The Indianapolis Colts' season is going a bit better than most probably expected. Perhaps many expected an Indy win in Week 1 against a struggling Miami Dolphins team that has issues on the road. Week 2's victory against a good Denver Broncos team was less presumed.
But if anything, Week 2 proved to Colts fans that head coach Shane Steichen has faith in a player who had to battle for a roster spot throughout training camp and most of the preseason. That player isn't quarterback Daniel Jones, as the team seemingly had more faith in him than many assumed.
Maybe Steichen has too much faith in the player in question. That would be kicker Spencer Shrader, who was no team's full-time kicker until he was given the job with Indianapolis ahead of this season. He bounced around the league a bit before Indy signed him this past offseason.
Indianapolis Colts clearly have faith in kicker Spencer Shrader
Though Shrader nailed a 45-yard field goal to win the game in the final seconds against the Broncos, he missed a previous attempt from 60 yards. The kicker should never have been put in the position to have to make a field goal of that length. Steichen made obvious decisions to put Sharder in the situation.
On three straight plays from near the Denver 40-yard line, Steichen called run plays straight up the middle that appeared designed to do nothing but take time off the clock. What Colts fans (and possibly the rest of the Indy team, other than Steichen) might have wondered is why Indianapolis wasn't trying to pick up a few yards for a closer field goal attempt.
Steichen clearly thought Shrader could make a 60-yard kick. The head coach didn't try to change that impending fact. The kicker had made his previous four field goals in the game, but he had only 13 career kicks before the 60-yard attempt. None of those had been longer than 48 yards.
Sharder missed the attempt wide, but the Broncos committed a leverage penalty, which allowed the kicker to have another try, but 15 yards closer. He made that one easily. Steichen should have tried to get 15 yards closer with the plays he called before the failed 60-yard attempt.
But what was clear is that the Indianapolis Colts head coach Shane Steichen made his belief in Spencer Shrader crystal clear. The coach thinks the kicker can win games with long field goals. Shrader will almost certainly have the chance to do that many times in his Indy career.