Indianapolis Colts‘ locker room https://www.coltsfanshop.com/Jeremiah-George-Jersey , his expanding white beard nearly a perfect match with his helmet and jersey.He doesn't listen to the hip-hop music in the background, doesn't pretend to understand the shiny, new electronic gadgets everyone else plays with and certainly doesn't pay much attention to the trends outside these walls. Yet in Vinatieri's mind, this is still the perfect spot.Here, in a league known for being traditionally unkind to "old" men, the 46-year-old kicker feels comfortable retelling playoff yarns, discussing union business, even offering informal personal advice to teammates who, in some cases, literally come from a different generation."He seems like he's the same age he was when I first came in here, and I guess that's been eight years," left tackle Anthony Castonzo said Thursday. "That's pretty impressive, eight years, going through your early 40s that you don't really seem any older. I'm always impressed with how he's able to hang out with the young guys and be one of the guys despite being old enough to be one of our dads."Sure, there are increasing signs of Vinatieri's advancing age.In addition to the graying hairs, his oldest son, A.J., served as a ball boy at training camp last summer. Vinatieri's nephew Denico Autry Jersey , Chase, recently completed his junior season at South Dakota State, where the elder Vinatieri also played. The league's oldest active player now co-owns an IndyCar developmental series race team with Dr. Jack Miller, a neighbor and three-time Indianapolis 500 starter.Make no mistake: Vinatieri is not gearing up for life after football just yet.If given the chance, he says, he'd like to play 10 more years and if he continues outperforming guys half his age, he just might continue a record-breaking career that doesn't seem to be slowing down.In September, he passed Morten Andersen for the most career field goals in NFL history. A month later, he supplanted Andersen as the league's career scoring leader. Last week he joined Andersen, the late George Blanda and John Carney as the only players to appear in an NFL game after turning 46.And if things go as planned in Saturday's wild-card game at Houston (11-5), the NFL's career postseason scoring leader would take the first step toward joining former teammate Tom Brady and Hall of Fame pass rusher Charles Haley as the only players to win five Super Bowl rings."There's nothing like having the opportunity and being one of those teams still fighting to get into the Super Bowl," Vinatieri said earlier this week. "Every team starts the season with that goal, and the ultimate goal is still out there in front of us."It's been a long slog back to the postseason for the greatest clutch kicker in league history.After making the playoffs in 11 of his first 15 pro seasons, Vinatieri's Colts failed to qualify four times in the next seven years, including three straight following a loss to the dreaded New England Patriots, Vinatieri's former team, in the 2014 AFC championship game.Twice during that span, the Colts changed general managers and coaches Nyheim Hines Color Rush Jersey , and there were two major roster overhauls. Vinatieri survived both and is one of four active players left from Indy's last playoff appearance.Things didn't look any better when the Colts were 1-5. But Vinatieri helped spur a historic midseason turnaround as the Colts won nine of their last 10 to claim the AFC's final playoff spot by beating Tennessee and coach Mike Vrabel, one of Vinatieri's ex-teammates.Vinatieri celebrated by jogging off the field, pumping his fist like he had just made the postseason for the first time.Not surprisingly, first-year coach Frank Reich, who once played against Vinatieri, asked his most experienced player to give some insight to the playoff newbies."He just said, ‘I've been in a lot of playoff situations myself and you've had a few more than me,'" Vinatieri said, describing the exchange. "‘Is there anything that you think needs to be shared?' I think that's pretty awesome."He could have used his rings as props or punched in a highlight reel showing the two field goals he made in the snow to jump-start the Patriots' dynasty; the two Super Bowl-winning kicks; or the five kicks he made in Baltimore to keep the Colts' 2006 title hopes alive.Instead, Vinatieri delivered a simple message he learned long ago from Hall of Fame coaches Bill Parcells and Tony Dungy as well as Bill Belichick: If you try to do too much, your next loss could be your last.Especially at Vinatieri's age."There are no guarantees for any of us that there's a next day, a next year, anything. I've kind of always prepared myself thinking that way," he said. "There are no guarantees, and when you get to my age, you're absolutely right, your days are numbered."NOTES: Reich said receiver Ryan Grant (toe) and defensive lineman Tyquan Lewis (knee) would not play Saturday. He does expect T.Y. Hilton (ankle), a four-time Pro Bowl receiver https://www.coltsfanshop.com/Johnny-Unitas-Jersey , and center Ryan Kelly (stinger) to start. … Indy re-signed cornerback Jalen Collins to the practice squad and released defensive end Anthony Winbush on Thursday.97View Gallery Gallery:2018-19 NBA cheerleadersJoe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports | Joe Camporeale INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The Indianapolis Colts made a firm commitment to Matt Eberflus in January.They stuck to it after the man who initially hired Eberflus to be Indy’s defensive coordinator, Josh McDaniels, reneged on a deal to become the next coach and they lived up to their promise after eventually hiring Frank Reich in February.It’s worked out well for the Colts.“He’s a consistent guy, he’s got a consistent message every day and he believes in the system,” middle linebacker Anthony Walker said Tuesday. “That’s what you want as a player, a guy who believes in the system.”The system looks awfully familiar to longtime Colts’ fans.Eberflus reinstalled the Tampa 2 defense, the zone concept popularized by Hall of Fame coach Tony Dungy. General manager Chris Ballard saw it work in Chicago under Lovie Smith, one of Dungy’s former pupils, and Reich worked with it on Dungy’s staff when he first started coaching in 2006. Indy capped that season by winning the Super Bowl.The low-key personalities and focused approaches also proved a perfect match.But the real investment came in free agency and the draft.While Colts fans waited impatiently for Ballard to make a splashy move, he mostly avoided the high-priced free agents and instead went with less-familiar names who could excel in Eberflus’ system.The results have been remarkable.Linebacker Darius Leonard, a second-round pick, has a league-high 104 tackles and Walker has 67 tackles, nearly four times as many as he had in 2017.Defensive end Kemoko Turay has shown flashes of being a disruptive pass rusher and Tyquan Lewis showed promise in his first two games after missing the first eight with an injured toe. Both were second-round draft picks in April.“We’re getting to the ball, causing turnovers,” Leonard said. “We don’t do a lot, there’s not a lot of thinking so it’s very easy for me to go out and play.”Not just for the young guys, either.Jabaal Sheard moved from outside linebacker to defensive end and already has matched his sacks total (5½) from last season. Veteran defensive linemen Margus Hunt has gone from rotation player to starter and has had a career-best season.Safeties Clayton Geathers and Malik Hooker have been rounding into form after missing most of last season and part of this season with injuries, and outsiders have noticed a difference.“They hustle. They have great team effort. They have very good team speed. They stunt the front and they are all very good hitters Jacoby Brissett Jersey ,” Oakland Raiders coach Jon Gruden said recently. “They seem to really like each other. They seem to have a really good, I think, overall down to down competitive nature about them.”The individual numbers only tell part of the story.After finishing 30th in the league in yards allowed per game in 2016 and 2017 and 26th or worse in four of Chuck Pagano’s six seasons as head coach, Indy has jumped to No. 20 this season. Through 10 games, they have 26 sacks and are on pace for their highest total since 2013.The Colts have allowed 17.5 points to their past four opponents and only four teams have more takeaways than Indy (19).Not surprisingly, the Colts (5-5) have won all four, moving back into the playoff picture largely because of a defensive resurgence few expected in Eberflus’ first season.“I think you have to go through this process. Sometimes you take a couple steps forward and one step back or three or four steps forward and one or two back,” Eberflus said. “But it’s really about the guys buying into it.”It could be just the start.The young Colts are still getting acclimated to Eberflus and his scheme, are still learning how to play consistently well and still must demonstrate they can withstand the late-season rigors to make a playoff run.But for the first time in a long time, the Colts’ defense no longer looks like the weak link. Instead, Eberflus has demonstrated just how promising the future could be.“I think guys are buying into the style slowly but it’s not consistent yet,” Eberflus said. “Today in the film room we pointed out all the loafs and all the missed assignments, so we can definitely get better week to week and now it’s about being consistent week to week.”Notes: With the likelihood of starting center Ryan Kelly out with an injured left knee, the Colts signed center Josh Andrews off the Philadelphia Eagles practice squad. … Indy also put cornerback D.J. Killings on injured reserve and waived cornerback Arthur Maulet.