The Indianapolis Colts came away with the win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, but a concerning trend continues for kicker Matt Gay.
On the day, Gay was 2-for-3 on field goal attempts and made all three extra points. However, his one miss came from 54 yards. On its own, that may not draw much attention, but missing from deep is happening often for Gay.
On kicks of 50-plus yards, Gay is now 0-for-2 on the season. If we rewind back to the preseason, Gay was 0-for-2 on field goal attempts of 50 or more yards then as well. So, over the last six or so weeks of football, he’s a combined 0-for-4 on those 50-plus yard attempts.
If we want to extend the timeline even further back, Gay is coming off a 2023 season where he made a career low 61.5 percent of his field goal attempts from over 50 yards, according to PFF.
Gay was 8-for-13 overall on those kicks in 2023 and is 8-for-15 since the start of last year. During the 2021 and 2022 seasons, he was a combined 11-for-14 on long field goal attempts.
“I have confidence in Matt, and he knows he’s gotta make those kicks,” Shane Steichen said after Gay’s miss in Green Bay. “And we gotta get that cleaned up for sure.”
That missed field goal on Sunday against the Steelers loomed large at the end of the game. Rather than the Colts being up six points and the Steelers offense needing to drive the length of the field for a touchdown, they instead only needed to get into field goal range. Fortunately, the Colts defense was able to come up with the stop.
A similar situation followed Gay’s miss in Green Bay. On the Colts’ final possession, rather than needing a field goal, they needed a touchdown.
The Colts signed Gay to a lucrative free agent contract during the 2023 offseason. In terms of average annual value, he is currently the fourth-highest paid kicker in the NFL, and the Colts need him to perform as such.