Indianapolis Colts vs. Atlanta Falcons GAMEDAY Preview: Playoff Stakes Increase

The Atlanta Falcons and Indianapolis Colts are in need of a win on Christmas Eve.

The Indianapolis Colts will travel to Mercedes-Benz Stadium this afternoon to face the Atlanta Falcons in a game that has two of the games top young running backs.

Since coming into the league, Jonathan Taylor has been one of the best rushers in the NFL. As a rookie in 2020, Taylor started 13 games and had 1,468 yards from scrimmage on 5.5 yards per touch and 12 touchdowns off 268 touches. 

Bijan Robinson, too, has flashed tremendous skill on the field as a rookie in his 13 starts. So far this season, the Falcons rookie has 1,124 total yards on 5.2 yards per touch on 217 touches for seven touchdowns. 

Atlanta Falcons running back Bijan Robinson has looked elite as a rookie, reminding some of a younger Jonathan Taylor / © Brett Davis, USA TODAY

Each of the team's running backs has, at some point, been anointed as the next great talent in the league, but this season, both have dealt with injuries of sorts and enter this week with interesting storylines. 

In Taylor's case, this game marks his return to action since a Week 12 thumb injury against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers that required surgery. Even before that injury, some fans had grown disgruntled with the running back for holding out due to contract negotiations, an injury, and trade requests, while his backup, Zack Moss, impressed in his absence. 

After rejoining the team, Taylor had performed well with 4.8 yards per touch but still hasn't had the dominance of his second season when he averaged 5.8 yards per touch and won Offensive Player of the Year.

As for Robinson, his name has been in the headlines due to Atlanta's mishandling of a Week 7 headache, which almost entirely kept him off the field against the Buccaneers. The league fined the Falcons as a penalty for how poorly the organization dealt with it on the injury report. 

Cheating Falcons? BREAKING: Bijan Robinson Injury Report Fines

This week, when the Colts (8-6) play in Atlanta (6-8), neither team may feature a premier quarterback as they start former starters turned backups Taylor Heinicke for the Falcons and Gardner Minshew for Indianapolis. However, these two scrappy franchises have some of the best running backs in the league and should put on a highlight reel display for fans of good old-fashioned, smash-mouth football.