Colts punter Rigoberto Sanchez hasn’t had much to do this season.
The Colts have punted just 12 times in seven games, which is not just the fewest of any NFL team this season, but at 1.7 punts per game, it’s the lowest punts-per-game average in NFL history.
If they keep up their current pace for the full 17-game season, the Colts will punt just 29 times this season. Only one team in NFL history has ever punted less than 30 times in a season, and that was in the nine-game, strike-shortened 1982 season, when the San Diego Chargers punted 23 times, an average of 2.6 punts per game.
The Colts rarely need to punt because their offense is averaging an NFL-high 24 first downs per game. And when they face fourth down, they often go for it and are often successful: Indianapolis has converted nine of 11 fourth downs this season. With that fourth-down conversion rate, the Colts might be better off punting even less.