Stampede Blue: for Indianapolis Colts fans

Connor Rogers drops in to preview what the New York Jets will bring to the field in their Week 6 matchup with the Colts and Matt takes a look at the Jets Week 5 film to find some tendencies for the Colts to watch out for. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today we finally get to debut our second show on the Stampede Blue podcast channel. Stephen Holder (the Athletic) has joined to host Horseshoes with Stephen Holder. Over the past couple outings, one of the primary issues with the team has been, both, the receivers having far too many drops, and the lack of a reasonable running game. Andrew Luck has been throwing the ball all over the field (121 attempts in last two weeks) lately and even Frank Reich has admitted that that can't continue for long. Stephen touches on an interesting possibility at the receiver position and looks at what the possible solution in the backfield might be. Stephen also dials in on Luck himself and how good he's been recently. Does he have his fastball back, or is a combination of more than one aspect of his game finally getting on the same page? Of course the tight end position is one of great interest as well. With Jack Doyle out the past two weeks, how has the position grown? Also, when looking at the free agency period of Chris Ballard's second season, has Eric Ebron and possibly even Matt Slauson (pre-injury of course) become somewhat of the ideal type of free agency targets as this team steps forward into the possibility of realistic contention? Also Stephen discusses whether the Colts are close to be just a few moves away from contention, and how much growth the roster legitimately needs to be evident for these steps in the right direction to get stacked on top of each other. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Indianapolis Colts came into their Week 5 matchup with the New England Patriots severely banged up. Making matters worse, the Colts lost several more key players on Thursday night. Nevertheless, the Colts were able to keep this game within striking distance before it got out of hand in the fourth quarter. There were several players getting important snaps towards the rest of the season, as this only improves the depth in my opinion. Matthew Adams and Zaire Franklin received large workloads with Darius Leonard out, and maybe most impressively, Braden Smith filled in at right tackle and played very well. The Colts only allowed a single sack, but it was the team's receivers who couldn't get up to play well in this one. Over the past two weeks the Colts pass-catchers have been cursed with awful hands totaling nearly a dozen in just 5 days of time. Eric Ebron still made a lot out of a short week as he hauled in 2 touchdowns with a 105-yard performance in Foxboro. I'll go through a quick review of the Colts 38-24 loss and address all of the above and much more. We will also take a quick look at the remaining games for the Colts, including the final three games before their bye week. We know the percentages are not in favor of the Colts making a realistic playoff run, so how does the rest of it look, with what we know about the Colts themselves, and the rest of their opponents? Additionally, I take you inside the progression of the Colts' PFF grades through Week 5. Again, much of what we think we saw Thursday night rings true with the way the grades panned out. However, there are some serious head-scratchers in there too. A couple of the Colts offensive linemen have been graded out pretty close to how consistent they've been thus far, while another couple have improved their grade tremendously, while another continues not to get the credit for his play. There are even some grades in which I felt the evaluators were too generous. How they are crediting for positive versus negative continues to be on display, and a little off-base, in their weekly updates for my liking. The Colts are missing some important pieces going into Week 6. If they want to make something of this season, they're going to need to come back sooner rather than later. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Short week! Well, there's a lot to talk about in such a condensed week, especially on the Indianapolis Colts side of the equation. The team's injury report is pretty insane. The Colts actually already have 7 inactives for the game and only 52 on the roster less than 24 hours before game time. On one end, it's a plus-minus situation weekly any more and with only having four days between games, this isn't the ideal point in the season to face the Patriots by any means. The positive shining through those dark clouds: Andrew Luck is NOT on that injury report. And that means hope for this beat up roster. On the docket today we're going to discuss the Patriots' Week 4 game against the Miami Dolphins to see what we can gain from it. There were some definite trends, but on the other hand, Belichick is known to completely scrap those tendencies from one week to the next. At any rate, we also see some weaknesses and strengths alike from various positions that very well could affect what Frank Reich may attempt to dial up Thursday night. Their offense featured some very interesting personnel groupings in this one as well. What I saw from both sides of the ball in a nutshell, and how the Colts can try to combat their current situation within these matchups. In the second half of the show, I joined the guys at the Vegas Stats and Information Network on Sirius XM (@VSiNLive) last night, and they were gracious enough to allow me to use their audio on this show. We talked a little about everything including the Colts injury situation at some key positions, specifically Anthony Castonzo and if he'll play Thursday. The question of whether or not the Colts could get blown out is brought up, how to figure out the eye test with the Colts' offense with so many ups and downs also becomes a valid question going forward. Additionally, we talk about how the offense and defense have almost completely switched expectations through the first four weeks of the season and how Darius Leonard has energized this defense in the meantime. There is much more from this conversation on 'Between the Sidelines' in the second half of the show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As the Indianapolis Colts prepare for their Week 5 matchup with the New England Patriots, their injury situation is certainly a cause for concern. They're missing their top tight end in Jack Doyle, the unquestioned defensive MVP, Darius Leonard, is in a walking boot during walk-throughs thus far and several more are possibly on the outs in this short week. The Colts (1-3) could not need this game more at this point in the season. They could potentially give their season a massive boost with a victory, but it could also put them in a very deep hole if they can't pull off the upset in Foxboro. Today we also touch on the progression of the Colts' PFF grades through Week 4. They had some players sitting in the top-10 of their respective positions just last week, but despite some of them coming back to Earth, the team still has some very impressive grades to show off. With such a young roster, this team is extremely competitive through four weeks of play. They have a couple positions in which they are getting a high level of production and execution that they haven't in a long time. This upstart roster obviously has some weaknesses, but they also have an infectious energy that appears to rub off on to their teammates throughout the game. Who are the biggest PFF risers for the Colts, and who slid down the ladder the most? We answer those questions and mix in a little bit of strategy as well on today's Colts Cast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Indianapolis Colts OT loss to the Houston Texans in Week 4 will not soon be forgotten. The final play that the Colts ran offensively, though, certainly does not sum up this game nor should it. Andrew Luck put up a massive stat line (40-62, 464 yards, 4 TDs) that should quiet those saying that his arm can't do this or can't do that due to some lack of arm strength. The Colts defense had themselves a game, too, despite the fact that the Texans finished with as many points as they did. They held the Texans' running backs, forced a turnover and held up in the red zone on some possessions just as they had through the first three games. The Colts offense did gift the Texans 14 points after all. With all of that clearly in the rearview mirror, Frank Reich's 4th-and-4 call to go for it, in his own territory has no shortage of opinions coming out. Of course I've got mine as well, but it goes less towards "should he have gone for it on 4th down in a tie game," and more in the direction of what was happening in the past few minutes of the game. Many will say that you put the ball in your franchise quarterback's hands when it counts, and that's a totally justified opinion. But, what about when the momentum isn't in his favor? If there's anything that really needs to be addressed in all of this, it's those saying "the Colts aren't going anywhere this year anyhow" IN WEEK 4. Last I checked, a tie is not a loss, and if the wins are the same come playoff time, that tie could come in handy. There are 10 teams in the AFC with a 2-2, or 1-3 record right now. Why couldn't the Colts earn a Wild Card berth this year? And do fans honestly think that nothing is worth it if the team isn't deemed "Super Bowl contenders" right now? That seems a little more than ridiculous to me. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As always, we find that there are a handful of moves -- both up and down -- for several of the Indianapolis Colts in regards to their respective Pro Football Focus grades. I think you could somewhat guess that the offense and the defense were not equally as impressive to the grading scale. The Colts offense had one of their least impressive outputs in quite awhile with Andrew Luck under center. Nevertheless, some players definitely did impress, some absolutely did not, and some others appear to be stuck in a weird spot with the metric site. Defensively, however, it's quite fun to see what others are thinking about the Colts upstart unit. Naturally, Darius Leonard has been catching everyone's eye, but there is another linebacker who hasn't been playing too shabby himself. The Colts secondary has some interesting results as well, and we see that the Colts are indeed getting some credit at all three levels of their defense. In our look at their individual grades, and where they currently stand, I also will give you the evolution of their grade by showing the movement from week to week in, both, there rank among others at their positions as well as the movement of their grades. Don't look now, but the Colts are producing some very fun players to watch. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's undeniable that this Indianapolis Colts roster is bringing about some surprises already in this young 2018 season. Nobody expected Darius Leonard to be playing at this level, even if they liked him coming into the season, but he's not the only one to be turning some heads. Luke Schultheis joined me today to discuss a little bit of everything, including our most surprising Colts on both sides of the ball thus far, our most underrated starters and rotational players and more organic conversation about the state of the team as well. One of the most interesting positions for the Colts has been the tight end room. The position was considered a major strength coming into the season, but the look of the group has taken on a new form in a very short time. Ross Travis was placed on IR, Darrell Daniels was traded to Seattle, and now the Colts have their most prized tight end, Jack Doyle, out and hasn't practiced yet this week. Luke and Matt briefly discuss the situation surrounding Andrew Luck, the team's secondary, how Matt Eberflus has used all of his assets on the defense and molded them into a formidable group and much more. This season is going to be a wild ride without question. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Indianapolis Colts Week 3 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles was a heart-breaker. Maybe the most difficult thing to swallow was the amount of time the Colts' offense was off the field -- and the defense on it -- throughout that possession. This drive's duration featured some bad plays by a few individuals on the defense, but mostly the defense brought their high-energy, fast approach and did a very good job in keeping Carson Wentz guessing. The Colts weren't helped by some awful calls from the officials, and thus we see the creation of a long, sustained drive that ends up with the Eagles getting into the end zone and creating the final scoring gap of 20-16. Today Matt will take you through each of these plays to dissect the Colts defense and describe what he saw after re-watching and gaining some perspective out of the mess that it was. Additionally, Matt brings on David Strauss from Mybookie to go over five of the most interesting matchups for Week 4 in the NFL, as well as the Colts-Texans matchup, and Matt will take a bettors approach to guessing the lines for those games. David will offer the insight that goes in to creating the lines, and why Matt isn't smart enough to run a gambling site. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Indianapolis Colts found themselves in a familiar position Sunday in Philadelphia. They, despite having an awful day offensively, were in a position to control their own destiny. Unfortunately, and as you already know, the Colts failed to take advantage of that, and several other opportunities throughout the game. Between Andrew Luck and Frank Reich something has got to change with how this offense is performing. Luck threw the ball 40 times Sunday and until late in the final possession, was at a rate of less than 3 yards per attempt. That should be unacceptable by anyone's standards and certainly by Luck and Reich's. The running game is almost non-existent, the receivers aren't getting open regularly enough -- especially not early in their routes -- and they are missing opportunities in the red zone. The Colts missed a couple opportunities for touchdowns with drops, and bad throws, but the lack of aggression that Reich promised this fanbase has been noticeably missing. Yes, Reich will go-for-it more on fourth down than the previous Colts' regime, but where's the willingness to attack the opposing defense? Now, it's not all doom and gloom. In fact, I don't think it's doom and gloom at all. We know what this offense behind Luck is capable of. But, the offense has been a true strength for this team, otherwise they'd be getting run out of the stadium every week so far. Darius Leonard is on pace to become an All-Pro linebacker in his rookie year, Margus Hunt is making everyone a witness right now, and the rest of the Colts defense is making enough plays to hold offenses out of the end zone with regularity. The Colts need more sustained drives, a more aggressive, creative approach in order to take advantage of the litany of possible WINS left on their schedule. This loss was a true heart-breaker. But, the Colts dug their own grave when they had the ball, and should truly be 3-0 right now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As the Indianapolis Colts prepare for their Week 3 matchup with the Philadelphia Eagles the personnel availability for both teams is not pretty. Each squad faces a loss of multiple heavy contributors, which ironically also will feature the return of Carson Wentz for his 2018 debut. The Colts won't have Jack Doyle, Anthony Castonzo or Marlon Mack against a very stout Philly front seven, but the Eagles' backfield is coming in with a depleted backfield and receiver corps which may be a lot for Wentz to deal with in his first game back. Today we welcome Kevin Hickey (Colts Wire) to dive into what the Colts have left for them to throw at the Eagles on both sides of the ball, and Michael Kist (Bleeding Green Nation) joins in the second half of the show to take a look at the other side of the equation. The Colts certainly have their hands full this Sunday, and will likely see tight end Erik Swoope elevated to the active roster in place of Doyle, and we should expect Margus Hunt to pull double duty with, both, Denico Autry and Hassan Ridgeway already confirmed to be OUT in this one. Can the Colts defense find success by going after the Eagles' offensive strengths? Will Jim Schwartz be able to out scheme Frank Reich considering their familiarity with each other's respective tendencies? We look at all of these situations and much more in our Week 3 primer to get you all set for this weekend's game. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Indianapolis Colts have been a roster that has shown that the youth and speed brought in throughout the offseason has become a huge benefit for the long-term success of the team. Something that cannot be overstated, though, is Frank Reich's scheme and playcalling. Last week the Colts floundered against the Bengals in the second half as they held a sizable lead, but in Week 2 the Colts held on to their lead and dominated on both sides of the ball for large portions of the matchup. Today, we'll look at how the Colts have progressed -- according to Pro Football Focus -- form Week 1 to Week 2, and I'll discuss my thoughts on their respective movement. While we can't really nail down whether we should be in a agreement with the actual grade itself, we can come up with a vague agreement/disagreement with where they sit in regards to the rest of the league at their positions. We already know, and have spoken much about, Darius Leonard rising to the occasion against the Redskins, but there are more Colts who are being given some credit for being in the top tier of their positions that most may not have guessed. In short, we look at the grade from Week 1 and how each player's grade has risen or fallen, and determine whether or not I agree in one way or another. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After a disappointing loss in Week 1 after the Colts held a 13-point lead, the team bounced back in a major way yesterday against the Redskins. The defense was swarming all day, the offense was methodical for large stretches of the day and the coaching was excellent as well. Today we look back on Darius Leonard's fantastic performance and what that means for the Colts' defense going forward, the offensive line and how, with subs getting significant snaps at tackle, they continue to protect Andrew Luck enough to allow him to be successful at all depths of the field and what Frank Reich did before the game that may have been as important as anything he did all day. The Colts held the Skins to 65 rushing yards, zero touchdowns and disrupted their backfield all day with 11.5 tackles for loss. Additionally, the Colts are putting Reich's system to good use as Luck is spreading the ball around and Jordan Wilkins is showing his vision in the running game which allows for the dink-and-dunk attack to stay unpredictable. This wasn't just a win for the Colts, it was a peek into what their potential could lead to this season. They've worked over two very good defensive rosters, are still showing that they have some big-play ability as well as the patience to move down the field slow and steadily, convert on third downs at an amazing rate and get points on the board. The Colts may not have the overall, top-end talent that most of the true contenders have right now, but they do have a group of guys who are playing extremely well together and are going to make life tough on whoever they play. This is such a fun group to watch, and regardless of their final record this year, Colts fans legitimately have something to be excited about right now, and definitely into the future. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Indianapolis Colts weren't in top form Sunday in their loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. You have to like what you saw from Andrew Luck, and depending on your viewpoint of where the Colts' defense is heading, there were some good signs of growth there as well. Who graded well, and who didn't? Which grades do I relatively agree with and which aren't up to snuff? Today I take you into the Colts top PFF grades at each position to see how they were seen from another point of view. Going through these should, as always, be taken with a grain of salt, but at least we believe that the grades are given by someone who actually watched the game. I'll admit, there were some surprises. I think there were a couple Colts who were given too much credit, and evening out the conversation, I felt a couple players weren't appreciated enough. Such is life. The Colts will face off against the Washington Redskins in Week 2, and they had some nice performances in Week 1 as well. For the team's sake, let's hope that more than a few of the Colts put together better showings on the road in order to get their first win of the 2018 season. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today we begin to look at the Indianapolis Colts Week 2 opponents, the Washington Redskins. The Colts were first half warriors last week, but the Redskins put nearly all of their points up in the second quarter. What does this mean, if anything? Maybe nothing, but we do know that the Colts are going to have to be much better late in the game if they're going to stand a chance in Washington. The Colts will be dealing with an extremely efficient quarterback in Alex Smith, a resurgent Adrian Peterson, a do-it-all running back in Chris Thompson, tight ends Jordan Reed and receivers Jamison Crowder, Paul Richardson and Josh Doctson. How will the Colts' defense deal with, and limit this offensive attack? On the other side of the ball Andrew Luck will be seeing another impressive defense across the line of scrimmage from him. Jonathan Allen, Daron Payne, Ryan Kerrigan, Ryan Anderson, Preson Smith, Zach Brown, Quinton Dunbar and Josh Norman will be working within Greg Manusky's scheme to tear up the Colts' protective shield up front, and disrupt Luck and the timing based offense that Frank Reich is scheming up for them. Can Luck and this minimal bunch of playmakers find success on the road? Anthony Castonzo should be back, and hopefully Marlon Mack, but we have to believe that the receiver corps will really have their hands full. I ramble on all of this on today's Colts Cast, and a reminder to be on the lookout for some exciting news on the podcast front. You're going to love it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices