INDIANAPOLIS — The Colts hope kicker Adam Vinatieri kicking woes are behind him after his performance against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday.
Vinatieri, who was in the midst of one of the worse slumps of his 24-year NFL career, went a perfect 4-of-4 on kicks in the Colts 27-24 victory over the Falcons.
“One week doesn’t change anything good, bad or indifferent,” said Vinatieri, who connected on two field goals and two extra points on Sunday. “One game, one win.”
Vinatieri went into Sunday having missed seven kicks in the past three games going back to last season. Colts coach Frank Reich publicly said he didn’t have any concerns about Vinatieri’s struggles, but general manager Chris Ballard worked out six different kickers last week, signaling the possibility that the 46-year-old Vinatieri was kicking for his job against the Falcons.
“I mean that’s part of the game,” Vinatieri said. “If you’re not doing your job well, they need to find other things. I didn’t think about it too terribly much one way or another. It’s all about me doing my job well, you know what I mean? If you don’t do your job, it speaks for itself.”
Vinatieri, the NFL’s all-time leading scorer, received a nice ovation as he stepped on the field for a 49-yard attempt in the first quarter. The ball started right before going left, hitting the goal post and falling through. A miss, especially on Vinatieri’s first kick of the game, would have caused a lot of uneasiness for him and the Colts.
“Left my foot, thought I was going to be fine, drawing a little bit,” Vinatieri said. “Thank goodness it was 49 (yards) and not 50 (yards). All-in-all I was pretty happy with the way I kicked.”