude,
and unfortunately we're seeing it. When you make a trade
like that, you put so much pressure on the individual player.

(30:17):
Anytime there's a three for one, four for one, however
you want to slice it trade, there's so much on
that player to where when Sauce only plays three and
a half games, the magnitude of the trade just carries
so much more weight. So again, that's what kind of
gives me pause in this eddie of like, wait a minute,

(30:40):
if she greenlighted that trade, she's going back on our
word two months later. Now, you and I have had
this debate before, and in our market we compare the
Pacers and the Colts a whole lot. Yeah, I would
say one of the more brilliant moves Kevin Pritchard ever
made as PACER's president was admitting he was wrong and
Demonta Simonus Miles turn yep. Yes, At one point did

(31:03):
he believe that was right.

Speaker 2 (31:05):
He did, and the other one is getting their twenty
twenty six first round pickback.

Speaker 1 (31:09):
Well that too. But admitting that the Sabonus Turner thing
was not working was a masterclass. First off, It's a
credit as a human being in the humility department of saying,
you know what, I know this is not going to
look good on me, but I need to admit that
I'm wrong. I need to pivot. I need to try

(31:30):
and you know, build it in a different manner. And sometimes,
especially in professional sports, when you're those type of people,
pivoting before you're too stubborn enough to do so is
a critical element and finding a different pathway. So would
that be Karly doing it right now if she were
to do that and then else before we pivot to

(31:55):
maybe a different different direction.

Speaker 2 (31:59):
I think. I think when you just look at the
way in the total body of work of how this
team has missed the playoffs, and I get there are
people out there that mean be like, hey, we still
haven't seen what this core has been able to do yet.
But Mike, at the same time, we have, like I get,

(32:21):
you want to see what all these players look like
when they have a competent quarterback. But Jonathan Taylor, Michael
Pittman Jr. Alec Pierce now Bernard rayb and Quintin Nelson,
the Forest Buckner, Grover Stewart, Kennymore. All these guys Zi
or Franklin are on their second or going on their

(32:42):
second or going on their third contracts, and it's like
their careers are not just starting anymore, They're almost over.
And it's to the point where I think you just
have to tear it down to the studs and redo
the entire thing. Yeah, and I know you're not ready
to go there, because I know there's and I know
there's fans that are not ready to go there, and

(33:03):
I totally get it. But like when you look at
the way this team has missed the playoffs twenty whatever
it was, twenty twenty two, twenty twenty three, again this year,
twenty twenty one, twenty twenty one, Yes, thank you, that
was the year. I was thinking, I'm not twenty twenty two.
But like you look at all those years and how
they missed the playoffs. Most of these guys have been
on the team for these collapses.

Speaker 1 (33:25):
Yeah, yes, I would agree wholeheartedly with that. Again, when
I've heard people like when you ask the question why
would you bring ballad back for a tenth year, it's
met with like, well, it's not an ideal time to reset.
A I don't know if there's ever an ideal time

(33:47):
to reset, right, And I just don't know if that,
all of a sudden means the person then deserves a
tenth crack at it just because it's not a Well,
who contributed to it not being an idol time to reset?
He did by trading away two first round picks. So
like if he was sitting in his office saying, hey,

(34:08):
if I do this trade, that means I'm good for
the next couple.

Speaker 2 (34:11):
Of years job security.

Speaker 1 (34:12):
But press that button call get the Jets on the
line right now. You know like that, I don't necessarily
I don't follow that line of thinking now that we
will be healthier or see what we did before the
injuries happened. That is a little bit one that I
can open my ears to now again we will be
healthier moving forward. You're banking on Daniel Jones coming off
with torn achilles Eddie conversation we've not had because the

(34:36):
news cycle hasn't led to it. But DeForest Buckner has
seasoned nding neck surgery yep. Thirty year olds with neck issues,
and Buckner has just sounded different to me this season, understandably,
but he sounded different about his playing feature. That's a
little concerning. We'll see about ja various ward situation. You know. Again,
Braden Smith, I kind of always viewed as probably the

(34:57):
passing of the torch there, but you know, still that's
that you can't ignore. And you kind of were hinting
at this, but like, is your core still ascending? The
core hasn't won, but is the core still like arrow
pointing up? And let me just throw out a few
players and I don't think they all deserve to be
in the same category, to be clear, but a few

(35:19):
players that I don't look at and think, hmmm, that
wasn't a very Pro Bowl type of season. And they've
had some of those in their careers or they have
had better seasons, Sire Franklin yep. Kenny Moore, the second
Michael Pittman Jr. Is all of it, arrow pointing up
for all of them. Again, it's a group that's largely

(35:41):
getting older, and so that's where I have some more
pause to it all And again you know, you can
play the injury card to a degree. But I mean,
what's Kansas City saying about their quarterback? What's Cincinnati is saying
about their quarterback? What's Baltimore saying about their quarterback? I mean,

(36:03):
you got three teams are gonna be sitting on the
outside of the playoffs, I guess, so Baltimore misses it,
and you know it could be Mahomes, Burrow and Jackson.
You know, think those three teams can be knocking on
the playoff door next year.

Speaker 2 (36:12):
Right, So I just.

Speaker 1 (36:16):
Look, does Chris deserve some credit for trying some different things? Yeah? Sure,
but does that mean you're rewarded? You know, this isn't
Max Bones tried to vegetable, so then he gets a treat?
You know, I think it's a little different from that
aspect of it. So yeah, that's pretty much all I've got.

(36:38):
What would I do?

Speaker 2 (36:40):
There's one other thing I want to toss in, Like
the overarching issue during the Vallid era has been being
able to get to the quarterback and you know, distruct
the quarterback and rush the quarterback. And we're sitting here, Kevin,
We're debating are they going to bring back Daniel Jones.
What's the contract look like? What's the contract look like
for alb Pearce those you are going to absorb so

(37:00):
much of the cap space they have this offseason, they're
not going to be able and they don't have a
first round pick. They're not going to be able to
find an adequate replacement on the edge to find consistent pressure.

Speaker 1 (37:14):
Well, and let's take that step further, and I'm glad
that you brought up that element to it. Okay, let's
say injuries are a valid excuse just to play out
this game. Then if I'm the powers that be over
there making the next decision, I say, Okay, let's push
this season to the side. Let's look at the other
eight years. Then let's call injuries the reason why this
train derail. Okay, let's look at the other eight years.

(37:36):
All right, what's the hardcore evidence of those eight years
to a playoff appearances, one playoff wins, zero division titles.
And then let's look at the specific blueprint and the
position group that you just brought up. There's no position
group he's believed in more than the defensive line. I mean,
you look at the investments, the draft picks, the trades,
the money, and yet I would argue, year in and

(37:59):
year out, we've gotten to the end of the season
and said, the return on investment is nowhere near what
you've put into that group, specifically the edge rush. Yeah,
you know, if you really want to boil it down
to one aspect to it, and I think that's where
even if you want to play the injury card here
in twenty twenty five, fine, if you then remove that

(38:20):
year and look at the other eight years or and
or I should say, you look at the exact defensive
a line specific blueprint, you know, whatever section of the
binder that he's been so bullish on. It's just a
group that has lacked so much playmaking, so much playmaking.

Speaker 2 (38:40):
Mm hm.

Speaker 1 (38:41):
And again you I mean we've gone over the draft
picks a million times. First rounders, second rounders, third rounders,
go lower, money, go lower into that group, huge trades,
and it's gotten you where it's gotten you. So what
would I do? First off, I don't think there's a
great answer. I don't think change Stikeen is like this

(39:03):
untouchable head coach. I get that, you know, you know
a lot of people that I think a lot of
people fall in love with like the offensive element to him,
which is important. I don't want to lose sight of that.
But they kind of forget the head coaching hat. I'd
probably hire a new GM that evaluates siking. You trust
that person to make the call on him. They can
make the call on him as early as this cycle

(39:24):
if they would like to. You know, you hire GM
in the first what ten days of the offseason, and
then you got plenty of time still with teams in
the playoff race to make a head coaching change. You
can point to who's the last head coach hired last year?
Was it not Liam Cohen? And look where they're at?

Speaker 2 (39:39):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (39:40):
I mean, hell, didn't Liam Cohen gets the Jags GM fired?

Speaker 2 (39:45):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (39:45):
Didn't he do that?

Speaker 2 (39:46):
Right? Did he?

Speaker 1 (39:47):
Out of want trim bal Key? And they got the
young dude in there pretty much?

Speaker 2 (39:49):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (39:50):
So now I'm a little like, boy is stiking? This
gets to the point that you were making earlier, Adie,
like can the head coach to recreate a culture?

Speaker 2 (40:02):
You know?

Speaker 1 (40:04):
Like that? That is where I probably paused a little
bit at it. And I've looked I'm talking out of
both sides of my mouth because I've largely been a Hey,
you need the head coach and GM tied together. Now
you can point some instances, you know, Chicago this year.
Of course, of that not being the case, I would
certainly move on from some vets. And you know, if

(40:28):
you think Daniel Jones deserves an opportunity to try and
prove himself, that's probably your best option, right to see
if Shane Styken can continue to build on what Jones
was showing.

Speaker 2 (40:38):
When was the last time we had the head coach
in place and a GM hired and there was success?

Speaker 1 (40:45):
Well, Chicago this year.

Speaker 2 (40:47):
But but yeah, Bowles is going It's not often I
missed that.

Speaker 1 (40:51):
Wait say that again.

Speaker 2 (40:52):
You mean the GM where the GM was fired and
the head coach was.

Speaker 1 (40:57):
Oh got you got you got you gotcha? Sorry, I
totally misheard that. Yeah, I mean you don't have that.
You don't have that happened very often. I thought it
should have happened in Tennessee with Rabel stayin, I guess
Rabel and what's his name, John Robinson?

Speaker 2 (41:10):
Right? And Ran karth On or it initially happened in
that realm, and then I thought Rabel's.

Speaker 1 (41:16):
I thought Ben john or not Ben Johnson.

Speaker 2 (41:18):
I thought John Robinson was the first to go yeah,
and then I thought it more towards the end of
Rabel's you know tenure there it was him and the
owner than him and the GM.

Speaker 1 (41:28):
Yeah, and who knows, but again you do. There's not
a lot of precedent for it. But like I, it's
just weird to do the nine years in the three
years of Ballard and Psychon, it's difficult, I think to
evaluate them individually. You know, how how many times do
you think in the last twenty years, Addie, we've had

(41:49):
a coach missed the playoffs the first three years and
get a fourth year. Yeah, I don't know the answer
to that.

Speaker 2 (41:57):
I don't either.

Speaker 1 (41:57):
I'm mask on all seriousness, and I the quarterbacks he's had,
I'm kind of thinking, well, I mean, twenty five and
twenty five is not a horrific record, But you know,
then there's there's birds in the other shoulder that are
like Kevin, he's two and nine against the Texans and
the Jags. That's awful and arranged marriage ain't gonna work.
M hm. So I like if I was gonna make

(42:20):
like a chart, Okay.

Speaker 2 (42:23):
It also is pretty well that we could have two
teams this cycle keV where they're looking for a GM,
but not a head coach.

Speaker 1 (42:33):
Well, and I'm curious about Sunday Night. What happens there
is that gonna be the big domino. The loser of
Sunday Night Football is gone Harball or Tomlin? Because right now,
aren't we missing the big domino? Aren't we missing the
big name? Who's Ben Johnson? Who's Jim Harball from the
college ranks?

Speaker 2 (42:49):
Would that be Joe Brady for Buffalo?

Speaker 1 (42:51):
Right, but like Joe Brady's not talked about like Ben Johnson.
That's true. You know, it seems like we're missing a
the big candidate and the be the big surprise comeback
with Mike McCarthy. Yeah, but yeah, the Hardball Tomlin thing
I think is interesting if you see something there. Okay,
let's play this out before we get Twitter questions. Both

(43:14):
go both stay, GM goes head coach days head coach goes,
gmstays Did I just say that.

Speaker 2 (43:22):
I don't know, said a lot of things. For me,
both would go.

Speaker 1 (43:27):
I would rank it as GM goes head coach stay
one A. Yep, I'd say both go one B. I
would drop to seventeen on the list for GM stay
head coach.

Speaker 2 (43:48):
Go boy, can you imagine if that happened?

Speaker 1 (43:51):
And then I dropped to eighteenth on the list? Both stay?

Speaker 2 (43:55):
Can you imagine if that happened?

Speaker 1 (43:57):
Though? No, I dead now. I can't believe I even
said that out loud.

Speaker 2 (44:02):
I can't believe that was not ninety nine? Well, I know,
and how is that? I mean, how is both Sayingshold?

Speaker 1 (44:09):
We're not counting in ninety nine just yet?

Speaker 2 (44:10):
So that's probably why. Yeah, what are we counting to
these days?

Speaker 1 (44:14):
Actually, Rosie Rosy can count decently high. Maxwell's a little
bit different on that end. All right, anything else, Ballard Stike?

Speaker 2 (44:23):
In big picture, I can't think of anything.

Speaker 1 (44:26):
You cannot just write the same letter as last year.
I can't believe you're not good. It's just changing a
few words. How great would that be? Oh gosh, they
just published the same one. Would you laugh?

Speaker 2 (44:36):
It just changed it from jim Mercey to car the
daughters or the URSA girls, or however they want to
phrase it.

Speaker 1 (44:42):
Now, let's go ahead and play all this out right.
We got a normal week right here, Sunday, one o'clock
in Houston. Last year, correct if I'm wrong, we had
the emotional postgame locker room.

Speaker 2 (44:54):
Remember that I do remember that.

Speaker 1 (44:56):
The We're one to oher and twenty twenty five, I
believe the quote from Jim Mersey. Yep, Colts beat Mac
Jones and the Jags in overtime. The letter was then
published what a couple hours later, and I'm thinking like
a six or seven o'clock if I remember proply, so
we await that Monday will be locker room clean out.

(45:17):
I think Carl Ursa Gordon's planning to have some sort
of state of the union, but I don't know a
wait official ward. Typically Ballad talks to media a few
days after that stike in the first day after So
here we are.

Speaker 2 (45:30):
Eddie, Yes, here we are, Kevin. Let's get into Twitter
questions starting with Drew. I know this is premature because
I'm sending this to you during the game, but would
you say not finishing in the second half is the
indictment for Shane Steichen. I feel as though he is
a fantastic coordinator but has nobody to tell him that

(45:51):
what he's doing is not working. The scripted stuff is great,
but after the second half it drops off significantly. Reminds
me a lot of Frank Reich.

Speaker 1 (46:05):
Yeah, I mean again, I'm gonna come back to the
whole two and nine against those teams. I don't want
to psycho analyze Philip Rivers playing quarterback for the Cold
Age forty four Drew. To be honest with you, I mean,
I think you're really I think your hands are really tied.
You know, I'll go back to do. I think there
are some issues with that style of the head coach.

(46:26):
I do, but again, you have a lot that are successful.
I mean so in the playoffs up coming here CEO wise,
it will be what Rabel Ryan's, Jim Harball, whoever wins
the AFC North Sirianni Todd Bowles. I guess if they win,
Mike McDonald, But then you got a lot of play callers.

Speaker 2 (46:47):
Is McDonald not call plays well?

Speaker 1 (46:49):
I mean offensively? Okay, I just view offensively a little different, man.
I think you gotta have so much involvement quarterback wise.

Speaker 2 (46:56):
And did you say Jamika Ryan's right?

Speaker 1 (47:00):
And he is? He has given up I think defensive
pla Colonda Matburg he has so yeah, I just and
I don't know with a GM then demand Shane to
hire some sort of you know, additional you know, do
you need like the assistant is there anybody in the
cold staff with the assistant head coach role. Does anybody

(47:20):
have that? I don't know, you know, you kind of
see that, like Dan Campbell had that for a while.
That's at some previous stops. Like is that something or
is that just a just a title, you know, to
get that person some more money. I I you know,
those are some questions that I would have. But look,
I I continue to think Shane Sichon's a pretty good

(47:41):
offensive mine. I'm not going to psycho analyze Philip Rivers
play quarterback here.

Speaker 2 (47:45):
Yeah, this is a good question from Hillary because it's
something that I think I heard on I can't remember
what show it was. It might have been JMV. Somebody
called in and asked him this same question. But since
it's our first year at the Helm, who do you
think Carly or s Gordon consults or gets input from.
I know here and there the sisters can handle one

(48:05):
hundred percent on their own. I'm just curious who she
might find valuable input from.

Speaker 1 (48:11):
Yeah, it's a great question. Great question. You know, there's
not a lot of people that have been in the
Cults building that have gone you know, elsewhere around the NFL.
Now two names I would do come to mind, like
Andrew Berry, the GM with the Browns, Pete Ward. Oh,
Pete Ward internally certainly, but I'm trying to think of

(48:33):
two people that have gone elsewhere in the GM rules.
Andrew Berry very very well respected, I Curler Gordon and
the and the airsas mm HM. Now again that's kind
of awkward. He's like an actual GM. But I don't know.
I mean, would what all of a sudden the Colts
trying to pry him away? I I die. Trying to

(48:57):
create a list of GM candidates is difficult. You know,
Tom Tellsco would be the other name. I think for
the most part, Colts fans probably know that name longtime
Pollyon confident and then actually stayed on I think for
year one of Grigson and then went to San Diego.
So he was in San Diego with Stiking for a while.
So if you want to do the little range marriage,

(49:18):
I don't think it's that most It's the healthiest thing
to do in the world. But like he was the
Raiders GM last year, I believe, wasn't he the Raiders?

Speaker 2 (49:27):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (49:27):
Yeah, he charges for a decade one year with the
Raiders and he's still pretty young. I want to say,
he's just north of fifties. So yes, internally, Pete Ward,
you know, Coeo ben here since the Mayflower move without question.
But yeah, that's interesting, you know.

Speaker 2 (49:39):
Because Telesco is fifty three.

Speaker 1 (49:42):
Yeah, that's still you know, very young. But Hillary, that's
that's a great question. You know, who are you confighting in?
You know, is it the Dungees and Napoleons of the world,
like up at that level. But again, a lot of
the GM stuff is I think it's difficult to necessarily
know what the assistant is doing in all these cities.
You know, what's the assistant doing in Philly, what's the

(50:04):
assistant doing in Kansas City. It's like it's tough to
truly know what they're doing.

Speaker 2 (50:10):
And from the ownership side, you have to wonder this
as and I know I mentioned this about a month ago,
but we don't know how things are going behind the
scenes in terms of the operational side of things, with
you know, the inheritance tax and taking over the franchise
itself and trying to figure out how to pay that.
From that perspective, like business operations and just owning a
team in general, because they've gone to the owner's meetings

(50:33):
for so many years now. I wonder if there's a
level of respect between the Ursay daughters and Sheila Ford
hamp Up in Detroit, because she also how to inherit
the Detroit Lions from her mother.

Speaker 1 (50:50):
Well, and when you bring up the dollars, Eddie, I
think we've touched on this a few times, but you
know Sunday, ironically enough, Sunday will be the eleventh year
anniversary of your last home playoff game. And on last
week's podcast when you were out, I did the list
of sporting events that La Sol Stadium has held since then,

(51:11):
or just in our market, and Eddie, financially, I mean
I felt this way watching the Monday night production around
that game last week. It was incredible to me how
much love and attention your franchise and your city gets
when you're the standalone game. Yep, I mean it is.
And I don't know how the advertising marketing, not the

(51:34):
advertising dollars, but the eyeballs and the marketing and all that.
It's got to be huge for you my dollars and cents.
Same point. And look, I'm not gonna act like the
cults are poor, but in rank of the NFL franchises,
they're not one of the top five, top seven most valuable.
So missing out on eleven years of that, Wow, that's
big time. And the Ers daughters, all three of them,

(51:58):
they've got kids as young as what five to twenty
or however the oldest you know one is for for
for Karly, twenty's a little bit too old. But what
I'm saying is they're all in formative years. They're all
in schooling years. And Eddie, you and I just witnessed
this city come to life with the Pacers, absolutely come

(52:23):
to life, the fever with that run you fever, sure,
but the football as well, right, And I guess for
the most part that they're you know, they're an eye
you family and just watching all of that again that's
that's a little bit financially, but it's just goodwill, just
to how people react to your brand. Yeah, I would

(52:45):
think word of mouth.

Speaker 2 (52:46):
And the crave that the people around this state have
for success.

Speaker 1 (52:49):
Right, And like, I'm feeling a pit in my stomach
at that game yesterday just naturally how the NFL like
that was a really good back and forth game. Yeah,
And I'm like this game I remember coming back to
the bathroom with like five minutes ago, being like, I
don't know who's gonna win this game, and I'd be like,
it's a meaningless football game. You imagine like there were

(53:09):
stakes in this game. Mm hm, you know, I like
that can be just such a beautiful thing for your franchise,
for your brand, et cetera, et cetera. So I don't know,
I would. I don't think that's lost on Carly, I guess,
is what I'm trying to say.

Speaker 2 (53:24):
Yeah, with this being the second time that the Cults
have had catastrophic breakdowns under two different coaching staffs, Frank
Reich and Sheen Steichen, do you think that this shows
signs that there is something wrong with the organization as
a whole or in the locker room? That question is
from Jared.

Speaker 1 (53:41):
Yeah, I think it's super super relevant. Yeah, that's kind
of what I was hinting at earlier. Great thought, Jared, certainly. Yeah,
I mean roster building core, does it creep into your DNA?
Hell is a little bit more mental? You know? Has
it gotten to that?

Speaker 2 (53:54):
But as they come back to the toughness, Yeah, Chris Pallard, right,
tough guys, Right?

Speaker 1 (53:59):
Did he say that. Yeah, I did the exercise Eddie
James and I were talking about during our morning.

Speaker 2 (54:03):
Show what kind of exercise you do?

Speaker 1 (54:05):
Well, certainly nothing much physically.

Speaker 2 (54:07):
Especially during the morning show.

Speaker 1 (54:08):
Well yeah, and boy, I was gonna say, the dad
bought seems to be creeping up on me awful fast.
I go back to the AFC South winners.

Speaker 2 (54:17):
It's all those dinosaur nuggets since.

Speaker 1 (54:19):
The since the Colts last won it again eleven years.
Hear me out on this. Okay, these are the head
coaches and quarterbacks of the teams that have won the
AFC South since the Colts last won it. Let's just
call Liam Cohen and Trevor Lawrence the winners this year. Okay,
So again, head coach and GM. This is in reverse order.
Liam Cohen, Trevor Lawrence. You had Demiko, Ryan C. J.

(54:40):
Stroud back to back years twenty twenty two, Doug Peterson,
Trevor Lawrence twenty twenty one and twenty twenty Mike Vrabel,
Ryan Tannehill. You had the O'Brien Watson eighteen and nineteen
years seventeen Doug Marone and Blake Bortles sixteen, Bill O'Brien
and Brock Osweiler and fifteen Bill O'Brien and Brian Hoyer.

(55:02):
That list isn't including too many people you're gonna hear
in cand Ohio one day.

Speaker 2 (55:05):
Was also they start of the entire year.

Speaker 1 (55:07):
I believe that year he got the most starts. I
think Houston started a bunch of quarterbacks. Tom Savage I
think started that was like the Cleveland Brown's playoff team
from a few years ago. Huh when they started the
four It the AFC South has had a nice year.
It ain't been a Jugger or.

Speaker 2 (55:24):
Not until now, but you know for ten years.

Speaker 1 (55:29):
You know it just it's yeah, that I think would
add to the eleven year draught. Remember luck to Monkreef
eleven years ago Sunday? Yes, was that Marvin Lewis and
Andy Dalton you beat?

Speaker 2 (55:43):
Remember luck to Hakeem Nicks.

Speaker 1 (55:47):
In that game?

Speaker 2 (55:48):
Is that Tennessee Sunday Night football?

Speaker 1 (55:51):
Oh? That opening drive? Yeah, Kyle was such a great play.
Is that when he he like rolled out to his
left kind of voided that sack. Yeah, well, such a
great play by Locke. Yeah, such a great play.

Speaker 2 (56:04):
Sorry to bring up some source spots for some Colts fans,
but we'll try to go through these next three questions
pretty quickly. Cuffs. This is from Jamie, who wrote this
question at halftime of the game, because who cares? It
seems like an expensive elite running back is a luxury
the Colts can't afford right now. I'd move Jonathan Taylor
and hopefully get assets to acquire upgrades on defense. The

(56:27):
entire front seven needs upgraded or is aging to. Forrest
Buckner or Grover Stewart are the two players that Jamie cited.
I for one, am shot that a blue chip GM
who prides himself on the trenches doesn't have figured out,
doesn't have it figured out. And year number nine, I'm
sure your ten will be it. Even Mjfield to win

(56:48):
the worst division in football for a decade and had
one playoff win or something like that. Cheers to another
year in the middle.

Speaker 1 (56:56):
Jamie cheers. No one is safe. No one's safe. And again,
I think if you do make a change like that,
you need to recoup some of the draft capital. I mean,
no one in this core would be untouchable for me,
you know, and let me, I guess say, nobody in
the twenty seven and plus core. Let me reward myself

(57:16):
if I can. I would listen on Nelson, So that's
how I would.

Speaker 2 (57:25):
Doing in the final year of his contracts.

Speaker 1 (57:27):
I mean, got a lot of guys like that, which
again can be advantageous to you.

Speaker 2 (57:30):
Buckner is also in the final year of his contract, like, and.

Speaker 1 (57:32):
I'm not teams like, well, you know, throw a whatever,
an atomic bomb on the situation. But Eddie, you could
make a mover. Like let's just say you traded just
two names, Taylor and Buckner. With Taylor and Buckner, I
would hope you could get two picks back in the
top sixty. M h.

Speaker 2 (57:51):
Are you going to get a top sixty pick for
a running back?

Speaker 1 (57:54):
Well, again, some combination of it. I think you could
get too. You could be looking at draft next year
we have three picks in the top sixty. Would you
like when you speak in that terms, that's a little like, okay,
I've got some AMMO now to attempt a retool rebuild,
however you want to define it. Again, I don't think
we need an esstarily get in that conversation just yet,

(58:16):
but there you go.

Speaker 2 (58:18):
Yeah, two questions left, Josh, Hey, keV and Eddie. I
can't help but wonder about outcomes this upcoming off season,
including Shane Steikin's future with the Colts. I do believe
this will be the end of the road for Ballard,
but I'm perplexed at Steiken's future. Will he get another
chance with a new general manager or will he come

(58:40):
off the whiteboard with a cleaning of the house from
the new owners for them to have a truly clean
slate to start their legacy. Thanks for all you do
fighting the good fight in these o bleak weeks of
the late season.

Speaker 1 (58:55):
Yeah again, Josh, it's hard. I mean, we're kind of
used to it now, aren't we. Well, I was speaking
more to his question than us having to do our
jobs here. Oh, you know the whole stichen Should they
just be tied at the hip? I mean, that's a
quick conversation, I guess. But if you're going to evaluate

(59:15):
them individually, you know, if I'm getting out letter grades,
they give the Ballard era what a D minus and
I give the Stikeen era a C minus. I mean,
maybe both those grades are bad enough you just move
on from both. How will Shane grow and learn? I
think that would be the question you would have. And
is there any GM out there that says Hey, look,
I don't think the defensive personnel has been good enough. No,

(59:39):
So I'm gonna make some tweaks there and maybe that'll
help out the head coach.

Speaker 2 (59:42):
And I know they're good players, but you can't have
so that much money invested in two guys at the
middle like that. In my opinion in today's NFL, you
like you have to have more money on the edge than.

Speaker 1 (59:52):
You do in the middle of a ballad combo. Yes,
I would say, yes, they're part of the ballard whatever.
Whenever we get to that point of it, it's there's
issues in the roster building of it in my opinion.

Speaker 2 (01:00:03):
Yeah. The final question on today's pod is from Colton.
Do you think Addie Tommy While Ada Barre could be
a depth staple on the defensive line for years to come.
Seems like he generates quite a bit of pressure for
a rotational defensive tackle and has great speed. It's worth
noting keV when you look at just the defensive line
group in general after this season quit he played. Taekwon

(01:00:25):
lewis a free agents. Samson Ebcom is also a free agent.
So on the edge right now, it's just Layatu Latu
and JC Tu Mola the underneath contract for next year.
Neville Gallimore was assigned to a one year deal. Correct KB.
So you've got Addie, Tommy Watta, Barre Grovers, threwer, Eric
Johnson at the Forest Buckner. I think on the Johnson

(01:00:46):
front underneath contract in that detackle room for next season.

Speaker 1 (01:00:51):
Yeah, I think that sounds like, yeah, shout out to Tommy.
I think there's been some nice interior rushes from him
this season. You know, he he's a guy that Yeah,
I think as a rotational guy he definitely would have
in the mix moving forward. You know again, I don't
love necessarily you getting the second half there and you

(01:01:11):
know there's no quarterback hits whatsoever. But that was another
game where and I leaned over it, says to Mike Chapel,
I was like, I don't know why or how I
saw him out on the field, but I was like, gosh, man,
another game I just kind of forget about quidty pay yep.
I just and there's just too many of those. But no,
I had Tommy Wise, yeah, flash and good situational rusher.

Speaker 2 (01:01:33):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:01:34):
By all means you know again, depth stable, Sure, I
know it's a.

Speaker 2 (01:01:37):
Little bit of a longer pod. We had a lot
of things to cover on today. Hopefully you had a
great Christmas, Kevin the kids as well.

Speaker 1 (01:01:43):
I appreciate that same to you and yours. We'll probably
be it for the week. I just I don't necessarily
think there's a need to break down the Colton Texans
a ten point underdog, so we'll come back. I don't
know what's going to look like next time, to be
honest with you, but we'll be back probably Monday, probably
later in the week, I don't know, something like that.
Thanks for listening, Colts Corner, Kevin Bone signing off.