The worst part of this Colts team is…
By Ryan Stano
After Sunday’s loss to the Titans, the playoffs are all but out of reach for this team. Now that they have lost four of their past five games, what’s the biggest reason for that?
It was a close game until the final five minutes of the fourth quarter. That’s when things went off the rails for the Colts. Tennessee blocked an Adam Vinatieri field goal attempt for the second time and returned it for a touchdown. Then on the next possession, Jacoby Brissett threw a pick.
That blocked field goal underscores what has been the worst part of this team this season; special teams. In particular, the kicking unit. This unit has underperformed in almost every way imaginable, and no one on that unit can escape blame for the catastrophic season.
Vinatieri gets the lion’s share of the blame. He has now missed an astounding 14 kicks in 12 games. Not all of them are his fault, like the blocked field goal that got returned for a touchdown on Sunday. But most of them are on him. He has been absolutely dreadful.
The blocking on the field goal unit has been bad too. Vinny had two kicks blocked Sunday. The first one was his fault because he kicked it too low. The second one was blocked almost right after it left his foot. It looked like a jailbreak on the right side of the blocking unit.
This isn’t the first game where the Colts have had kicks blocked either. The entire blocking unit needs revamped to keep this issue from happening. Even the long snapper Luke Rhodes has had issues, snapping the ball with the laces towards Vinny on the missed kick against Pittsburgh.
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It might be time for a change at special teams coordinator. Something has to change. Maybe everything has to change. But this unit has cost the Colts multiple games, and in turn, their season.