September 25, 2025 • 50 mins
Today’s Best of Features:
(00:00-16:10) – The Athletic’s Nate Atkins joins the show to chat with Jake Query about his transition from Indianapolis to Los Angeles and preview this weekend’s game between the Colts and Rams. Nate comments on what Matthew Stafford has done this season with Puka Nacua and Davante Adams, what the Rams what to do defensively with their stout pass rush, and compares how the Colts operated during his time to what he has seen so far with the Rams.
(16:10-30:26) – Mike Niziolek from the Bloomington Herald Times makes an appearance on the show to preview the Hoosiers first road game of the season at Iowa. Jake asks Mike if this can be considered a trap game, if the Fernando Mendoza Heisman watch is something that is legitimate, and the NCAA ruling in favor of Luis Moore, allowing him to play the rest of the season.
(30:26-50:20) – The voice of the Indianapolis Colts, Matt Taylor, makes his weekly appearance on the show to discuss the Colts upcoming game against the Los Angeles Rams. He highlights some other offensive players that could step up if the Colts take away Puka Nacua and Davante Adams this weekend and provides injury updates on the three injured Colts players.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
California, indeed where we are headed. As a matter of fact,
as I have only mentioned four hundred and sixty four
times on this program, whenever the Rams and the Colts play,
it should be pointed out that these two franchises at
one time were involved with an owner swap. By that,
I mean when Bob err Say, who was living in Chicago,
(00:22):
initially wanted to become an NFL owner. He bought the
Los Angeles Rams and then made a trade and ownership
trade with the Rosenbloom family who owned the Baltimore Colts,
and thus he became the owner of the Baltimore Colts
ultimately moved them to Indianapolis. Speaking of moves, Nate Atkins
from the Athletic out in Los Angeles, of course, formerly
with the Indianapolis Star, and it's just getting acclimated to
(00:46):
the West Coast and covering the Rams, who the Colts
will see this Sunday and he joins us now on
the program. Nate, welcome back to the Indianapolis Airwaves. How
are you, Jill Well, Jake, thanks for having me.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
It's cool to get to talk about, you know, one
team that I'm getting to know, one team that I
knew for the past four years and nice have a
big game too. I did not expect the Colts to
be three and l but it's real nice of them
to get good. Right as I left to beat.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
You know, when you if you get homesick at all,
and I can't what is your hometown, Nate, where did
you grow up?
Speaker 2 (01:19):
I Askeland, Ohio, which is about an hour south of.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Cleveland, home of Tim Richmond, by the way. I think
we might have discussed that, but so so if you
get homesick for Indianapolis, though, just a little tip here
and then we can get to football. What I have
found is when you're in the Los Angeles area, if
you walk the Santa Monica Pier and just take a
look at the Pacific Ocean, it does kind of feel
like you're at Wolf. He's at Geist.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
So just so you know, okay, yeah, that was my
first thought when I got out there. So I'll tell
you what it's like. You move all the way out
here and you're really in the same place.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
Yeah, yeah, in the weather as well. Right, let's begin
with this from the RAMS standpoint and any point of
this out I was looking at it more yesterday and
it is of interest to me, Matthew Stafford, who is
obviously a big armed, strong armed quarterback. He has thrown
the majority of his passes to this point. Now it's
(02:11):
early in the year, but you know DeVante Adams and
Pukka the two guys that are catching the majority of passes.
Is that simply a familiarity thing or are the Rams
at this point limiting themselves of is there a reason
why they're not spreading the wealth so to speak?
Speaker 2 (02:30):
Yeah, I think it's uh well. With Pokinakouts, definitely familiarity.
He has really been a star since he came in
the league two years ago and played every game with
Matthew Stafford and he's averaged more than ninety yards in
those games. And so so that one has been building.
And then DeVante Adams is just the guy that they
went out in the offseason to get to replace Cooper
(02:52):
Cup and become that other high volume player, and they're
trying to build that in games since they didn't get
a chance really in training camp Mentthony Stafford missed basically
all of it with this back issue, and so they
don't get a lot of practice reps because DeVante Adams
always takes Wednesdays off and so they're working through some
things in games. But also, like Stafford has always been
(03:15):
a high wide receiver type quarterback over the tight ends.
That's that goes back to when I saw him in Detroit.
He would just pepper those wide receivers and and so
the more that he throws to those two and the
more that it works, the more it builds trust and
it's harder for others to cut into that. What he
could really use is a pass catching running back because
he's had that in his past. They just don't have
(03:38):
that here. They just have guys that are just here
to run the ball. But they're eventually going to have
to diversify it a little bit because if one of
those guys gets hurt, they just don't have anything really
built up around him. And it's it's kind of mystifying
to some people here because they paid two to two
at well ten million dollars to be a receiver and
he's barely playing. They drafted Terence Ferguson a tight end
(03:59):
out of Oregon in the second round and they've he's
played four snaps on the season, so they're not really
using the other investments that they have, and so far
It's it's worked for the passing game to just go
to these two. But you do wonder how sustainable it
is in how they keep everyone healthy. Because Devanta Adams
now dealing with a hamstring issue and Stafford is on
(04:20):
pace right now to become the first quarterback in twenty
five years to throw seventy nine percent or more of
his passes to wide receivers. So you just wonder how
long that can really hold up. But so far, when
those guys have been on the field, it's worked quite well.
So that's why they keep going to it.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
And Nate. When you look at, you know, statistically speaking,
the average yardage per play when Stafford is completing to
those two guys, you know you're into like the eleven
to fifteen yards per catch area. Now, I guess my
question for you would be, is that yard after catch
receiver during doing the work stuff or does Stafford, who
(04:57):
is and has been one of the strongest arms league history,
but he's older and he's coming you know, he's had
injuries and et cetera. Is he now a rhythm passer
and the and he's getting them in rhythm where they're
then in space, or does he still have the deep
ball precision aspect of his game that he had as
younger player.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
It's sort of a mix of that where he's not
going deep down the field all that often, but he's
really going to that intermediate level. And so that really
happens with Devontae Adams, which is why his his catch
rate isn't quite as as pukin a coup as they
really try and get these chunk plays, and they got
one for forty four yards on Sunday, but usually these
are kind of between I'd say fifteen to twenty five
(05:40):
yards is where they run a lot of those routes,
and pukin a coup is more the guy that will
settle at like ten yards, catch it and then do
something with the ball in his hands, you know, yards
after contact. So Stafford mostly has the He has the
same arm strength he's always had from what I can tell.
What's a little different now is that he's trying to
throw the ball before he gets touched in any capacity.
(06:01):
Because he's thirty seven. He has the back issue, so
he's not standing in there and throwing while taking a
hit the way he used to, and so he'll let
it out a little quicker than he used to when
he would go way deep down the field, and they're
hoping that the kind of the spacing of everything can
let guys either catch it intermediate or in Pucas case,
catch it and do something with the ball afterwards. So
(06:23):
it's been really fun to watch them transition this offense
to having Stafford in this place where it's still the
same arm, but he's just trying so hard not to
get touched, and their pass retuch has not been all
that good so far, so that's kind of rushed it
a little bit more. But these guys are getting open
so much in that intermediate part of the field that
it's still working to release the ball pretty quickly and
(06:46):
he's got the velocity to still kind of get it
to where he needs to get it right now. So
it's a real intermediate part of the field type offense.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
Who's the biggest celebrity that you have serendipitously run into
in and around Los Angeles?
Speaker 2 (07:00):
Uh, well, my first day it is so far. I
got in the elevator with Brad Beale, So that's probably
the biggest one so far. Clippers just signed Brad Beale
and he, you know, he interestingly enough grew up in
Saint Louis, so he's a RAMS fan from back then.
But mostly I've just been to the facility in back,
so it'd have to be RAMS players if it's not
Brad Beale.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
Okay, now what about this? You live how far from
the facility? And the reason I ask is because how
long does it take you to get there? If you're
in rush hour traffic?
Speaker 2 (07:30):
Rush hour traffic, it's going to take over an hour?
Speaker 1 (07:33):
But it's three weeks?
Speaker 2 (07:35):
Yeah right, yeah, Usually I get to avoid it. They
press it in the kind of the early afternoons. It
takes about thirty five minutes. I get if I get lucky.
Speaker 1 (07:43):
You know that the stadium is for those that are
and maybe people from here are going to be going
out because the stadium is unbelievable. It's near Inglewood, is
sent It's not far from Lax. It's it's fascinating because
when you drive past it, you literally can almost And
I've I've nate, I'm being totally serious when I say this.
I've wondered if it hasn't impacted traffic in LA on
(08:04):
a game day because if the window or whatever it
is is open, like you can see on the video board,
you can watch the game while you're driving past it.
It's crazy, right. So it's a phenomenal facility. And with
that for people that are going out, I mean, LA's awesome, right.
But they're gonna see what from the Rams defensively when
(08:25):
we watch this game, because you know, right now Daniel
Jones is in rhythm, they are Shane Stikeen is calling
it masterfully. They're taking care of the football. But the
Rams defensively this year have done what.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
So what's unique about the Rams is just how good
they are with a four man pass rush, which I
think is gonna be really key this week when you
look at the numbers of how the Colts are handling
teams that blitz them. That was Denver's problem in Week
two is that even though they have talent in the
pass rush, they looked at Daniel Jones' career numbers going
back to the times the Giants and thought, you blitz
this guy, you'll get in his head, you'll affect him,
(09:02):
you'll create turnovers. And instead the Colts have all these
answers because they have so many guys to get the
ball to. With Tyler Warren's edition, in addition to their
receiving court even Job and Taylor catching passes. So I
think the Rams are going to do it differently where
they're going to mostly rush four players. They will blitz
the safety on occasion, I promise that, but I think
they're going to dial that back and just try and
(09:23):
do it at moments when they hope that Daniel Jones
doesn't see it, because they've got enough of a pass
rush already with Jared Versus the big name, the reigning
defensive rookie of the year on one side, but Byron
Young is really ascended at the other, and then they've
got names like a rookie Josiah Stewart, Kobe Turner, and
Braden Fisk. They're just going to mix and match these
guys in the four man pass rush, and you'll see
(09:45):
them overload one side. You'll see them flip the matchups
between Verse and Byron Young on the left and the
right side. So they're going to move guys around so
that they kind of get fresh matchups, and that's going
to be the unpredictability, but it's gonna be less so
through the blitz because they also really have to hang
up and coverage. When they lost their top outside cornerback
Kello Witherspoon. That is the weakest spot on this team
(10:07):
is those outside cornerback spots, and so I think that's
why they're also praying that they don't have to see
Alec Pierce this week, because last week the duo of
a G Brown Devatas Smith that ended up winning the
Eagles the game down the stretch, that those matchups aren't
in their favor, but against most teams, their hope is
that the pass rush is enough to kind of overwhelm
(10:28):
teams just with four men in rush, and then they've
got kind of three safeties that they'll play as their
nickel package and move those guys around to kind of
try to keep a lid on things. And so really
a lot of this game, I think is going to
come down to that matchup between the Rams pass rush
and just how much the Colts offensive line can hold
up against it. They can give Daniel Jones time and
(10:50):
he can exploit those outside corners, but I do think
this will be the best pass russ that the Colts
have faced so far.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
Nate Atkins is our guest here. He's on the guest line,
and of course, with the athletic out in Los Angeles
formerly with the Indianapol Star covering the Colts, Nate, I
wanted to get your thoughts on this. This is the
if I'm not mistaken, and correct me if I'm wrong,
the fourth NFL franchise that you have covered. You have
covered the Bears, You've covered the Lions, You've covered the Colts,
and now the Rams. So with that, so you know,
(11:21):
now that I think about it, you're like halfway to
the Wizard of Oz trio right in terms of who
you've covered. But having said that, now that you've had
a chance to kind of compare and contrast or see
various operations, how did the Indianapolis Colts in terms of
just the infrastructure of the franchise, the way they go
about their business, all things considered, how did they compare
(11:45):
or contrast to other franchises you have covered.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
Yeah, So the interesting thing is two of the last
three that I've covered have had Matthew Stafford at quarterback.
And I found that that is really the glaring difference
from my time with the Colts is that when especially
now I see this at the Rams. So they just
lost the game on Sunday that was heartbreaking and infuriating
when they had a twenty six to seven lead and
they couldn't finish. But their response was really a lot
(12:13):
more positive than I was expecting. You know, they wanted
to win, but they felt like, this is week three.
We leveled up to a really good team, fell a
little bit short, but we'll see them again. There's such
a confidence that they will be in that moment, and
there's a confidence when they're down too, because of the
quarterback that they have. And I just think the Colts
didn't ever really get that, you know, when I was there,
(12:34):
even when things were going pretty well, you know, with
Gardner Minshew's season and they almost made the playoffs at
times when you know they would nine, got to nine
and six the first year I was there with Carson Wentz,
like they had some good teams, but they didn't ever
feel like the reason they were good was the quarterback.
And that's the difference here. It was the difference in Detroit,
(12:54):
and so I think that kind of kind of sums
up everything, is that there's just sort of an every day,
every moment confidence and belief when you step in the
building and you don't have questions about, first of all,
who's even gonna start at quarterback. But second of all,
like what that guy can do as a leader and
as a player out there. The Colts when I was there,
had this weird mix of like they would either get
(13:16):
they got you know, solid the decent playout of Gardner
Minshew quarterback, and it's times from Carson Wentz. But you know,
Carson Wentz was never really that guy for the franchise,
that leader type. And then when they went after the
leader type and Matt Ryan, you know he didn't have
to play anymore, you know, at his age and his
level that he was at right now. The Rams, for
(13:36):
as long as they can keep Stafford healthy, they feel
like they've got both. And when you feel like you
have both just a totally different feel coming off of losses.
It's a different feel when you are down in games.
They just feel like they're gonna be in all these moments,
and so they that gives you confidence that even when
you struggle, even when you have really bad moments like
two blocked field goals like the Rams just had, they
(13:56):
can go after kind of these improvements in very specific areas,
knowing we're going to be in the big games, We're
going to have a shot at the end of the game.
I don't think the Colts necessarily had that, And I
think what also you find out is that teams often
will take on the personality of either the head coach
or the quarterback, and usually both, And so when the
quarterback is changing so much, just gets really hard for
(14:17):
a team to have an identity. And I just felt
that all the time with the Colts is that they
couldn't really figure out what kind of team they wanted
to be. Where they were this, you know, great rushing
team in twenty twenty one until that fizzled out. But
the more that the spotlight went on the quarterback and
the more that that position just kept changing, there just
was a lot of confusion and a instead of a
lacking belief about kind of the elver all upside. So
(14:39):
there was a kind of a comfort level in Indy
because you know, they kept the same general manager and
a lot of the players would you know, they'd run
it back, and so there was sort of like this
baseline culture of like, we played together for a long
time and we'll be together. But there wasn't necessarily this
belief in, like, you know, what the ultimate upside's going
to be whereas the Rams come off a game they
(15:00):
lose the Eagles and they say, Okay, well we'll be
back here and we'll have to take our shot again
against these guys. And I don't think it's just talk
from them. I think that's what they actually believe, because
that's how their season ended last year. And so there's
this sort of a mix of a tracker or of
a team that's won with a quarterback who's done it
at a lot of levels and keeps doing it. And
the Colts have been looking to get back to that,
and who knows, maybe they'll get there with Daniel Jones now,
(15:22):
but that's what they've been seeking so much. I just
feel like the quarterback. We talk about it so much
in Indy because on the field it matters so much.
But I've also found like every single walking, waking moment
in a building goes back to that position too, And
that's that's the kind of the biggest difference I've seen
between those.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
Teams, biggest thing that Shane Styken has preached operationally, the
quarterback is the guy that has to have a firm
understanding above and beyond just in the huddle. And I
think that you know, at no disrespect to Anthony Richardson.
You are seeing now the reasons why Daniel Jones was
the selected quarterback for Shane Styke and Nate Atkins with
The Athletic covering the Rams, Rams and Colts on Sunday. Nate,
(16:01):
good talking to you, man, I appreciate it. Enjoy LA
all right, yep, thanks for having me. Nate Atkins joining
us on the program. LA is awesome, by the way,
I would love to live in LA. Mike Nisileik joins
us now on the program from Bloomington and The Herald Times. Mike,
I'll begin with this. I guess it says something about Indiana,
and maybe I'm overstating this, but I almost feel like,
(16:24):
oddly enough at Iowa is a potential trap game for
Indiana because the way that they took care of business
against Illinois and the electricity of that. Then your eye
starts looking towards the matchups, say with Oregon, and you
almost forget that they've got to go on the road
in a place that's a pretty darn tough place to play. Now,
(16:45):
I'm not saying the players feel that way, but is
there any truth to the fact that, like, maybe we
even overlook Iowa.
Speaker 3 (16:53):
No, I don't think so, because I mean there is
a buy in between, so it's not like an immediate
sort of right in the Aftermathew going one to the other.
And I also think that, you know, the difference is
the roague part of it. Like I mean, this was
a team that last time they played a big road
road game in the Big Ten, it was a disaster.
I mean, the other team was reading their silent count
(17:15):
teeing off on them. And I think the guys that
are coming back especially have have something to prove there,
so I think they'll be plenty motivated, you know, for
this one. And and you know, it's important to when
you've got a series of big road games this year,
to get the first one because they only get harder
(17:35):
from here.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
Okay, let's talk about, you know, defensively, one of their
leaders and Lewis Moore, who you know, this is a
guy that has played extremely well for them obviously is
a veteran player and he just won. And my terminology,
I hope I'm saying this correctly, but he got a
court ruling in his favor against the NCAA. And then
I'll let you piece in Mike where I'm perhaps incorrect
(17:56):
in this his the number of years that he had
played in junior college. The NCAA was saying that that
should impact his eligibility. He obviously challenged that, and they
ruled in his favor. So therefore his eligibility is maintained.
A correct me if my terminology is wrong, and then
(18:17):
b why is this significant above and beyond just this
case with Indiana.
Speaker 3 (18:23):
Well, I mean, he essentially had run out of eligibility
because he played multiple years at JUCO. He was at
Jucal College actually three years because he redshirted, so this
was actually a seventh year in college. This all ties
to the Diego Pablo case of the Vanderbilt quarterback who
was the initial sort of player that sued the NCAA
and won an injunction, and then they the NCAA issued
(18:46):
a waiver for kids in junior college, but essentially a
litts more to qualify because he had those an extra
year and so he was sort of out, his clock
had run out. He applied for a waiver and and
so he had to go through the courts to sort
of win an injunction. Basically, he'll have a trial because
he's still suing the NCAA, but he wanted an injunction
(19:08):
that prevents them from enforcing the rule until that trial,
which is in January. So he needed that to stay
eligible for this season. So now he's good. There's no
there's no more questions about whether he'll be eligible down
the line. He's fine, so you know, he'll he'll be
through here through the end of the season.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
You know.
Speaker 3 (19:26):
It's it's just part of kind of what's going on
in college football with these cases. I don't necessarily know
that this this sort of sets any precedent. The NCAA
is probably one more cases than it's actually lost in
court recently in terms of these cases. So more obviously
his attorneys did a nice job, you know, fighting for
him and getting this done. It's it's it's hugely important,
(19:49):
and I don't want to play more's impact because I
think he's been good, not necessarily great, especially when you
listen to Kurtzigetty kind of talk about how the problems
the safeties have had, you know, with the exception of
the Neana State game with sort of miscommunications, misalignments. The
problem was is that they don't really have any depths.
Bryson bonds out for the season Byron Baldwin. That really
(20:10):
promising freshmen they had high hopes for. There's no timeline
for his return. Originally he was day to day kind
of before the opener, and now four weeks later they
haven't sort of updated his status. So when you kind
of looked at like who was up next, it was
another freshman that hasn't played and a walk on. So
I mean they really needed him there to sort of
(20:30):
maintain continuity. And I'm not downplaying his individual contributions because
I think he's done a nice job, but man, if
they had lost him, going into Kennick with a player
that's not that's played, you know, a handful of snaps
in his career would not have been ideal, especially when
you've been struggling with communication there to begin with.
Speaker 1 (20:47):
So with this case, do you believe Mike and I
realized neither one of us here are attorneys. But does
this I'll use the term floodgates for lack of a
better does it set a presitup it now where other
players won't even have to necessarily file a suit because
they will simply say this has already been ruled upon,
and so therefore what was ruled for Merediana will help
(21:11):
you know, Smith at Texas A.
Speaker 3 (21:12):
And m No No, because I mean if that was
the case and all these other cases would have there's
president no. And the NCAA has sort of like an
unofficial blanket policy. Their attorney talks about it. Actually in
courts they're going to fight every case, no matter what,
the same that that fault, that that any player that's
been denied a waiver. There's a couple left. I mean
at this point now we're in the season. I mean
(21:34):
like a lot of these kids, I mean maybe it'll
probably haven't There'll probably be another flugate of suits with
basketball player basketball players that have lost waivers because for
football now you're obviously i mean you're five weeks into
the season. So I think there's a kid from Wisconsin.
We're waiting for the courts rule on injunction. But a
lot of these kids, these cases have come down and
the NCAA is just kind of fighting all of them
(21:55):
to sort of i mean be neutral sense essentially, like
they're not treating any case differently. They're saying anytime we
deny waver we are fighting it and saying that those
kids should not be eligible. So Uh, there's no sort
of precedents.
Speaker 2 (22:09):
You know, the.
Speaker 3 (22:12):
Players could use this as as as an argument core that, look,
these these cases were one this is what these judges said.
But there's no sort of overall precedent that doesn't do that,
you know, because there's been cases that have players have
won that you know did not necessarily directly help more
in the case because I mean he had to go
to court and fight for his eligibility.
Speaker 1 (22:32):
Mike. Was that performance that you saw against Illinois the
finest hour in Kurt Signetti's time in Indiana.
Speaker 3 (22:42):
That's an interesting question. I mean the Nebraska following ranks
up there. I mean, I still think the Michigan States
became was impressive just because they actually faced the adversity,
were on the road and then just los forty seven
straight points. I mean there's a couple of them, right,
I mean you got to you gotta think, uh. I
think what's interesting is that Michigan game kind of gets overlooked, like,
(23:03):
I mean, that was a really tough game and that
was a huge atmosphere, and like the playoff doesn't happen
if they kind of fumble in that second half, even
though it gets a really I think defensive had a
ton of NFL talent, but it's up there. I mean,
we'll see kind of you know, it's hard to know,
right Like, if Illinois loses five games, people are going
to really discount that performance, you know what I'm saying,
Yeah and so and so in the moment, yeah, I
(23:27):
mean it felt pretty big, but we'll see. Because Illinois
did not look like a team that I had and
stuff together.
Speaker 1 (23:32):
But it just seemed like fascinating to me about it.
And I don't disagree with you from the Illinois standpoint
of things, right, but at the same time, it just
looked with Indiana, it was like, man, I don't know
how you find a weakness in that. And I'm not
sitting here saying that. You know, my gosh, they are,
you know, instantly the best team in that But when
(23:55):
you look at it and that game and the way
that they're able to just turn up the wick and
just go. And if there was an area if Iwall
called you right now and said, look, we got to
find a weakness of Indiana to exploit, your answer would
be what I.
Speaker 3 (24:11):
Mean, It would be that secondary I mean that the
safety is the Donnin Millfield. I mean that would be
the answer I think would be Chris Signety's answer. He
was kind of he said that, you know, five mistakes
and the only reason they didn't hurt him was because
they were getting so much pressure on the quarterback. Iowa
has a better offensive line so that they might be
able to sort of take advantage of those things. But
it's not like a huge thing. I mean to your point, Like,
(24:32):
I mean, if they can score with anybody and drop
sixty on a dime, I mean, what is you know,
you've got some room for air. So I mean like,
this team is operating at a high level, no doubt,
and it's impressive. And I think the sort of common
thread from last year is like, man, this team knows
how to play with the lead, right, like when they
sense weakness, like in a second half. I mean, I
(24:55):
think I'd added it up yesterday. I think they're outscoring
teams like one hundred and eleven to ten in the
second half and they've only allowed one touchdown. So I mean, like,
but that's been all of Chritsy Gunny's tenure, really that
this team once they sent some you know, once they
go into halftime and have a lead, they're not giving
it up, and so I think that it's it's just
(25:15):
a really impressive sort of set this team has had
and focus that you know, you just kind of see
it and Chris and Gnaty bridges it every week and
it's and it's worked.
Speaker 1 (25:25):
You know, Mike, there are kind of three styles of coach. Okay,
I mean there's more, but I'm going to speak generically here. Okay,
You've got the Tony Dungee example, where like guys that
played for Tony Dungee were like, man, he was just
such a botherly figure that I gave my best because
I didn't want to disappoint him. I didn't want to
let him down. You've got the you know, the Bob
(25:46):
Knight style, right, which was like, man, I was just
scared to death of this guy and he was constantly
on me and pushing me and et cetera. And then
you've got the guy that is doesn't necessarily say a lot,
but Carrie's with him this level of confidence that just
exudes over to the team where they look at him
and they go, we can win any game because this
(26:08):
guy believes in us. Signetti, seemingly from the outside is
number three, but you're around it and you talk to
guys and you see it a little bit more intimately
than do I or the listeners. Which best describes or
who exactly is Kurt Signetti?
Speaker 3 (26:24):
Well, I mean the obvious example is Nick Saban, you know,
the history and and being sort of I think with
Signetti it's more being just a football savant, right like
that he's always watching film. It's a great evaluator of talent,
a great evaluator of scheme, can break things down, and
(26:45):
I think you see him being able to you know,
here opposing coaches talk about how they exploit mistakes that
they find and and you know there's there's such a
well coached kind of group in all three phases, and
so that's kind of where I would tend to. You know,
it's not a you know, you don't hear players and
this is not to say they want to win for him,
(27:07):
but you don't hear that kind of Tony Dungee kind
of talk where oh man, we're all invested in for him.
He's more just like we have it's business like and
a sin. It's like we have a focus, and we
have things to do, and here's what we're going to accomplish.
It's not like we're going to win one for him.
It's like, we're going to win because that's what we
have to do and that's what we're in the business
of doing. And so that's sort of I view it
(27:29):
is maybe you know Nick Saban sort of Bill Parcels,
you kind of trace it in that tree on down
where it's like football, football, football, football, and we're going
to win, you know, like that's what it is.
Speaker 1 (27:40):
Okay. Lastly, Mike, when you look at this matchup with
Iowa and in talking to Indiana over the course of
the week, the areas for Iowa that are of concern
that Indiana is particularly focused on stopping or you know,
simply not or taking advantage of perhaps even where they
feel Iowa is susceptible. What's the overall read there.
Speaker 3 (28:00):
Well, a couple of things. I think the noise obviously
still matters, because, like I said, I mentioned that Ohio
State game, what the offensive line does to communicate they
went to a silent count in that game. They're not
going to do that because that went so poorly and
and Oito State was reading it, So like how they
communicate what's that operation look like? Because you know, the
offensive line has been really clean. I think special teams.
Speaker 2 (28:20):
Will be huge.
Speaker 3 (28:21):
I mean, Iowa is just you know, fantastic. They don't
make mistakes. They've had a pupp return and kick return
touchdowns this year game against Redger open with the hunter
yard return. They have a really really good returner and
so I think you have to you know, limit him
and I think that'll that'll be really important. And then
you win the battle on the trenches. Again, I mentioned
the offensive line and the communication, but I mean they
(28:42):
domed up front of both sides of the ball against Illinois.
You're going to see upgrades Iowa a better offensive line,
you know, stout on the on the defensive front. Can
you win both of those areas? I think I think
those kind of are the the sort of the three
keys for me.
Speaker 1 (28:56):
You know one other thing, actually I should have asked
you off the top, have a Heisman winner.
Speaker 3 (29:04):
I mean, you know, I those things are funny, right,
Like he's the favorite, but I mean or they play
Oregon in three weeks and then they played Penn State
after that, so I mean, like we'll talk favorites after
those games, right, Like if.
Speaker 1 (29:16):
He does, he's had a favorites that by the end
of the year, You're like, what happened to that?
Speaker 3 (29:20):
Yeah, I mean, like and we all knew, Like, I mean, like, look,
I had no doubt Fernanda Mendoza was going to put
up huge numbers against the Indianita States that would look
obviously way way way higher numbers, but like his numbers
are inflated from the conference schedule. So like, I mean, yes,
he's a he's a I don't think it's not. He's
not like a he's a legitimate candidate now, but I
(29:43):
think he's got a lot, a lot of heavy lifting
to do with like their toughest games still on the schedule,
and like he could easily win it. If he wins
these like Iowa, Penn State and Oregon, he could have
it sewed up in November, if you know, he takes
care of business. But if he struggles in those road environments,
I think you're going to have a hard time sort of,
you know, labeling him as the front ar.
Speaker 1 (30:03):
Mike Nisalick is the Indiana University athletic beat writer for
the Bloomington Herald Times. You can read their articles at
the Herald Times on the expost, Twitter and Michael Nisalik,
that's inn I z I O. L E. K as
well on social media. Mike appreciate it as always.
Speaker 3 (30:23):
Man, Eddie times, Jake, thanks Man.
Speaker 1 (30:27):
Matt Taylor going to join us here in just a second.
I got to read this from Jalen, Eddie. I would
like I'm going to read this from Jalen I and
I'm not discrediting Jalen at all, but I want you,
Eddie to I'm going to hand it you the responsibility
of how you would answer this inquiry. You're ready, Oh,
you don't want me to answer it or to read
it for you, Dear Jake. I understand that you love
(30:48):
to do your teasers before breaks to keep people listening,
but you got to understand a lot of the people
listening to you are on a break from work and
don't have time to sit through the eternal commercial breaks
to wait for you to reveal something that you could
easily just mention right before the break, just something to consider.
And he thought on that, Eddie, that's unfortunately not how
this business works. Joining us now in the program, he's
(31:16):
the voice of the Indianapolis Colt said, he is Matt Taylor. Matt,
would you agree with that? He's assessment there?
Speaker 4 (31:22):
Man, Oh, man, I what was a gentleman's name. Jalen, Yeah, Jalen.
Jalen didn't go to broadcasting school. I don't think he's
got a he didn't get a minor in broadcast journalism
or uh or a communication.
Speaker 3 (31:36):
You don't one.
Speaker 1 (31:37):
I get it, though, I mean I I do understand
where he's coming from. Believe you me.
Speaker 5 (31:41):
You know, way he can do Matt and Jake, if
he's interested, he could always download the podcast and listen
to it that way what was teased?
Speaker 1 (31:48):
Indeed?
Speaker 4 (31:48):
Correct, pull up the YouTube stream, you know, mark the tape,
you find out where you left off, and hit the
little scroll and you know you're fine.
Speaker 1 (31:57):
I'd like to know this, Matt, give me the song
that comes on radio that you're driving and you get
to your house and you go ahead and you sit
in the driveway because the song ain't over.
Speaker 4 (32:06):
Oh man, there's a lot of them. I love these
questions from you, man, They're always good. Well, you just
play Tom Petty, So anything by Tom Petty, you know,
like if it's uh listened to her heart, that one's
a good one. I'll tell you what. I'll give you
a song. I say this all the time. If people
(32:28):
roll their eyes at me because they know me. But
if I heard if I heard I heard it in
a love song by Marshall Tucker every day for the
rest of my life, I would not get.
Speaker 1 (32:39):
Tired of that song that every time we have you
on How's that?
Speaker 2 (32:44):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (32:45):
And and I Won't back Down by Tom Petty a
song that I heard. If I heard it every single
day for the rest of my life, I still wouldn't
get sick of it.
Speaker 1 (32:53):
Okay, fair enough?
Speaker 4 (32:54):
Yeah, yeah, how about you?
Speaker 2 (32:57):
Man?
Speaker 1 (32:57):
I go in cycles. You know what I mean. I mean,
I I think if I had to pick, and it's
such an unoriginal answer because I think it was listed
as like the number one song ever by Rolling Stone.
If I had to pick my favorite song of all time,
it's probably like a rolling Stone by Bob Dylan. I'm
not gonna find you, but but I really like Hello
(33:20):
by Oasis.
Speaker 4 (33:21):
Okay, I've got to I've got another obscure one now
that I've had time to stew on it. Okay, and
I did this one time. I'm man enough to admit
it because I'm weird as you know. But one time
I was shopping by myself and a Kroger and this
song came on and I hadn't heard it in like
(33:41):
four years or something.
Speaker 1 (33:43):
And do you normally shop as with a group at Kroger?
I mean, is that the is Tuesday your Kroger shopping
club day and this was a Wednesday? Is that this one?
Speaker 4 (33:56):
I just had to go by myself. Everybody failed.
Speaker 1 (34:00):
So as you were.
Speaker 2 (34:01):
No.
Speaker 4 (34:02):
So like I'm in the serial aisle, you know, I'm
in there to get like two or three things on
my way home from work. One day, I'm in the
serial asle or whatever, and I hear feeling satisfied by Boston.
I don't know why. It just sort of like hit me,
like I haven't heard this song in like five years.
I just stopped dead in my tracks and I just
sat in the aisle by myself and listened to the
song until is over.
Speaker 1 (34:22):
See that's like one of those moments. Yeah, okay, And
to see and Matt, this is why you and I
are and this is going to be very uncomfortable. I
realized this is why we're kind of spirit animals, because
you are observant like myself, you know what I mean?
Like you notice, I think I'm convinced that ninety eight
percent of all people not only you know, aren't losers
(34:43):
and shop at Kroger alone. But don't don't hear that,
you know what I mean?
Speaker 2 (34:47):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (34:48):
So yeah, I mean I'm very Yeah, I'm with you.
Like I think I'm very much always sort of cognizant
of my surroundings. I'm a very observant person, and I'm
I observe h in nature. I like to think I
have a master's degree in common sense and body language.
So like, if if I'm talking to you right now
and you're not picking up what I'm putting down, We're
(35:09):
probably not gonna, you know, right right, We're probably not gonna,
you know, continue this conversation. So like I have the
the the mental capacity to say, all right, moving on.
You know, I can make chit chat with just about everybody,
But like, if you're not jiving on me, no big deal.
I'll just keep keep it going and see what sticks
with somebody else.
Speaker 1 (35:28):
You know, we mutually know some people that don't read
the room. Well, right, why are you talking about?
Speaker 2 (35:34):
Right?
Speaker 1 (35:34):
Yeah, that's right, Eddie.
Speaker 4 (35:36):
Okay, he always makes things incredibly awkward.
Speaker 1 (35:39):
Matt. My first question about this game on Sunday, and
it has nothing to do with what's going to tell
you you have or have not called a game in
so far? My apologies for not recalling you have right, No,
this will be the first one, okay, And I here's
why I ask. It has I don't know if you've
been to it or been by it, but it has
a massive not unlike you know Vegas has this. Now
(36:02):
certainly Jerry World does. It has a massive video board
that literally seemingly is like the length of the field.
And I'm curious when you're calling a game depending on it.
And I don't know where the press box is for
this one, but do you ever find yourself actually glued
almost as much to the video board as to the
field itself.
Speaker 4 (36:22):
Yeah, So the thing that you're referring to, I read
about it, and I've seen pictures of it. Obviously they
call it, I don't know if they still do, but
when the building first opened they called it the oculus.
Speaker 3 (36:32):
This it's like a.
Speaker 4 (36:34):
Ring, you know, a circular jumbo tron in the middle
of the field, you know that hangs over the middle
of the field. I should say so, Yeah, our I
do know where the press box is and where the
radio booth location is. It's not great it's very, very high,
and it's in the corner, which is sort of like
doubly bad. So yeah, I'll fully admit that when the
(36:58):
ball is on the other side of the field, uh,
furthest away from my vantage point, I'll be looking at everything.
I'll be looking at you know, I'll use my eyes,
I'll use the binoculars, I'll use the the oculus.
Speaker 1 (37:10):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (37:11):
And I'll have a monitor in front of me in
the in the in the radio booth as well. So
between all of those things, that's what you have to
do to make it work.
Speaker 2 (37:18):
And you know, we've talked about this before.
Speaker 4 (37:20):
More and more new newer stadiums are putting the media
and broadcast setups in the corner. Uh. And they're using
the prime locations for v IP club area and season
ticket holders and all of those things. And I get
it right, that's those are the people that pay the
bills and sponsors and stuff like that. So you got
to make do you know. I'm over just you know,
(37:41):
crying about it because there's nothing you can do. It's
only gonna get worse. So you know, there's bad you
mentioned Dallas. Uh, the Raiders is not terrible. It's high
and I can deal with high Washington is terrible, Pittsburgh's
not good, Arizona's not good. Uh where else. Minnesota is
in the corner, So you know, I've done enough games
(38:04):
to be in bad locations. Just to make it work,
you have to kind of like pause and you know,
make sure you have the exact line of scrimmage and
the exact yard markers because it is a little bit
of a different harsh angle. Sometimes you know.
Speaker 1 (38:19):
The tenskway from you right, you know, if they're going
away from me, it's tough.
Speaker 4 (38:24):
So you know you can you could definitely if you're
just listening to me. I think if you're just listening
to a broadcast that's in the corner, you can tell
because they tap dance a little bit on air, giving
you more details until they definitively know where the line
of scrimmage is or the gain of the ball because
you just can't see it very well. But in our case,
(38:44):
Layer is on the field. She can talk to me
on the sideline in my headset, so she's helping spot
on the far end of the field and helping identify
new line of scrimmage and stuff like that. So we
make it work. But Yeah, there's there's better vantage points
in the NFL for sure.
Speaker 1 (38:59):
But by the way, this studio I'm in right now
is round, so there's no corner. But I tap danced
three hours a day just so you know, I know,
you know. Well, thanks, okay, matt In terms of players
whose names you're going to call a lot for the
Rams offensively on Sunday, it goes without saying that, Matthew
(39:20):
Stafford and we've been talking about it over the course
of today. He has two receivers that he is throwing to,
understandably so with the most frequency nearly seventy percent of
the time. What player, if you are calling their name
a lot on Sunday when the Rams have the football,
is it bad news for Indianapolis because its means that
LA is opening up their playbook.
Speaker 4 (39:42):
Well, I mean, I think in the slot, Kuka Nakua,
you know, he is one of the best receivers but
certainly one of the best slot receivers in the NFL.
In fact, already leaves the NFL in both catches and
receiving yards. He's on pace for more receiving yards this
year than he had when he was a rookie when
he broke the record, the NFL rookie record for both
catches and receiving yards by a first year player, So
(40:04):
he is definitely somebody you're going to have to be
concerned with, and you know, lighting up in the slot
primarily as he does. It'd be great to have one
of the best nickel corners in the game, but it
sounds like the Colts will not have that luxury with
Kenny Moore of the second he's got that calf injury
that's kind of, according to Shane Stike and now kind
of morphed into the combination of a calf and an
(40:24):
achilles and so that's you know, anytime you hear the
achilles word around here, you know, people start shaking a
little bit because of what's happened in the past with
injuries to superstars in this market, most specifically recently with
Tyrese Halliburton. So it's understandable. But they say he's not
going to go on ir, which is good. So it's
going to be kind of a week to week thing
(40:46):
here going forward. But I think it's safe to assume
that he might miss a game or two, and in
this game, obviously that's less than desirable because you just
want to have his experience out there, his savviness and
his playmaking ability as we saw in that first series
against Tennessee taking that interception back, you know, thirty plus yards.
(41:06):
But you know they don't just sit around and wait
and hope and you know, sort of cross their fingers.
They go bold, bringing into Mike Hilton kind of experience
with loui Ane Rumo in this defense, spent four years
with Cincinnati, he's on the practice squad. I think it's
a no brainer as of right now to think that
he's going to get brought up on Saturday. With the
standard elevation there. Makai Blackman has started, or I should
(41:29):
say it's played some at Nickel in his career, but
he's been primarily an outside guy. So they do have options,
but you know it's you would definitely want Kenny Moore
out there in a game like this, trying to shut
down I think the premier slot receiver in the NFL
right now.
Speaker 1 (41:46):
You know the Matt I mentioned this earlier, and I'm
curious your thought on this. If you were to survey
general managers in the NFL and we're going to take
the with no disrespect for what I'm about to ask,
I'm going to take a punter kicker holder combination out
of the equation as a potential answer here. Okay, but
if you surveyed general managers at the beginning of the
(42:08):
season and said, I'm looking into a crystal ball, and
over the course of the year, you're going to have
one unit room want one group in terms of your
football roster where you're going to have to go really
deep and possibly into midweek acquisition players to play on Sunday.
So you've got the wide receiver room, you've got the
(42:30):
offensive line room, the defensive line room, et cetera. What
room do you believe general managers would most select to
have that be the case for them, because it's the
one where you can have the least fall off with
guys that you are planting in on a Sunday that
you acquired on a Tuesday.
Speaker 2 (42:50):
Oh man, good question.
Speaker 4 (42:53):
You know it's obviously not quarter I mean the premium
positions are out right across those off premium positions our quarterback, receiver,
defensive end, cornerback, left tackle, you know, throw in right
tackle in there as well. So that leaves you with
a lot of positions on defense. I guess gunned tohead,
(43:15):
Like if I'm a general manager and I'm answering that
question for myself, and I'm not answering for you know,
Chris Ballard or Less Sneed or somebody, right, Like, if
I have to answer just for me, I would say
probably linebacker, in no particular order, linebacker, safety, and running back.
Speaker 2 (43:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (43:36):
See, I thought defensive backfield in general, right, only in
safety would be specifically the best there. But I think
it's any position Matt to your point where you're not
overly reliant on the feel or the chemistry and the
movement of the guys around you within your unit. Does
that make sense?
Speaker 4 (43:57):
Yeah, it does. And you know it's one of those again,
not to downplay anything, I mean, playing linebacker in most
defensive schemes, it's.
Speaker 2 (44:05):
Pretty transferable, right, I'm not trying to dumb down the position,
but you get what I'm saying, Like, you know, it's
you know, whether you're playing in a in a base
four three or you know, a variation of a five
minut front. At times, playing linebacker is pretty much transferable.
Speaker 4 (44:22):
Same thing at safety. You know, running back obviously has
seen a lot of It's been a polarizing position. Just
because at the top end you've got guys like Saekwon
Barkley and Jonathan Taylor and Derrick Henry that deserve all
of the money. But you know, for the last ten
years or so, you know, that's been one of the
positions at least on offense that's been you know, sort
(44:43):
of downgraded. And you know, we've seen the idea of
going cheap and young at that position, you know, paying
guys or using guys that are on your rookie contracts
because you're gonna get similar production from a young guy
compared to you know, a guy you give a second
con track to. You know, like, if you can get
eighty percent out of an undrafted rookie free agent at
(45:04):
running back, why do I have to pay somebody that's
going into a second contract that has, you know, whatever
it is, six hundred and seven hundred carries under their
belt in the NFL and a lot of wear and tear.
So that's generally speaking, kind of the ideology there. But yeah,
I mean, you never want to be fit in any place.
But you know, if you have to choose, I guess
sort of be linebacker, safety and then depending on who
(45:25):
you got a running back you can make it work
with a platoon situation.
Speaker 1 (45:28):
I'm going to let you read one more listener comment here, Matt,
and I'll have you this time. Last time it was Eddie.
I'll have you respond to this one. Hey, Jake, do
you really think single people that shop at Kroger are losers?
Speaker 4 (45:42):
Well, you're putting me in a bad spot here.
Speaker 1 (45:45):
They're asking if I think that, because and I'm like,
you'll have my back here, Matt, that I was simply
playing on the fact that you mentioned being at Kroger
by yourself, and I was making the implication of like,
isn't that how most people go to Kroger? Like in
other words, I would actually saying that's the norm, not
the I was. I was being overly sarcastic. Now, Matt,
you didn't think I was calling you a loser, did you?
Speaker 2 (46:08):
Well?
Speaker 1 (46:09):
No, not that I'm overly worried about said things. But right, No, I.
Speaker 4 (46:14):
Don't know how about you. But if you, if you
ever do shop with another person, why is it that
you always come home with way more than what you
anticipated or what you wanted to if you were just
going to go by yourself.
Speaker 1 (46:24):
And the other thing is just if you with me.
Here's the other thing if you shop with someone else,
Like if Shannon and I go, like, you know, we
go to the store or whatever, okay, and I'm like,
you know, first off, i can't go more than two
aisles before I'm like, look, I know what I got
to get and I'll be right back. I'm going to
go down to such as and then and here's the thing.
Then you can't find each other. Doesn't that ninety percent
of the time end up with a text from one
(46:45):
or the other, Like I'm in the check out now
you're like, okay, you can't find the many It's literally
it's like this. It's like a corn maze.
Speaker 4 (46:52):
I can't I can't tell you how many times I've
gotten the where are you in all caps? You know,
about about thirteen thirteen minutes away from being separated, Like
I'm in I'm in the dairy, you know, looking for
Mexican cheese, taco night. Yeah, she's buying, she's bottling. She's
buying three cases of bottle of water and also too,
(47:13):
like I don't know if this happens to anybody else,
but it just seems like every time I step into
a croker or a big store, like Target or Meyer,
I immediately.
Speaker 1 (47:21):
Have to go to the bathroom.
Speaker 4 (47:23):
So I usually just go to the bathroom and wander
off without telling her where I am there. So we
just crisscross each other all over the store for a good.
Speaker 1 (47:30):
Twin, and that becomes tricky because sometimes they're upfront by
the registers, or they might be back near the dairy
right oh.
Speaker 4 (47:36):
Yeah, or they might not have any at all, and
then you just walk the entire store and looking for
a bathroom that doesn't exist.
Speaker 1 (47:41):
That is also a possibility. All right, last thing, I
have something from that after this, Matt, the cereal when
you were in the cereal out, give me the last
guilty pleasure cereal that you bought strictly because your parents
didn't let you have it as a kid. And you're like,
I'm a man now I'm eating it and you bought it.
Speaker 4 (47:57):
Oh fruity pebble bingo, babe.
Speaker 1 (48:00):
I have no off sweach, no off switch with those
bad boys.
Speaker 4 (48:03):
None And it doesn't matter how many bulls or how
many scoops, Like you never get full.
Speaker 1 (48:09):
It's the Donado's pizza like the same thing, Like it
doesn't fill you up. It's weird, like you know, what
I mean. It's not hogh quality necessarily or bad, but
you know, you're just like it's just there, right.
Speaker 4 (48:19):
Just do you still feel hungry? So you just keep
housing you know, terrible sugar packed you know, non non
nutrient filled substinance.
Speaker 1 (48:32):
And the rainbow color is always esthetically pleasing, all right,
Edie Matt how old are your kids?
Speaker 4 (48:39):
Eight and five?
Speaker 5 (48:40):
Are you familiar with the movie K Pop Demon Hunters?
Speaker 2 (48:45):
Dude?
Speaker 4 (48:45):
I am way too familiar with K Pop Demon Hunters? Okay,
So are you getting the soda Pop?
Speaker 1 (48:50):
Dang it, you stole it.
Speaker 2 (48:50):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (48:51):
I was just saying, are your soda pop now? And
I just think of you and Rick Venturi and the
McDonald's commercial.
Speaker 4 (48:58):
Yeah, I hate, I hate to burst your bubble, but yeah,
I listened to Soda Pop about thirteen times a day.
Speaker 2 (49:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (49:04):
And then my little guy, he's really big into Sonic
the Hedgehog right now. So Sonic has a theme song,
so I know that by heart. So yeah, you'll get
there one day. Man. It's they that the phases are
are short, but they are impactful. They leave, they leave scars. Man,
You like you wake up in the middle of the
night just singing all this stuff that they're into and
(49:25):
it goes quick, but man, it's they're into it really
really hard for just a quick amount of time.
Speaker 1 (49:31):
But how long were you in the studio at the
film a McDonald's commercial.
Speaker 4 (49:34):
By the way, we were in there four hours because
they had to shoot that from five different angles. They
had one camera. The crew was great, they were awesome,
and we were in there a long time, but not
because you know, they were messing around and weren't professional.
But they only had one camera and so we had
to shoot it from like five different angles. They had
to shoot it from like my my vantage point, Rick's
(49:57):
vantage point in front, behind it. It a whole ordeal.
Speaker 1 (50:01):
Well, it was worth it because Rick told me he
now has seven franchises as trade. So I hope you
got the same. All right, Matt Colts rams coming up.
It'll be in and out Burger along with your McDonald's,
probably in LA. But we look forward to the game
and certainly appreciate the time as always.
Speaker 4 (50:15):
All right, boys, appreciate you guys having the weekend.
Speaker 1 (50:17):
That is the independent shopping. Matt Taylor joining us
California, indeed where we are headed. As a matter of fact,
as I have only mentioned four hundred and sixty four
times on this program, whenever the Rams and the Colts play,
it should be pointed out that these two franchises at
one time were involved with an owner swap. By that,
I mean when Bob err Say, who was living in Chicago,
(00:22):
initially wanted to become an NFL owner. He bought the
Los Angeles Rams and then made a trade and ownership
trade with the Rosenbloom family who owned the Baltimore Colts,
and thus he became the owner of the Baltimore Colts
ultimately moved them to Indianapolis. Speaking of moves, Nate Atkins
from the Athletic out in Los Angeles, of course, formerly
with the Indianapolis Star, and it's just getting acclimated to
(00:46):
the West Coast and covering the Rams, who the Colts
will see this Sunday and he joins us now on
the program. Nate, welcome back to the Indianapolis Airwaves. How
are you, Jill Well, Jake, thanks for having me.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
It's cool to get to talk about, you know, one
team that I'm getting to know, one team that I
knew for the past four years and nice have a
big game too. I did not expect the Colts to
be three and l but it's real nice of them
to get good. Right as I left to beat.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
You know, when you if you get homesick at all,
and I can't what is your hometown, Nate, where did
you grow up?
Speaker 2 (01:19):
I Askeland, Ohio, which is about an hour south of.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Cleveland, home of Tim Richmond, by the way. I think
we might have discussed that, but so so if you
get homesick for Indianapolis, though, just a little tip here
and then we can get to football. What I have
found is when you're in the Los Angeles area, if
you walk the Santa Monica Pier and just take a
look at the Pacific Ocean, it does kind of feel
like you're at Wolf. He's at Geist.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
So just so you know, okay, yeah, that was my
first thought when I got out there. So I'll tell
you what it's like. You move all the way out
here and you're really in the same place.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
Yeah, yeah, in the weather as well. Right, let's begin
with this from the RAMS standpoint and any point of
this out I was looking at it more yesterday and
it is of interest to me, Matthew Stafford, who is
obviously a big armed, strong armed quarterback. He has thrown
the majority of his passes to this point. Now it's
(02:11):
early in the year, but you know DeVante Adams and
Pukka the two guys that are catching the majority of passes.
Is that simply a familiarity thing or are the Rams
at this point limiting themselves of is there a reason
why they're not spreading the wealth so to speak?
Speaker 2 (02:30):
Yeah, I think it's uh well. With Pokinakouts, definitely familiarity.
He has really been a star since he came in
the league two years ago and played every game with
Matthew Stafford and he's averaged more than ninety yards in
those games. And so so that one has been building.
And then DeVante Adams is just the guy that they
went out in the offseason to get to replace Cooper
(02:52):
Cup and become that other high volume player, and they're
trying to build that in games since they didn't get
a chance really in training camp Mentthony Stafford missed basically
all of it with this back issue, and so they
don't get a lot of practice reps because DeVante Adams
always takes Wednesdays off and so they're working through some
things in games. But also, like Stafford has always been
(03:15):
a high wide receiver type quarterback over the tight ends.
That's that goes back to when I saw him in Detroit.
He would just pepper those wide receivers and and so
the more that he throws to those two and the
more that it works, the more it builds trust and
it's harder for others to cut into that. What he
could really use is a pass catching running back because
he's had that in his past. They just don't have
(03:38):
that here. They just have guys that are just here
to run the ball. But they're eventually going to have
to diversify it a little bit because if one of
those guys gets hurt, they just don't have anything really
built up around him. And it's it's kind of mystifying
to some people here because they paid two to two
at well ten million dollars to be a receiver and
he's barely playing. They drafted Terence Ferguson a tight end
(03:59):
out of Oregon in the second round and they've he's
played four snaps on the season, so they're not really
using the other investments that they have, and so far
It's it's worked for the passing game to just go
to these two. But you do wonder how sustainable it
is in how they keep everyone healthy. Because Devanta Adams
now dealing with a hamstring issue and Stafford is on
(04:20):
pace right now to become the first quarterback in twenty
five years to throw seventy nine percent or more of
his passes to wide receivers. So you just wonder how
long that can really hold up. But so far, when
those guys have been on the field, it's worked quite well.
So that's why they keep going to it.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
And Nate. When you look at, you know, statistically speaking,
the average yardage per play when Stafford is completing to
those two guys, you know you're into like the eleven
to fifteen yards per catch area. Now, I guess my
question for you would be, is that yard after catch
receiver during doing the work stuff or does Stafford, who
(04:57):
is and has been one of the strongest arms league history,
but he's older and he's coming you know, he's had
injuries and et cetera. Is he now a rhythm passer
and the and he's getting them in rhythm where they're
then in space, or does he still have the deep
ball precision aspect of his game that he had as
younger player.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
It's sort of a mix of that where he's not
going deep down the field all that often, but he's
really going to that intermediate level. And so that really
happens with Devontae Adams, which is why his his catch
rate isn't quite as as pukin a coup as they
really try and get these chunk plays, and they got
one for forty four yards on Sunday, but usually these
are kind of between I'd say fifteen to twenty five
(05:40):
yards is where they run a lot of those routes,
and pukin a coup is more the guy that will
settle at like ten yards, catch it and then do
something with the ball in his hands, you know, yards
after contact. So Stafford mostly has the He has the
same arm strength he's always had from what I can tell.
What's a little different now is that he's trying to
throw the ball before he gets touched in any capacity.
(06:01):
Because he's thirty seven. He has the back issue, so
he's not standing in there and throwing while taking a
hit the way he used to, and so he'll let
it out a little quicker than he used to when
he would go way deep down the field, and they're
hoping that the kind of the spacing of everything can
let guys either catch it intermediate or in Pucas case,
catch it and do something with the ball afterwards. So
(06:23):
it's been really fun to watch them transition this offense
to having Stafford in this place where it's still the
same arm, but he's just trying so hard not to
get touched, and their pass retuch has not been all
that good so far, so that's kind of rushed it
a little bit more. But these guys are getting open
so much in that intermediate part of the field that
it's still working to release the ball pretty quickly and
(06:46):
he's got the velocity to still kind of get it
to where he needs to get it right now. So
it's a real intermediate part of the field type offense.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
Who's the biggest celebrity that you have serendipitously run into
in and around Los Angeles?
Speaker 2 (07:00):
Uh, well, my first day it is so far. I
got in the elevator with Brad Beale, So that's probably
the biggest one so far. Clippers just signed Brad Beale
and he, you know, he interestingly enough grew up in
Saint Louis, so he's a RAMS fan from back then.
But mostly I've just been to the facility in back,
so it'd have to be RAMS players if it's not
Brad Beale.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
Okay, now what about this? You live how far from
the facility? And the reason I ask is because how
long does it take you to get there? If you're
in rush hour traffic?
Speaker 2 (07:30):
Rush hour traffic, it's going to take over an hour?
Speaker 1 (07:33):
But it's three weeks?
Speaker 2 (07:35):
Yeah right, yeah, Usually I get to avoid it. They
press it in the kind of the early afternoons. It
takes about thirty five minutes. I get if I get lucky.
Speaker 1 (07:43):
You know that the stadium is for those that are
and maybe people from here are going to be going
out because the stadium is unbelievable. It's near Inglewood, is
sent It's not far from Lax. It's it's fascinating because
when you drive past it, you literally can almost And
I've I've nate, I'm being totally serious when I say this.
I've wondered if it hasn't impacted traffic in LA on
(08:04):
a game day because if the window or whatever it
is is open, like you can see on the video board,
you can watch the game while you're driving past it.
It's crazy, right. So it's a phenomenal facility. And with
that for people that are going out, I mean, LA's awesome, right.
But they're gonna see what from the Rams defensively when
(08:25):
we watch this game, because you know, right now Daniel
Jones is in rhythm, they are Shane Stikeen is calling
it masterfully. They're taking care of the football. But the
Rams defensively this year have done what.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
So what's unique about the Rams is just how good
they are with a four man pass rush, which I
think is gonna be really key this week when you
look at the numbers of how the Colts are handling
teams that blitz them. That was Denver's problem in Week
two is that even though they have talent in the
pass rush, they looked at Daniel Jones' career numbers going
back to the times the Giants and thought, you blitz
this guy, you'll get in his head, you'll affect him,
(09:02):
you'll create turnovers. And instead the Colts have all these
answers because they have so many guys to get the
ball to. With Tyler Warren's edition, in addition to their
receiving court even Job and Taylor catching passes. So I
think the Rams are going to do it differently where
they're going to mostly rush four players. They will blitz
the safety on occasion, I promise that, but I think
they're going to dial that back and just try and
(09:23):
do it at moments when they hope that Daniel Jones
doesn't see it, because they've got enough of a pass
rush already with Jared Versus the big name, the reigning
defensive rookie of the year on one side, but Byron
Young is really ascended at the other, and then they've
got names like a rookie Josiah Stewart, Kobe Turner, and
Braden Fisk. They're just going to mix and match these
guys in the four man pass rush, and you'll see
(09:45):
them overload one side. You'll see them flip the matchups
between Verse and Byron Young on the left and the
right side. So they're going to move guys around so
that they kind of get fresh matchups, and that's going
to be the unpredictability, but it's gonna be less so
through the blitz because they also really have to hang
up and coverage. When they lost their top outside cornerback
Kello Witherspoon. That is the weakest spot on this team
(10:07):
is those outside cornerback spots, and so I think that's
why they're also praying that they don't have to see
Alec Pierce this week, because last week the duo of
a G Brown Devatas Smith that ended up winning the
Eagles the game down the stretch, that those matchups aren't
in their favor, but against most teams, their hope is
that the pass rush is enough to kind of overwhelm
(10:28):
teams just with four men in rush, and then they've
got kind of three safeties that they'll play as their
nickel package and move those guys around to kind of
try to keep a lid on things. And so really
a lot of this game, I think is going to
come down to that matchup between the Rams pass rush
and just how much the Colts offensive line can hold
up against it. They can give Daniel Jones time and
(10:50):
he can exploit those outside corners, but I do think
this will be the best pass russ that the Colts
have faced so far.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
Nate Atkins is our guest here. He's on the guest line,
and of course, with the athletic out in Los Angeles
formerly with the Indianapol Star covering the Colts, Nate, I
wanted to get your thoughts on this. This is the
if I'm not mistaken, and correct me if I'm wrong,
the fourth NFL franchise that you have covered. You have
covered the Bears, You've covered the Lions, You've covered the Colts,
and now the Rams. So with that, so you know,
(11:21):
now that I think about it, you're like halfway to
the Wizard of Oz trio right in terms of who
you've covered. But having said that, now that you've had
a chance to kind of compare and contrast or see
various operations, how did the Indianapolis Colts in terms of
just the infrastructure of the franchise, the way they go
about their business, all things considered, how did they compare
(11:45):
or contrast to other franchises you have covered.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
Yeah, So the interesting thing is two of the last
three that I've covered have had Matthew Stafford at quarterback.
And I found that that is really the glaring difference
from my time with the Colts is that when especially
now I see this at the Rams. So they just
lost the game on Sunday that was heartbreaking and infuriating
when they had a twenty six to seven lead and
they couldn't finish. But their response was really a lot
(12:13):
more positive than I was expecting. You know, they wanted
to win, but they felt like, this is week three.
We leveled up to a really good team, fell a
little bit short, but we'll see them again. There's such
a confidence that they will be in that moment, and
there's a confidence when they're down too, because of the
quarterback that they have. And I just think the Colts
didn't ever really get that, you know, when I was there,
(12:34):
even when things were going pretty well, you know, with
Gardner Minshew's season and they almost made the playoffs at
times when you know they would nine, got to nine
and six the first year I was there with Carson Wentz,
like they had some good teams, but they didn't ever
feel like the reason they were good was the quarterback.
And that's the difference here. It was the difference in Detroit,
(12:54):
and so I think that kind of kind of sums
up everything, is that there's just sort of an every day,
every moment confidence and belief when you step in the
building and you don't have questions about, first of all,
who's even gonna start at quarterback. But second of all,
like what that guy can do as a leader and
as a player out there. The Colts when I was there,
had this weird mix of like they would either get
(13:16):
they got you know, solid the decent playout of Gardner
Minshew quarterback, and it's times from Carson Wentz. But you know,
Carson Wentz was never really that guy for the franchise,
that leader type. And then when they went after the
leader type and Matt Ryan, you know he didn't have
to play anymore, you know, at his age and his
level that he was at right now. The Rams, for
(13:36):
as long as they can keep Stafford healthy, they feel
like they've got both. And when you feel like you
have both just a totally different feel coming off of losses.
It's a different feel when you are down in games.
They just feel like they're gonna be in all these moments,
and so they that gives you confidence that even when
you struggle, even when you have really bad moments like
two blocked field goals like the Rams just had, they
(13:56):
can go after kind of these improvements in very specific areas,
knowing we're going to be in the big games, We're
going to have a shot at the end of the game.
I don't think the Colts necessarily had that, And I
think what also you find out is that teams often
will take on the personality of either the head coach
or the quarterback, and usually both, And so when the
quarterback is changing so much, just gets really hard for
(14:17):
a team to have an identity. And I just felt
that all the time with the Colts is that they
couldn't really figure out what kind of team they wanted
to be. Where they were this, you know, great rushing
team in twenty twenty one until that fizzled out. But
the more that the spotlight went on the quarterback and
the more that that position just kept changing, there just
was a lot of confusion and a instead of a
lacking belief about kind of the elver all upside. So
(14:39):
there was a kind of a comfort level in Indy
because you know, they kept the same general manager and
a lot of the players would you know, they'd run
it back, and so there was sort of like this
baseline culture of like, we played together for a long
time and we'll be together. But there wasn't necessarily this
belief in, like, you know, what the ultimate upside's going
to be whereas the Rams come off a game they
(15:00):
lose the Eagles and they say, Okay, well we'll be
back here and we'll have to take our shot again
against these guys. And I don't think it's just talk
from them. I think that's what they actually believe, because
that's how their season ended last year. And so there's
this sort of a mix of a tracker or of
a team that's won with a quarterback who's done it
at a lot of levels and keeps doing it. And
the Colts have been looking to get back to that,
and who knows, maybe they'll get there with Daniel Jones now,
(15:22):
but that's what they've been seeking so much. I just
feel like the quarterback. We talk about it so much
in Indy because on the field it matters so much.
But I've also found like every single walking, waking moment
in a building goes back to that position too, And
that's that's the kind of the biggest difference I've seen
between those.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
Teams, biggest thing that Shane Styken has preached operationally, the
quarterback is the guy that has to have a firm
understanding above and beyond just in the huddle. And I
think that you know, at no disrespect to Anthony Richardson.
You are seeing now the reasons why Daniel Jones was
the selected quarterback for Shane Styke and Nate Atkins with
The Athletic covering the Rams, Rams and Colts on Sunday. Nate,
(16:01):
good talking to you, man, I appreciate it. Enjoy LA
all right, yep, thanks for having me. Nate Atkins joining
us on the program. LA is awesome, by the way,
I would love to live in LA. Mike Nisileik joins
us now on the program from Bloomington and The Herald Times. Mike,
I'll begin with this. I guess it says something about Indiana,
and maybe I'm overstating this, but I almost feel like,
(16:24):
oddly enough at Iowa is a potential trap game for
Indiana because the way that they took care of business
against Illinois and the electricity of that. Then your eye
starts looking towards the matchups, say with Oregon, and you
almost forget that they've got to go on the road
in a place that's a pretty darn tough place to play. Now,
(16:45):
I'm not saying the players feel that way, but is
there any truth to the fact that, like, maybe we
even overlook Iowa.
Speaker 3 (16:53):
No, I don't think so, because I mean there is
a buy in between, so it's not like an immediate
sort of right in the Aftermathew going one to the other.
And I also think that, you know, the difference is
the roague part of it. Like I mean, this was
a team that last time they played a big road
road game in the Big Ten, it was a disaster.
I mean, the other team was reading their silent count
(17:15):
teeing off on them. And I think the guys that
are coming back especially have have something to prove there,
so I think they'll be plenty motivated, you know, for
this one. And and you know, it's important to when
you've got a series of big road games this year,
to get the first one because they only get harder
(17:35):
from here.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
Okay, let's talk about, you know, defensively, one of their
leaders and Lewis Moore, who you know, this is a
guy that has played extremely well for them obviously is
a veteran player and he just won. And my terminology,
I hope I'm saying this correctly, but he got a
court ruling in his favor against the NCAA. And then
I'll let you piece in Mike where I'm perhaps incorrect
(17:56):
in this his the number of years that he had
played in junior college. The NCAA was saying that that
should impact his eligibility. He obviously challenged that, and they
ruled in his favor. So therefore his eligibility is maintained.
A correct me if my terminology is wrong, and then
(18:17):
b why is this significant above and beyond just this
case with Indiana.
Speaker 3 (18:23):
Well, I mean, he essentially had run out of eligibility
because he played multiple years at JUCO. He was at
Jucal College actually three years because he redshirted, so this
was actually a seventh year in college. This all ties
to the Diego Pablo case of the Vanderbilt quarterback who
was the initial sort of player that sued the NCAA
and won an injunction, and then they the NCAA issued
(18:46):
a waiver for kids in junior college, but essentially a
litts more to qualify because he had those an extra
year and so he was sort of out, his clock
had run out. He applied for a waiver and and
so he had to go through the courts to sort
of win an injunction. Basically, he'll have a trial because
he's still suing the NCAA, but he wanted an injunction
(19:08):
that prevents them from enforcing the rule until that trial,
which is in January. So he needed that to stay
eligible for this season. So now he's good. There's no
there's no more questions about whether he'll be eligible down
the line. He's fine, so you know, he'll he'll be
through here through the end of the season.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
You know.
Speaker 3 (19:26):
It's it's just part of kind of what's going on
in college football with these cases. I don't necessarily know
that this this sort of sets any precedent. The NCAA
is probably one more cases than it's actually lost in
court recently in terms of these cases. So more obviously
his attorneys did a nice job, you know, fighting for
him and getting this done. It's it's it's hugely important,
(19:49):
and I don't want to play more's impact because I
think he's been good, not necessarily great, especially when you
listen to Kurtzigetty kind of talk about how the problems
the safeties have had, you know, with the exception of
the Neana State game with sort of miscommunications, misalignments. The
problem was is that they don't really have any depths.
Bryson bonds out for the season Byron Baldwin. That really
(20:10):
promising freshmen they had high hopes for. There's no timeline
for his return. Originally he was day to day kind
of before the opener, and now four weeks later they
haven't sort of updated his status. So when you kind
of looked at like who was up next, it was
another freshman that hasn't played and a walk on. So
I mean they really needed him there to sort of
(20:30):
maintain continuity. And I'm not downplaying his individual contributions because
I think he's done a nice job, but man, if
they had lost him, going into Kennick with a player
that's not that's played, you know, a handful of snaps
in his career would not have been ideal, especially when
you've been struggling with communication there to begin with.
Speaker 1 (20:47):
So with this case, do you believe Mike and I
realized neither one of us here are attorneys. But does
this I'll use the term floodgates for lack of a
better does it set a presitup it now where other
players won't even have to necessarily file a suit because
they will simply say this has already been ruled upon,
and so therefore what was ruled for Merediana will help
(21:11):
you know, Smith at Texas A.
Speaker 3 (21:12):
And m No No, because I mean if that was
the case and all these other cases would have there's
president no. And the NCAA has sort of like an
unofficial blanket policy. Their attorney talks about it. Actually in
courts they're going to fight every case, no matter what,
the same that that fault, that that any player that's
been denied a waiver. There's a couple left. I mean
at this point now we're in the season. I mean
(21:34):
like a lot of these kids, I mean maybe it'll
probably haven't There'll probably be another flugate of suits with
basketball player basketball players that have lost waivers because for
football now you're obviously i mean you're five weeks into
the season. So I think there's a kid from Wisconsin.
We're waiting for the courts rule on injunction. But a
lot of these kids, these cases have come down and
the NCAA is just kind of fighting all of them
(21:55):
to sort of i mean be neutral sense essentially, like
they're not treating any case differently. They're saying anytime we
deny waver we are fighting it and saying that those
kids should not be eligible. So Uh, there's no sort
of precedents.
Speaker 2 (22:09):
You know, the.
Speaker 3 (22:12):
Players could use this as as as an argument core that, look,
these these cases were one this is what these judges said.
But there's no sort of overall precedent that doesn't do that,
you know, because there's been cases that have players have
won that you know did not necessarily directly help more
in the case because I mean he had to go
to court and fight for his eligibility.
Speaker 1 (22:32):
Mike. Was that performance that you saw against Illinois the
finest hour in Kurt Signetti's time in Indiana.
Speaker 3 (22:42):
That's an interesting question. I mean the Nebraska following ranks
up there. I mean, I still think the Michigan States
became was impressive just because they actually faced the adversity,
were on the road and then just los forty seven
straight points. I mean there's a couple of them, right,
I mean you got to you gotta think, uh. I
think what's interesting is that Michigan game kind of gets overlooked, like,
(23:03):
I mean, that was a really tough game and that
was a huge atmosphere, and like the playoff doesn't happen
if they kind of fumble in that second half, even
though it gets a really I think defensive had a
ton of NFL talent, but it's up there. I mean,
we'll see kind of you know, it's hard to know,
right Like, if Illinois loses five games, people are going
to really discount that performance, you know what I'm saying,
Yeah and so and so in the moment, yeah, I
(23:27):
mean it felt pretty big, but we'll see. Because Illinois
did not look like a team that I had and
stuff together.
Speaker 1 (23:32):
But it just seemed like fascinating to me about it.
And I don't disagree with you from the Illinois standpoint
of things, right, but at the same time, it just
looked with Indiana, it was like, man, I don't know
how you find a weakness in that. And I'm not
sitting here saying that. You know, my gosh, they are,
you know, instantly the best team in that But when
(23:55):
you look at it and that game and the way
that they're able to just turn up the wick and
just go. And if there was an area if Iwall
called you right now and said, look, we got to
find a weakness of Indiana to exploit, your answer would
be what I.
Speaker 3 (24:11):
Mean, It would be that secondary I mean that the
safety is the Donnin Millfield. I mean that would be
the answer I think would be Chris Signety's answer. He
was kind of he said that, you know, five mistakes
and the only reason they didn't hurt him was because
they were getting so much pressure on the quarterback. Iowa
has a better offensive line so that they might be
able to sort of take advantage of those things. But
it's not like a huge thing. I mean to your point, Like,
(24:32):
I mean, if they can score with anybody and drop
sixty on a dime, I mean, what is you know,
you've got some room for air. So I mean like,
this team is operating at a high level, no doubt,
and it's impressive. And I think the sort of common
thread from last year is like, man, this team knows
how to play with the lead, right, like when they
sense weakness, like in a second half. I mean, I
(24:55):
think I'd added it up yesterday. I think they're outscoring
teams like one hundred and eleven to ten in the
second half and they've only allowed one touchdown. So I mean, like,
but that's been all of Chritsy Gunny's tenure, really that
this team once they sent some you know, once they
go into halftime and have a lead, they're not giving
it up, and so I think that it's it's just
(25:15):
a really impressive sort of set this team has had
and focus that you know, you just kind of see
it and Chris and Gnaty bridges it every week and
it's and it's worked.
Speaker 1 (25:25):
You know, Mike, there are kind of three styles of coach. Okay,
I mean there's more, but I'm going to speak generically here. Okay,
You've got the Tony Dungee example, where like guys that
played for Tony Dungee were like, man, he was just
such a botherly figure that I gave my best because
I didn't want to disappoint him. I didn't want to
let him down. You've got the you know, the Bob
(25:46):
Knight style, right, which was like, man, I was just
scared to death of this guy and he was constantly
on me and pushing me and et cetera. And then
you've got the guy that is doesn't necessarily say a lot,
but Carrie's with him this level of confidence that just
exudes over to the team where they look at him
and they go, we can win any game because this
(26:08):
guy believes in us. Signetti, seemingly from the outside is
number three, but you're around it and you talk to
guys and you see it a little bit more intimately
than do I or the listeners. Which best describes or
who exactly is Kurt Signetti?
Speaker 3 (26:24):
Well, I mean the obvious example is Nick Saban, you know,
the history and and being sort of I think with
Signetti it's more being just a football savant, right like
that he's always watching film. It's a great evaluator of talent,
a great evaluator of scheme, can break things down, and
(26:45):
I think you see him being able to you know,
here opposing coaches talk about how they exploit mistakes that
they find and and you know there's there's such a
well coached kind of group in all three phases, and
so that's kind of where I would tend to. You know,
it's not a you know, you don't hear players and
this is not to say they want to win for him,
(27:07):
but you don't hear that kind of Tony Dungee kind
of talk where oh man, we're all invested in for him.
He's more just like we have it's business like and
a sin. It's like we have a focus, and we
have things to do, and here's what we're going to accomplish.
It's not like we're going to win one for him.
It's like, we're going to win because that's what we
have to do and that's what we're in the business
of doing. And so that's sort of I view it
(27:29):
is maybe you know Nick Saban sort of Bill Parcels,
you kind of trace it in that tree on down
where it's like football, football, football, football, and we're going
to win, you know, like that's what it is.
Speaker 1 (27:40):
Okay. Lastly, Mike, when you look at this matchup with
Iowa and in talking to Indiana over the course of
the week, the areas for Iowa that are of concern
that Indiana is particularly focused on stopping or you know,
simply not or taking advantage of perhaps even where they
feel Iowa is susceptible. What's the overall read there.
Speaker 3 (28:00):
Well, a couple of things. I think the noise obviously
still matters, because, like I said, I mentioned that Ohio
State game, what the offensive line does to communicate they
went to a silent count in that game. They're not
going to do that because that went so poorly and
and Oito State was reading it, So like how they
communicate what's that operation look like? Because you know, the
offensive line has been really clean. I think special teams.
Speaker 2 (28:20):
Will be huge.
Speaker 3 (28:21):
I mean, Iowa is just you know, fantastic. They don't
make mistakes. They've had a pupp return and kick return
touchdowns this year game against Redger open with the hunter
yard return. They have a really really good returner and
so I think you have to you know, limit him
and I think that'll that'll be really important. And then
you win the battle on the trenches. Again, I mentioned
the offensive line and the communication, but I mean they
(28:42):
domed up front of both sides of the ball against Illinois.
You're going to see upgrades Iowa a better offensive line,
you know, stout on the on the defensive front. Can
you win both of those areas? I think I think
those kind of are the the sort of the three
keys for me.
Speaker 1 (28:56):
You know one other thing, actually I should have asked
you off the top, have a Heisman winner.
Speaker 3 (29:04):
I mean, you know, I those things are funny, right,
Like he's the favorite, but I mean or they play
Oregon in three weeks and then they played Penn State
after that, so I mean, like we'll talk favorites after
those games, right, Like if.
Speaker 1 (29:16):
He does, he's had a favorites that by the end
of the year, You're like, what happened to that?
Speaker 3 (29:20):
Yeah, I mean, like and we all knew, Like, I mean, like, look,
I had no doubt Fernanda Mendoza was going to put
up huge numbers against the Indianita States that would look
obviously way way way higher numbers, but like his numbers
are inflated from the conference schedule. So like, I mean, yes,
he's a he's a I don't think it's not. He's
not like a he's a legitimate candidate now, but I
(29:43):
think he's got a lot, a lot of heavy lifting
to do with like their toughest games still on the schedule,
and like he could easily win it. If he wins
these like Iowa, Penn State and Oregon, he could have
it sewed up in November, if you know, he takes
care of business. But if he struggles in those road environments,
I think you're going to have a hard time sort of,
you know, labeling him as the front ar.
Speaker 1 (30:03):
Mike Nisalick is the Indiana University athletic beat writer for
the Bloomington Herald Times. You can read their articles at
the Herald Times on the expost, Twitter and Michael Nisalik,
that's inn I z I O. L E. K as
well on social media. Mike appreciate it as always.
Speaker 3 (30:23):
Man, Eddie times, Jake, thanks Man.
Speaker 1 (30:27):
Matt Taylor going to join us here in just a second.
I got to read this from Jalen, Eddie. I would
like I'm going to read this from Jalen I and
I'm not discrediting Jalen at all, but I want you,
Eddie to I'm going to hand it you the responsibility
of how you would answer this inquiry. You're ready, Oh,
you don't want me to answer it or to read
it for you, Dear Jake. I understand that you love
(30:48):
to do your teasers before breaks to keep people listening,
but you got to understand a lot of the people
listening to you are on a break from work and
don't have time to sit through the eternal commercial breaks
to wait for you to reveal something that you could
easily just mention right before the break, just something to consider.
And he thought on that, Eddie, that's unfortunately not how
this business works. Joining us now in the program, he's
(31:16):
the voice of the Indianapolis Colt said, he is Matt Taylor. Matt,
would you agree with that? He's assessment there?
Speaker 4 (31:22):
Man, Oh, man, I what was a gentleman's name. Jalen, Yeah, Jalen.
Jalen didn't go to broadcasting school. I don't think he's
got a he didn't get a minor in broadcast journalism
or uh or a communication.
Speaker 3 (31:36):
You don't one.
Speaker 1 (31:37):
I get it, though, I mean I I do understand
where he's coming from. Believe you me.
Speaker 5 (31:41):
You know, way he can do Matt and Jake, if
he's interested, he could always download the podcast and listen
to it that way what was teased?
Speaker 1 (31:48):
Indeed?
Speaker 4 (31:48):
Correct, pull up the YouTube stream, you know, mark the tape,
you find out where you left off, and hit the
little scroll and you know you're fine.
Speaker 1 (31:57):
I'd like to know this, Matt, give me the song
that comes on radio that you're driving and you get
to your house and you go ahead and you sit
in the driveway because the song ain't over.
Speaker 4 (32:06):
Oh man, there's a lot of them. I love these
questions from you, man, They're always good. Well, you just
play Tom Petty, So anything by Tom Petty, you know,
like if it's uh listened to her heart, that one's
a good one. I'll tell you what. I'll give you
a song. I say this all the time. If people
(32:28):
roll their eyes at me because they know me. But
if I heard if I heard I heard it in
a love song by Marshall Tucker every day for the
rest of my life, I would not get.
Speaker 1 (32:39):
Tired of that song that every time we have you
on How's that?
Speaker 2 (32:44):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (32:45):
And and I Won't back Down by Tom Petty a
song that I heard. If I heard it every single
day for the rest of my life, I still wouldn't
get sick of it.
Speaker 1 (32:53):
Okay, fair enough?
Speaker 4 (32:54):
Yeah, yeah, how about you?
Speaker 2 (32:57):
Man?
Speaker 1 (32:57):
I go in cycles. You know what I mean. I mean,
I I think if I had to pick, and it's
such an unoriginal answer because I think it was listed
as like the number one song ever by Rolling Stone.
If I had to pick my favorite song of all time,
it's probably like a rolling Stone by Bob Dylan. I'm
not gonna find you, but but I really like Hello
(33:20):
by Oasis.
Speaker 4 (33:21):
Okay, I've got to I've got another obscure one now
that I've had time to stew on it. Okay, and
I did this one time. I'm man enough to admit
it because I'm weird as you know. But one time
I was shopping by myself and a Kroger and this
song came on and I hadn't heard it in like
(33:41):
four years or something.
Speaker 1 (33:43):
And do you normally shop as with a group at Kroger?
I mean, is that the is Tuesday your Kroger shopping
club day and this was a Wednesday? Is that this one?
Speaker 4 (33:56):
I just had to go by myself. Everybody failed.
Speaker 1 (34:00):
So as you were.
Speaker 2 (34:01):
No.
Speaker 4 (34:02):
So like I'm in the serial aisle, you know, I'm
in there to get like two or three things on
my way home from work. One day, I'm in the
serial asle or whatever, and I hear feeling satisfied by Boston.
I don't know why. It just sort of like hit me,
like I haven't heard this song in like five years.
I just stopped dead in my tracks and I just
sat in the aisle by myself and listened to the
song until is over.
Speaker 1 (34:22):
See that's like one of those moments. Yeah, okay, And
to see and Matt, this is why you and I
are and this is going to be very uncomfortable. I
realized this is why we're kind of spirit animals, because
you are observant like myself, you know what I mean?
Like you notice, I think I'm convinced that ninety eight
percent of all people not only you know, aren't losers
(34:43):
and shop at Kroger alone. But don't don't hear that,
you know what I mean?
Speaker 2 (34:47):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (34:48):
So yeah, I mean I'm very Yeah, I'm with you.
Like I think I'm very much always sort of cognizant
of my surroundings. I'm a very observant person, and I'm
I observe h in nature. I like to think I
have a master's degree in common sense and body language.
So like, if if I'm talking to you right now
and you're not picking up what I'm putting down, We're
(35:09):
probably not gonna, you know, right right, We're probably not gonna,
you know, continue this conversation. So like I have the
the the mental capacity to say, all right, moving on.
You know, I can make chit chat with just about everybody,
But like, if you're not jiving on me, no big deal.
I'll just keep keep it going and see what sticks
with somebody else.
Speaker 1 (35:28):
You know, we mutually know some people that don't read
the room. Well, right, why are you talking about?
Speaker 2 (35:34):
Right?
Speaker 1 (35:34):
Yeah, that's right, Eddie.
Speaker 4 (35:36):
Okay, he always makes things incredibly awkward.
Speaker 1 (35:39):
Matt. My first question about this game on Sunday, and
it has nothing to do with what's going to tell
you you have or have not called a game in
so far? My apologies for not recalling you have right, No,
this will be the first one, okay, And I here's
why I ask. It has I don't know if you've
been to it or been by it, but it has
a massive not unlike you know Vegas has this. Now
(36:02):
certainly Jerry World does. It has a massive video board
that literally seemingly is like the length of the field.
And I'm curious when you're calling a game depending on it.
And I don't know where the press box is for
this one, but do you ever find yourself actually glued
almost as much to the video board as to the
field itself.
Speaker 4 (36:22):
Yeah, So the thing that you're referring to, I read
about it, and I've seen pictures of it. Obviously they
call it, I don't know if they still do, but
when the building first opened they called it the oculus.
Speaker 3 (36:32):
This it's like a.
Speaker 4 (36:34):
Ring, you know, a circular jumbo tron in the middle
of the field, you know that hangs over the middle
of the field. I should say so, Yeah, our I
do know where the press box is and where the
radio booth location is. It's not great it's very, very high,
and it's in the corner, which is sort of like
doubly bad. So yeah, I'll fully admit that when the
(36:58):
ball is on the other side of the field, uh,
furthest away from my vantage point, I'll be looking at everything.
I'll be looking at you know, I'll use my eyes,
I'll use the binoculars, I'll use the the oculus.
Speaker 1 (37:10):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (37:11):
And I'll have a monitor in front of me in
the in the in the radio booth as well. So
between all of those things, that's what you have to
do to make it work.
Speaker 2 (37:18):
And you know, we've talked about this before.
Speaker 4 (37:20):
More and more new newer stadiums are putting the media
and broadcast setups in the corner. Uh. And they're using
the prime locations for v IP club area and season
ticket holders and all of those things. And I get
it right, that's those are the people that pay the
bills and sponsors and stuff like that. So you got
to make do you know. I'm over just you know,
(37:41):
crying about it because there's nothing you can do. It's
only gonna get worse. So you know, there's bad you
mentioned Dallas. Uh, the Raiders is not terrible. It's high
and I can deal with high Washington is terrible, Pittsburgh's
not good, Arizona's not good. Uh where else. Minnesota is
in the corner, So you know, I've done enough games
(38:04):
to be in bad locations. Just to make it work,
you have to kind of like pause and you know,
make sure you have the exact line of scrimmage and
the exact yard markers because it is a little bit
of a different harsh angle. Sometimes you know.
Speaker 1 (38:19):
The tenskway from you right, you know, if they're going
away from me, it's tough.
Speaker 4 (38:24):
So you know you can you could definitely if you're
just listening to me. I think if you're just listening
to a broadcast that's in the corner, you can tell
because they tap dance a little bit on air, giving
you more details until they definitively know where the line
of scrimmage is or the gain of the ball because
you just can't see it very well. But in our case,
(38:44):
Layer is on the field. She can talk to me
on the sideline in my headset, so she's helping spot
on the far end of the field and helping identify
new line of scrimmage and stuff like that. So we
make it work. But Yeah, there's there's better vantage points
in the NFL for sure.
Speaker 1 (38:59):
But by the way, this studio I'm in right now
is round, so there's no corner. But I tap danced
three hours a day just so you know, I know,
you know. Well, thanks, okay, matt In terms of players
whose names you're going to call a lot for the
Rams offensively on Sunday, it goes without saying that, Matthew
(39:20):
Stafford and we've been talking about it over the course
of today. He has two receivers that he is throwing to,
understandably so with the most frequency nearly seventy percent of
the time. What player, if you are calling their name
a lot on Sunday when the Rams have the football,
is it bad news for Indianapolis because its means that
LA is opening up their playbook.
Speaker 4 (39:42):
Well, I mean, I think in the slot, Kuka Nakua,
you know, he is one of the best receivers but
certainly one of the best slot receivers in the NFL.
In fact, already leaves the NFL in both catches and
receiving yards. He's on pace for more receiving yards this
year than he had when he was a rookie when
he broke the record, the NFL rookie record for both
catches and receiving yards by a first year player, So
(40:04):
he is definitely somebody you're going to have to be
concerned with, and you know, lighting up in the slot
primarily as he does. It'd be great to have one
of the best nickel corners in the game, but it
sounds like the Colts will not have that luxury with
Kenny Moore of the second he's got that calf injury
that's kind of, according to Shane Stike and now kind
of morphed into the combination of a calf and an
(40:24):
achilles and so that's you know, anytime you hear the
achilles word around here, you know, people start shaking a
little bit because of what's happened in the past with
injuries to superstars in this market, most specifically recently with
Tyrese Halliburton. So it's understandable. But they say he's not
going to go on ir, which is good. So it's
going to be kind of a week to week thing
(40:46):
here going forward. But I think it's safe to assume
that he might miss a game or two, and in
this game, obviously that's less than desirable because you just
want to have his experience out there, his savviness and
his playmaking ability as we saw in that first series
against Tennessee taking that interception back, you know, thirty plus yards.
(41:06):
But you know they don't just sit around and wait
and hope and you know, sort of cross their fingers.
They go bold, bringing into Mike Hilton kind of experience
with loui Ane Rumo in this defense, spent four years
with Cincinnati, he's on the practice squad. I think it's
a no brainer as of right now to think that
he's going to get brought up on Saturday. With the
standard elevation there. Makai Blackman has started, or I should
(41:29):
say it's played some at Nickel in his career, but
he's been primarily an outside guy. So they do have options,
but you know it's you would definitely want Kenny Moore
out there in a game like this, trying to shut
down I think the premier slot receiver in the NFL
right now.
Speaker 1 (41:46):
You know the Matt I mentioned this earlier, and I'm
curious your thought on this. If you were to survey
general managers in the NFL and we're going to take
the with no disrespect for what I'm about to ask,
I'm going to take a punter kicker holder combination out
of the equation as a potential answer here. Okay, but
if you surveyed general managers at the beginning of the
(42:08):
season and said, I'm looking into a crystal ball, and
over the course of the year, you're going to have
one unit room want one group in terms of your
football roster where you're going to have to go really
deep and possibly into midweek acquisition players to play on Sunday.
So you've got the wide receiver room, you've got the
(42:30):
offensive line room, the defensive line room, et cetera. What
room do you believe general managers would most select to
have that be the case for them, because it's the
one where you can have the least fall off with
guys that you are planting in on a Sunday that
you acquired on a Tuesday.
Speaker 2 (42:50):
Oh man, good question.
Speaker 4 (42:53):
You know it's obviously not quarter I mean the premium
positions are out right across those off premium positions our quarterback, receiver,
defensive end, cornerback, left tackle, you know, throw in right
tackle in there as well. So that leaves you with
a lot of positions on defense. I guess gunned tohead,
(43:15):
Like if I'm a general manager and I'm answering that
question for myself, and I'm not answering for you know,
Chris Ballard or Less Sneed or somebody, right, Like, if
I have to answer just for me, I would say
probably linebacker, in no particular order, linebacker, safety, and running back.
Speaker 2 (43:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (43:36):
See, I thought defensive backfield in general, right, only in
safety would be specifically the best there. But I think
it's any position Matt to your point where you're not
overly reliant on the feel or the chemistry and the
movement of the guys around you within your unit. Does
that make sense?
Speaker 4 (43:57):
Yeah, it does. And you know it's one of those again,
not to downplay anything, I mean, playing linebacker in most
defensive schemes, it's.
Speaker 2 (44:05):
Pretty transferable, right, I'm not trying to dumb down the position,
but you get what I'm saying, Like, you know, it's
you know, whether you're playing in a in a base
four three or you know, a variation of a five
minut front. At times, playing linebacker is pretty much transferable.
Speaker 4 (44:22):
Same thing at safety. You know, running back obviously has
seen a lot of It's been a polarizing position. Just
because at the top end you've got guys like Saekwon
Barkley and Jonathan Taylor and Derrick Henry that deserve all
of the money. But you know, for the last ten
years or so, you know, that's been one of the
positions at least on offense that's been you know, sort
(44:43):
of downgraded. And you know, we've seen the idea of
going cheap and young at that position, you know, paying
guys or using guys that are on your rookie contracts
because you're gonna get similar production from a young guy
compared to you know, a guy you give a second
con track to. You know, like, if you can get
eighty percent out of an undrafted rookie free agent at
(45:04):
running back, why do I have to pay somebody that's
going into a second contract that has, you know, whatever
it is, six hundred and seven hundred carries under their
belt in the NFL and a lot of wear and tear.
So that's generally speaking, kind of the ideology there. But yeah,
I mean, you never want to be fit in any place.
But you know, if you have to choose, I guess
sort of be linebacker, safety and then depending on who
(45:25):
you got a running back you can make it work
with a platoon situation.
Speaker 1 (45:28):
I'm going to let you read one more listener comment here, Matt,
and I'll have you this time. Last time it was Eddie.
I'll have you respond to this one. Hey, Jake, do
you really think single people that shop at Kroger are losers?
Speaker 4 (45:42):
Well, you're putting me in a bad spot here.
Speaker 1 (45:45):
They're asking if I think that, because and I'm like,
you'll have my back here, Matt, that I was simply
playing on the fact that you mentioned being at Kroger
by yourself, and I was making the implication of like,
isn't that how most people go to Kroger? Like in
other words, I would actually saying that's the norm, not
the I was. I was being overly sarcastic. Now, Matt,
you didn't think I was calling you a loser, did you?
Speaker 2 (46:08):
Well?
Speaker 1 (46:09):
No, not that I'm overly worried about said things. But right, No, I.
Speaker 4 (46:14):
Don't know how about you. But if you, if you
ever do shop with another person, why is it that
you always come home with way more than what you
anticipated or what you wanted to if you were just
going to go by yourself.
Speaker 1 (46:24):
And the other thing is just if you with me.
Here's the other thing if you shop with someone else,
Like if Shannon and I go, like, you know, we
go to the store or whatever, okay, and I'm like,
you know, first off, i can't go more than two
aisles before I'm like, look, I know what I got
to get and I'll be right back. I'm going to
go down to such as and then and here's the thing.
Then you can't find each other. Doesn't that ninety percent
of the time end up with a text from one
(46:45):
or the other, Like I'm in the check out now
you're like, okay, you can't find the many It's literally
it's like this. It's like a corn maze.
Speaker 4 (46:52):
I can't I can't tell you how many times I've
gotten the where are you in all caps? You know,
about about thirteen thirteen minutes away from being separated, Like
I'm in I'm in the dairy, you know, looking for
Mexican cheese, taco night. Yeah, she's buying, she's bottling. She's
buying three cases of bottle of water and also too,
(47:13):
like I don't know if this happens to anybody else,
but it just seems like every time I step into
a croker or a big store, like Target or Meyer,
I immediately.
Speaker 1 (47:21):
Have to go to the bathroom.
Speaker 4 (47:23):
So I usually just go to the bathroom and wander
off without telling her where I am there. So we
just crisscross each other all over the store for a good.
Speaker 1 (47:30):
Twin, and that becomes tricky because sometimes they're upfront by
the registers, or they might be back near the dairy
right oh.
Speaker 4 (47:36):
Yeah, or they might not have any at all, and
then you just walk the entire store and looking for
a bathroom that doesn't exist.
Speaker 1 (47:41):
That is also a possibility. All right, last thing, I
have something from that after this, Matt, the cereal when
you were in the cereal out, give me the last
guilty pleasure cereal that you bought strictly because your parents
didn't let you have it as a kid. And you're like,
I'm a man now I'm eating it and you bought it.
Speaker 4 (47:57):
Oh fruity pebble bingo, babe.
Speaker 1 (48:00):
I have no off sweach, no off switch with those
bad boys.
Speaker 4 (48:03):
None And it doesn't matter how many bulls or how
many scoops, Like you never get full.
Speaker 1 (48:09):
It's the Donado's pizza like the same thing, Like it
doesn't fill you up. It's weird, like you know, what
I mean. It's not hogh quality necessarily or bad, but
you know, you're just like it's just there, right.
Speaker 4 (48:19):
Just do you still feel hungry? So you just keep
housing you know, terrible sugar packed you know, non non
nutrient filled substinance.
Speaker 1 (48:32):
And the rainbow color is always esthetically pleasing, all right,
Edie Matt how old are your kids?
Speaker 4 (48:39):
Eight and five?
Speaker 5 (48:40):
Are you familiar with the movie K Pop Demon Hunters?
Speaker 2 (48:45):
Dude?
Speaker 4 (48:45):
I am way too familiar with K Pop Demon Hunters? Okay,
So are you getting the soda Pop?
Speaker 1 (48:50):
Dang it, you stole it.
Speaker 2 (48:50):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (48:51):
I was just saying, are your soda pop now? And
I just think of you and Rick Venturi and the
McDonald's commercial.
Speaker 4 (48:58):
Yeah, I hate, I hate to burst your bubble, but yeah,
I listened to Soda Pop about thirteen times a day.
Speaker 2 (49:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (49:04):
And then my little guy, he's really big into Sonic
the Hedgehog right now. So Sonic has a theme song,
so I know that by heart. So yeah, you'll get
there one day. Man. It's they that the phases are
are short, but they are impactful. They leave, they leave scars. Man,
You like you wake up in the middle of the
night just singing all this stuff that they're into and
(49:25):
it goes quick, but man, it's they're into it really
really hard for just a quick amount of time.
Speaker 1 (49:31):
But how long were you in the studio at the
film a McDonald's commercial.
Speaker 4 (49:34):
By the way, we were in there four hours because
they had to shoot that from five different angles. They
had one camera. The crew was great, they were awesome,
and we were in there a long time, but not
because you know, they were messing around and weren't professional.
But they only had one camera and so we had
to shoot it from like five different angles. They had
to shoot it from like my my vantage point, Rick's
(49:57):
vantage point in front, behind it. It a whole ordeal.
Speaker 1 (50:01):
Well, it was worth it because Rick told me he
now has seven franchises as trade. So I hope you
got the same. All right, Matt Colts rams coming up.
It'll be in and out Burger along with your McDonald's,
probably in LA. But we look forward to the game
and certainly appreciate the time as always.
Speaker 4 (50:15):
All right, boys, appreciate you guys having the weekend.
Speaker 1 (50:17):
That is the independent shopping. Matt Taylor joining us
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