INDIANAPOLIS – It’s what you call a statistical anomaly.
Or.
“Wild,’’ offered Rigoberto Sanchez. “Wild. Crazy.’’
He’s the Indianapolis Colts veteran punter whose name doesn’t appear in the NFL stats.
Two games.
Zero punts.
“Never happened before,’’ Sanchez said.
Not at California’s Hamilton High School. Or at Hawaii. Or in his first 113 games with the Colts.
Sanchez hasn’t strayed from his game-day routine, first against the Miami Dolphins and then the Denver Broncos.
He launches punts during pre-game warmups, then stays ready during the game by drilling punts into the kicking net, especially when the offense faces a third-and-whatever.
“You have to prepare, 100%,’’ Sanchez said. “You get thrown out there, you’ve got to be ready.’’
But as the Colts look to open the season 3-0 with Sunday’s trip to Nashville against the Tennessee Titans, they remain the NFL’s only team yet to punt. The Titans have punted a league-high 13 times.
There actually was a thundering 63-yarder on fourth-and-2 against Miami, but it was wiped out when Matthew Judon ran into Sanchez for a penalty that reset the possession.
Historical context reinforces the rarity of Sanchez still looking for his first 2025 punt. The Colts are the first team in the Super Bowl era to not punt in the first two games of a season.
Heading into this season, the Indy/Baltimore eras covered 72 years and 1,082 regular-season games. The number of games without at least one punt: 10.
And the Colts have never had consecutive regular-season games without a punt.
There’s one significant caveat. The Colts opened the 2003 playoffs with back-to-back games without a punt: a 41-10 win against Denver and a 38-31 victory at Kansas City. Peyton Manning was otherworldly, completing 44-of-56 (78.6%) for 681 yards, eight TD passes and a 156.9 rating.
The streak dramatically ended in the second quarter of the AFC Championship game at New England – a 24-14 loss – when Justin Snow’s snap sailed over punter Hunter Smith for a safety.
Running back Jonathan Taylor was a loss to compare consecutive games without a punt.
“Maybe there might have been one game we didn’t punt at Wisconsin,’’ he said Thursday, “but two games in a row is insane.
“At any level, two games in a row is insane.’’
It’s a reflection on the efficiency of the Daniel Jones-led offense and coach Shane Steichen’s aggressive approach.
The offense ranks No. 2 in total yards (445.5 per game), No. 4 in points (31.0) and tied for No. 6 in third-down conversions (46.4%). It opened the season with 10 straight scoring drives – four touchdowns, six Spencer Shrader field goals – which is the longest streak to open a season since at least 1993.
Steichen’s attack mode can’t be ignored. The Colts are 3-of-5 on fourth-down conversions, and a pair of failed fourth-and-shorts at midfield against Denver kept Sanchez on the sideline.
The absence of punting, insisted Taylor, is “a testament of the work we have put in, but also the consistency, because you have to be consistent.
“You can go out there and have one good drive, then the next drive you go three-and-out. Being at a high level of focus every single drive is something that we’ve been able to put on display.
“Of course, we’re going to try to continue that. If you don’t see Rigo out there, then obviously things are going well.’’
It’s not as if Sanchez hasn’t been involved. He’s been on the field for 16 total snaps and has been the holder as Shrader has converted all nine of his field goals and five PATs.
“I punt the whole game,’’ he said. “I warm up the whole game. (People say), ‘Ah, you must be (rested).’ No, I punted the whole game. I was ready.’’
Like so many others, this is a novel experience for special teams coordinator Brian Mason.
“It’s crazy,’’ he said. “I’ve not been in a situation (like this) . . . what is this year, 16 or 17 of my coaching career? I don’t think I’ve been in a two-game stretch where we’ve never punted.
“Certainly it’s unique.’’
As much as possible, Mason must keep his punt team on edge. That means being on point during practice.
“We need those guys to be able to, whether it’s rush or hold up, try to simulate this as close to a game as possible,’’ he said. “We can’t do a ton of full coverage reps on the guys’ legs during a game week, but when we do get a chance to do two different full cover reps, we got to make sure that we’re communicating, we’re fitting and working our lanes off of each other, so we can try to get as much of a game rep as possible.’’
You can follow Mike Chappell on Twitter at @mchappell51.