During the Indianapolis Colts Week 10 meeting with the Atlanta Falcons at Olympiastadion in Berlin, Germany, Colts running back Jonathan Taylor checked off a milestone that most NFL running backs never reach.
Finishing the game with over 200 rushing yards and multiple rushing scores, Taylor pushed his career rushing total past the 7,000-yard mark and his career touchdown total over 70, all before his 27th birthday.
Taylor - born Jan. 19, 1999 - entered the day narrowly short of the mark and left Berlin having crossed both thresholds.
That combination - 7,000+ rushing yards and 70+ touchdowns before age 27 - puts Taylor in elite company, as the only other players on that list are Hall of Famers Emmitt Smith, Jim Brown, and LaDainian Tomlinson.
Taylor came into the international game with 6,908 career rushing yards and 70 total scrimmage touchdowns (63 rushing, seven receiving) compiled over his first six seasons with Indy.
Entering Week 10, he was enjoying a career year and one of the league's most productive starts - 157 carries for a league-leading 895 rushing yards (5.7 yards per carry) and 12 touchdowns through nine games.
That wasn’t the only achievement Taylor celebrated on Sunday; he also became the Colts’ all-time franchise leader with 65 career rushing touchdowns.
The play that secured that record was an 83-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter, which is also the longest TD run in franchise history.
Taylor’s recent surge had not only helped the Colts to a 7-2 start coming into the Falcons game, but it also made him one of the early favorites for Offensive Player of the Year honors and for some, even league MVP.
The last running back to win the MVP award was LaDainian Tomlinson with the San Diego Chargers back in 2006, rushing for 1,815 yards and an NFL-record 28 rushing touchdowns.
For the Colts, Taylor's consistency has transforming their offense into a stabilizing force for a team chasing its first postseason since 2020.
Up next, Indianapolis heads into a Week 11 bye before a tough late-season stretch - at Kansas City on Nov. 23, home against Houston on Nov. 30, at Jacksonville on Dec. 7, and at Seattle on Dec. 14.
With two division games ahead and all four opponents still in the playoff hunt, the next stretch will test Taylor and the Colts in a big way.
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