As poorly as the Indianapolis Colts were playing in the second half of their Week 6 game against the Tennessee Titans, as the fourth quarter began, it seemed highly unlikely that the anemic Titans offense could do much to put a win in jeopardy.
Cam Ward and his teammates had managed just seven first downs and six points through the first 45 minutes, and the Colts still held a 13-6 lead. But as it turned out, Tennessee didn’t need anything special from their offense. They would get it from their special teams.
Special teams, which have been one of the few bright spots for the Colts this year, collapsed on two consecutive fourth quarter punts, which essentially cost Indy a chance to improve to 3-3 on the season and pull within a game of division-leading Jacksonville. Instead, they suffered a crushing 26-20 loss to a team that entered the game 0-5.
Failures on back-to-back punt plays doom the Indianapolis Colts' Week 6 chances
This Colts team seems to be finding new ways to lose each week. Up until now, either the defense or the offense has been the main scapegoat. Special teams, riding an outstanding season from kicker Spencer Shrader and boasting pretty solid coverage units, have been one of the stronger groups.
But not in Week 6. The special teams turned what seemed to be a certain win into a devastating loss.
Rigoberto Sanchez dropped back for his second punt of the game on the first play of the fourth quarter. The first time he had punted, Titans edge rusher Truman Jones had been flagged for a penalty, which nullified the punt and gave the Colts a first down.
This time, Sanchez blasted the ball 57 yards downfield to Chimere Dike. Dike is a quality returner, but in 2026, the Colts' coverage unit has been quite good. They entered the game second in the league in net punting yards at 46.6. If this play ran true to form, Dike would have gone for about ten yards, leaving the Titans somewhere around their own 40-yard line.
But multiple Colts players made poor plays on the return. Deion Burks, who has been pressed into service as a gunner with Ashton Dulin out, missed Dike as he fielded the ball. Dike ran straight upfield, where both Tahj Chambers and Luke Rhodes whiffed on tackles.
Caden Curry, guarding the edge, allowed Dike to sprint right past him without laying a hand on him, and Austin Ajiake did the same. Basically, Dike simply ran right past half of the Colts' coverage team, who seemed to part like the Red Sea and allow him a lane straight up the middle. 58 yards later, Kapena Gushiken finally ran him down. By that point, he had reached Indy’s 28-yard line.
The Titans, who struggled to move the ball all day, needed just four plays to score their first touchdown and tie the game. A few minutes later, they would take their first lead. Again, it came on a punt.
Truman Jones had very nearly blocked Sanchez’s punt when he was flagged for running into the punter. This time, he and running back Julius Chestnut overloaded the A gap to the right of snapper Luke Rhodes. Rhodes was pulled left and fell to the ground.
Then the two Titans rushers stampeded through Jonathan Owens on their way to Sanchez. Chestnut blocked it, and Oluwafemi Oladejo scooped it up for a walk-in touchdown.
Who needs offense?
What is most distressing about the way things unfolded is that special teams coordinator Brian Mason did not seem able to correct these problems during the game. Missing Dulin and return man Anthony Gould no doubt weakened the unit as a whole, but these plays were very much out of character.
Instead of the 46.6 net yards the Colts had been averaging per punt, they officially had a net yardage of -.5 yards for the game. Tennessee’s punt teams averaged a net of 50 yards per kick. And there had been just one punt blocked in the entire NFL through the first five weeks of games until the Colts ceded the second.
The Colts played a dreadful game as a team, and their performance has now led to the dismissal of general manager Chris Ballard. Unfortunately, this week, the special teams led the way. There's some symmetry to that, since the back end of the roster, which is often the source of special teams personnel, has been a particular problem under Ballard.
At crucial moments, those players were not up to the challenge. As poorly as Daniel Jones and the offense performed … as mundane as the defensive effort was … Indy probably does not lose that game if not for two special teams collapses in the fourth quarter.
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