1. Jonathan Taylor's first 10 games in context.
With his three touchdowns, 244 rushing yards and 42 receiving yards on Sunday, Taylor has, through 10 games, 1,399 yards from scrimmage and 17 total touchdowns; both stand as league highs heading into the Colts' bye week. Taylor also leads the NFL in rushing attempts (189), rushing yards (1,139), rushing touchdowns (15), yards per carry (6.0), yards per game (113.9) and longest rush (83 yards).
So let's put some of those incredible numbers into historical context.
Only three players have scored more touchdowns in the first 10 games of a season than Taylor's 17; those guys are former San Diego running back LaDanian Tomlinson (22, 2006), former Seattle running back Shaun Alexander (19, 2005) and former San Francisco wide receiver Jerry Rice (18, 1987). Taylor and eight other players have had 17 touchdowns in the first 10 games of a season:
- Todd Gurley (LA Rams, 2018)
- Priest Holmes (Kansas City, 2002)
- Terrell Davis (Denver, 1998)
- Terry Allen (Washington, 1996)
- Emmitt Smith (Dallas, 1995)
- Eric Dickerson (LA Rams, 1983)
- O.J. Simpson (Buffalo, 1975)
Taylor's 1,399 yards from scrimmage over 10 games is the most any player has had since 2019, when Carolina's Christian McCaffrey had 1,576 and Minnesota's Dalvin Cook had 1,415. Also, Taylor is the first player to have over 1,100 rushing yards in the first 10 games of a season since Dallas' DeMarco Murray had 1,233 in 2014.
In the Super Bowl era, five players have finished seasons with 189+ carries and an average of 6.0+ yards per attempt:
- C.J. Spiller (BUF, 2012)
- Adrian Peterson (MIN, 2012)
- Jamaal Charles (KC, 2012)
- Barry Sanders (DET, 1997)
- O.J. Simpson (BUF, 1973)
Simpson is the only running back in the Super Bowl era to lead the NFL in both rushing attempts and rushing yards per carry; prior to him, Hall of Famer Jim Brown accomplished that feat in 1963.
The point here is it's rare to see a player be so explosive and efficient while taking a high volume of rushing attempts, as Taylor has done this year. One other fun fact here: Taylor's 15 rushing touchdowns through 10 games are more than any player on that list had in a full season; Peterson, Simpson and Brown each had 12. Peterson, of course, in 2012 was the last running back to win MVP.
"He's the most humble dude in that locker room," linebacker Zaire Franklin said. "No matter what, he's going to give it to his teammates, give it to God. That's the type of man he is. But I'm telling (you), look, I'll scream it from the mountaintops: He's the MVP in my book."
2. Tyler Warren's fourth-and-two catch was a massive play.
The Colts' fourth-and-two play with 1:17 left in the fourth quarter was a do-or-die down; without all three timeouts, a turnover on downs would've allowed the Falcons to take two knees and run out the clock.
And when the Colts needed a play, they turned to their rookie tight end.
The play looked designed to spring Warren open into the flat behind double quick slants from wide receivers Josh Downs and Alec Pierce, who were lined up wide. Atlanta had a defender lined up over both Downs and Pierce, and the Falcons also had six players walked up to the line of scrimmage.
At the snap, cornerback Keith Taylor followed Pierce in man coverage, but safety Billy Bowman Jr. – who was lined up over Downs at the snap – stayed home in the flat instead of following Downs over the middle of the field. Linebacker Jalon Walker dropped into coverage over the middle, near where Downs' route was going.
Jones was quickly pressured by defensive ends Arnold Ebiketie and Kaden Elliss from his right; with Ellis in his face, he got the ball out to Warren – and to where Bowman was waiting.
It didn't matter that the Falcons' defense successfully pulled off a simulated pressure designed to get to Jones, or that they had Bowman hunting the flat for a quick throw to Warren. That's because Warren caught the ball a yard short of the line to gain, slipped away from Bowman and dashed to the 10-yard line, picking up a first down to keep the Colts' chances alive.
"He had some big-time plays in situations that weren't perfect, not exactly how you draw them up," Jones said. "That's kind of been something we've said really since he stepped on the field. It's not always perfect. It's not what you expect or what you talk about in the film room all the time, but somehow he makes a play and makes it happen, and you saw that several times today in critical moments."
It's no surprise to anyone who's watched Warren over the last few months that he's able to deliver in massive situations when things aren't perfect. But sometimes it is worth taking a step back and remembering that Sunday was just Warren's 10th game in the NFL. For him to be able to come up with that play, under those circumstances and against that coverage as a rookie? That's remarkable, and it's something the Colts can and will continue to rely on as the season goes on.
It happened even as Sunday's game went into overtime. After taking over at their own 43-yard line, a run to Taylor picked up just one yard, giving the Colts a second-and-nine six yards short of midfield. Warren's natural feel for space shined on a deep out-breaking route; Jones let his pass go from the far hash with Warren about 13 yards downfield and between the near numbers and hash. The Falcons had four defenders in the vicinity, but also had a void in their defense. Warren worked into that void, not flattening his route too short or rounding it too deep, allowing him to catch the ball for a 23-yard gain.
"He had a big game," Steichen said. "Obviously that one there in overtime was the biggest one, but he's just got great feel and ability and space and his physicality, run after catch was phenomenal for us."
Taylor then took it from there, rushing on the next five plays for 33 yards, including the game-winning touchdown. Warren finished the game with new career highs in receptions (eight) and yards (99).
3. Daniel Jones' 19-yard scramble might've saved the game, too.
Jones was under pressure quite a bit and took seven sacks, one of which was a strip-sack lost fumble, but one of the biggest plays of Sunday's game came when he mitigated the Falcons' pressure.
The play before Warren's fourth-and-two catch was a third-and-21 at the Colts' 41-yard line – and, again, if the Colts didn't pick up a first down, the game would've been over.
At the snap, the Colts ran Pierce and Pittman vertically with Downs running a deep post over the middle. Atlanta dropped six defenders deep toward the first down marker, taking away a downfield throw. Jones stepped up in the pocket as Ebiketie and James Pearce Jr. rushed past him upfield, then saw green grass to his right with Taylor in space.
Jones took off, and Taylor blocked Bowman – the nearest of those six deep defenders when Jones crossed the line of scrimmage – at midfield, while Jones ran up the sideline. He was finally forced out at the 40-yard line by safety Jessie Bates III, creating the fourth-and-two opportunity on the next play.
"(We were) trying to take a shot there," Jones said. "Obviously we were in a tough spot. You don't want to take sacks there in two-minute situations, so that's something certainly I can look to correct. But at that point it's just trying to make a play. They got a lot of depth and expecting us to take a shot, so stepped up and found some space, yeah, tried to get upfield."
Without those 19 yards, the Colts' last-ditch play on fourth down would've been awfully tough to convert.
"We were just trying to get some of it," Steichen said. "Obviously, it's a long distance there, and obviously he took off and ran, got some yards there, which was big for us."
The Colts haven't needed Jones' running ability much this season outside of a few quarterback sneaks; his 40 rushing attempts through 10 games are 27 fewer than he had in 10 games in 2024. But Jones, over his career, has proven that his legs can be a weapon – with the New York Giants, he rushed for 2,179 yards on 439 attempts (5.5 yards per carry). The Colts' offense won't be built around Jones taking off and scrambling, but it's a part of it they haven't tapped into much this year – but could certainly lean on a little more in the second half of 2025.
4. Zaire Franklin delivered in overtime.
The Colts' defense wasn't able to stop the Falcons after Taylor's 83-yard touchdown gave them a 22-17 lead midway through the fourth quarter, with Atlanta not facing a single third down while marching 71 yards on nine plays, culminating with running back Tyler Allgeier scoring a go-ahead touchdown with 1:48 left. The Falcons then converted their two-point try when cornerback Sauce Gardner slipped in coverage on wide receiver Drake London, putting Atlanta up, 25-22.
Once the Colts tied the game with Michael Badgley's 44-yard field goal, the defense caught fire. Atlanta was trying to wrangle a game-winning field goal out of the 21 remaining seconds they had left after taking over at their own 26-yard line, but after quarterback Michael Penix Jr. threw incomplete on first down, a J.T. Tuimoloau pressure forced an intentional grounding penalty that sent the game to overtime.
"We just made the decision that we were going to be the reason that we helped win this game," Franklin said.
In overtime, the Falcons picked up a first down on third-and-nine when cornerback Mekhi Blackmon was flagged for illegal contact. On the next play, Franklin perfectly timed Penix's snap and blasted through a block into the backfield, where he dropped Allgeier for a two-yard loss.
Then, on third-and-12, Franklin looped around to the left on a blitz and accelerated toward Penix, getting him to the ground for a punt-forcing sack.
"He played lights out for us. Obviously getting those sacks there, the tackles in the backfield. We knew Bijan was a hell of a runner going into this game and just trying to contain him as best we could, so I think we did a pretty good job there, and also Zaire obviously getting a big-time play there at the end was huge."
5. The Colts' resilient nature showed up on special teams, too.
In the second quarter, an 18-yard Downs punt return was called back for a holding flag on wide receiver Ashton Dulin, resulting in the Colts taking over possession at their own seven-yard line. Later in the second quarter, a 42-yard Ameer Abdullah return was brought back to the Colts' 14-yard line due to a holding penalty assessed to tight end Drew Ogletree.
Badgley, too, missed a PAT in the first quarter and came up short on a 53-yard attempt in the second quarter.
But the Colts cleaned things up on special teams, and as the game went on, made some plays in the third phase that wound up being instrumental in their win.
The obvious one here is Badgley connecting on a game-tying 44-yard field goal; he also hit from 34 with 9:04 left in the fourth quarter to get the Colts within a point. But the Colts' return game delivered with some key yards in the fourth quarter, too.
Downs had a 24-yard punt return to the Falcons' 47-yard line that set up Badgley's 34-yard field goal; after Atlanta took the lead, Abdullah raced 49 yards on the ensuing kickoff to give the Colts the ball on the Falcons' 48-yard line with 1:37 left.
It didn't wind up leading to points, but Dulin had a 50-yard return in the third quarter, too.
And the Colts' kickoff coverage unit was fantastic in this game, too. The farthest the Falcons got on a kick return was their own 31-yard line; their other possessions off kickoffs began at their own 19, 27, 23, 29, 26 and 30-yard lines, good for an average of the 26.4-yard line and about two yards shorter than the Falcons' average in Weeks 1-9.
