Colts vs. Broncos: Special teams grades

It was a whirlwind for this team on special teams today. But the Colts were able to get just enough out of this unit to win the game.

Special teams have been a big story in the first half of the season for this team. Most of the talk has been negative because of poor performances. That was the case for most of this game too, until the very end. They were able to redeem themselves.

Adam Vinatieri had himself a very up-and-down day. He started off the day by missing a 45-yard field goal in the first quarter. Then he made a 55-yard one to get the Colts on the board at the end fo the first half. Then he missed his fourth extra point of the season.

It looked like all was bleak in Vinny land. Then he redeemed himself with a game-winner from 51 yards out with 22 seconds left. It was the reason the Colts won, but he was also almost the reason they lost too. He has to fix his kicking problems pronto.

Rigoberto Sanchez had to be used a lot in this one. He had 5 punts today with a long of 58. Two of those punts were downed inside the 20-yard line as well. Punt coverage was pretty good in this one as well, as they didn’t allow any long punt returns.

The Colts only had two kickoff returns, but they were good ones. Zach Pascal returned the opening one 47 yards to give the team excellent field position. They ended up coming up empty on points, but it was still a great start.

Chester Rogers had only one return and it was for 8 yards. Nothing too flashy, but it improved the Colts’ field position. The main goal with these returns is just to not turn the ball over.

Very up-and-down performance from the special teams this week. They have to clean this up before next week. Vinny has to make his kicks with more regularity.