00:00:05
Speaker 1: It's a deep side one to one present by Xpinity. Count on a powerful and secure Wi Fi connection for all your devices.
00:00:11
Speaker 2: Expinity x Fi.
00:00:12
Speaker 1: Can your Internet do that? Welcome in.
00:00:14
Speaker 2: It's Week two.
00:00:15
Speaker 1: The Texans are at home for their Liberty Whiteout game against the Indianapolis Colts, and we're gonna go behind enemy sidelines. Catch up with Lara Overton, my good friend who I chat with twice a year about Colts and Texans. And it's a brand new team for this Colts squad that's coming in. They've got a new head coach and Shane Stikeen. They've got Anthony Richardson, they don't have Jonathan Taylor. Lots of changes. Always a fun matchup when these two teams meet up, and this year promises to be no different. And on a side note, on a historical side note, it's just the seventh time since nineteen fifty that two top five drafted quarterbacks will face each other in an NFL game, So how about that? And the Texans are going to do it for an eighth time in Week eight when they go to care and play Bryce Young and the Panthers. So lots of history being made this season with the Texans, and hopefully they can turn this streak around with the Colts because right now thirty one and ten in one all time, the Colts lead the Texans series and this year there's a lot of hope for this Texan squad and same for the Colts. We're gonna get in all that with Lara Overton. But first, Exfinity delivers the fastest Internet Houston, so you can do more of what you love, stream the game on a powerful and secure Wi Fi network, and keep your home team happy with a reliable connection for all your devices. Exfinity x Fi can your Internet do that?
00:01:35
Speaker 2: All right?
00:01:35
Speaker 1: Let's get right into it. On the Deep Slam Podcast presented by Exfinity, We're going behind enemy sidelines with Colts team reporter Lara Overten. I catch up with her every single year. It's Week two, Lara.
00:01:45
Speaker 2: Love catching up with.
00:01:46
Speaker 1: You, and I love where these two teams are at. New quarterbacks, new coaches, lots of fresh hope, and hopefully no tie in week two.
00:01:54
Speaker 2: It's good to see you again, Lara. It's so great to see you, and I think this is a really exciting time for both organizations where you feel like that each franchise has been reinvigorated with the new direction of new head coaches and really young, exciting young quarterbacks. You can build each offense around.
00:02:11
Speaker 1: These two teams major changes in the offseason. What's just the overall feeling in Indie surrounding this team? Because last year obviously disappointing for both of these franchises, but what sort of the sense that you're getting run Indianapolis around this Colts team.
00:02:25
Speaker 2: So many people are excited for what they're seeing on the field and excited for what this indicates about the future success of the franchise. And not just because of Anthony Richardson and the incredible athletes that he is in all of the incredible dynamic that he brings to the offense at that position, but also because of the direction, the guidance, the leadership, the conviction of Shane sdeik In. He came in and founded the team and established these pillars of what he wanted his team to be built on and the expectation this standard he was going to hold guys too, and the team has very much rallied into that philosophy and bought in to what Shane is instilling within the organization. You know, young offensive minded head coach, very passionate, very convicted, and one of the things that I noticed early on going into training camp was that players just play hard for him. Like the way that he connects with his guys instills in them this desire to just play incredibly tough, incredibly physical, incredibly disciplined, and that's something that I think as an entire fan base, Colts fans have loved to see. Also, it's a very young roster. We've talked about this that one of the youngest rosters in the NFL. Only two players I think that are of thirty years old, one of them being the longest tendered Colt, Ryan Kelly. And then you have this very young draft class, tons of new pieces that have been brought in, whether it be a draft or free agency. So it's an exciting time to not only see what this twenty twenty three team is going to accomplish, but also starting to get an indication of what these Shaneesdike and teams are going to be for the next hopefully more than a few years. Right.
00:04:22
Speaker 1: Absolutely, Yeah, And I think all the spotlight this week is on the quarterbacks. Anthony Richardson, drafted fourth overall for the Colts had a really nice outing in Jacksonville. Didn't pull out the win, but we saw him get banged up, but we saw him make some really nice plays, both with his arm and his legs. What really stood out to you about Anthony Richardson in week one, and let's talk a little bit about what's going to be different in week two, because I'm sure they don't want to see him leave the game early like he did at Jacksonville.
00:04:49
Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly. That was. You could feel a collective hush over Lucas Oil Stadium on Sunday when he was down on the field and they took him off just to review out of precaution because he was down the field for a minute. Fortunately, was able to come back in the game after that after receiving some attention on the sideline. Gardner Minshew was in for just a brief stint, and what you saw from him in that debut is that the moment wasn't too big. He maintained this incredible level of poise and confidence and you could feel how that resonated across the offense. And one of the things I always talk about is, you know, when guys one indication of guys who are new to the league. Is how they celebrate getting in the end zone. Right when you get in the end zone for the first time, you know, are they deer in headlights? Like that's kind of one of those indications of where you are as a pro because that's a lot of guys like, welcome to the NFL moment, right, they just they celebrate or they freeze up. They don't know what to do. Anthony has that rushing touchdown and a passing touchdown. After the rushing touchdown, gets in the end zone, does the quick little salute. That's his signature, right, this just you know, gesture from the forehead, and he was headed to the sideline. I mean, everyone's modding him, right. The entire defense is up on the bench ready to welcome him. He was, you know, very much appreciative high fiving guys. But what he did is made a B line like he was laser focus lockedd. He darted to the north end of the Colt sideline where the entire offensive line is so he could high five, congratulate, thank and celebrate with every single member of the offensive line. And to me, that's a vent move, right, Like that's that's what you would expect of a very seasoned NFL veteran. And so when you have your twenty one year old rookie quarterback scoring his first touchdown in the NFL, and his priority is where are my guys? Where the guys that made it happen? I gotta go get to them and then immediately like get back to work, get out the tablet on the sideline and start getting ready. To me, that was an indication that he has all of the things that you are looking for, and probably I would think edd a lot of expectations from maybe what people expected, especially with you know, the completion percentage he had, the way he was able to spread the ball around the offense, huge indications of that. The Colts, you know, not just got it right with drafting this guy, but this is a guy who is immediately going to make the other people around him better too.
00:07:19
Speaker 1: So what are some get betters?
00:07:21
Speaker 2: I know, like for CJ.
00:07:21
Speaker 1: Stroud, Dimigo Ryan's talked about just getting the operation of the offense, just moving faster, just playing with a little bit more tempo. What about for Richardson, what can he do better in week two and how can he sort of prevent those sort of injuries that do cause a hush over the crowd because it is only week two.
00:07:39
Speaker 2: I think it's one of those things that you know, I'm interested to talk to Shane Steichen a little bit more about it, in that you obviously want to empower your quarterback to use this athleticism, use his gifts that you know made him leap off all of the charts at the combine and that everyone has seen well displayed. You want him to certainly utilize those things because that's what makes him special obviously as a as a quarterback. But then you also need him to protect himself to in certain situations. So I think that you will see them figuring out that balance. And I do think that this is something where Anthony Richardson is very coachable in that respect of he will take as soon as Shane gives him the indication of get yourself out of balance. Slide here in these situations you might seem doe a little bit more. I do think he's still going to be aggressive, and you want him to be. I don't think they're going to completely pull back the reins for Anthony Richardson anytime soon. I do think the areas of improvement and this would be really for the collective offense is just converting on those critical downs. Third and fourth down situations were problematic for the Colts and certainly were a difference between being in that game late, having an opportunity to win in the fourth quarter, and unfortunately walking out with a loss to Jacksonville. I think will be the areas that you will see significantly addressed this week is how they are approaching, attacking, scheming, third and fourth down situations.
00:09:11
Speaker 1: Well, in training camp, we saw the big story for the Colts was going to be Jonathan Taylor heading into this season, and that situation is still ongoing. But you know, how do you fill the role of an all Pro like Taylor. We've seen him go out before with injuries and this year obviously very different from years past. But what are the expectations of the run game without Taylor? And how do you get the ground game going without a guy like him in there?
00:09:36
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's certainly not like a plug and play type of situation because Jonathan is such an incredible talent. I mean, he was the leading NFL rusher just you know, two seasons ago. He's been one who has carried such a heavy workload since He's been in Indianapolis and been so reliable for the most part up until just last season when he unfortunately incurred that injury that shortened his twenty twenty to campaign. I do think that you will see this week hopefully Zack Moss returns and is available for the first time in twenty twenty three. Zach was acquired to via trade with Buffalo last season, so the Colt traded Nightime Hins to the Bills got Zach Moss in exchange, and late last season, as Jonathan Taylor started to miss time dude injury, you saw more and more opportunity for Zack Moss, and the more he played, the better he got. He's incredibly physical, super strong back, tough to take down, so I'm interested if he is an option this week. So, he suffered a broken wrist. I believe it was either arm or wrist during training camp, so had to have a procedure. Seems to be pretty well healed from that. He practiced today without limitation, So I am eager to see what a guy who has experience in the league is able to do. He was he played the Texans last year when in that season finale game, so kind of familiar with the Texans personnel. I do think he could be a huge asset because not only are you without Jonathan Taylor, who's on pop right now, the Colts are also expected to miss rookie running back Evan Hall for a period of time, drafted out of Northwestern and expected to be a threat not only in the run game, but also in the passing game, good pass catching running back as well. So it looks like that you will have the combination of Zach Moss, Deon Jackson, and Jake Funk are going to be your likely trio at that position. But yeah, it's certainly a lot different without Jonathan Taylor. One thing I'll say though, is, as many people have asked, how much of a distraction has it been? Anthony Richardson never had the luxury of having Jonathan Taylor because Jonathan missed the entirety of the spring, all of mini camp. So he's always worked with this offense that has not yet had Jonathan as an option. So I don't know that to him, it's really much different because he's been able to, you know, adapt within the offense and surrounded by the guys who he's had to work with, So depending upon if Jonathan is able to come off the pup list and if he's healthy when you know, we get to you know, week five, it'll be interesting to see what that relationship does look like.
00:12:20
Speaker 1: Okay, well, let's switch gears and talk about the defense. There's a lot of stars on that Colts defense. DeForrest Buckner saw what he did in Week one, Quity Pay, Shaquille Leonard working himself back into the mix as well. What is the identity of that Colts defense this year?
00:12:33
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh. They they set the tone that defense. They I'm trying to think of like the best. They're very physical, I think is what I would describe that defense, and you saw that really well displayed on that incredible play by DeForest Buckner. Also, Sarah Franklin had a role in that as well. It was, you know, a very routine defensive play, the stripsack, fumble, recovery, touch down trio for DeForest Buckner. We were jokingly calling it the defensive hat trick and Zire Franklin had a forced fumble in there as well. It's a very They're just very physical and they pride themselves on kind of punishing teams. And you did see how that pass rush was able to impact Trevor Lawrence et stints of that game against Jacksonville in Week one, and I think that you really see that. Although we talked about how young this roster is collectively, it's a very experienced veteran defense that now has a second season under Gus Bradley. But of the seven captains you have on this team, four on the defensive side of the football with DeForest Buckner, Zire Franklin, Shack Leonard and Kenny Moore, and all of those guys have been staples within this organization for multiple seasons. So I think that what you're seeing with this team, with this defense in particular, and a second season in the Bradley scheme, they're playing a lot faster and you saw them last year. And that's going to be huge because you're going to need that compliment to your offense because you do have this young, growing, progressing offense, not only with draft picks like Anthony Richardson, You've got Josh Downs and they're at wide receiver as well. It's just a second season with Alex Pearce at receiver. You've got young tight ends like Drew Ogletree, who is kind of in his red shirt year because he tore his ACL last year in training camp. An incredibly you know, big weapon at the tight end position. So this defense has really embraced We're going to be the ones, especially early on, to set the tone and to try to make things a little bit easier for our offense and provide them put them in good situations to win football games by this attacking play that we are founded upon. Great stuff, Lara.
00:14:51
Speaker 1: I mean, it's just going to be so much fun to watch these two teams sort of head into the next era of their franchise histories with these new coaches and new quarterbacks and new should be a fun one on Sunday, Lara, thanks so much for the time.
00:15:03
Speaker 2: Can't wait to get to Houston. Always love getting to see you guys. And the atmosphere at Energy Stadium is always electric, so I look forward to that. I hope Paul wall is back this year.
00:15:12
Speaker 1: Because sure we can connect to please.
00:15:17
Speaker 2: Yes, when I walked in through security and I had this like completely awestruck moment because he's going through security and I'm like, oh, how do you look through? Usually just have a path again and whenever you want, And I see his jersey that says the Great Wall. I was like, well, this is just epic. I was on the field with you when you were fangirling.
00:15:33
Speaker 1: So yes, Paul Wall is a regular fixture at our games.
00:15:37
Speaker 2: I'm sure you're going to spot them again. Lara, I'll bring my grill. I'll be ready.
00:15:42
Speaker 1: Great stuff from Lara. And you know what, Energy Stadium is always rocking.
00:15:47
Speaker 2: Yes there is.
00:15:47
Speaker 1: There's the pole Wall factor and all the celebs that you're going to see on the field, but also the fans. I mean, it's just such a crazy environment. In fact, JJ Watt was talking about it on the Pat McAfee show, how loud Energy.
00:16:01
Speaker 2: Stadium used to get.
00:16:02
Speaker 1: Actually, Pat mcaviee was remembering when the Colts used to come to Houston, how loud this stadium used to be with Turndown for what and then JJ Watt coming out. So a lot of people from Indianapolis remember how loud Energy Stadium is and was and can be. And hopefully we'll be on Sunday. So if you're going to the game, be sure to be there eleven thirty, get there a little bit early, get there for kickoff because there's going to be a special pregame presentation on the game board that you'll get to see, and also just it's always going to be loud. All the defensive players are super excited to play in front of a home crowd for the first time this season, So that's going to do it for the podcast. Thank you so much for listening, and as always, Go Texans.
Speaker 1: It's a deep side one to one present by Xpinity. Count on a powerful and secure Wi Fi connection for all your devices.
00:00:11
Speaker 2: Expinity x Fi.
00:00:12
Speaker 1: Can your Internet do that? Welcome in.
00:00:14
Speaker 2: It's Week two.
00:00:15
Speaker 1: The Texans are at home for their Liberty Whiteout game against the Indianapolis Colts, and we're gonna go behind enemy sidelines. Catch up with Lara Overton, my good friend who I chat with twice a year about Colts and Texans. And it's a brand new team for this Colts squad that's coming in. They've got a new head coach and Shane Stikeen. They've got Anthony Richardson, they don't have Jonathan Taylor. Lots of changes. Always a fun matchup when these two teams meet up, and this year promises to be no different. And on a side note, on a historical side note, it's just the seventh time since nineteen fifty that two top five drafted quarterbacks will face each other in an NFL game, So how about that? And the Texans are going to do it for an eighth time in Week eight when they go to care and play Bryce Young and the Panthers. So lots of history being made this season with the Texans, and hopefully they can turn this streak around with the Colts because right now thirty one and ten in one all time, the Colts lead the Texans series and this year there's a lot of hope for this Texan squad and same for the Colts. We're gonna get in all that with Lara Overton. But first, Exfinity delivers the fastest Internet Houston, so you can do more of what you love, stream the game on a powerful and secure Wi Fi network, and keep your home team happy with a reliable connection for all your devices. Exfinity x Fi can your Internet do that?
00:01:35
Speaker 2: All right?
00:01:35
Speaker 1: Let's get right into it. On the Deep Slam Podcast presented by Exfinity, We're going behind enemy sidelines with Colts team reporter Lara Overten. I catch up with her every single year. It's Week two, Lara.
00:01:45
Speaker 2: Love catching up with.
00:01:46
Speaker 1: You, and I love where these two teams are at. New quarterbacks, new coaches, lots of fresh hope, and hopefully no tie in week two.
00:01:54
Speaker 2: It's good to see you again, Lara. It's so great to see you, and I think this is a really exciting time for both organizations where you feel like that each franchise has been reinvigorated with the new direction of new head coaches and really young, exciting young quarterbacks. You can build each offense around.
00:02:11
Speaker 1: These two teams major changes in the offseason. What's just the overall feeling in Indie surrounding this team? Because last year obviously disappointing for both of these franchises, but what sort of the sense that you're getting run Indianapolis around this Colts team.
00:02:25
Speaker 2: So many people are excited for what they're seeing on the field and excited for what this indicates about the future success of the franchise. And not just because of Anthony Richardson and the incredible athletes that he is in all of the incredible dynamic that he brings to the offense at that position, but also because of the direction, the guidance, the leadership, the conviction of Shane sdeik In. He came in and founded the team and established these pillars of what he wanted his team to be built on and the expectation this standard he was going to hold guys too, and the team has very much rallied into that philosophy and bought in to what Shane is instilling within the organization. You know, young offensive minded head coach, very passionate, very convicted, and one of the things that I noticed early on going into training camp was that players just play hard for him. Like the way that he connects with his guys instills in them this desire to just play incredibly tough, incredibly physical, incredibly disciplined, and that's something that I think as an entire fan base, Colts fans have loved to see. Also, it's a very young roster. We've talked about this that one of the youngest rosters in the NFL. Only two players I think that are of thirty years old, one of them being the longest tendered Colt, Ryan Kelly. And then you have this very young draft class, tons of new pieces that have been brought in, whether it be a draft or free agency. So it's an exciting time to not only see what this twenty twenty three team is going to accomplish, but also starting to get an indication of what these Shaneesdike and teams are going to be for the next hopefully more than a few years. Right.
00:04:22
Speaker 1: Absolutely, Yeah, And I think all the spotlight this week is on the quarterbacks. Anthony Richardson, drafted fourth overall for the Colts had a really nice outing in Jacksonville. Didn't pull out the win, but we saw him get banged up, but we saw him make some really nice plays, both with his arm and his legs. What really stood out to you about Anthony Richardson in week one, and let's talk a little bit about what's going to be different in week two, because I'm sure they don't want to see him leave the game early like he did at Jacksonville.
00:04:49
Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly. That was. You could feel a collective hush over Lucas Oil Stadium on Sunday when he was down on the field and they took him off just to review out of precaution because he was down the field for a minute. Fortunately, was able to come back in the game after that after receiving some attention on the sideline. Gardner Minshew was in for just a brief stint, and what you saw from him in that debut is that the moment wasn't too big. He maintained this incredible level of poise and confidence and you could feel how that resonated across the offense. And one of the things I always talk about is, you know, when guys one indication of guys who are new to the league. Is how they celebrate getting in the end zone. Right when you get in the end zone for the first time, you know, are they deer in headlights? Like that's kind of one of those indications of where you are as a pro because that's a lot of guys like, welcome to the NFL moment, right, they just they celebrate or they freeze up. They don't know what to do. Anthony has that rushing touchdown and a passing touchdown. After the rushing touchdown, gets in the end zone, does the quick little salute. That's his signature, right, this just you know, gesture from the forehead, and he was headed to the sideline. I mean, everyone's modding him, right. The entire defense is up on the bench ready to welcome him. He was, you know, very much appreciative high fiving guys. But what he did is made a B line like he was laser focus lockedd. He darted to the north end of the Colt sideline where the entire offensive line is so he could high five, congratulate, thank and celebrate with every single member of the offensive line. And to me, that's a vent move, right, Like that's that's what you would expect of a very seasoned NFL veteran. And so when you have your twenty one year old rookie quarterback scoring his first touchdown in the NFL, and his priority is where are my guys? Where the guys that made it happen? I gotta go get to them and then immediately like get back to work, get out the tablet on the sideline and start getting ready. To me, that was an indication that he has all of the things that you are looking for, and probably I would think edd a lot of expectations from maybe what people expected, especially with you know, the completion percentage he had, the way he was able to spread the ball around the offense, huge indications of that. The Colts, you know, not just got it right with drafting this guy, but this is a guy who is immediately going to make the other people around him better too.
00:07:19
Speaker 1: So what are some get betters?
00:07:21
Speaker 2: I know, like for CJ.
00:07:21
Speaker 1: Stroud, Dimigo Ryan's talked about just getting the operation of the offense, just moving faster, just playing with a little bit more tempo. What about for Richardson, what can he do better in week two and how can he sort of prevent those sort of injuries that do cause a hush over the crowd because it is only week two.
00:07:39
Speaker 2: I think it's one of those things that you know, I'm interested to talk to Shane Steichen a little bit more about it, in that you obviously want to empower your quarterback to use this athleticism, use his gifts that you know made him leap off all of the charts at the combine and that everyone has seen well displayed. You want him to certainly utilize those things because that's what makes him special obviously as a as a quarterback. But then you also need him to protect himself to in certain situations. So I think that you will see them figuring out that balance. And I do think that this is something where Anthony Richardson is very coachable in that respect of he will take as soon as Shane gives him the indication of get yourself out of balance. Slide here in these situations you might seem doe a little bit more. I do think he's still going to be aggressive, and you want him to be. I don't think they're going to completely pull back the reins for Anthony Richardson anytime soon. I do think the areas of improvement and this would be really for the collective offense is just converting on those critical downs. Third and fourth down situations were problematic for the Colts and certainly were a difference between being in that game late, having an opportunity to win in the fourth quarter, and unfortunately walking out with a loss to Jacksonville. I think will be the areas that you will see significantly addressed this week is how they are approaching, attacking, scheming, third and fourth down situations.
00:09:11
Speaker 1: Well, in training camp, we saw the big story for the Colts was going to be Jonathan Taylor heading into this season, and that situation is still ongoing. But you know, how do you fill the role of an all Pro like Taylor. We've seen him go out before with injuries and this year obviously very different from years past. But what are the expectations of the run game without Taylor? And how do you get the ground game going without a guy like him in there?
00:09:36
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's certainly not like a plug and play type of situation because Jonathan is such an incredible talent. I mean, he was the leading NFL rusher just you know, two seasons ago. He's been one who has carried such a heavy workload since He's been in Indianapolis and been so reliable for the most part up until just last season when he unfortunately incurred that injury that shortened his twenty twenty to campaign. I do think that you will see this week hopefully Zack Moss returns and is available for the first time in twenty twenty three. Zach was acquired to via trade with Buffalo last season, so the Colt traded Nightime Hins to the Bills got Zach Moss in exchange, and late last season, as Jonathan Taylor started to miss time dude injury, you saw more and more opportunity for Zack Moss, and the more he played, the better he got. He's incredibly physical, super strong back, tough to take down, so I'm interested if he is an option this week. So, he suffered a broken wrist. I believe it was either arm or wrist during training camp, so had to have a procedure. Seems to be pretty well healed from that. He practiced today without limitation, So I am eager to see what a guy who has experience in the league is able to do. He was he played the Texans last year when in that season finale game, so kind of familiar with the Texans personnel. I do think he could be a huge asset because not only are you without Jonathan Taylor, who's on pop right now, the Colts are also expected to miss rookie running back Evan Hall for a period of time, drafted out of Northwestern and expected to be a threat not only in the run game, but also in the passing game, good pass catching running back as well. So it looks like that you will have the combination of Zach Moss, Deon Jackson, and Jake Funk are going to be your likely trio at that position. But yeah, it's certainly a lot different without Jonathan Taylor. One thing I'll say though, is, as many people have asked, how much of a distraction has it been? Anthony Richardson never had the luxury of having Jonathan Taylor because Jonathan missed the entirety of the spring, all of mini camp. So he's always worked with this offense that has not yet had Jonathan as an option. So I don't know that to him, it's really much different because he's been able to, you know, adapt within the offense and surrounded by the guys who he's had to work with, So depending upon if Jonathan is able to come off the pup list and if he's healthy when you know, we get to you know, week five, it'll be interesting to see what that relationship does look like.
00:12:20
Speaker 1: Okay, well, let's switch gears and talk about the defense. There's a lot of stars on that Colts defense. DeForrest Buckner saw what he did in Week one, Quity Pay, Shaquille Leonard working himself back into the mix as well. What is the identity of that Colts defense this year?
00:12:33
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh. They they set the tone that defense. They I'm trying to think of like the best. They're very physical, I think is what I would describe that defense, and you saw that really well displayed on that incredible play by DeForest Buckner. Also, Sarah Franklin had a role in that as well. It was, you know, a very routine defensive play, the stripsack, fumble, recovery, touch down trio for DeForest Buckner. We were jokingly calling it the defensive hat trick and Zire Franklin had a forced fumble in there as well. It's a very They're just very physical and they pride themselves on kind of punishing teams. And you did see how that pass rush was able to impact Trevor Lawrence et stints of that game against Jacksonville in Week one, and I think that you really see that. Although we talked about how young this roster is collectively, it's a very experienced veteran defense that now has a second season under Gus Bradley. But of the seven captains you have on this team, four on the defensive side of the football with DeForest Buckner, Zire Franklin, Shack Leonard and Kenny Moore, and all of those guys have been staples within this organization for multiple seasons. So I think that what you're seeing with this team, with this defense in particular, and a second season in the Bradley scheme, they're playing a lot faster and you saw them last year. And that's going to be huge because you're going to need that compliment to your offense because you do have this young, growing, progressing offense, not only with draft picks like Anthony Richardson, You've got Josh Downs and they're at wide receiver as well. It's just a second season with Alex Pearce at receiver. You've got young tight ends like Drew Ogletree, who is kind of in his red shirt year because he tore his ACL last year in training camp. An incredibly you know, big weapon at the tight end position. So this defense has really embraced We're going to be the ones, especially early on, to set the tone and to try to make things a little bit easier for our offense and provide them put them in good situations to win football games by this attacking play that we are founded upon. Great stuff, Lara.
00:14:51
Speaker 1: I mean, it's just going to be so much fun to watch these two teams sort of head into the next era of their franchise histories with these new coaches and new quarterbacks and new should be a fun one on Sunday, Lara, thanks so much for the time.
00:15:03
Speaker 2: Can't wait to get to Houston. Always love getting to see you guys. And the atmosphere at Energy Stadium is always electric, so I look forward to that. I hope Paul wall is back this year.
00:15:12
Speaker 1: Because sure we can connect to please.
00:15:17
Speaker 2: Yes, when I walked in through security and I had this like completely awestruck moment because he's going through security and I'm like, oh, how do you look through? Usually just have a path again and whenever you want, And I see his jersey that says the Great Wall. I was like, well, this is just epic. I was on the field with you when you were fangirling.
00:15:33
Speaker 1: So yes, Paul Wall is a regular fixture at our games.
00:15:37
Speaker 2: I'm sure you're going to spot them again. Lara, I'll bring my grill. I'll be ready.
00:15:42
Speaker 1: Great stuff from Lara. And you know what, Energy Stadium is always rocking.
00:15:47
Speaker 2: Yes there is.
00:15:47
Speaker 1: There's the pole Wall factor and all the celebs that you're going to see on the field, but also the fans. I mean, it's just such a crazy environment. In fact, JJ Watt was talking about it on the Pat McAfee show, how loud Energy.
00:16:01
Speaker 2: Stadium used to get.
00:16:02
Speaker 1: Actually, Pat mcaviee was remembering when the Colts used to come to Houston, how loud this stadium used to be with Turndown for what and then JJ Watt coming out. So a lot of people from Indianapolis remember how loud Energy Stadium is and was and can be. And hopefully we'll be on Sunday. So if you're going to the game, be sure to be there eleven thirty, get there a little bit early, get there for kickoff because there's going to be a special pregame presentation on the game board that you'll get to see, and also just it's always going to be loud. All the defensive players are super excited to play in front of a home crowd for the first time this season, So that's going to do it for the podcast. Thank you so much for listening, and as always, Go Texans.
