Based on the way the respective teams played in Week 1, many expected Sunday night’s game between the Colts and Chiefs to be a snoozer. Instead, it was an overtime thriller.
The game attracted 24.3 million viewers on average for NBC and Peacock.
The audience, which peaked at 27.4 million between 9:15 and 9:30 p.m. ET, made it the most-watched Week 2 Sunday night game since 2015.
It was also the fourth highest figure for an overtime game in 21 seasons of Sunday Night Football on NBC. In that span, 22 Sunday night games have gone to overtime.
The Sunday night slate continues in five days, with the Broncos hosting the Rams.
Adam Vinatieri isn’t in the NFL record book for the longest field goal, but he now is the Guinness World Record-holder for the highest field goal.
The Hall of Fame kicker made a field goal from an altitude of 11,332 feet (3,434 meters) above sea level in the Swiss Alps on Tuesday.
Vinatieri’s record-setting kick took place at Jungfraujoch, known as the “Top of Europe,” on snow-covered ground with swirling winds. A Guinness World Records adjudicator was on hand to certify the achievement.
“Snow is simply part of my time with the Patriots,” Vinatieri said, via a team news release. “But kicking a field goal at 3,454 meters is something completely different from anything I’ve ever done. You feel the altitude with every breath you take. Your heart rate is different. Your rhythm is different. And no one can really tell you beforehand how it will affect the kick, because no one has done this before. The fact that we were able to set the record under these conditions makes me very proud.”
The event kicked off the Patriots’ countdown to their Nov. 15 game in Munich and celebrated Vinatieri’s legendary career.
He last kicked in the NFL in 2019, retiring as the NFL’s all-time leader with 599 field goals.
The Colts made official the signing of free agent wide receiver Darius Slayton on Tuesday, the team announced. The move was previously reported.
Star wide receiver Alec Pierce will miss significant time after aggravating his surgically repaired heel.
In a corresponding move, the Colts placed defensive end Micheal Clemons on injured reserve.
Clemons injured a toe in Monday night’s loss to the Chiefs.
He must miss a minimum of four games before returning.
Clemons, who agreed to a three-year, $17.5 million deal with the Colts in free agency, has no stats this season in 38 defensive snaps and two on special teams.
The team also released running back Anderson Castle from the practice squad.
The Eagles are adding a veteran defensive back.
According to multiple reports, Philadelphia is signing former Colt Kenny Moore to the team’s practice squad.
Mike Garafolo of NFL Network notes that Moore’s deal is worth up to $3 million, which suggests Moore will be on the 53-man roster sooner rather than later.
Moore, 31, had effectively spent his entire career with the Colts since going undrafted in 2017. Last year, he appeared in 14 games with seven starts for Indianapolis, recording six passes defensed, an interception, and two forced fumbles.
Mainly a nickel cornerback, Moore has 21 interceptions and 68 passes defensed in his 132 career games with 111 starts.
As the NFL has changed its overtime rules, one of the league’s priorities was de-emphasizing the coin toss. Sudden death overtime fell out of favor largely because of the big advantage it gave to the team winning the toss, and the NFL wanted an overtime format that wouldn’t make winning the coin toss important.
This year, it seems to be working.
There have been three overtime games this season, and all three times, the team that won the overtime coin toss lost the game.
In Week 1, the Saints won the toss and chose to kick. The Lions scored a touchdown and extra point on the first possession, and the Saints then scored a touchdown on the second possession. The Saints went for two, didn’t convert, and lost 31-30.
In Week 2, the Jets won the toss and chose to receive. Jets coach Aaron Glenn said he wanted to control the clock, but that didn’t happen: The Jets went three-and-out on the first possession, and the Packers quickly moved into field goal range and won 20-17.
And on Sunday night in Week 2, the Colts won the toss and, despite having a captain who didn’t know the overtime rule, eventually got their choice to kick. Colts coach Shane Steichen said he wanted to kick because he didn’t want to give Patrick Mahomes four downs on the second possession. As it turned out, the Chiefs got a field goal on the first possession, the Colts tied with their own field goal on the second possession, and the Chiefs won 33-30 with another field goal on their third possession.
The current overtime format was adopted last season, and there’s still no consensus among coaches about whether it’s better to kick or receive — as demonstrated by Glenn making a different decision than Steichen and Moore. As long as that’s the case, winning the coin toss doesn’t matter very much. And that’s as it should be.
