Horseshoe Heroes
FanSided

On NFL Honors Night, Our ‘Indianapolis Colts Honors’ Awards

By Luke Schultheis

Feb 1, 2014; New York, NY, USA; Indianapolis Colts defensive end Robert Mathis receives the Deacon Jones Player of the Year award at the 3rd NFL Honors at Radio City Music Hall. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 1, 2014; New York, NY, USA; Indianapolis Colts defensive end Robert Mathis receives the Deacon Jones Player of the Year award at the 3rd NFL Honors at Radio City Music Hall. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 7
Next
Nov 29, 2015; Indianapolis, IN, USA;Indianapolis Colts punter Pat McAfee (1) punts in the second half against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Lucas Oil Stadium. The Indianapolis Colts won over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 25-12. Mandatory Credit: Thomas J. Russo-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 29, 2015; Indianapolis, IN, USA;Indianapolis Colts punter Pat McAfee (1) punts in the second half against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Lucas Oil Stadium. The Indianapolis Colts won over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 25-12. Mandatory Credit: Thomas J. Russo-USA TODAY Sports /

Most Valuable Player: P Pat McAfee

Obviously, this speaks to how the season went for the Colts, but with Andrew Luck missing 9 games, Pat McAfee was clearly the team’s best player this past season.

While McAfee was snubbed from the Pro Bowl and receiving All-Pro honors, he was arguably the NFL’s best punter this past season. He was 2nd best in most average yards per punt at 47.7 average yards per punt, and 5th in most average net yards per punt at 41.7 average net yards per punt.

Also, who can forget this impromptu 18-yard fake punt run against the Tennessee Titans in Week 3 of this past season?

It’s worth noting that the Colts did surrender 3 punt return touchdowns with McAfee punting; however, that was through no fault of McAfee’s as the team’s punt return coverage unit lacked quality special teams performers by season’s end.

According to ProFootballFocus (subscription), McAfee was their highest graded punter with a +41.5 grade overall. To put that in perspective, in 2nd place was the Titans Brett Kern, who received a +34.0 grade overall.

However, also handling kickoff duties for the Colts, McAfee was 3rd in most touchbacks with 67 touchbacks on the season. In the process, the Colts had the highest touchback percentage of all NFL teams at 87.01%.

McAfee also flawlessly handled field goal holding duties for legendary kicker Adam Vinatieri, completing the trifecta for the team’s most versatile special teams player.

Honorable Mention: PK Adam Vinatieri

Home/Colts News