When head coach Shane Steichen sent kicker Spencer Shrader out to make a 60-yard field goal at the end of the Colts' game against the Denver Broncos, he did so with the utmost confidence.
He didn't necessarily want to put the second-year kicker in a situation like that, but with the way the previous few plays had turned out – running plays that yielded very little yardage – and with three seconds left on the clock, that was the only way the Colts were going to have a chance win the game.
And Shrader had proven he could make it from that distance before.
"He made multiple 60-plus yard field goals in pregame," special teams coordinator Brian Mason said Tuesday. "The furthest one that he attempted was from 63, I think he had three to four yards to spare on that. So that's where we ended up setting that end-of-game line for him, thinking hey, he's going to be able to make a 65-yarder if we need him to win the game."
Thanks to the roof and window being closed at Lucas Oil Stadium – and Shrader's familiarity with the turf on his home field – the Colts were confident in setting such a distance for Shrader.
Shrader's kick ended up being short and to the right of the goalposts, but not because he didn't have the strength to make it; he said after the game he felt the pressure from the Broncos' defense and rushed his operation.
"He rushed himself, which led to him poorly mishitting the ball that went short and to the right in a situation where he has plenty of leg to be able to make that kick," Mason said. "He just needs to stay locked into his routine and be able to win the game for us in that situation."
In hindsight, Steichen did say he could have called different plays to give Shrader a closer kick.
"We had three timeouts, probably could have thrown the ball on second or third down there in that situation to get it closer for the field goal," Steichen said Monday. "So, learn from that."
Luckily for Shrader and the Colts, the Broncos were flagged for a leverage penalty that awarded the Colts 15 yards and gave Shrader another opportunity, this time to make a 45-yard field goal. He made it easily – a beautiful kick right down the middle, Mason said – and the Colts were able to celebrate the walkoff victory.
It was a testament to Shrader’s mindset that he was able to recover within seconds to make such a crucial kick, but no one was surprised that he did; Shrader's capacity to stay calm and collected is what inspires Steichen and the Colts to have so much confidence in him in the first place.
"We've got really good faith in Spencer Shrader," Mason said. "We continue to think that he's going to continue to improve and be a really good starting kicker for us. He has a really big leg."
