Film Room: A Deep Dive into Jonathan Taylor's 67-yard Touchdown Run
The proverbial monkey is finally off of the back of this Indianapolis Colts' team, as they defeated the New England Patriots 27-17 on Saturday Night. While this was a complete team performance to get the win, the most memorable play of the night came from superstar running back Jonathan Taylor.
With the Colts up 20-17 with just 2:11 left in the fourth quarter, Taylor put the game on ice with an electric 67-yard touchdown run. This run effectively propelled the Colts to their first victory over the Patriots since 2009.
So how did he do it? In today's film room, I go over every minor detail of this run and talk about how Taylor was able to break away late for the score.
The Alignment
The Patriots knew the run was coming all along on this play. With the Colts in a heavy 13-personnel look, and with the major struggles from quarterback Carson Wentz, the Colts weren't hiding their true intentions on the play.
The result was the Colts being pretty outnumbered up front. The Patriots had nine players lined up in the box to play the run, with a 10th player sitting over the top in the safety spot.
In contrast, the Colts have just eight blockers up front to handle the 10 defenders near the line of scrimmage. So, just looking at this play pre-snap, the Colts will have to either throw the defense off with misdirection or have Taylor make a few defenders miss in the hole.
Duo Call
The play-call that the Colts end up going with is their patented duo call. Duo is a run design predicated on combo blocks on the interior to create displacement up front on the defensive line.
As you can see from this screen shot, the Colts have combo blocks working on both sides of the line. Eric Fisher and Quenton Nelson are on one side with Braden Smith and Mark Glowinski on the other (as highlighted below).
With both sides of the line creating movement off of the snap with their combo blocks, this opens up the possibility for the guards to climb to the next level. With these blocks finding success before Taylor even touches the ball, there is a high likelihood that this run will net positive yards.
Near Disaster
The Colts are one of the best teams in the NFL at running the ball, but it is tough playing against a Bill Belichick-led defense. With a front seven that features players like Matthew Judon, Jamie Collins, and Christian Barmore (just to name a few), it is tough to run against this team.
With the Patriots anticipating the run, they called a run-blitz to have Collins shoot the 'A' gap. This is a pretty troubling look that nearly blows up the entire run. You can see in this screenshot that Collins has a straight shot to at least slow Taylor up in the backfield if he goes unblocked.
Luckily, center Danny Pinter (filling in for Ryan Kelly) saves the day with an outstanding block. Nelson and Pinter essentially perform a basketball-style defensive switch, as Nelson rotates to Pinter's man and Pinter comes back to the middle to pick up the run blitz.
This quick recognition by the two players allows Taylor just enough time to get up field and past the line of scrimmage before Collins can get into the backfield.
The Stardom of Jonathan Taylor
With the offensive line creating displacement and Pinter picking up the run blitz, Taylor is able to hit the hole for at least a five to six yard gain if he were a normal running back. However, it is sufficient to say that Taylor is simply different.
He hits the hole with two defenders, safety Devin McCourty and linebacker Dont'a Hightower, waiting for him. Now, these aren't two typical starting defensive players. McCourty is a three-time All-Pro that could be on his way to the Hall of Fame one day. Hightower is a two-time Pro Bowler and former All-Pro himself that has been a dominant player for years.
The odds of making one of these players, let alone both, miss in the hole seems extremely low.
Taylor just makes it look too easy. There is something oddly satisfying about him doing this to two players that landed on the Patriots' All-Decade List to end the Colts' 12-year drought against the team.
This is an insane jump-cut that allows Taylor to slide right by Hightower for the long run. Simply an elite player making an elite play.
The Full Video
To close this article off, here is the full video of the play. The blocking up front was excellent, Pinter's blitz pick-up saved the day, and Taylor made an elite cut on two great defenders.
This was the perfect moment to end a long drought against the Colts' once-rivals. This will go down as one of the top plays of the season and a memorable moment for any Colts' fan that saw it live.
Follow Zach on Twitter @ZachHicks2.
