INDIANAPOLIS -- A sly smile crept across DeAndre Smith's face. The Indianapolis Colts' running backs coach knew it was only a matter of time before the topic came up.
His star running back, Jonathan Taylor, has gone 12 straight games without reaching 100 rushing yards. It's the second-longest drought of Taylor's career, but as Smith pointed out Thursday, that streak doesn't tell the whole story.
For example, Taylor finished with 20 carries for 95 yards and two touchdowns in a Week 4 win over the Washington Commanders. He could've easily logged one more carry to notch the 30th 100-yard game of his NFL career. But when the Colts were about to start their penultimate drive, instead of padding his stats, Taylor encouraged Smith to give his backup, rookie seventh-round pick Seth McGowan, another opportunity.
"We knew it had a good chance to be an explosive run," Smith said of Indy's play call. "He wanted Seth to shine."
Facing first-and-10 from Washington's 46-yard line, McGowan broke free for an 11-yard gain. It was McGowan's longest run of his career and helped the Colts set up a 44-yard field goal by kicker Spencer Shrader in their eventual 30-13 win.
"That's just the type of guy he is," Smith said of Taylor's selflessness.
Smith added he's never too worried about Taylor's production, given his historically great resume. But should we be?
Despite his slower-than-usual start to the season at 79.6 rushing yards per game through five weeks, Taylor is still averaging 89.8 rushing yards per game for his NFL career, the most among active players and the fifth-highest mark in history. Only Hall of Famers Jim Brown, Barry Sanders, Terrell Davis, and Eric Dickerson have averaged more (in descending order).
But as Taylor gears up to face the winless Tennessee Titans on Sunday, a team he's eclipsed 100 rushing yards against in three straight games, his 100-yard rushing game drought is arguably not his biggest issue. Digging deeper than the box score, his lack of signature breakaway runs speaks to how much teams have bottled him up.
"You talking about the 40-, 50-yard touchdowns?" Taylor asked rhetorically during his weekly news conference on Thursday. "Everybody loves those."
When notified that he hasn't even had a 25-yard run this season, Taylor playfully objected.
"You pushed it up!" Taylor said, smiling as he reminded the media that their back-and-forth was initially about 20-yard runs. "We had a 20-yard run last week! Five extra yards, though, is always nice. But it's the NFL, those are gonna come and go."
Lately, they haven't come back. Taylor has 32 runs of at least 25 yards since entering the NFL in 2020, which is the second most of any player during that span, per TruMedia. He only trails future Hall of Famer Derrick Henry's Herculean mark of 50. However, Taylor's last run of at least 25 yards was a 27-yarder against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 12 of last season. He's logged 224 carries since then.
It's no secret the Colts' rushing offense regressed considerably in 2025 when quarterback Daniel Jones first fractured his left fibula and then ultimately tore his right Achilles tendon. Defenses no longer feared an injured Jones, who had played at a Pro Bowl-caliber level when he was healthy.
His replacements weren't any better. 44-year-old Philip Rivers ended his nearly five-year retirement to rejoin the Colts amid their playoff push, and unsurprisingly struggled to push the ball down the field. Meanwhile, Riley Leonard didn't start until last year's regular-season finale, after the Colts had already been eliminated from the postseason.
This year, the Colts' downfield passing issues appear to be twofold. Jones is back healthy, but he's struggled with ball security and decision-making, evidenced by his seven turnovers (four interceptions and three lost fumbles) in five games. What's more, his top deep threat, Alec Pierce, who led the league in yards per catch in each of the last two years, aggravated his surgically repaired left heel in a Week 2 loss at Kansas City and has been sidelined ever since. Without Pierce to stretch the defense,
Taylor has faced eight defenders in the box on 38.6 percent of his runs in 2026, 7 percent higher than last year, per TruMedia. Last week, the Pittsburgh Steelers had eight men in the box on 80.0 percent of Taylor's runs, the second-highest mark of any regular-season game in his career. Taylor finished with a season-low 45 yards on 15 carries in the Colts' 34-22 loss.
"I think a lot of head coaches will start the week off like, 'Shoot, these are the keys to victory, or this is what you got to do to stop such and such an opponent,'" Colts offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter said. "And I can pretty much guarantee you, J.T. is on that slide, right? He's on the PowerPoint slide. Those guys are aware of him. (He's) been such a good player in this league, playing at such a high level for a long time. So, we're going to keep pushing to improve the way we do our process day in, day out. The results should follow."
Star left guard Quenton Nelson shared the same optimism, adding that the rest of the offense needs to step up around Taylor, starting with the offensive line. Taylor is averaging just 1.18 yards before contact in 2026, the lowest mark of his career, per TruMedia.
"We gotta get our hands inside. We gotta strain. We gotta finish better," Nelson said after the Colts' loss to the Steelers. "Because I feel like we're capable of so much more than we have been doing the last few weeks."
The good news is that if there's an opponent to get back on track against, it's the Tennessee Titans. Taylor is averaging 157.7 rushing yards in his last three games against Tennessee, all victories, and he's scored nine total touchdowns (eight rushing and one receiving).
On the flip side, one of the few bright spots for the rival Titans is their run defense. Anchored by four-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons, Tennessee allows only 3.5 yards per carry this year, the fourth-fewest in the NFL.
"He's the heart and soul of that defense. So, they're all going to rally around him," Taylor said of Simmons. "(It's a) division game as well, so you know how those go. It doesn't matter what the picture is. It doesn't matter what the scenario is. … It's going to be a tough one."
Just how tough remains to be seen, but it would behoove the Colts to have game-breaking Taylor make his return.
The last time Taylor rushed for 100 yards was against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 10 of last year. He erupted for 244 yards in Indy's overtime win in Berlin, the most ever in an international NFL game. Of course, the Colts aren't banking on Taylor to replicate history Sunday, but they are searching for ways to get their star running back to himself.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
