1. Home
  3. Sport

Jonathan Taylor steamrolls Titans, finds redemption in helping keep Colts' playoff hopes alive

23 December 2024Last Update :
Jonathan Taylor steamrolls Titans, finds redemption in helping keep Colts' playoff hopes alive

INDIANAPOLIS — Mo Alie-Cox couldn’t help but laugh once he’d realized what he’d heard.

The Indianapolis Colts tight end knew his teammate Jonathan Taylor was having a special performance Sunday, but a remark from a Tennessee Titans defender further confirmed just how dominant the running back had been. Taylor was damn near unstoppable, and in the middle of an eventual 38-30 Colts victory, the Titans all but admitted it.

“It’s hilarious because we went out there one time, and they were like, ‘Oh, it’s a screen,’ but then one of the (defensive ends) was like, ‘Man, they’re about to give it Jonathan Taylor. He ‘bout to run for 300 on us,’” Alie-Cox said, laughing again. “Once he said that, it was like, ‘Yeah, we got ‘em. They don’t even want to be out here no more.’”

Taylor didn’t amass 300 rushing yards on his own, but his team eclipsed that threshold en route to a franchise-record 335 yards on the ground. The last time the Colts surpassed 300 rushing yards in a single game was in 1958, one year before current team owner Jim Irsay was born. Sunday marked just the fourth time in franchise history the Cots piled up 300 rushing yards, and Taylor did do most of the heavy lifting with 29 carries for 218 yards and three touchdowns.

Taylor’s breakout performance marked the second 200-yard rushing game of his career, and he was just 35 yards shy of tying his career high from 2021. Back then, Taylor was the league rushing champ and a first-team All-Pro. On Sunday, he was simply a guy trying to shake off the worst mistake of his career.

“I don’t think he could have responded any better,” Colts head coach Shane Steichen said. “He was phenomenal all day.”

One week after Taylor mindlessly dropped the ball just before what should’ve been a 41-yard touchdown in a loss at Denver — a turnover that put the Colts’ playoff hopes in dire straits — he put the team on his back against the Titans with the third-highest single-game rushing total in Colts history. The five-year pro gave Indianapolis a 14-7 lead it wouldn’t relinquish on a 65-yard TD touchdown run in the second quarter, and he capped it with a bit of humor.

As Taylor neared the goal line, knowing everyone in attendance hadn’t forgotten last week’s blunder, he put two hands on the ball and bear-hugged it as he ran into the end zone and down the home team’s tunnel. When Taylor emerged from the bowels of Lucas Oil Stadium, he was still holding the ball as he jogged back to the bench while third-string running back Tyler Goodson humorously checked his ball security.

“He came up to me, tried to snatch the ball out of my hands,” Taylor said with a grin. “But that’s the type of teammates that we have. That’s the type of guys we have in the locker room. They understand the type of person I am, the type of player I am and just know that I always try to do things the right way.”

Goodson said he was thrilled to share that moment with his teammate, especially considering all they’ve been through. Last year, when Goodson dropped a fourth-down pass in the regular-season finale that essentially cost the Colts a playoff berth, it was Taylor who told him to lift his head up after the game. Goodson returned the favor last week in Denver, and he was confident Taylor would bounce back against the Titans.

“We had that planned the whole week,” Goodson said. “Just to troll and make the crowd laugh a little bit.”

Taylor’s huge day continued with a 70-yard touchdown run on the Colts’ first offensive play of the third quarter, making him just the ninth player in NFL history with two 65-yard-plus TDs in the same game, per Pro Football Network. The 25-year-old also eclipsed 1,000 rushing yards in a season for the first time since 2021 and the third time in his career.

Quarterback Anthony Richardson had a front-row seat for Taylor’s mastery, and the Colts quarterback didn’t mind keeping the ball on the ground as Taylor steered the offense. Richardson finished the day just 7-of-11 passing for 131 yards and one touchdown against one interception, yet the Colts still put up a season-high 38 points. Richardson’s 11 passes marked just the third time since 2000 that a QB had fewer than 15 passing attempts with its offense scoring 38-plus points, per Pro Football Network.

Richardson couldn’t remember the last time he started a game and attempted 11 or fewer passes in a win. Perhaps that’s because through his first 28 combined starts at Florida and the NFL, he’d never done it before. But then again, he’s also never had a teammate like Taylor.

From the beginning, the plan for the star tailback, according to Irsay and other members of the Colts brass, had always been for him to make life easier on Richardson as the young QB developed in the NFL. Sunday’s game was certainly what they had envisioned. After Richardson was picked off by Titans safety Amani Hooker at Tennessee’s 6-yard line in the first quarter, the Colts ran it 10 straight times across back-to-back touchdown drives that spanned 57 yards and 80 yards, respectively.

“It felt good just doing whatever we had to do just to get the W, but it turned out way better than we expected,” Richardson said. “The O-line did a great job opening up the holes, and JT did the rest.”

Richardson did his part, too, rushing for a career-high 70 yards on just nine carries, highlighted by a 5-yard TD that knotted the game at 7-7 early in the second quarter. And when the Colts needed a crucial throw late to secure the win, Richardson answered the call. Leading 38-30 with two minutes left in the game and facing third-and-8 from their own 34-yard line, Richardson connected with wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. near the sideline for a 10-yard gain that kept the chains moving and, more importantly, allowed the Colts to chew up more clock.

“My job is to pass the ball, deliver the ball,” Richardson said. “So, whenever there’s an opportunity to do so, I’m expected to complete passes and make them happen, regardless of how long I’ve (gone) without throwing a pass.”

The only real blemish on the Colts’ victory Sunday was their defense, which let the Titans back into the game late. Tennessee scored a touchdown on three straight drives and completed two two-point conversions to make it a one-score game with 2:53 left in the fourth quarter, but that was as close as Tennessee would come.

Colts cornerback Kenny Moore II picked off Titans quarterback Mason Rudolph on the final play of the game, and while Moore knows the defense must be much better, he won’t apologize for leaning on Taylor and squeezing out a win that keeps Indianapolis’ faint playoff hopes alive.

“I don’t think that could happen to a better person,” Moore said of Taylor’s historic performance. “He always takes criticism … and plays in a great manner. So, he’s the guy for the job. He’s RB1 for a reason, and I’m so proud of him.”

(Photo of Jonathan Taylor and Anthony Richardson: Justin Casterline / Getty Images)

Recent