Rookie miscues, coaching regrets decide Week 2 games for Colts, Broncos, Seahawks, Steelers

Rookie mistakes and late-game coaching decisions directly affected outcomes in multiple Week 2 NFL games, with a kickoff misread leading to a touchdown in Seattle and a special-teams penalty producing a do-over that delivered a win for Indianapolis.

In Seattle, a misplay by Steelers rookie returner Kaleb Johnson allowed a kickoff to roll into the end zone, where the Seahawks recovered for a touchdown and went on to a 31-17 victory over Pittsburgh. The play highlighted the NFL's intricate kickoff rules: a ball that lands in the landing zone is a live ball that either team may recover if the returner does not secure it.

“Poor judgment by a young player,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said Monday, describing the error. The play underscored how even basic situational awareness about changing kickoff procedures can swing momentum and scoring in short order.

In Indianapolis, a different kind of late-game miscause proved decisive. The Broncos appeared to preserve a 29-28 lead when opponent Spencer Shrader shanked a 60-yard field-goal attempt in the closing seconds, but a leverage penalty against Denver gave the Colts an untimed, do-over attempt from 45 yards. Shrader made the kick, lifting Indianapolis to its first 2-0 start since 2009 and sending Denver home with questions about a critical decision.

Broncos coach Sean Payton said Monday he regretted being too aggressive in allowing Denver to rush after the 60-yarder. “That’s more for a gimme than a 60-yard attempt, and that’s on me,” Payton said, referring to the call in which Broncos defender Dondrea Tillman was judged to have pushed off while attempting to leap over an opponent.

Colts coach Shane Steichen also acknowledged he wished he had handled the closing sequence differently. After Denver called its final timeout with 1:44 to play, Steichen ran three consecutive inside carries to Jonathan Taylor, the last of which resulted in a 2-yard loss. “Going back through it, I probably should have been more aggressive,” Steichen said. “We’ve got a lot of faith in Spence to make a kick, but we don’t want to put him in that situation from that deep. We had three timeouts. We probably could have thrown the ball on second or third down to get it closer.”

Shrader has been perfect on field-goal attempts this season, making nine, and is 14 for 14 in his young career, though he had never attempted a kick longer than 48 yards in regular-season play. By contrast, the longest field goal in Colts franchise history is a 58-yarder by Dan Miller in December 1982; the longest in the Indianapolis era is a 57-yarder by Matt Gay in November 2023, and Adam Vinatieri twice made 55-yarders at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Both scenarios — the kickoff recovered by Seattle and the penalty-decided kick in Indianapolis — illustrated how rule awareness and late-game judgment calls affect outcomes. Coaches and players acknowledged errors and expressed regret in postgame comments, with Tomlin singling out a lack of experience and both Payton and Steichen taking responsibility for decisions that altered the games' endings.

The Seahawks' win over Pittsburgh and the Colts' narrow victory over Denver reflect how marginal events can swing standings early in the season. The incidents also underscore ongoing debate inside clubs about risk-taking on special teams and the need for teams to prepare players for complex, frequently updated rules.

Reporting for this story included contributions from AP Sports Writer Michael Marot in Indianapolis.