As Matt Gay walked out to the 34-yard line at Lucas Oil Stadium on Sunday, the kicker was mentally preparing himself for what was going to be one of the most meaningful kicks of his season so far.
The Colts trailed 10-0 to the Miami Dolphins and wanted to put points on the board before heading into halftime and get some momentum back. But Gay also hadn't made a field goal longer than 37 yards in the six games the Colts had played.
Gay had two 50-yard attempts under his belt – a 50-yarder in Week 2 and a 54-yarder in Week 4 – but both had sailed wide left. Now, he was being called upon for a 52-yard field goal.
As he stood a few yards behind the football, left foot in front of the right, Gay took a deep breath. He went through the same motions he had every single time before – in practices, in warmups, in games.
This time, the football sailed directly through the uprights.
"It felt so good," Gay said postgame. "I've been hitting the ball really, really good so it's been frustrating to not see those ones go through. So to actually connect on one and have it split the uprights, mentally, it felt great. And you just gain so much confidence from that."
The kicker has always carried himself with confidence – even with his misses, that has never wavered. Gay knows the kind of kicker he can be and has the stats to back it up; from 2020-2023, Gay was 20-of-28 on 50+ yard kicks, for 11th best among NFL kickers with at least 20 attempts from 50 yards or more.
It was just a matter of finally seeing one go through to get past the frustration of not living up to his own expectations.
"From there on, you just play free-minded," Gay said. "You go out there, kick the field goal, jog off. There's not a lot of thoughts in your head or anything like that...back in the groove, nothing's clouding your mind."
Gay went on to kick two more field goals in the Colts' 16-10 win over the Dolphins on Sunday, from 22 yards and 38 yards out, respectively.
"We needed those field goals today," head coach Shane Steichen said. "Credit to him...it was big."
Gay was ultimately responsible for 10 of the Colts' points on Sunday, as he also made the extra point after the Colts' lone touchdown of the day. But it was that first field goal, for the Colts' only points of the first half, that gave the rest of the team the momentum they needed to get the win.
And, just as importantly, it gave Gay his groove back.
"I just showed who I am," Gay said with a smile. "Just got back to feeling like myself."
