Colts running back Jonathan Taylor posted 120 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown in Week Seven and he continued to look like he was rounding back into form in the first half of Sunday’s game against the Saints.
Taylor had 11 carries for 94 yards over the first two quarters, but he didn’t get much of an opportunity to build on it in the second half. Taylor ran once for a yard on the first play of the third quarter, but the Colts went with Zack Moss as their back on the next possession and then went three-and-out with three passes to open the fourth quarter. The Saints would go up 15 points before the next Colts drive and running was off the table for the rest of the 38-27 loss.
On Monday, head coach Shane Steichen said that he is “always self-evaluating everything” and said there were “absolutely” chances to run the ball after watching the film of the loss but that the scoreboard helped dictate the move in the other direction.
“Sometimes the game, the flow of the game will kind of dictate how it’s called there,” Steichen said, via Joel A. Erickson of the Indianapolis Star. “You’re down two scores in the fourth quarter. Could I have popped a run in there? Absolutely, but I decided to throw it there towards the end.”
Moss finished the game with 11 carries for 66 yards, so the Colts found success on the ground with both backs but shortcomings in other parts of the game helped the Saints take that part of the Colts’ attack off the table.