00:00:00
Speaker 1: And we are back.
00:00:01
Speaker 2: It is a winning Monday here. Gorgeous Monday in the Circle City. Colts back from overseas, and they are 2-2 on the season.
00:00:10
Speaker 1: It is Colts. It is now Steelers upcoming here in Week 5. But for now, it is.
00:00:16
Speaker 2: A 30-13 win over the Commanders.
00:00:19
Speaker 1: Mark Dykton alongside Colts Corner with myself, Kevin Bowen. Mark, good morning, sir.
00:00:23
Speaker 3: Good morning. Thanks for having me once again.
00:00:25
Speaker 1: Thank you, as always. I cannot recall the last time I've watched a Colts game.
00:00:29
Speaker 2: The result has been a win. The result has been a 17-point victory. And I walked away with more questions about the team than I walked into the game with.
00:00:41
Speaker 3: The Colts will do that to you.
00:00:43
Speaker 2: Yeah. And I think listeners of this podcast, probably even more than our radio show, know this. My sole goal in speaking to the audience in whatever content I produce, I got to be honest. I think the Skip Bayless Stephen A. Smith is the fakest thing in the world. And I just can't do that. I can't do that. I don't care if it creates more listeners. I don't care if it, whatever, helps ratings. I can't, like, I know it sounds maybe a bit extreme. I can't live with myself. Like, I need to speak honestly about what I have witnessed or the topic that we're talking about. And this win is probably what has challenged it the most.
00:01:20
Speaker 3: Yeah.
00:01:21
Speaker 2: A win is a win. Well, okay, sure, yes, I could say that. And then am I just supposed to stop talking for the next 40 minutes?
00:01:28
Speaker 1: No, no. No, there's context. Win, lose, or draw. It's why this Monday podcast, Mark, has always been about what I liked and what I didn't like. Because there's always answers to both categories.
00:01:39
Speaker 3: When it's weird to have so many questions, too, after a game that had the largest margin of victory in week four to this point before Saints and Falcons has taken place.
00:01:50
Speaker 2: I think 12 was the biggest margin besides this one.
00:01:53
Speaker 1: So, yeah, I mean, you know this.
00:01:55
Speaker 2: NFL teams don't– I mean, you guys, you know, against the Jets yesterday. I mean, like, you know, an easy game, and yet still, you know, that wasn't at the 17-point margin. So, again, I don't know the last time I've been as confused about With a Colts performance, I guess succinctly, my eyes would say right now, if the same 16 quarter level of play that we've seen through the first four games, if that is the trend for this season. you'll be watching January football again.
00:02:31
Speaker 1: That's probably the most succinct way I can put it.
00:02:35
Speaker 2: And I would say the same thing about this four-quarter performance on Sunday, as weird as that sounds, of a 17-point win.
00:02:40
Speaker 1: But you know what? Sometimes in the NFL, Mark, gifts are presented to you.
00:02:44
Speaker 2: And I've tried to make a very poor gift analogy today, but when it is, your job is to open it. Not bitch, not moan, not whine, not say, where's the receipt? Not yell at a family member. Don't compound it.
00:02:58
Speaker 1: Don't have... More turnovers, which after the first quarter they didn't.
00:03:02
Speaker 2: Don't miss kicks. Don't have a bunch of penalties. The Colts were the more disciplined team. Their defensive tackles played great.
00:03:09
Speaker 1: Their running backs grinded it out. Spencer Schrader's right leg is a weapon.
00:03:13
Speaker 2: And you played a third-string rookie quarterback in a team missing seven or eight starters who was a very undisciplined team as well.
00:03:20
Speaker 1: You take that gift and you move on. Yep. And you have to improve. Yeah.
00:03:24
Speaker 3: You move to. 500. You now return stateside. You get ready for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Out in Pittsburgh, you're 2-2, which I think would be a solid first quarter. If you asked Shane Steichen with the truth serum, I think he would say that's fine. We have work to do, but we need to get better in a lot of areas, and quarterback is certainly one of them.
00:03:44
Speaker 1: Should we get into it? Sure.
00:03:46
Speaker 3: What did you like yesterday? It looks like the DT play is at top of mind. DeForest Buckner, I imagine, is right there with you.
00:03:53
Speaker 2: Yeah, and let's talk about them big picture and also individually with this game. First off, Individually with this game, when you had the issues you did offensively in the first quarter and you're putting your defense into these bad, sudden change situations, their ability to rise up and hold Washington to those two field goals, I cannot stress enough how vital that was to the Colts, not only just staying in the game early, but I think in a way creating these little mini victories to where.
00:04:23
Speaker 1: Like, yes, it said 6-0 on the scoreboard, but.
00:04:27
Speaker 2: I guess I never really felt that worried, worried early, you know, obviously the Marriott injury compounds things, but you know, those red zone stops were still with Marriott in the game. And it was Buckner on the first drive and it was out of time. We'll add a bar on the second drive. And then if I could throw one more in there, Mark, the fourth and one play by Jerry Tillery right after Jones.
00:04:47
Speaker 1: Through the God awful interception.
00:04:49
Speaker 2: I mean, those are just, huge, big-time plays by a position group that, big picture, they've played great. If I went through this team and you asked me, hey, what position groups in this season are playing at.
00:05:03
Speaker 1: A playoff caliber level?
00:05:05
Speaker 2: I'd unquestionably say defensive tackle, and I'd unquestionably say kicker.
00:05:11
Speaker 1: Like, no doubt in my mind.
00:05:12
Speaker 3: Those are elite level.
00:05:14
Speaker 1: And again, Buckner is the catalyst of it all. But huge.
00:05:17
Speaker 2: Adetomu Adebare has been really good in four games in a contract year for him. You know, simply just look at the red zone stats. You're 3 of 3 and they're 0 of 2. I mean, that's a huge difference in the game there. So very, very big by that defensive tackle group. And again, they're playing at a very, very high level. And I thought just critical early in the game when you're peeing down your leg, you're honestly having that rare bad offensive start.
00:05:44
Speaker 1: We're so used to this team getting off to great starts.
00:05:46
Speaker 3: Mm-hmm.
00:05:47
Speaker 1: That they hung in there and made those plays.
00:05:48
Speaker 3: I think DeForest Buckner has played incredible.
00:05:51
Speaker 1: I'm stunned by how, how good he looks.
00:05:53
Speaker 3: And all pro level coming off next surgery. I don't think even our best assumptions or projections of what he could have done would have been to this level. Him chasing down Mariota on that quarterback run was unbelievable. I mean, he looked like prime DeForest Buckner once again. So he has been just incredible in my eyes.
00:06:13
Speaker 1: Yeah, really, really good.
00:06:14
Speaker 2: I talked about it on the Wednesday podcast. He's playing the most that he did since his rookie year. I'm actually trying to look up his playing time right now. 80% yesterday, which, again, is a really, really high number for those that don't follow those things.
00:06:28
Speaker 1: So, yes. Great work, Buckner. Great work for those defensive tacklers.
00:06:32
Speaker 3: All right, check the box at defensive tackle. Let's check the box at running back. Jonathan Taylor and Seth McGowan, a two-headed monster in the making potentially.
00:06:40
Speaker 1: Yeah, I want to mention both, and thank you for doing that, Mark. And I get it.
00:06:43
Speaker 2: McGowan had six carries for 31 yards. But you go back and you watch those carries, and again, early in the game, that fourth.
00:06:50
Speaker 1: And one, where it looked like McGowan was stopped initially, and his second effort is able to kind of create, you know, Frankly, the drive continued.
00:07:02
Speaker 2: I'm going through it right now. I guess that would have been the second quarter, I think, is when McGowan had that. Probably the most playing time we've seen from him this year. So that was a drive that actually ended in the Jones interception. But still, just a great effort by him individually there. And obviously, it kind of paved the way for later in the game where I thought in the second half.
00:07:25
Speaker 1: You pretty much took the ball out of Daniel Jones's hands really at, after halftime.
00:07:31
Speaker 2: And I thought you pretty much trudged that game out via just moving the football seven completions for Jones after halftime.
00:07:39
Speaker 1: So 12 attempts.
00:07:41
Speaker 2: So again, much different than how you treated him in that first half with 22 attempts, understandably to be fair to Shane Steichen. So yeah, I wanted to mention those, those running backs, obviously Taylor. I think, I know the 100-yard game hasn't been there, but I think he continues to really run it at a very nice level. Offensive line play could have been a little cleaner in protection, but I thought their run blocking, again, took a little bit of time in that game, but it got there. So, yeah, those two running backs deserve mention. And I just like how Seth McGowan plays.
00:08:14
Speaker 3: Yeah, I don't think he's much of, like, he's not a change of pace back in the sense that he's, like, elusive as opposed to, like, kind of Jonathan Taylor's power running play. but he's a bruiser where he'll just go up the middle and smack you around and make you know that Seth McGowan was in the game and everything like that. So there's only six carries, but I thought that that is a performance where I'm like, I would like to see more of that going forward. Let Jonathan Taylor rest a little bit, get a little more fresh, and put McGowan out there for a little bit. It's a change of pace and kind of a different way of power running.
00:08:44
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a good way to put it, Mark, of like the defense, oh yeah, here comes lightning in the game because Thunder's going to the bench, but it's more of like, oh, you can't be arrested, and then here comes power, a guy that's running hard. You're walking out there, and I like him as a kick returner, to be honest with you, too. So, yeah, running back-wise, definitely something that I liked here in a game where you needed it.
00:09:09
Speaker 1: Because your passing offense was horrid.
00:09:11
Speaker 3: All right, another thing you liked, the discipline of the Colts. Very good going overseas. Got some nice discipline while they're out there.
00:09:20
Speaker 2: And I laugh, but I mean this, and I try to point out penalty differential when it pops up, certainly in this magnitude, because I do think it matters.
00:09:32
Speaker 1: And I say this in all seriousness.
00:09:34
Speaker 2: Under Shane Syken and largely under Chris Ballard, the Colts have been a pretty disciplined, least penalized football team. It's been a very common theme. And think back to some of the penalties of yesterday. The third and 14, the Robertson kid pushing Tyler Warren after the whistle.
00:09:54
Speaker 1: Boom.
00:09:54
Speaker 2: Extends a drive. Pretty sure that drive ended in points. Think about Antonio Williams' catch and run there in the second half. which tied the game.
00:10:01
Speaker 1: What happened? Penalties.
00:10:02
Speaker 2: I mean, critical Washington penalties. 10 for 84 yards. The Colts had one for five yards. The stat that I saw was a nine penalty differential in the positive. That was the best for the Colts since 2019. So you can go back seven years for the penalty discrepancy to be this good.
00:10:26
Speaker 1: And it's twofold.
00:10:27
Speaker 2: You did your part with one, and they obviously committed a bunch. Remember those special teams penalties you had early in the year? I felt like every time Washington returned a kicker or a punt yesterday, they got one of those. Those are big field position penalties, especially with a third string quarterback. So I do say this in all seriousness. Is it something you can bank on every week? Probably not just because it takes the other team to have, you know, poor discipline and poor fundamentals. But for the most part, the Colts are a quieter penalty team.
00:10:57
Speaker 3: They are the least penalized team in the NFL through four games in 2026, only 16 for 105. Yeah. The next closest is the 49ers, 17 for 173.
00:11:06
Speaker 2: And I think coming into the game, Mark, they were like top three. So it's not like just a one game anomaly kind of skews those stats early in the season. And this gets back to kind of what I was saying to lead off the podcast. And this is where I do want to make sure like, you know, we do mention the positives early. We do mention how you won the game early because that does deserve mention. Now, again, there is always, especially four games into a season, one eye looking forward to the rest of the year. What are things that need to improve? What are things that have been pretty good, et cetera, et cetera. But like when the gift is presented to you of the third string quarterback, missing seven or eight starters, and again, 10 penalties, it's your job to make sure you don't compound it. Don't open the door at all. And how do you open the door? You commit more turnovers than they did just in the first half.
00:11:59
Speaker 1: You miss kicks. You have penalties yourself. You didn't do that. So that is a legit compliment. Kudos to the Colts for handling that in the manner that they did.
00:12:08
Speaker 3: All right. You got everything off your chest of what you liked. Shall we move to what we didn't like? And I feel like that might be the chunk of this podcast going forward. That would start with the quarterback, Daniel Jones. Once again, I wrote down in my notes, the turnovers have a passport and they traveled to London. So they are good there. Daniel Jones continues to have the turnover machine active in 2026. He had a pair again yesterday. Your thoughts on Daniel Jones?
00:12:37
Speaker 1: Yeah. So there's a couple of things I want to get into in regards to Jones right here, Mark. First, let's talk the turnovers.
00:12:43
Speaker 2: I think what would be particularly alarming to me if I were Shane Steichen on this Monday morning going over this stuff is the repeatable turnovers. All week, the one criticism Shane would have about Daniel in terms of his turnovers and his improvement necessary was, you have to hold on to the football. When you are hit, you cannot make a bad play worse. Well, the second fricking play of the game, not only does it look weird and awkward and he's tripping and Ryman's getting bull rushed and it looks butt fumbly, but the ball comes out.
00:13:18
Speaker 1: It's like, you know, that can't.
00:13:20
Speaker 3: Relatively easily too. It looked like it just popped out of there.
00:13:23
Speaker 1: That is. And that is after that was the biggest coaching point all week long.
00:13:27
Speaker 2: Yeah. And it happens in the second play of the game and then go to the interception. It's the back foot interception again.
00:13:34
Speaker 3: Back-to-back weeks.
00:13:35
Speaker 2: And you could, you know, last week against Houston, you were definitely in field goal range. This one was more borderline field goal range.
00:13:41
Speaker 1: But it's not, like, it's not necessary. You know, we're not talking fourth downs in the.
00:13:48
Speaker 2: Fourth quarter where you're down eight or you're down a couple scores and you feel like you have to have it.
00:13:53
Speaker 1: You know, one of those things.
00:13:54
Speaker 3: No, no, no.
00:13:54
Speaker 2: These are all still very much in phase. First half in this case. And Jones makes it.
00:13:59
Speaker 1: So, it's the fact that this isn't Houston's defense. This is Washington's.
00:14:04
Speaker 2: They were a defense allowing, I believe, the second most points of any coming into this past week.
00:14:09
Speaker 3: We had a hard time naming three defensive players on that roster.
00:14:13
Speaker 1: So that, I think, is what would be like, oh my gosh, it's the same stuff. It's not exceptional.
00:14:19
Speaker 2: It's not Sonny Stiles looking like a freak, making some crazy play.
00:14:23
Speaker 1: No, this is the repeatable stuff that, again, to me would be very alarming.
00:14:27
Speaker 2: So that's one aspect of it. And then, Mark, let's just look Eternal Optimist at Daniel Jones. Let's say he had no turnovers yesterday. Let's say the interception falls incomplete. Let's say he holds onto the ball. 19 of 34 for 143 passing yards. That is 34 attempts. And again, we're going to take his interception out. Just call it an incompletion.
00:14:55
Speaker 1: 143 yards on 34.
00:14:59
Speaker 2: Attempts is awful from a yards per attempt standpoint. And when you're not doing much with your legs and you're having turnovers, that puts more of the critical eye on the yards per attempt. Because again, Mark, there are some quarterbacks in this league that do turn the ball over. Josh Allen's right up there with anybody in turnovers right now. But he creates so much else, he's able to overcome that. Or he's able to make that less of an issue. But when you don't do the other stuff, it makes the turnovers even more glaring. It's the neon light. It's your neighbor that has had the Halloween decorations up for three months. You know, it's that flashing at you. And just to put that yards per attempt number into context, Mark, 4.2.
00:15:45
Speaker 1: Yards per attempt. Daniel Jones has played 87 NFL games. That would rank 85th in his career, Mark. That isn't good.
00:15:58
Speaker 3: Well, I would say currently, yeah, he's near the bottom of the league. When you see some of the other players that are named in this category through four games in 2026, Cooper Rush, the guy you just played against in London yesterday, Ethan Callum McCannis. I butchered that name. I know I did.
00:16:17
Speaker 1: That sounded good to me. I'm going to try to say his name.
00:16:20
Speaker 3: Jalen Daniels, Jaden Daniels, Stetson Bennett, Jack Strand, Jacoby Brissett, Tommy DeVito. That's the company that Daniel Jones is currently keeping.
00:16:30
Speaker 1: And again, it's twofold. Yes, the turnovers are.
00:16:36
Speaker 2: The biggest issue, but the passing offense is not doing anything else. You are winning in spite of your $ 100 million quarterback.
00:16:46
Speaker 1: Maybe for Wednesday's pod, we can get more into this. Is it Achilles related?
00:16:50
Speaker 2: Has the rest of the NFL just caught up to the Daniel Jones thing?
00:16:54
Speaker 1: Was this a month and a half, two months of good football last year? And now.
00:16:59
Speaker 2: You made the analogy earlier today of it's the pitcher going through the order the second or third time.
00:17:04
Speaker 3: Yep.
00:17:04
Speaker 1: And, you know, people start to get to you.
00:17:06
Speaker 3: Start figuring it out a little bit. Okay.
00:17:09
Speaker 1: I mean, Washington's just eating up those screens yesterday. Just eating those screens up. And, like, you know, he had some errant other throws, you know, just off target. Behind receivers. Behind receivers, you know, those things.
00:17:23
Speaker 3: Way short.
00:17:24
Speaker 1: Right.
00:17:25
Speaker 3: Which is what that interception was. Off your back foot, and it was short.
00:17:28
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:17:29
Speaker 2: So again, it is a two-pronged issue right now with Jones. The biggest part is the turnovers. But also, your offense is just flat-out one-dimensional.
00:17:39
Speaker 1: One-dimensional. And when you struggle to get Taylor going early in a game, now it's putting even more pressure on you. So our audience is very knowledgeable. I think they get what yards per attempt means. It's a very, very key metric.
00:17:54
Speaker 2: It oftentimes can eliminate a little bit of the turnovers that can be a little fluky.
00:17:59
Speaker 1: But 34 attempts. Mark, you averaged more rushes. You averaged more yards per attempt at rushing the football.
00:18:08
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's crazy.
00:18:09
Speaker 1: Than you did throwing it. That almost never happens. And it's not like you ran, I mean, 4.3 yards.
00:18:14
Speaker 2: It's not like you ran at some extraordinary level.
00:18:18
Speaker 1: So, man, just really, really poor.
00:18:22
Speaker 2: Really, really poor.
00:18:24
Speaker 3: All right, someone on the other side of the ball also was really, really poor on Sunday and through four games, I would say. Sauce Gardner got torched a couple times late in the game, kept Washington around a little bit, but also I think the whole two first-round picks for Sauce Gardner, he thought you're getting a shutdown corner. No one gave that info to the third-string quarterback of the Washington Commanders, who seemed to be totally fine throwing at Sauce Gardner and having great success against him. with fourth or fifth-ranked wide receivers. So very curious your thoughts on Sauce Gardner's play through four games in yesterday.
00:19:03
Speaker 2: Well, I'm trying to look up this Jones thing real fast before we move on about.
00:19:13
Speaker 1: The yards per attempt.
00:19:16
Speaker 2: And I'm basically just looking at starting quarterbacks from this past year and what that number looks at. 122 quarterbacks have started a game in the NFL with at least 10 pass attempts. I feel like that's like a good metric, like AKA the player didn't exit early in the game and kind of get skewy. The performance yesterday by Jones was 120 out of 122. So again, just to add a little bit more to how poor that was. And that is largely taking the turnovers out of it. And if you look at like these quarterbacks that are at the bottom of this list, virtually all of them lose the game.
00:19:50
Speaker 1: All these quarterbacks lose the game.
00:19:52
Speaker 3: They're definitely not guys that are getting $ 100 million usually either.
00:19:55
Speaker 1: No, no, no, no. Sauce. Okay.
00:19:59
Speaker 2: Let's focus on the game for a second and then we'll go to kind of the bigger picture stuff that right or wrong is going to follow Sauce throughout his Colts career because the Colts made arguably the.
00:20:10
Speaker 1: Biggest trade in franchise history for him. I think.
00:20:15
Speaker 2: What stands out about those plays yesterday is this was not good out-gooding good.
00:20:23
Speaker 1: You know?
00:20:23
Speaker 3: I'm following you.
00:20:25
Speaker 1: Sometimes you have these moments.
00:20:27
Speaker 2: I remember Terry McLaurin inside of Lucas Oil Stadium a few years ago just kind of out-muscling Stephon Gilmore for the game-clinching play for Washington. And that is just, at times... You do the New York Yankees.
00:20:39
Speaker 1: Kid hat tip. A little hat tip. Your better was better than our better. That happens. These two plays, Mark, I'm not even talking about.
00:20:50
Speaker 2: The holding penalty, but I guess the holding penalty falls in the same boat that he had. It's the third string rookie quarterback throwing to his fourth string wide out on the touchdown and then coming back and throwing to his fifth string wide out on the big play down the far sideline.
00:21:05
Speaker 1: Great plays by the young rookie.
00:21:06
Speaker 2: To give him credit, but still, this is not good on good. This is fourth quarter of the final preseason game players making guys trying to make the roster usually.
00:21:17
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:21:17
Speaker 3: Right.
00:21:17
Speaker 2: Making these plays on the all pro that you gave up to first round picks for plus 80 Mitchell. So again, if it was whatever, um, you know, Justin Jefferson, Nico Collins, you know, whoever's a flower.
00:21:35
Speaker 3: Will be on the schedule soon.
00:21:36
Speaker 1: Right. But you know, some of these other white outs, there's an element over like 60 plays mark. You'd be like, you know what? They're going to win too.
00:21:43
Speaker 3: That's just DK Metcalf coming up on Sunday.
00:21:46
Speaker 2: Sure.
00:21:46
Speaker 3: Sure.
00:21:46
Speaker 1: There is some of that, but it's like, wait a minute. It was the, it wasn't digs. It wasn't McLaurin.
00:21:51
Speaker 2: Hell, it wasn't even Antonio Williams. Like that to me, I think is what is like, Oh boy. And you know, AJ Halsey a little bit of help here, a little bit of help there?
00:22:01
Speaker 1: Possibly, but still.
00:22:03
Speaker 2: I just look at Sauce, and we are, and again, this is perhaps a little unfair to him, but it's a reality of the message the Colts sent their fan base when they made that trade. They said, we are getting the best corner in the NFL. And when the trade happened, Mark, the first podcast we did after that trade, I laid out individually what you need out of Sauce as a player and team success-wise. In order for this trade to be considered a win, These are the things you need. And individually, an unquestioned All-Pro. Two corners on the first team All-Pro team.
00:22:36
Speaker 1: He has to be on that. You don't give up two first-round picks plus A.D.
00:22:42
Speaker 2: Mitchell for players that you think are anything less than that. That's just the reality of that type of trade. And does it create more of a critical eye on him?
00:22:52
Speaker 1: Perhaps.
00:22:53
Speaker 2: I mean, he was also a top five pick. Like, I mean, part of that just comes into the, how the NFL has viewed him. So flat out, you have to have better.
00:23:01
Speaker 1: And you know what?
00:23:02
Speaker 2: Shout out to Mooney Ward. Cause I thought he did a nice job staying in phase on some of those deep balls. I thought he played actually pretty well yesterday.
00:23:10
Speaker 1: So yeah, he has to be an all pro. And right now he's not playing like that.
00:23:15
Speaker 3: No, no, you've not gotten your money's worth or your draft capital. You gave up to get him to justify the trade so far.
00:23:22
Speaker 2: And, to be clear, like, would you like to see your O-line a little bit better to help out Daniel Jones?
00:23:27
Speaker 3: Sure.
00:23:27
Speaker 1: Would you like to see your pass rush a little bit better to help out sauce? Let me see balls. Sure. But the reality is those guys play positions and are getting paid an absurd amount of money to be the lifters of the boat, not the steady, the ship.
00:23:45
Speaker 3: Like this shouldn't be the anchors that are keeping you grounded.
00:23:48
Speaker 1: No, no, no. We need to lift things here. Um, In particular, Sauce. You know, Jones is part of it. He plays quarterback.
00:23:55
Speaker 2: But, you know, Sauce's resume is a little bit different on that front. So, yeah, man, that was– he got beat by some JV guys.
00:24:04
Speaker 3: Yeah, that was a rough watch. And there was a couple– yeah, both those plays you could see him trotting well behind guys. And then the penalty as well. So, a poor showing by him. Hopefully he gets better. But the competition, that should have been– Pretty easy. Like you said, varsity versus JV is what that should have been. Now you're going varsity against varsity going forward. DK Metcalf, Michael Pittman Jr. going forward. So any other things you didn't like or should we transfer over to Twitter questions?
00:24:32
Speaker 1: I think we're good. I think we're good.
00:24:33
Speaker 2: Let's get into Twitter.
00:24:35
Speaker 3: All right. I hope I'm doing justice to this name. Bomi says, greetings from Germany. A little international flair there. It was the first time the Colts really struggled at the beginning of the game. Usually this was a strength of Shane Steichen. Was it just bad execution or was it play calling that bad? Or did they just get outplayed by the commander's defense? Great work with the pod and all content for the last two years. I've appreciated all of your content to stay on track as a fan abroad. You got stuck. You got me stuck in your news bubble.
00:25:03
Speaker 1: Oh, well, that's a compliment, right?
00:25:06
Speaker 3: I would say so.
00:25:07
Speaker 1: Bomi, thank you. I hope I'm saying that correct there, but I hope everything is well.
00:25:12
Speaker 2: In Germany, you know, early on, I just think it was the repeatable turnovers from Jones to go back there. I didn't, you know, did I think they could have sprinkled Taylor in a little bit more early?
00:25:22
Speaker 1: Sure.
00:25:22
Speaker 2: But they have had good early game pass success, like literally throwing the ball. So I don't think it's that crazy to, you know, enter a game with a little bit more of that focus there. But man, you watch Washington just suffocate those underneath routes, you know? and the screens, and some of this I do think is life without Alec Pierce. I think there is some of that, and you're going to have to lean on this run game, and again, it might be tough sledding. I want to go back and look at what Taylor had in that first half, because eight for 32, so obviously four yards of carry there, but still, tough sledding early on, I think, from the run game is what you're going to see, so maybe a little bit more on the Taylor front, but I just think you got to call a spade a spade, and that.
00:26:07
Speaker 1: Was just bad, bad, bad from Daniel Jones.
00:26:09
Speaker 2: And then when you did get time, I think right now schematically it's tough for this passing offense to create a whole, whole lot.
00:26:16
Speaker 1: And again, it's against a Washington defense that there's not much there. No.
00:26:23
Speaker 3: You'd say Max Bowen's on the roster, and I probably believe you right now, sight unseen. All right, Mason keeps us rolling. How much of the Colts' defense is actually playing better? Do you think this is just the competition? They got shredded by Baltimore and Kansas City. then looked a lot better against Houston and Washington, but those two are pretty bad offenses. In big picture, do you worry this is kind of what the Colts do? They get a small sample of decent results against inferior competition and decide things are fine instead of really addressing the bigger problems. Year after year, this organization seems pretty comfortable with mediocrity. Am I being too cynical?
00:26:55
Speaker 2: No, I mean, Mason, there's certainly validity to say that the Steichen era is largely they beat the bad teams and lose to the good teams. You know, you could look at the record against teams above 500, and it's not good. And right now that schedule, I guess, would indicate it, right? Yep. You know, you lost to Baltimore and Kansas City, and you beat teams' combined record of 1-7. So the good news is the next two weeks, you know, Pittsburgh to me is not that daunting, to be honest with you, and then Tennessee.
00:27:22
Speaker 1: So, I mean, there is a real opportunity to get to 4-2.
00:27:24
Speaker 3: Yep.
00:27:25
Speaker 2: And then the schedule gets a little tougher there end of October through November. You know, I'm a big believer in not all 2-2s.
00:27:32
Speaker 1: Are created equal.
00:27:34
Speaker 2: I just, like Mark, if we said right now, do you feel better about the Rams.
00:27:40
Speaker 1: Winning a playoff game or the Colts winning a playoff game? What would be your answer?
00:27:43
Speaker 3: It would be the Rams, no questions asked.
00:27:45
Speaker 2: If I said to you, do you feel better about the Eagles winning a playoff game or the Colts winning a playoff game?
00:27:49
Speaker 1: Eagles. So, and again, I think that's.
00:27:51
Speaker 2: Kind of part of our job of like, yes, there's an element of a win is a win, but I'll go back to what I said last week. Your how will help dictate how many of these there are. And right now your how, is two and two that will be under 500. Like, your how must get better. Or else, you know, big changes are frankly probably coming. I mean, if you want to contextualize yesterday a little bit more, Mark, let's put it into Colts terms.
00:28:20
Speaker 1: The commander's injury situation. So the Colts were missing what? Pierce, Allen.
00:28:29
Speaker 3: Doolin left.
00:28:30
Speaker 1: Yeah, Doolin left in the second half. I mean, again, some of these guys left late.
00:28:35
Speaker 3: Ryman left.
00:28:36
Speaker 1: But came back.
00:28:37
Speaker 3: But came back.
00:28:38
Speaker 1: Washington is missing in the game.
00:28:41
Speaker 3: That was crazy what you were saying earlier.
00:28:43
Speaker 2: The equivalent of the Colts playing without Daniel Jones, Anthony Richardson, Seth McGowan, Alec Pierce, Bernard Ryman, Matt Gonzalez, Arden Key, insert your linebacker here, and both safeties.
00:28:59
Speaker 1: Buying them. Like that.
00:29:00
Speaker 3: That's insane.
00:29:02
Speaker 1: That's the reality.
00:29:03
Speaker 2: And again, this gets back into like, sometimes these situations arise on a schedule and it's your job to take care of business. But the 60 minute product, like, you know, people are trying to dissect the defense from yesterday. And it's like, I point to the defensive tackles. Cause like, that's just a line of scrimmage thing. You know, there's really not that Galifianakis with that, whatever the hell the name quarterback's name is.
00:29:25
Speaker 1: Ed Sheeran's third cousin. Like, There's not a lot, I think, to take away from like how much he's testing you per se.
00:29:33
Speaker 2: Um good good certainly um but there are some like okay you know positional wise are there healthier groups here versus there um so it's your job to again handle business but then also the big picture view of it it's like okay are these things a recipe you know is your edge pass rush a winning recipe right is sauce gardener playing that all of those things, is Daniel Jones playing at that level. You know, when I look at like the top eight or nine players on the roster, Mark can think who has played up to that level early on.
00:30:10
Speaker 1: Buckner. Taylor. Ward.
00:30:18
Speaker 2: Ward I was thinking about. But I wouldn't put certainly Jones in that category.
00:30:23
Speaker 3: Warren.
00:30:24
Speaker 1: No. Probably not even the O-line. I mean, maybe Nelson.
00:30:26
Speaker 3: Warren's heating up a little bit, but he still is not having the impact that I thought he would have.
00:30:31
Speaker 1: Not Ryman. Obviously not Sauce. Not Latu. So those are things that you.
00:30:39
Speaker 2: Have to, have to, have to improve on if you're going to be playing meaningful football down the stretch.
00:30:44
Speaker 3: Yeah, and I would say Sauce, Gardner, and the rest of the secondary, if you're getting tested against the fourth and fifth stringers of Washington, then buckle up because there are some true tests on the way on the schedule. We've got DK, Matt Kiffin, Michael Pittman Jr. coming up on Sunday. Week 7, you got Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison on the way. Brian Thomas Jr. and Parker Washington. CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens. So there are some true tests that are going to, you know, see what the secondary is truly made of. This big money secondary. Because the true tests are coming in a few weeks.
00:31:13
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, definitely.
00:31:15
Speaker 3: Alright, last but not least, Isaac says, Why was Darius Slayton out again? You're asking a question I have too. Especially with Keenan missing this game.
00:31:24
Speaker 1: Yeah, so I do think this belongs in a little bit of the head-scratching category.
00:31:28
Speaker 2: I didn't get great vibes as the week moved along. Now, that was before Keenan Allen got hurt. Then he gets hurt in practice.
00:31:34
Speaker 1: I'm thinking, oh, boy, this has to open the door for.
00:31:36
Speaker 3: Slayton, right? Yeah, for sure.
00:31:38
Speaker 1: And it doesn't.
00:31:39
Speaker 2: I mean, I.
00:31:41
Speaker 1: Get it's a different offense, but, Mark, we're talking about a veteran in the NFL.
00:31:45
Speaker 2: And we're not talking Keenan Allen, Xavier Howard straight off the couch. Like, Darius Slayton participated with the Giants all offseason long. Now– maybe the Colts are seeing why Darius Slayton couldn't.
00:31:55
Speaker 1: Crack the Giants wide out core. Is that something maybe, you know, like.
00:32:00
Speaker 3: But even still, like we've kind of said about CJ Allen with the linebacker crew, you look at the Colts wide receiver crew, like you can't crack that right now.
00:32:07
Speaker 1: I know. Um, and let's, let's get to Allen here in just a second.
00:32:10
Speaker 2: But yeah, I, uh, I figure with a Daniel Jones history, especially playing a position, Mark, where you can rotate. Like Nick Westbrook-Akene played, what, like 12 snaps yesterday? Deion Burks played like something right around those lines.
00:32:22
Speaker 3: Which I would have been fine if Darius Slayton played that.
00:32:25
Speaker 1: Yeah. So the wideout snaps yesterday. Treadwell, 56. Downs, 51. Doolin, 23. Burks, 15. Westbrook-Akene, 11. Yeah, you would think... he could factor in in some way, shape, or form.
00:32:42
Speaker 3: Even if he's just, like, you know, a dummy out there. Like, as far as, like, just, like, a decoy is a better term. Yeah, just put him out there.
00:32:50
Speaker 1: Go routes and call it a day. On the C.J. Allen front.
00:32:55
Speaker 3: Woof.
00:32:58
Speaker 2: I remember getting to the end of the game and being like, man, it felt like C.J. Allen played, like, little to none. I'm like, oh, I had to have just missed him. Sure enough, on the snap counts from yesterday, C.J. Allen played zero defensive snaps, zero special team snaps.
00:33:17
Speaker 3: Healthy and active once again.
00:33:19
Speaker 1: Like, again, Mark, you're up three scores with two minutes to go in the game. Like, you can't even get in then?
00:33:27
Speaker 3: Nope.
00:33:27
Speaker 1: Washington had a drive, I think, after the two-minute warning.
00:33:29
Speaker 2: Like, I've never seen– I said after week one, I don't think I've ever seen a linebacker ever dress– be healthy and not play a single snap on defensive special teams in a game. And now he's done it twice in four weeks. And the one difference about this time around, there were four linebackers that played over him in the opener. There were three linebackers that played over him. Now they've added a fourth. So he's dropped in the depth chart.
00:33:56
Speaker 1: Yeah, seriously.
00:33:57
Speaker 2: Akeem Davis Gaither has played 62 of 64. Then you go to the next linebacker. Jalen Carlisle plays 30. And remember Carlisle exited early with a rib injury. Bryce Boettcher, kind of been split in time with Carlisle. He played 18, an additional 13 he played on special teams. And then Austin Ajayki, number 58, made a great hit on special teams. He played 17 on defense.
00:34:20
Speaker 1: So the Colts viewed it not just needing to be Carlisle and Boettcher. They were willing to go with a third linebacker at that spot. Because I think with the mic, it's like, okay, Akeem Davis-Gaither's here. But again, the will, Allen.
00:34:36
Speaker 3: None. None.
00:34:40
Speaker 1: It's not good.
00:34:41
Speaker 2: You know, people have thrown out, you know, he's been Banigou. He's, you know, some of these, like, bus names. What's interesting, like, take Banigou for.
00:34:51
Speaker 1: Example here. College, right?
00:34:54
Speaker 2: He was a college linebacker turned NFL defensive end, I think is what Banigou was.
00:34:58
Speaker 3: Mm-hmm.
00:34:59
Speaker 2: You have some of these second-round picks, Mark, that get drafted to be kind of projects.
00:35:04
Speaker 1: Or developmental plans. You know, A.D. Mitchell was kind of that, a little bit of like flashes in college, a little inconsistent. We believe we're going to get inconsistent.
00:35:14
Speaker 3: Let's take a flyer on him so we can get out of him.
00:35:16
Speaker 1: That wasn't Allen. He was a two-and-a-half-year starter at Georgia.
00:35:19
Speaker 3: He wasn't from like a Division II or III school.
00:35:22
Speaker 1: No.
00:35:23
Speaker 3: The heart of the SEC, Georgia.
00:35:24
Speaker 2: Right, and this is not some crazy testing athlete that barely played at Georgia, and you're kind of like, oh no, trust me, his traits are so good, this is too good to pass up.
00:35:33
Speaker 1: And yet, he's not getting onto the field.
00:35:37
Speaker 3: You were told post-draft, he's a green dot guy from day one, and yet he's been a healthy scratch in two of the four games this season. Can't sniff the lineup, and now apparently he's dropped in the depth chart as well. Because even when injuries happen, they're not going to him.
00:35:51
Speaker 1: Yeah, going down to a fourth.
00:35:54
Speaker 3: I don't get it. And it's either a completely overdrafted pick by Chris Ballard or he just, I don't know. He's not grasping the playbook, but then again, that's all that also falls on the, you way overdrafted his, his position.
00:36:11
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:36:11
Speaker 3: I don't know what it is, but it's inexcusable at this point. 53rd overall pick can't see the field. And again, this ain't like the purple people leaders out there. You can't crack that linebacker crew.
00:36:21
Speaker 1: Right.
00:36:21
Speaker 3: Something's up. Yeah. I don't know if they're going to be– they're not being honest with it, but there's something going on that's deeper than just, well, he missed time in training camp, and he doesn't fully have the playbook understood. I don't buy that at all.
00:36:34
Speaker 2: I do think it's a little bit more mental than maybe they are letting on of, like, the handling of it. But still, I think there are areas, you know, especially early on when, like, Bynum was doing the communication duties to where that's not always, you know, on– on his plate. And I didn't, I didn't get the impression that like, he's only a Mike, like he's not even going to sniff playing the will position here. And again, you, you didn't, I mean, I guess maybe it wasn't a true walk on situation at the end of the game, but when you're up three scores or three minutes ago in a game, can you not throw the rookie linebacker out there for a few snaps?
00:37:12
Speaker 3: Like what's the worst that can happen? Sauce Gardner gives up a deep play to trail on Berks.
00:37:17
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:37:17
Speaker 3: I mean, at that point, you're not, But even still, you should be able to get some run there. See what you got in the guy. Learn by doing.
00:37:24
Speaker 1: He is Mark Dykton. I am Kevin Bowe. And the Colts, 2-2.
00:37:28
Speaker 2: They win 30-13 yesterday over the Washington Commanders in one of the weirder games I've watched and also examined here moving forward.
00:37:38
Speaker 1: The beautiful thing about life in the NFL.
00:37:40
Speaker 2: Man, 12, 13 more chances to rewrite the script. Right now, the script I think would have you watching the playoffs for another season in a row, but it's October 5th and you got a lot of football to go.
00:37:56
Speaker 1: We'll be back Wednesday. Another pod.
00:37:57
Speaker 3: Thanks everybody.
Speaker 1: And we are back.
00:00:01
Speaker 2: It is a winning Monday here. Gorgeous Monday in the Circle City. Colts back from overseas, and they are 2-2 on the season.
00:00:10
Speaker 1: It is Colts. It is now Steelers upcoming here in Week 5. But for now, it is.
00:00:16
Speaker 2: A 30-13 win over the Commanders.
00:00:19
Speaker 1: Mark Dykton alongside Colts Corner with myself, Kevin Bowen. Mark, good morning, sir.
00:00:23
Speaker 3: Good morning. Thanks for having me once again.
00:00:25
Speaker 1: Thank you, as always. I cannot recall the last time I've watched a Colts game.
00:00:29
Speaker 2: The result has been a win. The result has been a 17-point victory. And I walked away with more questions about the team than I walked into the game with.
00:00:41
Speaker 3: The Colts will do that to you.
00:00:43
Speaker 2: Yeah. And I think listeners of this podcast, probably even more than our radio show, know this. My sole goal in speaking to the audience in whatever content I produce, I got to be honest. I think the Skip Bayless Stephen A. Smith is the fakest thing in the world. And I just can't do that. I can't do that. I don't care if it creates more listeners. I don't care if it, whatever, helps ratings. I can't, like, I know it sounds maybe a bit extreme. I can't live with myself. Like, I need to speak honestly about what I have witnessed or the topic that we're talking about. And this win is probably what has challenged it the most.
00:01:20
Speaker 3: Yeah.
00:01:21
Speaker 2: A win is a win. Well, okay, sure, yes, I could say that. And then am I just supposed to stop talking for the next 40 minutes?
00:01:28
Speaker 1: No, no. No, there's context. Win, lose, or draw. It's why this Monday podcast, Mark, has always been about what I liked and what I didn't like. Because there's always answers to both categories.
00:01:39
Speaker 3: When it's weird to have so many questions, too, after a game that had the largest margin of victory in week four to this point before Saints and Falcons has taken place.
00:01:50
Speaker 2: I think 12 was the biggest margin besides this one.
00:01:53
Speaker 1: So, yeah, I mean, you know this.
00:01:55
Speaker 2: NFL teams don't– I mean, you guys, you know, against the Jets yesterday. I mean, like, you know, an easy game, and yet still, you know, that wasn't at the 17-point margin. So, again, I don't know the last time I've been as confused about With a Colts performance, I guess succinctly, my eyes would say right now, if the same 16 quarter level of play that we've seen through the first four games, if that is the trend for this season. you'll be watching January football again.
00:02:31
Speaker 1: That's probably the most succinct way I can put it.
00:02:35
Speaker 2: And I would say the same thing about this four-quarter performance on Sunday, as weird as that sounds, of a 17-point win.
00:02:40
Speaker 1: But you know what? Sometimes in the NFL, Mark, gifts are presented to you.
00:02:44
Speaker 2: And I've tried to make a very poor gift analogy today, but when it is, your job is to open it. Not bitch, not moan, not whine, not say, where's the receipt? Not yell at a family member. Don't compound it.
00:02:58
Speaker 1: Don't have... More turnovers, which after the first quarter they didn't.
00:03:02
Speaker 2: Don't miss kicks. Don't have a bunch of penalties. The Colts were the more disciplined team. Their defensive tackles played great.
00:03:09
Speaker 1: Their running backs grinded it out. Spencer Schrader's right leg is a weapon.
00:03:13
Speaker 2: And you played a third-string rookie quarterback in a team missing seven or eight starters who was a very undisciplined team as well.
00:03:20
Speaker 1: You take that gift and you move on. Yep. And you have to improve. Yeah.
00:03:24
Speaker 3: You move to. 500. You now return stateside. You get ready for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Out in Pittsburgh, you're 2-2, which I think would be a solid first quarter. If you asked Shane Steichen with the truth serum, I think he would say that's fine. We have work to do, but we need to get better in a lot of areas, and quarterback is certainly one of them.
00:03:44
Speaker 1: Should we get into it? Sure.
00:03:46
Speaker 3: What did you like yesterday? It looks like the DT play is at top of mind. DeForest Buckner, I imagine, is right there with you.
00:03:53
Speaker 2: Yeah, and let's talk about them big picture and also individually with this game. First off, Individually with this game, when you had the issues you did offensively in the first quarter and you're putting your defense into these bad, sudden change situations, their ability to rise up and hold Washington to those two field goals, I cannot stress enough how vital that was to the Colts, not only just staying in the game early, but I think in a way creating these little mini victories to where.
00:04:23
Speaker 1: Like, yes, it said 6-0 on the scoreboard, but.
00:04:27
Speaker 2: I guess I never really felt that worried, worried early, you know, obviously the Marriott injury compounds things, but you know, those red zone stops were still with Marriott in the game. And it was Buckner on the first drive and it was out of time. We'll add a bar on the second drive. And then if I could throw one more in there, Mark, the fourth and one play by Jerry Tillery right after Jones.
00:04:47
Speaker 1: Through the God awful interception.
00:04:49
Speaker 2: I mean, those are just, huge, big-time plays by a position group that, big picture, they've played great. If I went through this team and you asked me, hey, what position groups in this season are playing at.
00:05:03
Speaker 1: A playoff caliber level?
00:05:05
Speaker 2: I'd unquestionably say defensive tackle, and I'd unquestionably say kicker.
00:05:11
Speaker 1: Like, no doubt in my mind.
00:05:12
Speaker 3: Those are elite level.
00:05:14
Speaker 1: And again, Buckner is the catalyst of it all. But huge.
00:05:17
Speaker 2: Adetomu Adebare has been really good in four games in a contract year for him. You know, simply just look at the red zone stats. You're 3 of 3 and they're 0 of 2. I mean, that's a huge difference in the game there. So very, very big by that defensive tackle group. And again, they're playing at a very, very high level. And I thought just critical early in the game when you're peeing down your leg, you're honestly having that rare bad offensive start.
00:05:44
Speaker 1: We're so used to this team getting off to great starts.
00:05:46
Speaker 3: Mm-hmm.
00:05:47
Speaker 1: That they hung in there and made those plays.
00:05:48
Speaker 3: I think DeForest Buckner has played incredible.
00:05:51
Speaker 1: I'm stunned by how, how good he looks.
00:05:53
Speaker 3: And all pro level coming off next surgery. I don't think even our best assumptions or projections of what he could have done would have been to this level. Him chasing down Mariota on that quarterback run was unbelievable. I mean, he looked like prime DeForest Buckner once again. So he has been just incredible in my eyes.
00:06:13
Speaker 1: Yeah, really, really good.
00:06:14
Speaker 2: I talked about it on the Wednesday podcast. He's playing the most that he did since his rookie year. I'm actually trying to look up his playing time right now. 80% yesterday, which, again, is a really, really high number for those that don't follow those things.
00:06:28
Speaker 1: So, yes. Great work, Buckner. Great work for those defensive tacklers.
00:06:32
Speaker 3: All right, check the box at defensive tackle. Let's check the box at running back. Jonathan Taylor and Seth McGowan, a two-headed monster in the making potentially.
00:06:40
Speaker 1: Yeah, I want to mention both, and thank you for doing that, Mark. And I get it.
00:06:43
Speaker 2: McGowan had six carries for 31 yards. But you go back and you watch those carries, and again, early in the game, that fourth.
00:06:50
Speaker 1: And one, where it looked like McGowan was stopped initially, and his second effort is able to kind of create, you know, Frankly, the drive continued.
00:07:02
Speaker 2: I'm going through it right now. I guess that would have been the second quarter, I think, is when McGowan had that. Probably the most playing time we've seen from him this year. So that was a drive that actually ended in the Jones interception. But still, just a great effort by him individually there. And obviously, it kind of paved the way for later in the game where I thought in the second half.
00:07:25
Speaker 1: You pretty much took the ball out of Daniel Jones's hands really at, after halftime.
00:07:31
Speaker 2: And I thought you pretty much trudged that game out via just moving the football seven completions for Jones after halftime.
00:07:39
Speaker 1: So 12 attempts.
00:07:41
Speaker 2: So again, much different than how you treated him in that first half with 22 attempts, understandably to be fair to Shane Steichen. So yeah, I wanted to mention those, those running backs, obviously Taylor. I think, I know the 100-yard game hasn't been there, but I think he continues to really run it at a very nice level. Offensive line play could have been a little cleaner in protection, but I thought their run blocking, again, took a little bit of time in that game, but it got there. So, yeah, those two running backs deserve mention. And I just like how Seth McGowan plays.
00:08:14
Speaker 3: Yeah, I don't think he's much of, like, he's not a change of pace back in the sense that he's, like, elusive as opposed to, like, kind of Jonathan Taylor's power running play. but he's a bruiser where he'll just go up the middle and smack you around and make you know that Seth McGowan was in the game and everything like that. So there's only six carries, but I thought that that is a performance where I'm like, I would like to see more of that going forward. Let Jonathan Taylor rest a little bit, get a little more fresh, and put McGowan out there for a little bit. It's a change of pace and kind of a different way of power running.
00:08:44
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a good way to put it, Mark, of like the defense, oh yeah, here comes lightning in the game because Thunder's going to the bench, but it's more of like, oh, you can't be arrested, and then here comes power, a guy that's running hard. You're walking out there, and I like him as a kick returner, to be honest with you, too. So, yeah, running back-wise, definitely something that I liked here in a game where you needed it.
00:09:09
Speaker 1: Because your passing offense was horrid.
00:09:11
Speaker 3: All right, another thing you liked, the discipline of the Colts. Very good going overseas. Got some nice discipline while they're out there.
00:09:20
Speaker 2: And I laugh, but I mean this, and I try to point out penalty differential when it pops up, certainly in this magnitude, because I do think it matters.
00:09:32
Speaker 1: And I say this in all seriousness.
00:09:34
Speaker 2: Under Shane Syken and largely under Chris Ballard, the Colts have been a pretty disciplined, least penalized football team. It's been a very common theme. And think back to some of the penalties of yesterday. The third and 14, the Robertson kid pushing Tyler Warren after the whistle.
00:09:54
Speaker 1: Boom.
00:09:54
Speaker 2: Extends a drive. Pretty sure that drive ended in points. Think about Antonio Williams' catch and run there in the second half. which tied the game.
00:10:01
Speaker 1: What happened? Penalties.
00:10:02
Speaker 2: I mean, critical Washington penalties. 10 for 84 yards. The Colts had one for five yards. The stat that I saw was a nine penalty differential in the positive. That was the best for the Colts since 2019. So you can go back seven years for the penalty discrepancy to be this good.
00:10:26
Speaker 1: And it's twofold.
00:10:27
Speaker 2: You did your part with one, and they obviously committed a bunch. Remember those special teams penalties you had early in the year? I felt like every time Washington returned a kicker or a punt yesterday, they got one of those. Those are big field position penalties, especially with a third string quarterback. So I do say this in all seriousness. Is it something you can bank on every week? Probably not just because it takes the other team to have, you know, poor discipline and poor fundamentals. But for the most part, the Colts are a quieter penalty team.
00:10:57
Speaker 3: They are the least penalized team in the NFL through four games in 2026, only 16 for 105. Yeah. The next closest is the 49ers, 17 for 173.
00:11:06
Speaker 2: And I think coming into the game, Mark, they were like top three. So it's not like just a one game anomaly kind of skews those stats early in the season. And this gets back to kind of what I was saying to lead off the podcast. And this is where I do want to make sure like, you know, we do mention the positives early. We do mention how you won the game early because that does deserve mention. Now, again, there is always, especially four games into a season, one eye looking forward to the rest of the year. What are things that need to improve? What are things that have been pretty good, et cetera, et cetera. But like when the gift is presented to you of the third string quarterback, missing seven or eight starters, and again, 10 penalties, it's your job to make sure you don't compound it. Don't open the door at all. And how do you open the door? You commit more turnovers than they did just in the first half.
00:11:59
Speaker 1: You miss kicks. You have penalties yourself. You didn't do that. So that is a legit compliment. Kudos to the Colts for handling that in the manner that they did.
00:12:08
Speaker 3: All right. You got everything off your chest of what you liked. Shall we move to what we didn't like? And I feel like that might be the chunk of this podcast going forward. That would start with the quarterback, Daniel Jones. Once again, I wrote down in my notes, the turnovers have a passport and they traveled to London. So they are good there. Daniel Jones continues to have the turnover machine active in 2026. He had a pair again yesterday. Your thoughts on Daniel Jones?
00:12:37
Speaker 1: Yeah. So there's a couple of things I want to get into in regards to Jones right here, Mark. First, let's talk the turnovers.
00:12:43
Speaker 2: I think what would be particularly alarming to me if I were Shane Steichen on this Monday morning going over this stuff is the repeatable turnovers. All week, the one criticism Shane would have about Daniel in terms of his turnovers and his improvement necessary was, you have to hold on to the football. When you are hit, you cannot make a bad play worse. Well, the second fricking play of the game, not only does it look weird and awkward and he's tripping and Ryman's getting bull rushed and it looks butt fumbly, but the ball comes out.
00:13:18
Speaker 1: It's like, you know, that can't.
00:13:20
Speaker 3: Relatively easily too. It looked like it just popped out of there.
00:13:23
Speaker 1: That is. And that is after that was the biggest coaching point all week long.
00:13:27
Speaker 2: Yeah. And it happens in the second play of the game and then go to the interception. It's the back foot interception again.
00:13:34
Speaker 3: Back-to-back weeks.
00:13:35
Speaker 2: And you could, you know, last week against Houston, you were definitely in field goal range. This one was more borderline field goal range.
00:13:41
Speaker 1: But it's not, like, it's not necessary. You know, we're not talking fourth downs in the.
00:13:48
Speaker 2: Fourth quarter where you're down eight or you're down a couple scores and you feel like you have to have it.
00:13:53
Speaker 1: You know, one of those things.
00:13:54
Speaker 3: No, no, no.
00:13:54
Speaker 2: These are all still very much in phase. First half in this case. And Jones makes it.
00:13:59
Speaker 1: So, it's the fact that this isn't Houston's defense. This is Washington's.
00:14:04
Speaker 2: They were a defense allowing, I believe, the second most points of any coming into this past week.
00:14:09
Speaker 3: We had a hard time naming three defensive players on that roster.
00:14:13
Speaker 1: So that, I think, is what would be like, oh my gosh, it's the same stuff. It's not exceptional.
00:14:19
Speaker 2: It's not Sonny Stiles looking like a freak, making some crazy play.
00:14:23
Speaker 1: No, this is the repeatable stuff that, again, to me would be very alarming.
00:14:27
Speaker 2: So that's one aspect of it. And then, Mark, let's just look Eternal Optimist at Daniel Jones. Let's say he had no turnovers yesterday. Let's say the interception falls incomplete. Let's say he holds onto the ball. 19 of 34 for 143 passing yards. That is 34 attempts. And again, we're going to take his interception out. Just call it an incompletion.
00:14:55
Speaker 1: 143 yards on 34.
00:14:59
Speaker 2: Attempts is awful from a yards per attempt standpoint. And when you're not doing much with your legs and you're having turnovers, that puts more of the critical eye on the yards per attempt. Because again, Mark, there are some quarterbacks in this league that do turn the ball over. Josh Allen's right up there with anybody in turnovers right now. But he creates so much else, he's able to overcome that. Or he's able to make that less of an issue. But when you don't do the other stuff, it makes the turnovers even more glaring. It's the neon light. It's your neighbor that has had the Halloween decorations up for three months. You know, it's that flashing at you. And just to put that yards per attempt number into context, Mark, 4.2.
00:15:45
Speaker 1: Yards per attempt. Daniel Jones has played 87 NFL games. That would rank 85th in his career, Mark. That isn't good.
00:15:58
Speaker 3: Well, I would say currently, yeah, he's near the bottom of the league. When you see some of the other players that are named in this category through four games in 2026, Cooper Rush, the guy you just played against in London yesterday, Ethan Callum McCannis. I butchered that name. I know I did.
00:16:17
Speaker 1: That sounded good to me. I'm going to try to say his name.
00:16:20
Speaker 3: Jalen Daniels, Jaden Daniels, Stetson Bennett, Jack Strand, Jacoby Brissett, Tommy DeVito. That's the company that Daniel Jones is currently keeping.
00:16:30
Speaker 1: And again, it's twofold. Yes, the turnovers are.
00:16:36
Speaker 2: The biggest issue, but the passing offense is not doing anything else. You are winning in spite of your $ 100 million quarterback.
00:16:46
Speaker 1: Maybe for Wednesday's pod, we can get more into this. Is it Achilles related?
00:16:50
Speaker 2: Has the rest of the NFL just caught up to the Daniel Jones thing?
00:16:54
Speaker 1: Was this a month and a half, two months of good football last year? And now.
00:16:59
Speaker 2: You made the analogy earlier today of it's the pitcher going through the order the second or third time.
00:17:04
Speaker 3: Yep.
00:17:04
Speaker 1: And, you know, people start to get to you.
00:17:06
Speaker 3: Start figuring it out a little bit. Okay.
00:17:09
Speaker 1: I mean, Washington's just eating up those screens yesterday. Just eating those screens up. And, like, you know, he had some errant other throws, you know, just off target. Behind receivers. Behind receivers, you know, those things.
00:17:23
Speaker 3: Way short.
00:17:24
Speaker 1: Right.
00:17:25
Speaker 3: Which is what that interception was. Off your back foot, and it was short.
00:17:28
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:17:29
Speaker 2: So again, it is a two-pronged issue right now with Jones. The biggest part is the turnovers. But also, your offense is just flat-out one-dimensional.
00:17:39
Speaker 1: One-dimensional. And when you struggle to get Taylor going early in a game, now it's putting even more pressure on you. So our audience is very knowledgeable. I think they get what yards per attempt means. It's a very, very key metric.
00:17:54
Speaker 2: It oftentimes can eliminate a little bit of the turnovers that can be a little fluky.
00:17:59
Speaker 1: But 34 attempts. Mark, you averaged more rushes. You averaged more yards per attempt at rushing the football.
00:18:08
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's crazy.
00:18:09
Speaker 1: Than you did throwing it. That almost never happens. And it's not like you ran, I mean, 4.3 yards.
00:18:14
Speaker 2: It's not like you ran at some extraordinary level.
00:18:18
Speaker 1: So, man, just really, really poor.
00:18:22
Speaker 2: Really, really poor.
00:18:24
Speaker 3: All right, someone on the other side of the ball also was really, really poor on Sunday and through four games, I would say. Sauce Gardner got torched a couple times late in the game, kept Washington around a little bit, but also I think the whole two first-round picks for Sauce Gardner, he thought you're getting a shutdown corner. No one gave that info to the third-string quarterback of the Washington Commanders, who seemed to be totally fine throwing at Sauce Gardner and having great success against him. with fourth or fifth-ranked wide receivers. So very curious your thoughts on Sauce Gardner's play through four games in yesterday.
00:19:03
Speaker 2: Well, I'm trying to look up this Jones thing real fast before we move on about.
00:19:13
Speaker 1: The yards per attempt.
00:19:16
Speaker 2: And I'm basically just looking at starting quarterbacks from this past year and what that number looks at. 122 quarterbacks have started a game in the NFL with at least 10 pass attempts. I feel like that's like a good metric, like AKA the player didn't exit early in the game and kind of get skewy. The performance yesterday by Jones was 120 out of 122. So again, just to add a little bit more to how poor that was. And that is largely taking the turnovers out of it. And if you look at like these quarterbacks that are at the bottom of this list, virtually all of them lose the game.
00:19:50
Speaker 1: All these quarterbacks lose the game.
00:19:52
Speaker 3: They're definitely not guys that are getting $ 100 million usually either.
00:19:55
Speaker 1: No, no, no, no. Sauce. Okay.
00:19:59
Speaker 2: Let's focus on the game for a second and then we'll go to kind of the bigger picture stuff that right or wrong is going to follow Sauce throughout his Colts career because the Colts made arguably the.
00:20:10
Speaker 1: Biggest trade in franchise history for him. I think.
00:20:15
Speaker 2: What stands out about those plays yesterday is this was not good out-gooding good.
00:20:23
Speaker 1: You know?
00:20:23
Speaker 3: I'm following you.
00:20:25
Speaker 1: Sometimes you have these moments.
00:20:27
Speaker 2: I remember Terry McLaurin inside of Lucas Oil Stadium a few years ago just kind of out-muscling Stephon Gilmore for the game-clinching play for Washington. And that is just, at times... You do the New York Yankees.
00:20:39
Speaker 1: Kid hat tip. A little hat tip. Your better was better than our better. That happens. These two plays, Mark, I'm not even talking about.
00:20:50
Speaker 2: The holding penalty, but I guess the holding penalty falls in the same boat that he had. It's the third string rookie quarterback throwing to his fourth string wide out on the touchdown and then coming back and throwing to his fifth string wide out on the big play down the far sideline.
00:21:05
Speaker 1: Great plays by the young rookie.
00:21:06
Speaker 2: To give him credit, but still, this is not good on good. This is fourth quarter of the final preseason game players making guys trying to make the roster usually.
00:21:17
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:21:17
Speaker 3: Right.
00:21:17
Speaker 2: Making these plays on the all pro that you gave up to first round picks for plus 80 Mitchell. So again, if it was whatever, um, you know, Justin Jefferson, Nico Collins, you know, whoever's a flower.
00:21:35
Speaker 3: Will be on the schedule soon.
00:21:36
Speaker 1: Right. But you know, some of these other white outs, there's an element over like 60 plays mark. You'd be like, you know what? They're going to win too.
00:21:43
Speaker 3: That's just DK Metcalf coming up on Sunday.
00:21:46
Speaker 2: Sure.
00:21:46
Speaker 3: Sure.
00:21:46
Speaker 1: There is some of that, but it's like, wait a minute. It was the, it wasn't digs. It wasn't McLaurin.
00:21:51
Speaker 2: Hell, it wasn't even Antonio Williams. Like that to me, I think is what is like, Oh boy. And you know, AJ Halsey a little bit of help here, a little bit of help there?
00:22:01
Speaker 1: Possibly, but still.
00:22:03
Speaker 2: I just look at Sauce, and we are, and again, this is perhaps a little unfair to him, but it's a reality of the message the Colts sent their fan base when they made that trade. They said, we are getting the best corner in the NFL. And when the trade happened, Mark, the first podcast we did after that trade, I laid out individually what you need out of Sauce as a player and team success-wise. In order for this trade to be considered a win, These are the things you need. And individually, an unquestioned All-Pro. Two corners on the first team All-Pro team.
00:22:36
Speaker 1: He has to be on that. You don't give up two first-round picks plus A.D.
00:22:42
Speaker 2: Mitchell for players that you think are anything less than that. That's just the reality of that type of trade. And does it create more of a critical eye on him?
00:22:52
Speaker 1: Perhaps.
00:22:53
Speaker 2: I mean, he was also a top five pick. Like, I mean, part of that just comes into the, how the NFL has viewed him. So flat out, you have to have better.
00:23:01
Speaker 1: And you know what?
00:23:02
Speaker 2: Shout out to Mooney Ward. Cause I thought he did a nice job staying in phase on some of those deep balls. I thought he played actually pretty well yesterday.
00:23:10
Speaker 1: So yeah, he has to be an all pro. And right now he's not playing like that.
00:23:15
Speaker 3: No, no, you've not gotten your money's worth or your draft capital. You gave up to get him to justify the trade so far.
00:23:22
Speaker 2: And, to be clear, like, would you like to see your O-line a little bit better to help out Daniel Jones?
00:23:27
Speaker 3: Sure.
00:23:27
Speaker 1: Would you like to see your pass rush a little bit better to help out sauce? Let me see balls. Sure. But the reality is those guys play positions and are getting paid an absurd amount of money to be the lifters of the boat, not the steady, the ship.
00:23:45
Speaker 3: Like this shouldn't be the anchors that are keeping you grounded.
00:23:48
Speaker 1: No, no, no. We need to lift things here. Um, In particular, Sauce. You know, Jones is part of it. He plays quarterback.
00:23:55
Speaker 2: But, you know, Sauce's resume is a little bit different on that front. So, yeah, man, that was– he got beat by some JV guys.
00:24:04
Speaker 3: Yeah, that was a rough watch. And there was a couple– yeah, both those plays you could see him trotting well behind guys. And then the penalty as well. So, a poor showing by him. Hopefully he gets better. But the competition, that should have been– Pretty easy. Like you said, varsity versus JV is what that should have been. Now you're going varsity against varsity going forward. DK Metcalf, Michael Pittman Jr. going forward. So any other things you didn't like or should we transfer over to Twitter questions?
00:24:32
Speaker 1: I think we're good. I think we're good.
00:24:33
Speaker 2: Let's get into Twitter.
00:24:35
Speaker 3: All right. I hope I'm doing justice to this name. Bomi says, greetings from Germany. A little international flair there. It was the first time the Colts really struggled at the beginning of the game. Usually this was a strength of Shane Steichen. Was it just bad execution or was it play calling that bad? Or did they just get outplayed by the commander's defense? Great work with the pod and all content for the last two years. I've appreciated all of your content to stay on track as a fan abroad. You got stuck. You got me stuck in your news bubble.
00:25:03
Speaker 1: Oh, well, that's a compliment, right?
00:25:06
Speaker 3: I would say so.
00:25:07
Speaker 1: Bomi, thank you. I hope I'm saying that correct there, but I hope everything is well.
00:25:12
Speaker 2: In Germany, you know, early on, I just think it was the repeatable turnovers from Jones to go back there. I didn't, you know, did I think they could have sprinkled Taylor in a little bit more early?
00:25:22
Speaker 1: Sure.
00:25:22
Speaker 2: But they have had good early game pass success, like literally throwing the ball. So I don't think it's that crazy to, you know, enter a game with a little bit more of that focus there. But man, you watch Washington just suffocate those underneath routes, you know? and the screens, and some of this I do think is life without Alec Pierce. I think there is some of that, and you're going to have to lean on this run game, and again, it might be tough sledding. I want to go back and look at what Taylor had in that first half, because eight for 32, so obviously four yards of carry there, but still, tough sledding early on, I think, from the run game is what you're going to see, so maybe a little bit more on the Taylor front, but I just think you got to call a spade a spade, and that.
00:26:07
Speaker 1: Was just bad, bad, bad from Daniel Jones.
00:26:09
Speaker 2: And then when you did get time, I think right now schematically it's tough for this passing offense to create a whole, whole lot.
00:26:16
Speaker 1: And again, it's against a Washington defense that there's not much there. No.
00:26:23
Speaker 3: You'd say Max Bowen's on the roster, and I probably believe you right now, sight unseen. All right, Mason keeps us rolling. How much of the Colts' defense is actually playing better? Do you think this is just the competition? They got shredded by Baltimore and Kansas City. then looked a lot better against Houston and Washington, but those two are pretty bad offenses. In big picture, do you worry this is kind of what the Colts do? They get a small sample of decent results against inferior competition and decide things are fine instead of really addressing the bigger problems. Year after year, this organization seems pretty comfortable with mediocrity. Am I being too cynical?
00:26:55
Speaker 2: No, I mean, Mason, there's certainly validity to say that the Steichen era is largely they beat the bad teams and lose to the good teams. You know, you could look at the record against teams above 500, and it's not good. And right now that schedule, I guess, would indicate it, right? Yep. You know, you lost to Baltimore and Kansas City, and you beat teams' combined record of 1-7. So the good news is the next two weeks, you know, Pittsburgh to me is not that daunting, to be honest with you, and then Tennessee.
00:27:22
Speaker 1: So, I mean, there is a real opportunity to get to 4-2.
00:27:24
Speaker 3: Yep.
00:27:25
Speaker 2: And then the schedule gets a little tougher there end of October through November. You know, I'm a big believer in not all 2-2s.
00:27:32
Speaker 1: Are created equal.
00:27:34
Speaker 2: I just, like Mark, if we said right now, do you feel better about the Rams.
00:27:40
Speaker 1: Winning a playoff game or the Colts winning a playoff game? What would be your answer?
00:27:43
Speaker 3: It would be the Rams, no questions asked.
00:27:45
Speaker 2: If I said to you, do you feel better about the Eagles winning a playoff game or the Colts winning a playoff game?
00:27:49
Speaker 1: Eagles. So, and again, I think that's.
00:27:51
Speaker 2: Kind of part of our job of like, yes, there's an element of a win is a win, but I'll go back to what I said last week. Your how will help dictate how many of these there are. And right now your how, is two and two that will be under 500. Like, your how must get better. Or else, you know, big changes are frankly probably coming. I mean, if you want to contextualize yesterday a little bit more, Mark, let's put it into Colts terms.
00:28:20
Speaker 1: The commander's injury situation. So the Colts were missing what? Pierce, Allen.
00:28:29
Speaker 3: Doolin left.
00:28:30
Speaker 1: Yeah, Doolin left in the second half. I mean, again, some of these guys left late.
00:28:35
Speaker 3: Ryman left.
00:28:36
Speaker 1: But came back.
00:28:37
Speaker 3: But came back.
00:28:38
Speaker 1: Washington is missing in the game.
00:28:41
Speaker 3: That was crazy what you were saying earlier.
00:28:43
Speaker 2: The equivalent of the Colts playing without Daniel Jones, Anthony Richardson, Seth McGowan, Alec Pierce, Bernard Ryman, Matt Gonzalez, Arden Key, insert your linebacker here, and both safeties.
00:28:59
Speaker 1: Buying them. Like that.
00:29:00
Speaker 3: That's insane.
00:29:02
Speaker 1: That's the reality.
00:29:03
Speaker 2: And again, this gets back into like, sometimes these situations arise on a schedule and it's your job to take care of business. But the 60 minute product, like, you know, people are trying to dissect the defense from yesterday. And it's like, I point to the defensive tackles. Cause like, that's just a line of scrimmage thing. You know, there's really not that Galifianakis with that, whatever the hell the name quarterback's name is.
00:29:25
Speaker 1: Ed Sheeran's third cousin. Like, There's not a lot, I think, to take away from like how much he's testing you per se.
00:29:33
Speaker 2: Um good good certainly um but there are some like okay you know positional wise are there healthier groups here versus there um so it's your job to again handle business but then also the big picture view of it it's like okay are these things a recipe you know is your edge pass rush a winning recipe right is sauce gardener playing that all of those things, is Daniel Jones playing at that level. You know, when I look at like the top eight or nine players on the roster, Mark can think who has played up to that level early on.
00:30:10
Speaker 1: Buckner. Taylor. Ward.
00:30:18
Speaker 2: Ward I was thinking about. But I wouldn't put certainly Jones in that category.
00:30:23
Speaker 3: Warren.
00:30:24
Speaker 1: No. Probably not even the O-line. I mean, maybe Nelson.
00:30:26
Speaker 3: Warren's heating up a little bit, but he still is not having the impact that I thought he would have.
00:30:31
Speaker 1: Not Ryman. Obviously not Sauce. Not Latu. So those are things that you.
00:30:39
Speaker 2: Have to, have to, have to improve on if you're going to be playing meaningful football down the stretch.
00:30:44
Speaker 3: Yeah, and I would say Sauce, Gardner, and the rest of the secondary, if you're getting tested against the fourth and fifth stringers of Washington, then buckle up because there are some true tests on the way on the schedule. We've got DK, Matt Kiffin, Michael Pittman Jr. coming up on Sunday. Week 7, you got Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison on the way. Brian Thomas Jr. and Parker Washington. CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens. So there are some true tests that are going to, you know, see what the secondary is truly made of. This big money secondary. Because the true tests are coming in a few weeks.
00:31:13
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, definitely.
00:31:15
Speaker 3: Alright, last but not least, Isaac says, Why was Darius Slayton out again? You're asking a question I have too. Especially with Keenan missing this game.
00:31:24
Speaker 1: Yeah, so I do think this belongs in a little bit of the head-scratching category.
00:31:28
Speaker 2: I didn't get great vibes as the week moved along. Now, that was before Keenan Allen got hurt. Then he gets hurt in practice.
00:31:34
Speaker 1: I'm thinking, oh, boy, this has to open the door for.
00:31:36
Speaker 3: Slayton, right? Yeah, for sure.
00:31:38
Speaker 1: And it doesn't.
00:31:39
Speaker 2: I mean, I.
00:31:41
Speaker 1: Get it's a different offense, but, Mark, we're talking about a veteran in the NFL.
00:31:45
Speaker 2: And we're not talking Keenan Allen, Xavier Howard straight off the couch. Like, Darius Slayton participated with the Giants all offseason long. Now– maybe the Colts are seeing why Darius Slayton couldn't.
00:31:55
Speaker 1: Crack the Giants wide out core. Is that something maybe, you know, like.
00:32:00
Speaker 3: But even still, like we've kind of said about CJ Allen with the linebacker crew, you look at the Colts wide receiver crew, like you can't crack that right now.
00:32:07
Speaker 1: I know. Um, and let's, let's get to Allen here in just a second.
00:32:10
Speaker 2: But yeah, I, uh, I figure with a Daniel Jones history, especially playing a position, Mark, where you can rotate. Like Nick Westbrook-Akene played, what, like 12 snaps yesterday? Deion Burks played like something right around those lines.
00:32:22
Speaker 3: Which I would have been fine if Darius Slayton played that.
00:32:25
Speaker 1: Yeah. So the wideout snaps yesterday. Treadwell, 56. Downs, 51. Doolin, 23. Burks, 15. Westbrook-Akene, 11. Yeah, you would think... he could factor in in some way, shape, or form.
00:32:42
Speaker 3: Even if he's just, like, you know, a dummy out there. Like, as far as, like, just, like, a decoy is a better term. Yeah, just put him out there.
00:32:50
Speaker 1: Go routes and call it a day. On the C.J. Allen front.
00:32:55
Speaker 3: Woof.
00:32:58
Speaker 2: I remember getting to the end of the game and being like, man, it felt like C.J. Allen played, like, little to none. I'm like, oh, I had to have just missed him. Sure enough, on the snap counts from yesterday, C.J. Allen played zero defensive snaps, zero special team snaps.
00:33:17
Speaker 3: Healthy and active once again.
00:33:19
Speaker 1: Like, again, Mark, you're up three scores with two minutes to go in the game. Like, you can't even get in then?
00:33:27
Speaker 3: Nope.
00:33:27
Speaker 1: Washington had a drive, I think, after the two-minute warning.
00:33:29
Speaker 2: Like, I've never seen– I said after week one, I don't think I've ever seen a linebacker ever dress– be healthy and not play a single snap on defensive special teams in a game. And now he's done it twice in four weeks. And the one difference about this time around, there were four linebackers that played over him in the opener. There were three linebackers that played over him. Now they've added a fourth. So he's dropped in the depth chart.
00:33:56
Speaker 1: Yeah, seriously.
00:33:57
Speaker 2: Akeem Davis Gaither has played 62 of 64. Then you go to the next linebacker. Jalen Carlisle plays 30. And remember Carlisle exited early with a rib injury. Bryce Boettcher, kind of been split in time with Carlisle. He played 18, an additional 13 he played on special teams. And then Austin Ajayki, number 58, made a great hit on special teams. He played 17 on defense.
00:34:20
Speaker 1: So the Colts viewed it not just needing to be Carlisle and Boettcher. They were willing to go with a third linebacker at that spot. Because I think with the mic, it's like, okay, Akeem Davis-Gaither's here. But again, the will, Allen.
00:34:36
Speaker 3: None. None.
00:34:40
Speaker 1: It's not good.
00:34:41
Speaker 2: You know, people have thrown out, you know, he's been Banigou. He's, you know, some of these, like, bus names. What's interesting, like, take Banigou for.
00:34:51
Speaker 1: Example here. College, right?
00:34:54
Speaker 2: He was a college linebacker turned NFL defensive end, I think is what Banigou was.
00:34:58
Speaker 3: Mm-hmm.
00:34:59
Speaker 2: You have some of these second-round picks, Mark, that get drafted to be kind of projects.
00:35:04
Speaker 1: Or developmental plans. You know, A.D. Mitchell was kind of that, a little bit of like flashes in college, a little inconsistent. We believe we're going to get inconsistent.
00:35:14
Speaker 3: Let's take a flyer on him so we can get out of him.
00:35:16
Speaker 1: That wasn't Allen. He was a two-and-a-half-year starter at Georgia.
00:35:19
Speaker 3: He wasn't from like a Division II or III school.
00:35:22
Speaker 1: No.
00:35:23
Speaker 3: The heart of the SEC, Georgia.
00:35:24
Speaker 2: Right, and this is not some crazy testing athlete that barely played at Georgia, and you're kind of like, oh no, trust me, his traits are so good, this is too good to pass up.
00:35:33
Speaker 1: And yet, he's not getting onto the field.
00:35:37
Speaker 3: You were told post-draft, he's a green dot guy from day one, and yet he's been a healthy scratch in two of the four games this season. Can't sniff the lineup, and now apparently he's dropped in the depth chart as well. Because even when injuries happen, they're not going to him.
00:35:51
Speaker 1: Yeah, going down to a fourth.
00:35:54
Speaker 3: I don't get it. And it's either a completely overdrafted pick by Chris Ballard or he just, I don't know. He's not grasping the playbook, but then again, that's all that also falls on the, you way overdrafted his, his position.
00:36:11
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:36:11
Speaker 3: I don't know what it is, but it's inexcusable at this point. 53rd overall pick can't see the field. And again, this ain't like the purple people leaders out there. You can't crack that linebacker crew.
00:36:21
Speaker 1: Right.
00:36:21
Speaker 3: Something's up. Yeah. I don't know if they're going to be– they're not being honest with it, but there's something going on that's deeper than just, well, he missed time in training camp, and he doesn't fully have the playbook understood. I don't buy that at all.
00:36:34
Speaker 2: I do think it's a little bit more mental than maybe they are letting on of, like, the handling of it. But still, I think there are areas, you know, especially early on when, like, Bynum was doing the communication duties to where that's not always, you know, on– on his plate. And I didn't, I didn't get the impression that like, he's only a Mike, like he's not even going to sniff playing the will position here. And again, you, you didn't, I mean, I guess maybe it wasn't a true walk on situation at the end of the game, but when you're up three scores or three minutes ago in a game, can you not throw the rookie linebacker out there for a few snaps?
00:37:12
Speaker 3: Like what's the worst that can happen? Sauce Gardner gives up a deep play to trail on Berks.
00:37:17
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:37:17
Speaker 3: I mean, at that point, you're not, But even still, you should be able to get some run there. See what you got in the guy. Learn by doing.
00:37:24
Speaker 1: He is Mark Dykton. I am Kevin Bowe. And the Colts, 2-2.
00:37:28
Speaker 2: They win 30-13 yesterday over the Washington Commanders in one of the weirder games I've watched and also examined here moving forward.
00:37:38
Speaker 1: The beautiful thing about life in the NFL.
00:37:40
Speaker 2: Man, 12, 13 more chances to rewrite the script. Right now, the script I think would have you watching the playoffs for another season in a row, but it's October 5th and you got a lot of football to go.
00:37:56
Speaker 1: We'll be back Wednesday. Another pod.
00:37:57
Speaker 3: Thanks everybody.
