Insider: For one night, Chase McLaughlin was everything Colts need a kicker to be

DENVER -- The Colts have spent the last three seasons searching for a kicker.

Ever since time finally caught up with Adam Vinatieri, robbing Indianapolis of the security it had for more than a decade.

Chase McLaughlin got the first crack at it. Lost the second. Has a third chance in front of him right now, an opportunity that can slip away as soon as it came.

McLaughlin knows that reality better than anybody.

For one night in Denver, though, McLaughlin was everything the Colts have been trying to find at kicker in a 12-9 win over the Broncos on Thursday Night Football.

Clutch. Accurate. Powerful.

“Massive,” Colts head coach Frank Reich said. “And they were all right down the middle, or it seemed like they were right down the middle. What a night by Chase.”

McLaughlin hit from 52 yards, from 51, made the game-tying kick from 31 and the eventual game-winner from 48. For one night in Denver, McLaughlin was everything his predecessors hadn’t been, everything the Colts haven’t had the past three seasons.

To put McLaughlin’s night into perspective, former Colts kicker Rodrigo Blankenship made just 2-of-7 kicks from 48 yards or longer in his entire time in Indianapolis.

McLaughlin hit three in one game.

“To me, it’s the same kick every time, whether it’s close or far,” McLaughlin said. “It’s the same operation.”

The ball flies further in Denver, travels better in the thin air of Mile High. Three long kicks at Mile High aren’t exactly the same as three long kicks in another venue.

But the thing with McLaughlin is that he didn’t need the help. McLaughlin’s always had a big leg; he’s now 11 of 13 from 50 yards or longer in his career, a remarkable mark for any kicker.

The Colts need a leg like that.

Blankenship didn’t have it. Neither did Michael Badgley, who spent the second half of last season as the Colts' kicker. In today’s NFL, a kicker has to be able to hit from long range, and McLaughlin has a track record of making kicks from 50-plus. He’s already made three this season with the Colts, a team that had just one kick of longer than 50 yards in the past two seasons combined.

McLaughlin also hit kicks in big moments

A 31-yarder with a chance to go to overtime. A 48-yarder in overtime.

The kind of pressure kicks that often gave Blankenship trouble, and the reason the Colts jettisoned Blankenship after he cost them a win over the Texans in the season opener. On a night when the Indianapolis offense seemingly had a snowball’s chance in the Mojave Desert of reaching the end zone, McLaughlin had to be the engine.

He provided all the points the Colts needed. Outkicked Denver’s highly-regarded kicker, Brandon McManus, who made three kicks but had another blocked by the long arm and huge paw of Grover Stewart.

The significance of Thursday night’s performance wasn’t lost on McLaughlin,  a man who has spent his entire career on the NFL’s kicking circuit, serving as a fill-in but never as a team’s primary kicker.

That’s always been the case for McLaughlin in Indianapolis. Brought in as an injury fill-in for Vinatieri, it was hit third injury gig as a rookie, McLaughlin kicked well and earned himself a chance to compete in Indianapolis the next training camp. When he lost the battle to Blankenship, he found himself back on the road again, rather than settling in a city he now calls home.

“This is my 10^th team in four years, this was my sixth workout this year,” McLaughlin said. “Had some other workouts this year that I thought I kicked really well, didn’t get the job, and it was all just a part of God’s plan.”

McLaughlin had another chance last season in Cleveland but he faltered down the stretch, finished 15 of 21 on field goals, lost his job when the Browns used a fourth-round pick on Cade York.

“I think the toughest part is on my family, and my wife’s been amazing through all of this,” McLaughlin said. “There have been some down times, some up times, and everything in between, and at the end of the day, just got to put my trust in God’s plan, know that he’s got you, he’s already got your story written.”

McLaughlin and his wife, Jessica, now live in Indianapolis permanently, in part because Jessica wanted to be close to her hometown of Chicago and in part because the hospitality of Indianapolis reminds him of his hometown in the Houston area.

McLaughlin’s Colts story is far from finished, and he knows that better than anybody.

As magical as Thursday night’s performance might have been, McLaughlin has to keep kicking the way he did in Denver to finally find a home in the NFL. Only time will tell if he can keep it up.

But for one night, McLaughlin was everything the Colts need a kicker to be.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Colts vs. Broncos: For 1 night, K Chase McLaughlin was everything Colts need