Colts' Rigoberto Sanchez Again Named AFC Special Teams Player of the Week
The Indianapolis Colts' do-it-all special teamer, Rigoberto Sanchez, has added some more hardware to his awards shelf.
On Wednesday, he was named the AFC's Special Teams Player of the Week for his performance last Sunday in Week 7 against the San Francisco 49ers in an "atmospheric river."
Sanchez totaled 6 punts with a 45.5 avg. and 38.7 net, putting three inside the 49ers' 20-yard line. Three of his punts were returned for a total of 21 yards (7.0 avg.). He also had one touchback.
Also handling kickoff duties, Sanchez kicked six times with one resulting in a touchback. San Francisco had an average starting field position of the 28.8-yard line based on Sanchez's kickoffs.
He handles placekick holding as well, and kicker Michael Badgley was perfect on the day with 3-of-3 on extra-point attempts and 1-of-1 on field goals (42 yards).
His entire body of work on the day is pretty average but what almost certainly got Sanchez this award was his career-long 79-yard punt in the second quarter.
The thing of that is, Sanchez had help on that franchise-record kick, as 49ers punt returner Brandon Aiyuk kicked the ball around the 17-yard line as it bounced, where it died in the end zone begrudgingly for a touchback (rather than the safety that fans were hoping for).
The punt was the second-longest in the NFL this season.
This was the second time in 2021 that Sanchez has earned this award, also being awarded for Week 4. He's the first player in the NFL this season to earn Special Teams Player of the Week twice. Sanchez is the first Colts player to earn the award twice in a season and the first since Pat McAfee to earn it twice in his career.
Sanchez is also the first Colts player to earn AFC Special Teams Player of the Week multiple times in the same season since Adam Vinatieri in 2013.
What did you think of Sanchez's performance Sunday? Drop your thoughts below in the comment section!
