The Colts were able to reel off 17 points in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s game to tie the Texans and force overtime, but they weren’t able to pull out a win in the extra session.
They had a pretty good shot at pulling the game out, however. They got in position for Rodrigo Blankenship to try a 42-yard field goal, but he missed badly and the Colts had to settle for a 20-20 tie with their AFC South rivals.
Blankenship made his other field goal and extra point attempts, but he had two kickoffs out of bounds in the fourth quarter and overtime that handed prime field position to the Texans when the Colts couldn’t afford to allow any points. The kicker is now 16-of-23 on field goals of 40 or more yards for his career and head coach Frank Reich was asked about Blankenship’s future with the team after the game.
“In my mind, he’s our kicker,” Reich said, via Joel A. Erickson of the Indianapolis Star. “We go back, and everybody gets evaluated. Coaches, players, we all get evaluated. If I’ve learned one thing over the years, it’s: Don’t rush into those kinds of decisions. Let Chris and I get a chance to talk about, everybody gets evaluated.”
The Colts missed the playoffs after losing to the Jaguars in the final game of the 2021 season, so they’re well aware of how thin the margin for error can be in the NFL. They’ll have to hope Sunday’s flop doesn’t wind up being part of the reason they’re out of the money again this season.
