WALDRON GRAIN & FUEL

09/15 16:03 CDT Shane Steichen acknowledges his play calls were too conservative at end of Colts' win over Broncos Shane Steichen acknowledges his play calls were too conservative at end of Colts' win over Broncos By MICHAEL MAROT AP Sports Writer INDIANAPOLIS (AP) --- Indianapolis Colts coach Shane Steichen changed his mind. Less than 24 hours after defending his strategy of calling three consecutive inside runs in the final two minutes and settling for a 60-yard field goal attempt in the final seconds against the Denver Broncos on Sunday, Steichen acknowledged Monday he made a mistake. Spencer Shrader missed the first kick badly, but the Colts were bailed out when the Broncos were called for a leverage penalty that moved the ball 15 yards closer. Shrader then made the 45-yarder for a 29-28 victory. "Going back through it, I probably should have been more aggressive," Steichen said. "We've got a lot of faith in Spence to make a kick, but we don't want to put him in that situation from that deep. We had three timeouts. We probably could have thrown the ball on second or third down to get it closer." It was a curious choice even in the moment for Indy (2-0). While Shrader has made all nine of his field-goal attempts this season and is 14 for 14 in his two-year career, the longest field goal he's made is 48 yards. The longest field goal in franchise history was Dan Miller's 58-yarder in December 1982, while the longest of the Indianapolis era was Matt Gay's 57-yarder in November 2023. And the longest by a Colts player at Lucas Oil Stadium came from Adam Vinatieri, who twice made 55-yarders. Steichen likely didn't know that history when he was calling plays, but he didn't want to give the ball back to Denver with time on the clock. So, after Denver called its final timeout with 1:44 to play, Steichen put the ball in Jonathan Taylor's hands three straight times and Taylor was tackled for 2-yard loss on the final carry. At the time, Steichen thought it was the right call. But after watching video of the game, Steichen promised not to make the same mistake again. "I think we still could have been more aggressive without them getting the (kickoff) return," he said. "They had no timeouts, so I could have been more aggressive --- just stay in bounds with the throw, whatever it may have been, stay in bounds --- and then run the clock down in that situation. We'll learn from it."

What's working Tyler Warren. The rookie tight end has lived up to expectations. He had four catches for 79 yards on Sunday, and his contributions go beyond numbers. His ability to catch balls over the middle, stretch the field, run after the catch or carry the ball out of the backfield has forced defenses to account for him. He's quickly become a playmaker, and he's been a reliable target for Daniel Jones.

What needs help Finishing drives. The Cols could have made Sunday's game much less stressful had they converted their red-zone chances into touchdowns instead of field goals. It's the second straight week Indy has had more field goals than touchdowns.

Stock up Taylor. Last week, there were injury concerns. On Sunday, Taylor looked just fine while rushing for 165 yards and catching a TD pass. His late 68-yard run set up one of Shrader's five field goals and he carried the ball on seven of the eight plays leading to the first of Shrader's two game-winning attempts. He's still one of the league's most dangerous runners.

Stock down P Rigoberto Sanchez. Things have gone so well for Indy these first two weeks, Sanchez has only been on the field once --- a punt negated by a penalty. That's good for the Colts, not so much for Sanchez's stock.

Injuries Cornerback Jaylon Jones went on injured reserve Saturday with a hamstring injury and will miss multiple weeks, and Steichen didn't say Monday when he expected starting CB Charvarius Ward to be cleared from the concussion protocol. Neither Ward nor DE Laiatu Latu (hamstring) played against the Broncos, though Steichen said both were progressing. All-Pro LG Quenton Nelson provided a scare Sunday when he appeared to hurt his knee, but he returned before halftime and finished the game.

Key numbers 1, 10 and 11 --- Indy opened Sunday with three successive scoring drives to become the first team in league history to score on its first 10 possessions of a season. The Colts also scored on their final drive last season, making it 11 straight --- the longest streak by any team since 1993. Indy has only had three scoreless possessions this season. The Colts turned it over on downs twice and ended the half with the ball once.

Next steps Now that the Colts are off to a fast start, they have a chance to change their fortunes in the AFC South. They've gone 3-5-1 on the road in division play over the past three seasons and haven't won the division since 2014. Indy visits winless Tennessee this weekend, and a third straight win in Nashville would be another step forward. ___ AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl