Jonathan Taylor ran for 170 yards and scored on a 67-yarder with 2:01 left to help the Indianapolis Colts seal a 27-17 victory over the New England Patriots on Saturday night.
The Colts (8-6) solidified their playoff hopes by winning for the fifth time in six games — and ending an eight-game losing streak to the rival Patriots (9-5).
Taylor has run for a touchdown in 11 straight games to tie Hall of Famer Lenny Moore for the longest streak in franchise history.
New England had won seven straight and started the weekend in the top spot of the AFC playoff chase. But the Patriots could not overcome a 20-0 deficit because of too many uncharacteristic mistakes, including Taylor’s game-saving run.
The game had a little bit of everything — drama, physical play, shouting matches, even a fight that led to the ejections of Patriots safety Kyle Dugger and Colts receiver Michael Pittman Jr.
JONATHAN TAYLOR. 67 YARDS. GOOD NIGHT.<br><br>📺: <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/NEvsIND?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#NEvsIND</a> on <a href=”https://twitter.com/nflnetwork?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@NFLNetwork</a><br>📱: <a href=”https://t.co/DL75sQUMR5″>https://t.co/DL75sQUMR5</a> <a href=”https://t.co/V0jzema8xz”>pic.twitter.com/V0jzema8xz</a>
—@NFL
But Indy won this one by stealing a page out of Bill 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 Indy’s first win over New England since 2009.
And yet, it didn’t have to be this close.
The Colts and Taylor sent an early message by starting their 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 8-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 zoner for a 14-0 lead — New England’s largest deficit since a Week 3 loss to New Orleans.
‘It seems like they just had good force on the play’
“It seems like they just had good force on the play,” New England special teams star 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.”
The Colts added a 25-yard field goal before halftime and another early in the third quarter to make it 20-0.
Two plays later, Taylor eluded one tackle and sprinted to the front corner of the end zone.
Jones was 26 of 45 with 299 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions as he fell to 6-1 on the road this season .
Wentz was 5 of 12 with 57 yards with one TD and one interception as the Colts rushed for 226 yards on 39 carries.
More Stories
It’s ‘a labour of love’ on and off the rink as Ontario roller derby team preps for playoffs in U.S. | CBC News
FIBA Men’s 3X3 Basketball World Tour: DAY 2 – Utsunomiya
CBC Sports Late Night: 2024 Athletics Wanda Diamond League – Shanghai – Suzhou