The Indianapolis Colts are 2-0 for the first time since 2009. The defense was just good enough in Week 2, and head coach Shane Steichen has his offense running well with Daniel Jones as QB1. A lot of praise should go to Steichen for how well Jones is performing.
But Steichen almost found a way to blow his team's chance to win the game in the end. The Denver Broncos have a good team, made the playoffs last year, and beating them is a great sign. But what Steichen did on Indy's final drive, he can't do again.
Part of the problem is that after the game, Steichen was asked why he called three straight run plays near Denver's 40-yard line when the team should have been trying to pick up a few more yards for a closer field goal attempt.
Indianapolis Colts head coach Shane Steichen has no explanation
When asked if he was trying to make sure the clock ran out on the Colts' final drive, Steichen refused to go into detail. He simply said, "Yeah. Cause, you know...I don't want to get into it, but yes. I didn't want any time left on that clock."
That's a great plan, and a common one. Trying to milk the clock normally heightens a team's chances of winning. But the Colts' head coach seemingly lost where his team was on the field. He was setting his new kicker, Spencer Shrader, up for a 60-yard field goal attempt. Shrader has the leg for it, but he has never made a kick longer than 48 yards in the NFL.
Steichen's answer is truly a non-answer. He can't really explain what happened because there is no good answer. He was lucky that the Broncos were called for a leverage penalty on Shrader's failed 6-yard attempt because otherwise the Colts would have lost, and the blame would have been on Steichen.
Given an extra 15 yards, Shrader nailed a 45-yarder for the victory, but Shane Steichen didn't try to get his team in a position for that to be the yardage of the original kick. It was illogical because he had plenty of time to try to get the ball closer.
Steichen needs the Indianapolis Colts to have a good season, or his job might be in jeopardy. Had his bone-headed clock management cost his team in Week 2, the team would have been right to think about moving on from the coach sooner rather than later.