Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor understood the challenge long before he suited up on Saturday. He anticipated that defensive mastermind Bill Belichick, general manager of the New England Patriots, would stack the line of scrimmage and dare the Colts to beat them with the passing game, as he has done to so many other opponents.
This time, Taylor turned the tables as he rushed for 170 yards, including a 67-yard touchdown run with 2 minutes, 1 second left to seal the Colts 27-17 victory over the Patriots.
“I think it just says we’re a team that’s going to come in and play 60 minutes — four quarters of hard football — and we’re not going to give up until the clock hits zero,” Taylor said, after logging 29 carries. “It was just all out effort.”
Photo: AFP
Taylor’s performance might have changed their season. By winning for the fifth time in six games and snapping an eight-game losing streak against a bitter rival, the Colts (8-6) solidified their playoff hopes with another crucial conference victory.
He has run for a score in 11 straight games, tying Hall of Famer Lenny Moore for the longest streak in franchise history.
Nobody inside the Colts locker room was surprised by his statistics — or the epic highlight of Taylor breaking through the line, eluding a tackle and sprinting to the front corner of the end zone.
“I almost called a pass there because I thought we needed a first down, and I talked it over with Marcus Brady and said: ‘No, let’s call one more pass,’” coach Frank Reich said, referring to his offensive coordinator. “There’s no way anybody’s catching him.”
For the Patriots (9-5), it marked the end of a seven-game winning streak and dropped them out of the No. 1 slot in the American Football Conference playoff chase.
A bevy of uncharacteristic mistakes put the Patriots in a 20-0 hole and Taylor’s long run made sure that they could not make it all of the way back.
The game had a bit of everything — drama, physical play, shouting matches, and even a fight that led to the ejections of Patriots safety Kyle Dugger and Colts receiver Michael Pittman Jr.
The Colts won by stealing a page out of Belichick’s playbook — using the ground game to chew up the clock and closing it out with a back-breaking play in the waning minutes. It was the Colts’ first win over New England since 2009.
“I’ve said it like five times, I can say it another five times,” Belichick said. “We didn’t do anything well enough to win tonight.”
Taylor and the Colts had the upper hand from the start. They opened the second series with seven straight running plays before Taylor took a direct snap, handed off to Carson Wentz and then Wentz flipped the ball to Nyheim Hines for an eight-yard scoring pass and a 7-0 lead.
Matthew Adams followed that by blocking Jake Bailey’s punt that E.J. Speed recovered in the end zone for a 14-0 lead — the Patriots’ largest deficit since a Week 3 loss to the New Orleans Saints.
Two field goals made it 20-0 early in the third quarter.
“It seems like they just had good force on the play,” Patriots special teams gunner and return specialist Matthew Slater said. “That’s tough when you give up plays like that. It’s going to be hard to win. We spotted a team 20 points at their place. Good luck trying to win. There’s no excuse to play like that.”
Rookie Patriots quarterback Mac Jones finally answered with a 12-yard touchdown pass to Hunter Henry. After Patriots placekicker Nick Folk’s field goal made it 20-10, Jones hooked up with Henry for a seven-yard scoring pass with 2:21 left.
Belichick chose to kick — two plays later, Taylor closed it out.
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