ChiefsPlanet - Chiefs Bye week comes as blessing for the MVP, whose wife is expecting fifth child

Bye week comes as blessing for Chiefs’ Colquitt, whose wife is expecting fifth child
By KATHLEEN GIER
The Kansas City Star
Dustin Colquitt is having a lot of fun right now and rightfully so.

On the field, he’s having one of his better statistical years, averaging 44.7 yards a punt with 26 downed within the 20-yard line for the undefeated Chiefs. Off the field, he and his wife, Christia, are set to welcome their fifth child to their family during the bye week.

“I just dialed up to the maker and said we need it on the bye week if possible,” Colquitt said. “… When the schedule came out, as a Christian man I thought, that could not have been better timing.”

After the bye week, he’ll have another big family event, facing his brother Britton, who punts for the Broncos. Denver, 7-1, will play host to the 9-0 Chiefs on Sunday night Nov. 17.

“We talk all the time. I steal stuff from him, he steals stuff from me. If we see something on film we try to talk and communicate that,” Colquitt said. “I get so nervous playing him just because that is my little brother and I’ve tried to beat him up my whole life and put him in his place. So when he’s out here with a job to do, I’m praying ‘Please let him have a good punt.’”

Colquitt’s successes on the field haven’t come easy though. He punts three days a week, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, and refuses to quit until he’s pleased with his performance.

“If I’m struggling in practice I punt until I get it right because I know that it is crucial in the game,” Colquitt said. “If you can lock down offenses like we’ve been doing by our gunner play and our interior protecting and getting down and blocking we really limit what they do from an offensive standpoint.”

Then you add in Ryan Succop, who has made 18 of his 21 field-goal attempts and all 23 PATs. But his kickoffs have helped the Chiefs lead the AFC with an average defensive start from their opponents’ 23-yard line.

“Our kicker and punter allow us to have great field position to start on defense,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “They are doing a nice job of making teams drive long fields.”

For example, this past weekend, each of Buffalo’s 12 drives started inside their own 21, with six touchbacks and three starts inside the 13.

Colquitt says the defense’s hard work has encouraged him to step up as well.

“When they’re playing like that, it’s actually gotten me in trouble a couple times because I try to be really aggressive and get it inside the 2-yard line instead of the 10,” Colquitt said. “I’m trying to be a little more aggressive because those guys are pinning their ears back and it’s third and 10 and they’re still inside the 5. That is what you go for as a punter. You’re trying to bury them deep.”