BERLIN – Jonathan Taylor's special season is no longer confined to one continent.
In front of 72,203 fans at historic Olympic Stadium on Sunday, and in the first NFL regular season game ever played in Berlin, Taylor put on yet another masterful, valiant, prodigious game. He rushed for 244 yards on 32 carries and scored three touchdowns, the second of which broke Hall of Famer Edgerrin James' franchise record and the third of which pushed the Colts to an 8-2 record with a 31-25 overtime win over the Atlanta Falcons.
Neither of those descriptors actually do Taylor's final two touchdowns justice. Taylor's record-breaking 65th career touchdown came after he broke free from a cloud of dust and accelerated 83 yards toward the Marathon steps at Olympic Stadium, a run which tied his career-long and was his second 80-plus-yard touchdown of his 2025 season. His 66th career touchdown came in overtime, when it was clear the Falcons wouldn't be able to stop him from winning the game. Taylor juked safety Jessie Bates III and jogged in untouched for an eight-yard score, sending the Colts back to the United States with a remarkable victory.
Taylor, true to fashion, deflected the attention and praise that came with his historic performance.
"You just think about the guys who we've had in this organization beforehand, and to be named amongst those legends, it means a lot," Taylor said. "I don't take it for granted, but I also understand how those guys got there and how I got there, and it's the guys around you. It's the guys around you that support you, like I mentioned, the guys on the edge, the tight ends, O-line, it's those guys who put you into that category. So I appreciate my teammates so much and it means a lot."
That's the way Taylor has been though this whole 2025 season, in which he'll hit the bye week with 1,139 rushing yards and 17 total touchdowns over 10 games. Taylor, consistently, has been more than willing to share the spotlight of his remarkable season.
"I mean, that's him," left tackle Bernhard Raimann said. "He's the best running back in the NFL and he still doesn't take the credit for it. That's just the kind of human he is, the kind of competitor he is, and he's still one of the hardest workers on the team. He's leading us."
But while the Colts' offensive line and the other blockers ahead of him opened up creases and physically delivered daylight for Taylor, he did plenty of work on his own. Per NFL Next Gen Stats, 228 of Taylor's 244 yards came after contact; no other running back has had more than 200 yards after contact in a game since at least 2017.
"Credit to the guys up front, credit to him the way he ran," head coach Shane Steichen said, "he ran hard all day."
This was the kind of game that should terrify opposing defenses come the playoffs, should the 8-2 Colts make it there. The Falcons thought they had Taylor bottled up a few times only for him to slip free for plays that'll live forever on his career highlight reel. The Colts' passing offense had its moments but struggled at times, with quarterback Daniel Jones being sacked seven times and losing a fumble.
And while Jones delivered in some key moments – like his 19-yard scramble on third-and-21 that helped send the game to overtime, and a couple of tough-as-nails completions to Tyler Warren in clutch moments – it was Taylor who delivered the Colts a win. There's no greater force on the ground in the NFL than the Colts' sixth-year running back from Wisconsin.
On an international stage, in front of a crowd comprised of football fans from all over the world, Taylor once again delivered what he does best: Greatness.
