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Stephen Holder
INGLEWOOD, Calif. — The Indianapolis Colts‘ prolific offense kept rolling Sunday, and Jonathan Taylor did the same.
The league’s leading rusher scored three touchdowns in a single game for the third time this season, this time in a 38-24 win over the Los Angeles Chargers that propelled the Colts to the league’s best record at 6-1.
“He’s the best back in the league right now,” coach Shane Steichen said. “There’s no doubt.”
Taylor finished off drives of 75, 14 and 73 yards, getting to the end zone as a runner for the eighth, ninth and 10th times this season. He scored on runs of 23, 8 and 19 yards.
His fast start is also historic.
According to ESPN Research, Taylor is the fourth player in NFL history with three games with three rushing touchdowns within his team’s first seven games, joining Jim Brown (1958), Priest Holmes (2004) and Derrick Henry (2021).
“He’s running hard,” Steichen said. “He’s running physical. He’s got great vision. Yeah, he’s balling out.”
Taylor leads the NFL in rushing yards (697) and rushing touchdowns (10) after finishing Sunday’s game with 94 yards on 16 carries (5.9-yard average).
Taylor and the Colts have been scoring at will all season, and that continued Sunday. The Colts scored touchdowns on their first three possessions and later opened a 21-point lead over Los Angeles.
Indianapolis took a chance on quarterback Daniel Jones in the offseason, signing him to a one-year, $14 million contract after six up-and-down seasons with the New York Giants. The Colts have gotten plenty of return on the investment, with Jones now leading the NFL in QBR (81.3) and completing a career-best 71% of his pass attempts. He was 23-of-34 passing for 288 yards and two scores Sunday.
“I always knew that we had really good players here and we were just missing something,” receiver Michael Pittman Jr. said. “And that’s something that Dan brought. I’ve always had confidence in our guys. We were just one player away.”
The Colts have eclipsed 30 points in five of their seven games and lead the NFL in points per game (33.1) and yards per play (6.4). According to ESPN Research, their 232 points this season are their most through seven games since 1964 — two decades before they relocated to Indianapolis from Baltimore.
Time will tell how far this offense can take this Colts team, but the early signs remain positive.
“We go into every game thinking we’re scoring 40,” tight end Mo Alie-Cox said. “I mean, we are on the verge of doing it again. Every time we get the ball, we think we’re going to score.”
