Indianapolis Colts kicker Chase McLaughlin was named the AFC Special Teams Player of the Week from the 12-9 win over the Denver Broncos in Week 5.
McLaughlin was the only source of points for the Colts in the sloppy prime-time win. Though the offense struggled to string drives together, McLaughlin was there to pick up the slack by putting the ball through the uprights.
McLaughlin converted all four of his field-goal attempts, including three kicks from 48, 51 and 52 yards. He was the first Colts kicker to make two 50-plus yard attempts in a single game since Adam Vinatieri did it in 2019.
Chase McLaughlin is the first #Colts kicker to make two 50+ yard field goals in one game since Adam Vinatieri did it also versus Denver on 10/27/19.
— Brett Douglas (@BaD0UG) October 7, 2022
The Colts let go of Rodrigo Blankenship after his disastrous outing in Week 1 helped contribute to the tie against the Houston Texans. McLaughlin has been the kicker since Week 2 and has converted all four of his extra-point attempts and 7-of-8 field-goal attempts with his only miss coming from 51 yards in Week 4.
As Joel A. Erickson of The Indianapolis Star pointed out, McLaughlin converted three field-goal attempts of at least 48 yards against the Broncos in Week 5. That was more than Blankenship had during his entire tenure with the Colts.
Chase McLaughlin made more kicks of 48 yards or longer in one night than his predecessor made in his entire time in Indy.
He has to keep it up. No one knows that better.
But for one night, at least, McLaughlin was everything the Colts need at kicker. https://t.co/ssg5VJf5c5
— Joel A. Erickson (@JoelAErickson) October 7, 2022
The Colts offense needs to figure out its issues along the offensive line, but it’s nice to know they have a weapon like McLaughlin in their back pocket.
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