It’s October of 2021 and the Indianapolis Colts still have no idea what’s going on with their kicking situation.
When Nyheim Hines jogged out to be the holder for, uh, Rigoberto Sanchez, on Monday Night Football against the Baltimore Ravens, you could say many people were confused. So confused in fact, I thought we were heading for another one of these.
https://www.sportsnet.ca/football/nfl/watch-colts-try-to-trick-patriots-on-4th-down-fail-miserably/
To be fair, this could only happen during a Colts primetime game anyway.
But to the original point, when Rodrigo Blankenship says during PREGAME that he feels like he’s taking a knife to his hip, any rational thinking coaching staff probably does not send him out to attempt field goals in practice.
Let alone on Monday Night Football.
To his credit, Blankenship did tough it out and put at least some points on the board. The problem with this is it all trickles down to one very important factor on the sidelines.
Frank Reich has trouble making big decisions that will be a toss up on how a player will receive the news. Just like not benching Adam Vinatieri in his last season, Reich doesn’t know how to push buttons in a certain way.
The head coach of the Colts still has Vinatieri Syndrome. Only this time it’s with a new kicker; And for a guy that can’t hit beyond 50 yards in the first place.
Watch this and let me know if this reminds you anything of the debacle we all watched last night.
I’m at a point where I can care less if it hurts someone’s feelings. Clearly Blankenship is a strong dude. But you would hope that even he knows that he wasn’t good to go last night.
At least at one point in his life Sanchez was a place kicker. It’s not like you’re sending Brett Hundley out there to say ‘okay man you’re not doing anything anyway, give it a whirl’.
The concerning part just continues to be Reich’s over-loyalty. Being a player’s coach is one thing, but you must have that separation. That’s what makes Alex Cora so good with the Boston Red Sox.
Cora literally hangs out with the players in the clubhouse, drinks with them, and jokes around. Say what you want about his involvement with the Houston Astros trash can BS. But when it comes to managing the game and making hard decisions that his players may not like, Cora is stone cold.
I need to see that out of Reich.
If the Colts are going to get out of this quicksand pond that is 1-4, it’s going to take some real honest conversations from the inside on what the true state of this football team is.
