Colts: Jonathan Taylor finally had game we were waiting for Sunday
By Adam Weinrib
The Indianapolis Colts finally got the breakout they’ve been waiting for from Jonathan Taylor on Sunday night against the Packers.
It’s not about when the Jonathan Taylor breakout comes for the Colts. It’s whether it comes at all.
Since it’s hard to complain about the natural order of things when you’re sitting on a 7-3 record, it’s safe to say Colts fans are probably perfectly alright with Week 11 against the Packers being framed as Jonathan Taylor’s coming out party.
A little delayed, sure, but it still happened. And it was pretty special.
https://twitter.com/Colts/status/1330659420594991104?s=20
The statistics were still a bit pedestrian: 22 carries for 90 yards, for a fringe-average 4.1 per carry. Four receptions for 24 yards total, running slightly behind the pace of fellow running back Nyheim Hines.
But it was the skills on display that differentiated Taylor here, and made it clear why the Colts have put so much faith in him — even a few hours after they, um, told us they were going to emphasize Nyheim Hines and we applauded it.
The jump cuts were special. The bully ball style was reminiscent of a bell cow. Overall, the attitude was different; Taylor embodied a bulldozer, even after his fumbles threatened to become an issue a few weeks back and derail any progress he’d made.
Before now, Taylor often seemed to be running blind; more than a few Trent Richardson jokes were made at his expense. Now? Any fan should understand exactly why Taylor was so impactful at Wisconsin, and why he’s going to be counted on to lead the Colts’ committee moving forward.
Perhaps, eventually, his mere presence can even stop the Colts’ line from holding maniacally.
So this is my first time watching the Colts this year… I know Jonathan Taylor has struggled at times this year, but he looks good to me today. The problem today is the Colts O-line gets called for a penalty every single time he gets the ball.
— Brad Ziegler (@BradZiegler) November 23, 2020
Stop. Holding.
Maybe not.
Entering Week 12, when the Colts face off with the most intimidating back in their division yet again (Mr. Henry, sir), you wonder if they’ll try to win with finesse like in Week 10 by emphasizing Nyheim Hines, or if they’ll pivot to Taylor full time.
Every time we think we have the Colts’ RB rotation pegged, they throw us a wobbly curve. But at the very least, Taylor made his case emphatically on Sunday, instead of writing it out in invisible ink.
