The Colts flattened Tennessee 38-14, and the MVP drumbeat for Jonathan Taylor only got louder. After another three-touchdown showcase punctuated by an 80-yard bolt after halftime, even quarterback Daniel Jones nodded toward the chants ringing through Lucas Oil Stadium.
Taylor’s burst scoring and home-run efficiency turned a competitive script into a rout, and it left the Titans searching for answers on a defense that couldn’t get ball carriers on the ground or get off the field.
Defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson didn’t sugarcoat the fix. “Have to go back to the basics, and we have to tackle better,” he said, while giving Taylor his due but stressing that Tennessee’s tackling must improve, via Jim Wyatt on X.
That’s the directive now: fundamentals first, angles and leverage cleaned up, and rally-and-finish tackling that turns 8-yard gains into 3s instead of explosives. Wilson’s message also hints at practice emphasis, fit the run, secure edges, and trust the first tackler while the cavalry arrives, because one missed shot against Taylor turned into points in bunches.
The loss also exposed complementary football cracks. Tennessee’s offense struggled to sustain drives long enough to help the defense reset, which compounded the tackling issues and kept a tired unit on the field.
When the Titans did get to manageable down-and-distance, Taylor’s cutback patience and acceleration erased pursuit lanes. The remediation is equal parts technical (strike zone, wrap, run-through) and structural (front fits, force/contain, pursuit rules), and it has to show up fast with divisional stakes tightening.
And on the other sideline, Taylor’s 80-yard dagger had even his teammates shaking their heads. Michael Pittman Jr. described the play as a slow-build jaw-dropper, “a good 15-yard run… a good 30-yard run… and then 80 yards,” capturing how quickly Taylor flips field position and, by extension, game control.
It’s the third straight meeting with Tennessee in which Taylor hit the end zone three times, a brutal trend line the Titans simply must break.
There’s no mystery in Wilson’s blueprint. Strip the game back to core tenets: alignment, assignment, tackle, and then let the pass rush earn its chances on longer downs. If Tennessee cleans up the first contact and wins the pursuit math, days like Sunday stop snowballing.
