NASHVILLE – As Jonathan Taylor took a handoff with just under two minutes left in the third quarter, he had 44 yards on his previous 12 carries, good for an average of 3.7 yards per attempt.
Tight end Tyler Warren – lined up in the backfield as a fullback – bludgeoned linebacker Tennessee Titans linebacker Cody Barton, clearing a path to the second level for Taylor. Veteran safeties Quandre Diggs and Amani Hooker both keyed on the Colts' running back.
Taylor juked Diggs and spun out of Hooker's grasp. Linebacker Kyzir White closed from behind, but slid off Taylor's lower body as he tried to tackle him. Taylor accelerated, and with an assist from the hustle of wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr., evaded cornerback L'Jarius Sneed before crossing the goal line for a 46-yard touchdown.
Just like that, Taylor had 13 carries for 90 yards. He finished the Colts' 41-20 win over the Titans with 17 carries for 102 yards with three touchdowns, bringing his season totals to 50 carries for 338 yards (6.8 yards per attempt) with four total touchdowns.
"I don't think really it's a question at this point," linebacker Zaire Franklin said, "I think he's the best back in the league."
No Colts running back since at least 1970 has had more rushing yards in the first three games of a season than Taylor, who topped Hall of Famer Eric Dickerson's 330 rushing yards to begin the 1987 season.
"Just his combination of power, speed, change of direction, he's been making plays in the backfield," Franklin continued. "And honestly, I think the biggest improvement that he's made has been in his pass protection. I noticed it at training camp.
"He's a complete back right now. There's nobody else playing like him."
Franklin is right about Taylor in pass protection, though the Colts didn't have Taylor hang back in pass protection and pick up a blitzing defender on Sunday (he's nonetheless been a huge reason why quarterback Daniel Jones has only been sacked twice this season). What Taylor showed on Sunday, though, is how difficult it will be for opposing defenses to contain him for all four quarters of a game.
"Teams will probably tend to (focus on stopping the run), but it's just about taking what they give you," Taylor said. "I'm trying to be as efficient as possible, eliminating those negative runs until eventually you wear them down."
From head coach Shane Steichen's perspective, he can live with Taylor getting three or so yards on a handful of carries, knowing any of them has a chance to get to the second level – where Taylor is among the best backs in the NFL at turning an eight-yard run into a chance to score from anywhere on the field.
So even though Taylor was averaging under four yards a pop into the third quarter, when Steichen called that iso run – with Warren playing fullback – he had confidence it could turn into something special. Which, of course, it did.
"It was like old-school smashmouth football," Steichen said.
That's the kind of football the Colts can play. Or they can have Jones efficiently complete 72 percent of his passes and average 9.1 yards per attempt. On Sunday, the Colts were able to do both – which is how they wound up with 41 points, the team's highest single-game total in four years.
"I think it's real tough," Taylor said. "If I were a D-coordinator, I would kind of be pulling my hair out like, 'what are we going to do? We can't really key in on one thing.'"
And, as Taylor showed against the Titans: Even if you key in on him, keeping him from breaking off a big run for 60 minutes on Sundays is an incredibly difficult challenge for opposing defenses.
