- 16 minutes ago
Kevin Bowen from 107.5 The Fan joins The Kevin Sheehan Show to preview the Week 4 London matchup between the Washington Commanders and Indianapolis Colts, analyzing Daniel Jones' recent turnover struggles, the impact of Alec Pierce's absence on Jonathan Taylor, and Indianapolis' underperforming pass rush.
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00:00Sunday morning, London, Tottenham Stadium, Colts and Skins.
00:06The Indianapolis Colts are actually a 3-3.5 point favorite in this game.
00:11They beat Houston last week to avoid the 0-3 start.
00:14Washington, of course, our team, beat Seattle to avoid the 0-3 start.
00:18Kevin Bowen is a host on the morning show at 107.5 The Fan in Indianapolis.
00:25He joins us right now.
00:27So, I'm assuming you guys were kind of in that same mode last week.
00:33Because the Chiefs game, that Sunday night game, was a great game.
00:36I actually want to ask you about the decision that Shane Steichen faced in overtime here in a moment.
00:42But did you expect them to avoid 0-3?
00:45Because certainly for us, it was a stunner to beat Seattle.
00:49Yeah.
00:51Yeah, I'd say mostly a coin flip.
00:53You know, Colts and Sextons, when you look at that game from a Vegas line standpoint,
00:57it was very close.
00:58And, yeah, the Texans got to have the Colts number.
01:00In recent years, they've actually won five straight one-score games over the Colts heading into Sunday.
01:06I think I picked the Texans like slightly.
01:08So, again, yeah, kind of one of those point flip games.
01:10And, weirdly, the Colts overcame minus three in the turnover battle.
01:15They only scored one touchdown.
01:17Like, when you add up that, that is a recipe for absolute disaster.
01:20But somehow, someway, behind the right leg of Spencer Schrader, they made a lot of field goals,
01:25played enough defense, and got it done.
01:27You know, I think when it comes to the Colts and just the AFC South in general,
01:30because I think it's one of those divisions that flies under the radar every year.
01:36I'm not – you know, it's not the marquee of the eight divisions by far.
01:42You know, it hasn't been over the years.
01:43And it's not been a longstanding division like the one Washington's in, the NFC East.
01:49But I think people kind of forget that the Colts started off last year 7-1 or at least 7
01:56-2.
01:56I know they lost that game to Pittsburgh, which was a big game in October, early November.
02:02And then Daniel Jones got hurt, and the season, you know, fell apart without him.
02:06But how good was that team, Kevin, last year when they got to 7-1 or 8-1, whatever it
02:13was?
02:13I mean, were they – did you consider them to be a legitimate, deep-into-the-postseason threat?
02:20Yeah, I think there was still an element of like, okay, proving it over the course of 16, 17 weeks
02:25is quite the NFL grind.
02:26If you do look at the first half of the season, the schedule was pretty favorable.
02:31But having said that, I mean, 8-2 was the final total.
02:35You know, one of the two losses was to the Rams in a game they easily could have won in
02:40L.A.
02:41and they were putting up some historic offensive numbers.
02:45I think the question was more of just like, could Daniel Jones sustain it?
02:49And unfortunately, the back of his baseball card, if you will, has been more often than not,
02:55he doesn't sustain it.
02:57And honestly, you could say he doesn't do that with availability.
03:00Just the injury bug has hit him.
03:03And it was starting to subside a little bit before he tore that Achilles.
03:06You know, they lost really a heartbreaker in overtime at Kansas City.
03:10They lost a close one to Houston the week prior to that.
03:12And then everything unraveled when he went down against Jacksonville.
03:16They were already without DeForest Buckner, who, in my opinion, is the best defensive player.
03:20So, you know, they made the trade for Sauce Gardner.
03:22I think a lot of fans wanted to believe.
03:23But, you know, when you haven't made the playoffs now in five straight years,
03:27I think it's one of that where, you know, the franchise probably has to kind of prove it to you
03:31before you start to inherently believe in them.
03:34What's going on with Alec Pierce?
03:35Did you think that the money that Indy paid him to keep him there was worth it?
03:42I did.
03:43I think the unique skill set he brings to the receiver position is highly coveted,
03:47and that is the ability to be a consistent home run threat.
03:50That he has led the NFL in receiving yards per catch each of the last two years.
03:56And, again, I think in a league where everyone is trying to limit the big play
04:00and force opposing offenses to travel 10, 11, 12-play drives over the course of 70, 80 yards,
04:06a player like Pierce that can kind of flip the field in a given play is so coveted,
04:11and just the threat of him.
04:13Like, to me, I think that's kind of the biggest question for this Colts offense moving forward.
04:16If you look at a lot of their, you know, potency numbers, if you will,
04:20here through the early part of the season, not only is Daniel Jones turning it over a good amount,
04:24but they just aren't getting a whole lot done down the field.
04:27I think it's impacting Jonathan Taylor.
04:29He's down a stretch of 10 straight games without 100 yards.
04:32That's a very long stretch for his career.
04:35And if you look at his rushing numbers, it's just not the most efficient within that stretch as well.
04:40So, yeah, I think Pierce is a big, big loss.
04:42I thought he was worth the money.
04:43I understand maybe the pure catches haven't been at the level of most number ones.
04:48But, again, I just think he brings a skill set that's kind of hard to find in his home run
04:53ability.
04:54We're talking to Kevin Bowen from 107.5, the fan in Indianapolis.
05:00The game a week ago Sunday night at Arrowhead was one of the better and more entertaining games of the
05:06season.
05:06And I spent some time last week just talking about what Shane Steichen was considering doing in overtime after that
05:15long throw and catch to Treadwell, actually.
05:20I didn't even know he was still in the league.
05:23And he got up and he got hit fumbled, but he was barely touched down.
05:27But I'm curious as to whether or not, like, you guys that are fans and cover the team, did you
05:36want him to go for fourth and eight?
05:38He was considering going for a fourth and eight at the Kansas City, like, 18-yard line, down three in
05:44overtime rather than kicking a field goal to tie,
05:47in part because I don't think he thought they could stop Mahomes, and he turned out to be right.
05:51But fourth and eight isn't fourth and three.
05:55They put the offense out there, and if they'd gotten the look, he said he was going to go for
05:59it.
06:00What did you think of that?
06:02Yeah, so a couple things there.
06:04The Colts had lost eight straight games entering that Kansas City game.
06:07So I think any time you've lost eight straight, I believe it was double the streak of anybody in the
06:12NFL at that point.
06:14I think most fans are like, you just go for it.
06:16Like, you have come this far on the road in primetime against Mahomes, basically by deciding to kick the field
06:23goal there,
06:23you are saying the results that I'm content with in this game is either a tie or a loss.
06:28Like, there's no way you're going to win the football game.
06:30I think it was like three minutes left maybe in overtime.
06:33Mahomes, of course, isn't going to go three and out, you know, very quickly,
06:37and then all of a sudden you're going to have one more shot there.
06:40Now, you bring up AFC South earlier.
06:42I don't know.
06:43Now, at the end of the year, it strikes me as one of those divisions where we might do in
06:45the hole,
06:46should every divisional winner have a home playoff game?
06:50Like, AFC South just screams nine and eight winner this year.
06:54So, actually, the tie, as ludicrous as it sounds in week two, didn't seem like the most far-fetched thing
07:00to me.
07:02Now, Shane said that that wasn't a factor on his mind at all.
07:05I think the bigger issue Colts fans had in that sequence is after the challenge and the long review,
07:13they went run, lose yards, run, lose yards.
07:18So, they ran Taylor on first and second down, and it became third.
07:21I think it was third and 13.
07:23Jones scrambled to set up the fourth and eight.
07:26If you look back in the second era, I want to say the only –
07:30he's only run Taylor twice in those situations, losing yards on first down, running him again on second.
07:37I want to say he's only done it five or six times, and virtually every time he's done it, it's
07:41to run out the clock.
07:43So, I think that was the frustration from Colts fans of, like, you've gotten down here.
07:48You obviously made a huge play.
07:49I would argue the Kansas City's defense largely are on their heels.
07:52You run it on first down and then on second down.
07:56So, I think that was what fans are most frustrated by.
08:02Once you lost yardage to them, it was like, okay, this needs to be throw-throw to get into fourth
08:07and manageable.
08:08Because he did have the intent to go for it, I think, until he got into fourth and eight.
08:13Like, if it was fourth and five, he said that would have been automatic go.
08:16Yeah, sure.
08:17No matter what look he got.
08:19So, I think that's the frustration.
08:21I get Taylor's a great talent, but, again, without Pierce, I just think teams are going to sit in the
08:26box a little bit more with that eighth defender.
08:28And if you watch those two plays, Kansas City blew up both those runs, and then it was third and
08:3313, and the rest is history.
08:35All right.
08:36Tell me about the team.
08:37Let's start on offense right now.
08:40What are they good at?
08:41What aren't they good at?
08:43I mean, you've sort of just alluded to the factor that no Pierce creates for them in terms of a
08:49vertical threat.
08:51Yeah, that's the biggest question for me offensively, and just the trickle-down effect off of that.
08:55I think it impacts Tyler Warren.
08:56I think it impacts Jonathan Taylor.
08:58Now, Taylor, I think, has the potency to have a huge day.
09:01I mean, he's just that talent.
09:03I mean, the last time the Colts went overseas, I don't know if anybody remembers Colts-Falcons in Germany last
09:07year.
09:08It was a great, great game.
09:08And Taylor had over 200 yards rushing and, you know, was honestly, looked like a borderline NFL MVP at that
09:15point of the season.
09:16But his numbers just haven't been the same since.
09:19You know, Daniel Jones right now is the third most turnovers in the NFL with five through three games.
09:24So that is a question.
09:26You know, you guys might be a little bit more use to that, Daniel Jones.
09:30But, you know, for the most part, he really hasn't been the turnover pumpkin here in Indy that he was
09:35with New York.
09:36So I think it goes to the questions offensively.
09:40Defensively, they've allowed a ton of yards.
09:42You know, Houston was the ultimate slump buster offensively to face last week.
09:46They were better.
09:47I still don't think it's a great litmus test.
09:50They've invested a lot at corner.
09:52So I do think that matchup, Washington's wideouts against Sauce Gardner, Javaris Ward, they like their young nickel and Justin
09:58Wally.
09:59I think that'll be a good matchup.
10:01But defensively, I'm still pretty skeptical about that side of the ball.
10:07Is Daniel Jones off the injury?
10:09Is he being used in the running game as much as he typically has during his career and I think
10:14was last year?
10:16I'm not talking about scrambles.
10:17I'm talking about designed or option runs?
10:20Yeah, definitely not, I think, to the amount that he was, you know, with New York and that playoff team
10:27or even last year, to your point, a little bit with Indy.
10:30So, you know, again, the root of his five turnovers through three games, I don't think are Achilles-related.
10:36Honestly, I think some of it's just decision-making, not handling the ball in the pocket, a couple strip sacks.
10:42But I am curious, like, you know, if teams, you know, get into those looks where they're trying to test
10:47Jones and, hey, read option or, you know, again, just an outright, you know, dash to the six on the
10:53third and four situation, how is he moving?
10:56You know, we might be nitpicking, but, you know, maybe I see 85% and that can matter a whole,
11:03whole lot in these situations because I do think that is a part of his game.
11:07So turnover is probably the bigger question, though, right now with him through the first three games.
11:11Tell me about Latu on defense.
11:13I loved him coming out of UCLA, and I thought last year was a bit of a breakout season, and
11:18I was expecting him to be maybe a star pass rusher this year.
11:23Do you guys think the same, and what kind of start to the season has he had?
11:28Yeah, very underwhelming.
11:29Right now, their edge group as a whole, their defensive ends, have one sack through three games that's combined with
11:37all of them.
11:38Latu has a half a sack.
11:39So you draft somebody at 14 overall, 15 overall, wherever he was drafted, you just want more sack production.
11:46And the thing about Latu, and you probably alluded to this coming out of the draft, you know, I think
11:50that, you know, if you look at that draft class of Jared Verse and Dallas Turner,
11:56Turner, for example, was thought to be kind of more the high ceiling.
11:59You know, it might be a bust or it might be slow developing, but eventually you could really reap it.
12:06And I would argue they are, Minnesota starting, to reap that.
12:10With Latu, I think the thought was as ready-made as you could really hope for from a first-round
12:15rusher, given his age and given what he did at UCLA those couple years.
12:19So, yeah, I mean, trajectory-wise, quiet rookie year, much better second year, like you said.
12:24But, yeah, through the first three weeks, just super, super quiet.
12:27The Colts desperately need more.
12:29They've actually only forced one turnover, which I think is last in the NFL.
12:34They haven't forced one since the opening half of the season.
12:36Granted, you have played Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes, and CJ Stroud, but still, five straight halves without a turnover has
12:43got to be one of the longer streaks in the league.
12:46Tyler Warren and Colston Loveland in that draft, do you guys think you got the better player?
12:54Yeah, again, there is kind of probably a floor-sealing debate with those two.
12:59You know, Warren a little bit more consistent, you would think, and hope.
13:02Loveland maybe a little bit more flash.
13:05Yeah, you know, Loveland really came on at the end of last year, whereas Warren was really good early last
13:09year.
13:09Then when Jones got hurt, when you mentioned some of that movement action, some of that bootleg action, Warren was
13:14so effective there.
13:15If you look at it, Warren was super dink and dunk the first two weeks of the season.
13:20I want to say he had nine catches in the first two games.
13:23None of them went for further than nine yards.
13:26Now, better last week, a little bit more, but still, without Pierce, you know, where's that extra safety over the
13:32top going?
13:32Is it going to Taylor on the run game?
13:34Is it going to Warren?
13:36So, you know, Warren probably offers a little bit more consistency.
13:39Loveland maybe a little bit more boom and bust.
13:41I know Loveland hasn't had a great start to the season, so I would say Warren's been overwhelmingly great,
13:47but, you know, probably a little bit better than Loveland so far.
13:50All right.
13:51How do you see it unfolding Sunday?
13:53What does Indy have to do to beat Washington?
13:58Yeah, I mean, turnovers aren't the big question here, and obviously that was so critical in Washington getting it done
14:02over Seattle.
14:03The Colts are turning the ball over too much right now.
14:05They aren't forcing enough giveaways.
14:07So, I like the Colts.
14:09I mean, from afar, I just think Washington strikes me as a little bit banged up.
14:13Three and a half, I don't know if I like necessarily that, you know, with that hook there at three
14:19and a half.
14:20But I see the Colts getting this done.
14:23You know, maybe a coin flip, maybe slightly more to the Colts here.
14:27I just think Taylor is due at some point to get going there.
14:30And, you know, seeing what Washington's given up point-wise here through the first three games,
14:35I still think the Colts will be able to move it enough.
14:38Kevin, thanks for doing this.
14:40Really appreciate it.
14:42You bet.
14:42Thanks for having me.
14:43Yep.
14:44Kevin Bowen, a host on 107.5 The Fan in Indianapolis.
14:51Yeah, right now the Colts have one.
14:55They're minus five in the turnover margin near the bottom.
14:58That obviously will be a huge key between two teams that right now look somewhat comparable.
15:06And that's why you're, you know, I think stopping the run will be huge.
15:11And I thought it was a good point.
15:13No deep threat necessarily on that team right now with Pierce out.
15:17And teams are loading up the box to stop Jonathan Taylor.
15:21He was on a ridiculous roll last year.
15:25When the Colts were rolling last year, Taylor had the game in London that they played last year against Atlanta.
15:33He had 244 yards rushing.
15:37I mean, I kind of remember that.
15:39I didn't remember it was that much.
15:41He, through the Daniel Jones injury, he had games of 165 yards, 123 yards, 153 yards, and 244 yards.
15:55When they were at seven and two, he had at that point 15 rushing touchdowns on the season last year.
16:06And then, without Jones, the rest of the way, he did not produce a 100-yard day and only had
16:13three more rushing touchdowns for the season.
16:17Still rushed for 1,585 yards and 18 touchdowns on the season last year.
16:23Jonathan Taylor is an elite level back.
16:26And it's going to be a real test for Washington's, we think, revamped run defense to shut them down.
16:35And the fact that they don't have that deep threat.
16:38You're not facing CeeDee Lamb or JSN this week.
16:43They can potentially offer up more in the box.
16:47But we know what our back end has been like.
16:49And Josh Downs and Keenan Allen and Tyler Warren, still I have a feeling people are going to be open
16:57on Sunday.
16:59Definitely a very interesting matchup for early in the season.
17:04And then you get just the whole nature of these international games.
17:07But, yeah, that game last year in London against Atlanta, the Colts won the game 31-25 in overtime.
17:16And they had 323 yards rushing because Daniel Jones had 53 yards rushing as well.