Stampede Blue
8-2, after an ugly, hard-fought win. Travelling to Europe is always tough, and the Colts managed to go into their bye-week with a win that helps put away the ghosts that appeared after the loss to the Steelers. There were some other games with results that favor the Colts, as the Steelers and the Bills both lost on Sunday.
Hat-trick, game-winner, and this time really close to 300 scrimmage yards. The Colts have a very special player, who is having perhaps the most impressive season by an offensive player since LT’s 2006 historical year. There is just no stopping him, it is not only the big runs, which he had another one bouncing what seemed like just a 4-yard gain all the way to the house, but how he consistently gets extra yards that put the Colts’ offense in much more manageable situations. This offense works because Taylor is impossible to bring down behind the line of scrimmage, and it seems like he can always get you at least 4 yards, even if the offensive line allows some penetration.
Through 10 games Taylor now has: 1139 rushing yards on 189 carries (6.0 YPC), 15 rushing touchdowns, while also adding 30 receptions for 260 yards, and two touchdowns. The Colts have some tough defenses in the horizon, but playing like he is I don’t think there is one that can stop him.
It was hard choosing a player for this award because no one was particularly bad. There were some bad performances here and there, but nothing bad enough to warrant getting the dud of the game award, so I’ll give this one to the refs.
There is a word here in Argentina for what the refs did to the Colts on Sunday, which is “muñequear”. There was not a glaring bad call, but there were several minor calls that ended up having a big impact on the game.
This was the first one and most surprising, JT clearly does enough to get the first down yet somehow the refs spot that ball 2 yards short. The play after that Jones threw an incompletion, and then the Colts failed to convert on 4th down. Then came the first defensive pass interference call on Mekhi Blackmon, which after watching the replay was at the very least questionable but I’ll give the refs the benefit of the doubt on that one. After the Falcons scored a touchdown in the second quarter, Ameer Abdullah returned a kick all the way to the 50-yard line, but it was brought back because of a phantom holding penalty on Ogletree. I looked at the replay several times and could not see what the refs were looking at. Because of the flag the Colts were forced to start their drive on their own 14-yard line instead of the 50.
The worst one came in overtime, and it is the worst because...
