Zack Moss has Been an Early Season Savior for Colts

Indianapolis Colts' running back Zack Moss has been crucial to the team's early season success and has far exceeded expectations.
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The Indianapolis Colts snapped their seven-game home losing streak Sunday by defeating the Tennessee Titans. The Colts are now tied with the Jacksonville Jaguars atop the AFC South at 3-2. The Colts have a huge road showdown with the Jaguars next week for the division lead, which promises to be a great one.

 Sunday's game between the Colts and Titans saw a lot of pivotal moments, none more important than Anthony Richardson suffering an AC joint sprain. While the Colts offense played very solid with Gardner Minshew under center, one man truly dominated and his name was Zack Moss.

Moss has had a career resurgence in Indianapolis with the Colts. He was considered a throw in with the Nyheim Hines trade that netted the Colts a Day 3 pick. Moss has been the better back by a mile. 

This season started off rocky for Moss, who broke his forearm on July 31 and missed the rest of training camp and the entire preseason. His goal was to be ready for Week 1, but was unable to suit up for that contest. In turn, the Colts witnessed one of the worst performances in franchise history from the running back position. 

Moss made his debut in Week 2 against the Houston Texans and helped lead the Colts to a victory. Moss, in his first game back, played 98% of the snaps and had 22 touches for 107 total yards with a touchdown. On Sunday, Moss had an even more dominating game than that.

Moss is an incredibly physical runner, a downhill bruiser that never shies away from contact on every snap. Against the Titans, however, he showed something we had not seen from him before: Home run ability. With 50 seconds left in the first quarter, after the Titans took their first lead of the game on a Nick Folk field goal, Moss takes a handoff from Richardson, immediately makes a slight cut to his left, and goes untouched 56 yards for a touchdown.

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Moss finished the game with 23 carries, 165 yards and two touchdowns. He also added a couple of catches for 30 yards. When the Colts stopped the Titans in the fourth quarter with a shade over eight minutes left on the clock, they leaned on Moss and he delivered. Moss accounted for 63 yards on the Colts' final drive that ultimately sealed that game. That drive forced the Titans to use all of their timeouts and have to go the length of the field with only one minute left on the clock.

We all are happy Jonathan Taylor got his money and is going to be with the Colts long-term. It was good to see Taylor back on the field for the first time in 10 months, working off the rust. 

However, Moss is also in a contract year, and how awesome would it be if the Colts found a way to keep him around as well? It’s highly unlikely they do. With the way he’s performing, some team is likely to take a chance on him being a starter somewhere. Frankly, he’s earned it. 

Moss, along with this offensive line, has saved this season. I don’t know how long Moss is going to be here in Indy, but what I do know is he’s under contract for this season and we should appreciate him for the job he’s done this year. Moss provided stability at a position that all hope was lost for the minute Taylor went on PUP.

Let’s thank Zack Moss for showing up and doing what nobody thought he could in a time the Colts needed it most.


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Rashaad McGinnis
RASHAAD MCGINNIS

Rashaad (Shaad) McGinnis was born and raised in New Orleans, and thanks to Colts legends and New Orleans natives such as Peyton Manning, Marshall Faulk, and Reggie Wayne, they made it very easy to follow the Colts. Shaad has been podcasting for four years and was previously part of The Blue Stable and Stampede Blue. He now hosts "Saddle Up," where he delivers very passionate opinions about the Colts.