It was Colts running back Jonathan Taylor who scored on the 83-yard run. He led the league in rushing prior to Week 10, and after adding 244 yards on 32 carries against the Falcons, he very well should afterward as well. His 83-yard touchdown marked the longest scoring run this season by any player.
“Honestly,” Falcons inside linebacker Kaden Elliss said, “it’s just too bad his longest run really came on something where a lot of guys stopped playing, myself included. That’s just unacceptable for us as a defense. Go until you hear the whistle. That’s something that’s been preached since we were little.”
Taylor’s touchdown run usurped Falcons running back Bijan Robinson’s 81-yard touchdown run in Atlanta’s Week 6 win against the Buffalo Bills. That fact, paired with the defense’s in-the-moment reaction, made Taylor’s big international moment sting more.
“Props to him,” Elliss said. “He kept his feet alive, kept going. We should be used to that. We see Bijan every single day in training camp and in practice. We know how hard it is to get one of those guys down. We got to keep hunting to that ball.”
Taylor solidified the Colts’ victory with an 8-yard touchdown run in overtime. It capped off a 7-play drive for 53 yards in which Indianapolis made forward progress with each down.
Colts quarterback Daniel Jones ultimately completed 11 of his 16 passes for 255 yards and a touchdown. He was intercepted once — by Falcons safety Jessie Bates III — and sacked seven times by a committee of Falcons — literally seven different defenders. Jones’ longest completion was the 37-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Alec Pierce.
The Falcons now own a 3-6 record and must regroup for back-to-back NFC South games, first with the Carolina Panthers coming to Atlanta in Week 11 and then a road trip to the New Orleans Saints in Week 12. That preparation starts with reliving Sunday’s loss, explosives and all.
“There are a lot of plays in my mind I want to go watch, a lot of plays I want back,” Falcons defensive lineman Brandon Dorlus said. “Gotta avoid those types of plays. Can’t have that many mistakes in a game again.”