INDIANAPOLIS — Spencer Shrader was preparing for the toughest kick of his young NFL life.
And Shane Steichen seemed intent on making it as difficult as possible.
With time winding down Sunday at a raucous Lucas Oil Stadium, the Indianapolis Colts trailed Denver, 28-26. But they were driving.
First-and-10 at the Broncos’ 43-yard line, one minute, 44 seconds remaining.
“We were in field-goal range there,’’ Steichen insisted.
Without moving the football, Shrader was looking at a 59-ish-yard field goal. His career long: 45.
Three Jonathan Taylor runs netted 1 yard for fourth-and-9 at the 42.
Steichen allowed the clock to wind to :03 and Shrader, in just his sixth game with a career long of 45, trotted out for a 60-yard win-it-or-not field-goal attempt.
“I prepare like the situation is going to be the hardest situation possible, and it can only get easier,’’ Shrader said. “I just trust the coaches to do their thing and do the management because I don’t know that much about football.
“They’ll get me an opportunity, then it’s my job to execute it at the end of the day.’’
The game-closing sequence went off kilter when Shrader pushed the 60-yarder wide right.
“The first kick I felt the pressure coming from the other side of the ball and I just felt like it just kind of got in my routine a little bit,’’ he said.
Then, a penalty on Denver’s Eyioma Uwazurike for leverage.
According to referee Craig Wrolstad in a pool report: “For leverage, as a defender, you’re not allowed to place your hand on an opponent or a teammate and push off to propel yourself into the air to block a kick.’’
The 15 yards gave Shrader a do-over from 45, and he nailed it for a 29-28 victory as time expired.
“I got swarmed so fast,’’ said the Westfield native. “I looked up, I saw it going through and it was like — Bang!
“It was just joy. That was the only emotion.’’
Perhaps relief considering the magnitude of the leverage penalty.
Instead of the bleeding-the-clock decision costing the Colts, they used another efficient game from Daniel Jones and Shrader’s kicking heroics — 5-for-5 against Denver, 9-for-9 on the season — to open a season 2-0 for the first time since 2009. They opened 2-0 with consecutive home wins for the first time since 1960.
“Very gutsy, gritty team win,’’ Steichen said. “To get two back-to-back wins at home in front of our home crowd, the atmosphere out there was electric.
“It was awesome.’’
Jones was asked if he had experienced an ending like that?
“I don’t know quite like that,’’ he said with a smile. “But yeah, it was an exciting, big-time kick there by Spence.
“Once the penalty’s on them, the game’s still good and we have a lot of confidence in Spence.’’
Shrader’s perfection helped bail out an offense that set an NFL record by opening a season with 10 consecutive scoring drives, but left too many points on the field. The Jones-led offense scored just two touchdowns on six red-zone trips.
“We’ve got to clean that up,’’ he said.
For the majority of the day, he cleaned up against an active Denver defense. Jones completed 23-of-34 passes for 316 yards and a 7-yard touchdown to Taylor. He was sacked only once.
“I thought he was efficient,’’ Steichen said.
On Indy’s final two possessions, points were absolutely required. Denver led 28-23.
“You’ve gotta go win a game there,’’ Steichen said. “And you go down and get us in field goal range like that to go win it.
“I thought it was good all-around all day.’’
Midway through the fourth quarter, the defense came up with a sudden change with safety Cam Bynum’s second interception in as many games. Taylor’s 68-yard run got the Colts to the Denver 12-yard line, and Shrader cleaned up with a 28-yard field goal when the drive stalled.
On the final drive, Jones drove them 41 yards in nine plays for Shrader’s walk-off 45-yarder. The pivotal play was Jones’ 7-yard laser to Alec Pierce on third-and-6. Pierce earned just enough separation against Defensive Player of the Year Pat Surtain II.
The fourth-quarter comeback was the 10th of Jones’ career and his first since September 2023. He passed for at least 270 yards in consecutive games for only the second time in his career; the first was the final two games of his rookie season in 2019.
In his first two games with Indy, Jones is completing 71.4% of his passes for 588 yards with two TDs and a 111.1 rating. He’s averaging 9.3 yards per attempt.
He’s clearly found a comfort zone with his relocation.
“I don’t know how much time I’ve spent comparing it to times in the past or different situations I’ve been in, but I feel confident and there’s a great energy about our team, about our offense, about our group,’’ he said.
Does he feel a bit of personal validation?
“I don’t know. Yeah, maybe a little bit, for sure,’’ Jones said. “Like I’ve said, I think you try to block it out. You don’t seek it out. But you know what people are saying and you know what the narrative is in a lot of situations . . . I’ve played a few years now and one game, two games don’t make a season.
“It’s a long, long season, You’ve got to be able to sustain that.’’
The offensive performance was necessary because the defense had trouble most of the day with quarterback Bo Nix and the Broncos. They piled up 324 yards and 23 first downs, and often pierced the Colts with chunk plays. Denver had six plays that gained at least 18 yards, including Troy Franklin’s 42-yard reception and Marvin Mims Jr.’ 23-yard touchdown against Xavien Howard.
Speaking of Howard, the four-time Pro Bowler had an overall tough afternoon. During one sequence that ended with Nix’s 2-yard TD to Adam Trautman, Howard was penalized three times in five plays.
More things to clean up. The Colts were penalized 11 times for 68 yards.
JT warmed to the task
It was a grind-it-out day for Taylor, until it wasn’t.
In the first half, he was limited to 38 yards on 11 carries. The third quarter netted 29 yards on four carries.
Then, Taylor went on for 98 yards on 10 carries over the final 11 minutes, 55 seconds. That was capped by his 68-yarder through the right side of the line.
He finished with 165 yards on 25 carries, and added 50 yards and a TD on two receptions.
The 165 yards are the 8th-most in nis career.
Where’s Rigo?
Rigoberto Sanchez leads the NFL in fewest punts. He’s had zero in two games.
According to NFL+, the Colts are the first team in the Super Bowl era to not punt in each of their first two games.
Along with no punts, the Colts have yet to turn the ball over.
You can follow Mike Chappell on Twitter at @mchappell51.