Colts RB Jonathan Taylor makes NFL history with unique scoring feat
Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor is having a great sophomore season in 2021. He is a workhorse for the team and leads the NFL with 1,348 yards rushing and 16 rushing touchdowns. Taylor is a big part of why the Colts are sitting at 7-6 and in second place in the AFC South. They are also right in the AFC playoff race as they sit out on the outside looking in at ninth place.
Taylor became the 13th running back in NFL history to have five total touchdowns in a game, and the fifth to have four rushing touchdowns in a game. He accomplished the feat against the Buffalo Bills in Week 11 as he also went for 185 yards rushing on 32 carries. However, in the Colts’ 31-0 shutout win over the Houston Texans, Taylor added another stat for the record books.
The second-round pick (41st overall) in the 2020 NFL went for 143 rushing yards on 32 carries with two rushing touchdowns. It was the second game this season that Taylor had 30 or more carries, but that was not the feat that made history. Taylor became the first player in the 102-year history of the NFL to have a touchdown in 10 straight games before his 23rd birthday. The previous record holder was Hall of Fame running back Eric Dickerson, who also had a touchdown in 10 straight games prior to his 23rd birthday.
Jonathan Taylor is now the first player in NFL history to have a TD in 10 straight games before his 23rd birthday
HOF Eric Dickerson was the previous youngest player in NFL history to score a TD in 10 straight games (he did so in 1983 at age 23)
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Dickerson was a rookie in 1983 who was drafted second overall in the 1983 NFL Draft by the Los Angeles Rams. That year, Dickerson led the league in rushing yards at 1,808 yards and rushing yards a game at 113. He was second that year in rushing touchdowns at 18 and led the league in rushing attempts at 390 and scrimmage yards at 2,212. Taylor leads the league in rushing attempts, rushing yards and rushing touchdowns this season.
Colts running back Jonathan Taylor has scored as many total touchdowns (18) as the entire New York Giants offense this season.
Taylor will not turn 23 years old until 19 January 2021, which means he has four more games left this season to stay atop the NFL in all three statistical categories. Given the extra game thanks to the 17-game schedule, Taylor is on pace to eclipse Dickerson in those categories. At the rate he has delivered, no one has had an answer to Taylor this season