Stampede Blue
Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor was on tour in Berlin, Germany and demonstrated to the entire world what a traditional NFL workhorse looks like with three touchdowns in Sunday’s 31-25 walk-off win in overtime over the Atlanta Falcons.
Taylor erupted for 244 rushing yards on 32 carries that featured a thunderous 83-yard touchdown run to take the lead late in regulation, followed by a game-winning, eight-yard knockout blow in overtime. Perhaps it was the most dominant individual showcase an NFL player has ever had overseas in the league’s first ever game at the historic Olympiastadion. It’s the fifth game this season Taylor has reached the end zone three times, while he became the third player in NFL history to post multiple performances with 240-plus rushing yards and set the record for most TD in franchise history.
The Colts trailed with just over six minutes left in the fourth quarter before quarterback Daniel Jones handed it off to Taylor on a routine inside zone run. The two-time Pro Bowl tailback turned the game on its head when he cut left, bounced outside and found daylight to race down the sideline for the longest touchdown run of his career. It was also the longest TD run by any player in the NFL this season and the longest TD in the history of the NFL’s International Series. Taylor averaged 7.6 yards per carry and accounted for over half (55%) of the Colts’ 519 total Net yards. The sixth-year running back leads the league with 1,139 rushing yards and his 15 rushing TDs are more than twice the total of any other player entering Sunday’s slate of games stateside.
The Colts struggled early behind Jones, who was sacked six times in Sunday’s affair. Jones was coming off an awful performance with six turnovers in last week’s loss at Pittsburgh and continued his shaky stretch with an interception and a lost fumble. Indianapolis went just 2-for-12 on third-down conversions, with drives repeatedly stalling inside the 20 as Jones was erratic both in the red zone and on third down. Colts head coach Shane Steichen relied on his workhorse and fed Taylor six touches on the final 7-play drive to finish the game. Taylor forced 11 missed tackles Sunday, which is the most by any player this season.
Indianapolis struck twice midway through the first quarter as Jones fired a 37-yard shot into the end zone and receiver Alec Pierce rose up to haul in the touchdown grab over Falcons’ cornerback A.J. Terrell to give the Colts a 13-7 lead. Jones finished 19 of 26 passing for 255 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
Jones responded after getting sacked in the two-minute drill, scrambling for a 19-yard gain on third-and-21 to set up a critical fourth-and-2 from the Falcons’ 40-yard line. With blood spilling out of his mouth, the sixth-year veteran instantly hit rookie tight end Tyler Warren in the flat and the sensation rookie pass-catcher hung on to the leather and scampered upfield...
