INDIANAPOLIS – It was a game for the ages.
As they say, you can look it up.
A week after dropping the ball – literally – in a loss at Denver that crippled the Indianapolis Colts’ playoff hopes, Jonathan Taylor revealed the necessary bounce-back DNA elite players possess.
He was the explosive catalyst as the Colts rewrote the single-game club rushing record – Baltimore or Indy – in Sunday’s 38-30 win over the Tennessee Titans.
- Collectively: 335 yards.
- Individually: 218 yards and three touchdowns, including 65- and 70-yard TDs that showcased Taylor’s vision and shifty feet at the line of scrimmage and his acceleration once he hit daylight.
Count Shane Steichen among those who were impressed as Taylor joined Philadelphia’s Saquon Barkley as the only backs to crack the 200-yard barrier this season. Taylor’s total game was on display.
“I mean, it’s unique as it gets, to be honest,” Steichen said. “I’ve been around a few guys, but his vision, his patience, his burst. You guys have heard me say that a lot, but I mean, it’s impressive.
“When it gets rolling like it did yesterday, especially with the o-line blocking the way they did for him, it was special.”
As well as one for the record books.
The 335 yards eclipsed the previous record of 318 set by the Baltimore Colts against Green Bay in 1956.
That game mirrored Sunday’s.
Lenny Moore, whose bronze bust has a place in Canton, Ohio, rushed for 185 yards on just 13 carries. He got loose for 72- and 79-yard touchdown runs.
It’s believed Moore and Taylor are the only Colts with two rushing TDs of at least 65 yards in the same game.
The effectiveness and explosive nature of the run game – quarterback Anthony Richardson added a career-high 70 yards, including a career-best 29-yarder – resulted in Steichen calling plays out of one section of his game plan.
Richardson attempted 11 passes and completed seven, both lows in the NFL this season.
The 11 attempts are tied for the third-fewest in Colts’ history and the fewest since Marty Domres – remember him? – in 1974.
“That was probably a first for me, that we were running it that good, that we didn’t have to throw it,’’ Steichen said.
Once the offensive line – Ryan Kelly, Quenton Nelson, Bernhard Raimann, Mark Glowinski and rookie Matt Goncalves – made it clear it owned the line of scrimmage, his job was much simpler.
Steichen dialed up 50 rushing attempts, the team’s most since 1984. After Taylor’s 70-yard TD on the first play of the third quarter, the Colts had rushed 25 times for 254 yards and led 38-7.
“Really, I stuck with the run because it was working really well, to be honest,’’ Steichen said. “We were popping big runs and obviously had a franchise record of 335.
“When something was working, I wasn’t going to get away from it.”
A byproduct of the withering run game was a quiet day for the wideouts.
Michael Pittman Jr. was on the field for 61 of 62 offensive snaps. He was targeted three times and had two receptions for 19 yards. But his 10-yard catch on third-and-8 in the closing minutes enabled the Colts to drain valuable time off the clock.
Josh Downs handled 58% of the snaps (36) and contributed three catches, 61 yards and a tightrope sprint down the right sideline for a 27-yard TD on four targets.
Receivers and tight ends were required to do more blocking than route-running against the Titans, and they excelled. Drew Ogletree helped spring Taylor on his 65-yard TD.
“The run game was clicking,” said Downs. “The team (was playing) excellent. We were up like 38-7.
“So yeah, I mean team victory is the most important thing, so at the end of the day, it is what it is. But yeah, Jonathan Taylor had a great day yesterday. That was good for him.”
And the wideouts?
“You just have to stay focused in the moment because a ball could come to you at any time, and you never know,” Downs said.
You can follow Mike Chappell on Twitter at @mchappell51.