After going up 20-0 on the New England Patriots, the Indianapolis Colts found themselves on the ropes after 17 straight Patriots points made it 20-17 late in the fourth quarter of Saturday night's game. But as he has all season, running back Jonathan Taylor played the hero, sealing the game with an incredible 67-yard touchdown run. The long score made it a 27-17 game, and that was the final score.

After the game, Colts star linebacker Darius Leonard made a bold statement about Taylor and his place in the MVP race:

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While many people may scoff at the idea of a running back winning MVP these days, Taylor is certainly doing his best to have his name in the discussion. The Colts star ran the ball 29 times for 170 yards and a touchdown on Saturday night, giving him a rushing touchdown in 11 straight games after not reaching the end zone in the first three games of the season. Indianapolis lost all three of those first games but is now 8-6 thanks in large part to Taylor's surge.

Taylor has now rushed the ball 270 times for 1,518 yards and 17 touchdowns in 2021. All three of those numbers are first in the NFL. He's averaging a whopping 5.6 yards per carry and also has 36 catches for 336 yards and two more scores.

The Colts badly needed the production from Taylor on Saturday night, because they got basically nothing from quarterback Carson Wentz. Indy's quarterback completed just five passes for 48 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Taylor was essentially the Colts' entire offense in this one, but it worked thanks to his dominance and a strong performance by the defense, which picked off Patriots rookie Mac Jones twice.

At 8-6, Indy is now a game and a half behind the 9-4 Tennessee Titans in the AFC South. The Titans face the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday.