Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor was on tour in Berlin, Germany and reminded the entire world what a traditional 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. 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. Taylor broke the record for most TD in franchise history with 67 and became the third player in NFL history to post multiple performances with 240-plus rushing yards.
The Colts trailed with 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 past everyone 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 this season.
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 took the ball out of the hands of his signal caller and relied on his workhorse with six touches on the final 7-play drive to finish the game.
Indianapolis struck twice midway through the first quarter after 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.
The Colts sacked Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr. twice as safety Camryn Bynum came off the blindside on a perfectly timed blitz and strip-sacked Penix to set Indianapolis up deep in Falcons territory. Linebacker Zaire Franklin later stunted inside to create havoc in the backfield and sack Penix in overtime.
Falcons receiver Drake London finished with six catches for 104 receiving yards and one touchdown, but was held in check against Colts new cornerback Sauce Gardner. Across 17 matchups with Gardner, London was limited to just two catches on four targets for 26 receiving yards, along with a two-point conversion. The Falcons forced overtime after Penix led the offense on a two-minute drill capped by Koo’s 47-yard field goal to tie it up at 25-25.
Indianapolis returns stateside with extra time off during its Bye Week ahead of a Week 12 matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead.
