Jonathan Taylor made a strong case on Sunday for why he belongs at the center of any trade-deadline conversation. Against a Minnesota defense that had entered the game allowing just a 22.2% third-down conversion rate, best in the NFL by a wide margin, the Colts managed to move the chains eight times on 15 tries while their quarterback barely cleared 100 passing yards. Taylor was the difference.
He hit Minnesota right away. Taylor ripped off a 38-yard touchdown on the opening drive and kept rolling from there, finishing with 110 all-purpose yards, 95 of them on the ground. The Colts’ offense, hardly a juggernaut, suddenly had enough breathing room to stay out of obvious passing downs and keep the Vikings from teeing off on Daniel Jones all afternoon.
That early production mattered because it changed the shape of the game. Taylor repeatedly got Indianapolis into second- or third-and-short, which meant the Colts could stay on schedule instead of letting Minnesota’s front seven attack freely. The Vikings still punished Jones throughout the game, but the run game blunted some of the pressure early and gave Indianapolis just enough balance to avoid being one-dimensional.
Minnesota, by contrast, kept putting itself behind the sticks. Too many first- and second-down snaps left the Vikings facing third-and-long, and the play calling brought back some familiar frustrations for Minnesota fans. The offense struggled to build momentum on the ground, and that lack of early yardage made everything harder.
Taylor’s blocking helped the whole thing work. Before the Colts traded Quenton Nelson to the Seattle Seahawks, their line was one of the best in football, and Taylor spent much of the day pushing through the first level of Minnesota’s defense. His ability to create that kind of movement is exactly why he changes the equation for an offense.
The Vikings’ own backfield only underscored the point. Minnesota’s running game looked stuck early before Kyler Murray broke loose for a 35-yard scramble at the start of the first half.
The team has shown it can move the ball once it gets to third-and-manageable, but getting there has been the issue. Jordan Mason was better late in the game than he was at the start of his return from IR, and Aaron Jones remains useful, especially in pass protection.
Even so, neither looks like a feature back right now, and neither offers Taylor’s kind of explosive threat.
The numbers tell part of Minnesota’s offensive story. The Vikings have scored on 41.5% of their drives, which ranks 12th in the NFL, but too often those drives stall once the field tightens up and end in field goals instead of touchdowns. A back like Taylor would give them a better chance to finish those possessions with seven points instead of three.
That’s why this matters beyond one game. Minnesota is sitting as the only undefeated team left in the NFL, but the offense has still drawn plenty of criticism. The “frauds” talk may be overblown, but there’s no hiding the fact that this group could use more help if it wants to keep pace late in the season.
The Vikings can’t waste a Super Bowl-caliber defense in an NFC that looks like the Wild West. The Colts may insist they aren’t shopping Taylor, but Minnesota should still push hard to bring him in.
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