BERLIN -- Even after a spectacular individual performance, Jonathan Taylor was all about praising his Indianapolis Colts teammates Sunday.
His 83-yard touchdown run? That was thanks to his edge blockers. His 8-yard scamper in overtime to give Indianapolis a 31-25 victory over the Atlanta Falcons?
"You remember not even the run, you remember your teammates embracing you after that play," he said.
Fans in Berlin won't forget Taylor's three-touchdown, 244-yard rushing day in the first regular-season NFL game in the German capital.
Colts kicker Mike Badgley tied the game with a 44-yard field goal with 25 seconds left.
The Falcons had taken a 25-22 lead with 1:44 left in regulation on Tyler Allgeier's second touchdown of the game -- a 1-yard plunge.
Taylor had put the Colts (8-2) in front 22-17 with an 83-yard touchdown run on the previous drive. It was the longest run of the season in the NFL. Daniel Jones' pass attempt on the 2-point conversion was batted down.
Taylor ran into traffic up the middle, bounced out to the left and sprinted down the sideline into the end zone. The score moved him past Hall of Famer Edgerrin James for most rushing touchdowns (65) in Colts history.
"When I bounced to the outside, there's no lack of trust, it's just hit the edge full speed," Taylor said. "When you have that kind of trust with the guys on the edge, you get those special runs like that."
It was Taylor's third career 200-yard rushing day. His single-game career high is 253 yards from his rookie season in 2020.
Taylor is the fourth player in NFL history to have at least 200 rushing yards and at least three rushing TDs in a game twice in a career. The others are Jim Brown, Adrian Peterson and Derrick Henry.
It was the first regular-season NFL game in the German capital, but Nov. 9 is a special day for Germans for a bigger reason. Sunday was the 36th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. The stadium is located in what used to be West Berlin.
Olympiastadion, as its called in German, is also where Jesse Owens won four gold medals in front of Adolf Hitler at the 1936 Berlin Olympics to thwart Nazi claims of Aryan racial supremacy. Atlanta Falcons coach Raheem Morris prepared a video for his players about Owens' feats.
"This is a historic place," Taylor said. "You look back at the history, the guys who have achieved amazing feats here. It makes me feel like I'm a part of that lineage. I'm just so appreciative, I'm humbled to have a small piece of history here."
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press
