Colts RB Jonathan Taylor has MVP Moment in Win Over Patriots
The NFL’s Most Valuable Player award has mostly turned into a competition as to which quarterback has the best season.
This can be warranted on most occasions as quarterbacks are the most important position on the field, having a huge impact on a team’s success.
However, there are seasons where a non-quarterback shines above the rest. The player is dominant every game and cannot be stopped no matter what the opposing team’s game plan is. In a season where no quarterbacks separate themselves, it gives the player a legitimate shot at taking home the hardware.
That season is 2021. And the player is Jonathan Taylor.
“Of course. There is absolutely no question,” Darius Leonard said when asked if Taylor was the MVP. “What he is doing now in this NFL there’s absolutely no question that he is the MVP.”
Taylor has been dominant all season long for the Indianapolis Colts. He first entered the MVP conversation after his other-worldly performance against the Buffalo Bills, going for over 200 total yards and five touchdowns. The running back had also gone for over 100 yards six times and scored a touchdown in 10 straight games.
But for some, that wasn’t enough. Doubters still said Taylor hadn’t done enough to be considered for the award. Whether bringing up the Colts record or still deferring that it should go to a quarterback, excuses rang out.
He needed that “MVP moment” that sticks out in the minds of many. He needed a performance or particular play that comes in the clutch when his team needed him the most. Then came Saturday night against the rival New England Patriots.
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It’s no secret how Patriots head coach Bill Belichick likes to attack opposing offenses. For years Belichick has specialized in taking away a team’s best offensive weapon, making them play left-handed. It would be Taylor this week, as the Patriots were expected to load the box and stop the run as they tried to force the Colts to beat them through the air.
It didn’t matter.
“Just got to accept the challenge,” Taylor said after the game. “We knew it was going to be a tough game. Nothing is going to be given, everything is going to be earned, so you just got to play four quarters.”
Taylor consistently found holes to run through as the Colts offensive line controlled the line of scrimmage for most of the evening. When Taylor was wrapped up, he’d consistently move the pile an extra few yards as it took multiple Patriots defenders to bring him down. He had eclipsed the 100-yard mark once again with time still left on the clock.
The Colts as a team got off to an incredible start. The defense was lights out, forcing Patriots quarterback Mac Jones into two interceptions by Leonard and Bobby Okereke. The Colts’ special teams unit, which has a case for being the best in the league, blocked a punt for a touchdown for the second time this season. The Colts lead 20-0 at the end of the third quarter, something no one saw coming.
But the Patriots weren’t going to lay down easily. Storming back in the fourth quarter, they scored 17 unanswered points to make it 20-17 with 2:21 left in the game
With the passing game and Carson Wentz struggling mightily throughout the game, it was going to be on Taylor’s shoulders to bring home the win. Everyone in the building knew the ball was going to him on the final drive. And that’s when the MVP moment happened.
Taylor took the handoff from Wentz as Eric Fisher, Quenton Nelson, and Danny Pinter walled off the Patriots’ defensive line to make a huge hole. A quick cut that left Patriots linebacker Dont’a Hightower and safety Devin McCourty standing still, and it was off to the races. A 67-yard touchdown run erupted Lucas Oil Stadium like a volcano. Ballgame.
“There were about 11 guys up,” Wentz said describing the play. “Everyone in the building knew we were running the ball. We have the best running back in the league and he made two guys miss in the hole, that’s just JT being JT. Taking it to the house and no one is going to catch him.”
“What I’ve seen over and over again is that if you can you just keep pounding them and pounding them,” Frank Reich explained. “With the offensive line you pound them, with the backs you pound them. Over the years, that I’ve been doing this, it just breaks. It takes one guy on the defense to get in the wrong gap. There was some discussion right there. I almost called a pass feeling like we got to make a first down here. I said no, I’m calling one more run. Talked it over with the staff, Marcus (Brady). Said no, let’s just call one more run and then Jonathan, it just popped.”
The game-sealing touchdown giving the Colts a 27-17 victory was the cherry on top of Taylor’s huge performance. Against one of the top defenses in the league, he finished with 29 carries for 170 yards and a touchdown. Add that to his incredible season, and the second-year running back has 1,518 yards and 17 touchdowns on the ground, both easily tops in the NFL. His 1,854 scrimmage yards and 19 total touchdowns lead the league as well.
When asked about being in the MVP conversation, the always humble Taylor once again mentioned his team and his responsibility to him. It’s never about himself and always about the team.
“It’s just a blessing that people feel as though my name should be in that conversation,” Taylor said. “But, the only thing that’s on my mind is being able to continuously be available for my team each and every single week because it’s going to take our best every week in order to win these games.”
Whether he’s comfortable with it or not, the conversation will continue. The MVP moment happened last night, and what he is doing can no longer be ignored by the rest of the league.
“JT for MVP” is real, and may just come to fruition at season’s end.
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