Colts could lean on Taylor in Sunday night showdown

Oct. 23—INDIANAPOLIS — Jonathan Taylor was talking up the Indianapolis Colts' wide receiver corps last week at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Fresh off a franchise-record 83-yard run in a 31-3 victory against the Houston Texans, the star running back already had praised the coaches and offensive linemen for his 145-yard, two-touchdown effort. When he was asked about the impact of the receivers willingly throwing themselves into the mix down field, Taylor's eyes lit up.

"That's how you get those explosive runs," he said. "It's not just from the O-line doing a great job up front. That's just one part of it. The other part of the game is the receivers playing aggressive down field and making sure that they stay man on. And that's something that — Zach Pascal, Ashton Dulin, Michael Pittman — that's something that they do well."

Taylor was so animated during his answer, he didn't notice linebacker Darius Leonard slipping behind him on the way out of the building. Leonard listened to the running back's fountain of praise with a bemused smile, and then offered a little insight of his own.

"You told them that you run the ball well, too?" he playfully asked.

Without losing a beat, Taylor launched into an explanation of how Leonard's six takeaways this season have helped the offense get more chances for big plays.

There isn't much that can interrupt a determined Taylor when he has a fixed objective in mind. And the Colts (2-4) likely will need that mindset during a Sunday night showdown against the San Francisco 49ers (2-3).

The forecast in Santa Clara, California, calls for a 94% chance of rain with wind gusts up to 19 mph and intermittent heavy downpours — the perfect weather to lean on a running game that has been heating up in recent weeks.

Taylor has rushed for 301 yards and four touchdowns on just 45 carries over the past three weeks, and he's added seven catches for 140 yards and another score on nine targets in the passing game.

"You just try to get him the ball in space, get him touches, and (it's) just a real credit to the coaching staff — to (offensive coordinator) Marcus Brady and (running backs coach) Scottie Montgomery and the rest of the guys for just getting him ready week-by-week to utilize him whatever way we can," Colts head coach Frank Reich said. "Obviously, most of the credit goes to Jonathan, just for the player and the person he is to get ready to be utilized in any way that he can.

"We were excited about him going back to when (general manager) Chris (Ballard) drafted him, knowing that this guy — knowing that he didn't catch many passes (in college). We felt like we had some evidence and some information that we felt like he would be good in the pass game, he would fit in our system in the pass game well, and I think that's bearing itself out."

If weather indeed becomes a factor, Taylor's presence might be even more important to quarterback Carson Wentz, who has been on a hot streak of his own.

During that same three-game stretch — coinciding with the quarterback's healing sprained ankles — Wentz has completed nearly 69% of his passes for 853 yards with six touchdowns and no interceptions. Most impressively, he's averaged 9.8 yards per attempt.

As the offense has finally had some time to grow together, the playcalling has become more aggressive and the big plays have begun to show up. In addition to Taylor's long run, Indianapolis had pass completions of 51 and 52 yards against the Texans.

That's a big part of the reason the offense was able to put up a season-high 31 points on just 48 snaps.

"You have a couple of those big plays against a good defense and to hit some of those and have some short drives with some explosive plays, you can definitely say that's some chemistry and kind of the whole offense coming together and figuring out what we can do," Wentz said.

The offense likely will need to keep performing at a high level to aid an ailing defense.

The Colts will be without at least two starters in the defensive secondary, with cornerback Rock Ya-Sin (ankle) missing his third game in four weeks and safety Julian Blackmon out for the season after tearing his Achilles' tendon in practice.

The game is a classic matchup of desperate teams. Both the Colts and Niners have fallen into early holes in their respective divisional races, and neither can afford to lose anymore ground. San Francisco is chasing the unbeaten Arizona Cardinals (6-0) in the NFC West, and Indianapolis has a showdown looming against the AFC South-leading Tennessee Titans (4-2) at home next week.

A victory Sunday night could be necessary to keep either team's playoff hopes off life support.

The Colts have the added motivation of erasing the memory of their most recent prime-time appearance — a 31-25 overtime loss at the Baltimore Ravens on Oct. 11 in which the team coughed up a 22-3 lead with 3:06 remaining in the third quarter.

"We have another opportunity on national television to show everybody what we're about, and we were able to do that for the majority of the part last time against the Ravens, but we didn't finish," defensive tackle DeForest Buckner said. "This week we need to finish."