A very costly mistake by Indianapolis Colts’ running back Jonathan Taylor took a touchdown off the board early in the third quarter on Sunday’s game against Denver.
Following an interception by Colts’ cornerback Samuel Womack, the offense started with the ball at their own 38-yard line.
On first down, Anthony Richardson connected with Josh Downs for a six-yard gain and then an unnecessary roughness penalty on the Broncos added 15 yards to that play, putting Indianapolis at the Denver 41-yard line.
Then on a handoff to Taylor, the combination of Mark Glowinski and Matt Goncalves opened up a running lane on the right side that Taylor took to the end zone for what looked like a touchdown.
However, upon further review, Taylor let go of the ball before crossing the plane and the ball would then roll through the end zone unrecovered. So technically, this was a fumble and a touchback, giving the Broncos the ball and taking the touchdown off the board.
Oh my goodness. Jonathan Taylor dropped the ball before scoring the touchdown and it’s officially a touchback.
How do players keep on letting this happen?!?
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) December 15, 2024
So instead of the Colts leading 20-7, they remained up 13-7 and the offense no longer had the football.
Throughout college and the NFL, we’ve seen plays like this happen here and there over the years. To put it simply, it’s a mistake that just cannot happen.
Fortunately, for the Colts, their defense forced a punt, giving the offense the ball back and still with the six point lead.
With 10:23 left in the third quarter, there is still a lot of football to be played. We will see how this play from Taylor impacts the rest of the game.