Jonathan Taylor is leading the charge of the surprising Indianapolis Colts, and he might be the best overall player in the league.
Taylor has scored three touchdowns four separate times this season as he leads the Colts into battle against the host Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday.
Leading the NFL with 850 yards and 12 touchdowns on the ground, Taylor also has two scoring receptions. The 14 total touchdowns through eight games give him a chance to challenge the total touchdowns record of 31 set by San Diego Chargers great LaDainian Tomlinson in 16 games in 2006.
Taylor’s touchdown count is more than the grand total of four different teams and is tied with another.
He rushed for 153 yards and two touchdowns on 12 carries, including an 80-yard scoring jaunt, in last week’s 38-14 home win over the Tennessee Titans. He also had a receiving score as the NFL-best Colts (7-1) won their fourth straight game.
“It’s hard to put into words, to be honest, because when you see the way he’s running, the way the guys are blocking for him, I mean, it’s special,” Indianapolis coach Shane Steichen said. “It really is. And like I said, he’s running hard. He’s running physical. … Then the 80-yard touchdown run — he hit that thing down the sidelines, and to stay in bounds, it was as impressive as it gets.”
Taylor’s biggest obstacle in the NFL MVP race will be the voters.
The balloting has turned into a vote for the best quarterback instead of ‘Most Valuable Player’ and the last 12 winners have been signal callers. Adrian Peterson (2012) was the last non-quarterback to win the award. Tomlinson won the award in his historic season and Shaun Alexander (2005) prevailed the year before.
“He’s playing at such a level where they’re gonna have to consider a non-quarterback this year,” Colts receiver Michael Pittman Jr. told reporters.
Indianapolis has topped 30 points in each of the past four games and on six occasions overall. Quarterback Daniel Jones is excelling with 2,062 passing yards, 13 touchdowns through the air and three interceptions.
Pittsburgh (4-3) is looking to rebound after back-to-back setbacks against the Cincinnati Bengals and Green Bay Packers.
Veteran quarterback Aaron Rodgers is imploring his teammates to not allow the skid to become an extended slide.
“You’ve got to stay the course,” Rodgers said. “We lost a tough one in Cincy on a short week, and (then) we played a good football team and had many chances to get things going (against Green Bay). We were up 16-7 at half, our defense playing well.”
The end result was that Rodgers fell 35-25 against his former club. He completed 24 of 36 passes for 219 yards and two touchdowns.
However, a Pittsburgh defense featuring stars such as outside linebacker T.J. Watt and defensive tackle Cam Heyward has allowed more than 30 points in consecutive games and four times overall.
Pittsburgh received a blow against the Packers when safety DeShon Elliott was carted off with a hyperextended left knee. He was placed on the injured reserve list and will miss at least the next four games.
“He’s a significant component of what we do, particularly relative to some of the things that Indy does well,” Tomlin said. “He is a central figure in our secondary in terms of run defense for example. He covers tight ends oftentimes in passing circumstances and so certainly we have some adapting to do in terms of how we divide the labor up this week.”
Pittsburgh traded for New England safety Kyle Dugger on Wednesday to help soften the loss.
Elliott was one of six injured Steelers who missed practice Wednesday. The others were tight end Pat Freiermuth (quad), receiver Scotty Miller (finger), guard Isaac Seumalo (pectoral), center Zach Frazier (calf) and defensive tackle Daniel Ekuale (knee).
Sitting out for Indianapolis were receivers Josh Downs (hip) and Anthony Gould (knee), offensive lineman Matt Goncalves (personal), defensive ends Samson Ebukam (knee) and Tyquan Lewis (groin), defensive tackle Grover Stewart (foot), cornerback Kenny Moore (Achilles) and safety Nick Cross (shoulder).
