Jonathan Taylor rushed for 185 yards Sunday and scored a franchise-record five touchdowns as the Indianapolis Colts walloped the Buffalo Bills 41-15 in Orchard Park, N.Y.
Taylor tallied four scores on the ground and another one on a pass as Indianapolis (6-5) made a mockery of the point spread that had Buffalo listed as a seven-point favorite. Taylor is the 16th player in NFL history to score at least five touchdowns in a game.
It was the third loss in four games for the Bills (6-4), who fell a half-game behind surging New England in the AFC East. Buffalo’s performance was rife with mistakes, such as seven penalties and four turnovers.
Indianapolis quarterback Carson Wentz was 11 of 20 for 106 yards and a touchdown, but merely needed to avoid mistakes and hand the ball to Taylor.
Taylor plowed in from the 3 with 8:55 left in the first quarter to start the blowout, capping a drive of just over six minutes. Taylor made it 14-0 with 1:38 remaining in the quarter, taking a screen pass from Wentz and rumbling 23 yards.
The Bills edged within 14-7 when Josh Allen finished off a drive of nearly six minutes by finding Stefon Diggs for a 6-yard touchdown pass, but that was it for them until garbage time. The Colts scored 10 points in 17 seconds late in the second quarter to take control for good.
Michael Badgley converted a 26-yard field goal at the 2:16 mark to polish off a drive that lasted more than 8 1/2 minutes. After T.J. Carrie recovered a fumble on the kickoff and returned it to the Buffalo 2, Taylor scored on the next play for a 24-7 advantage.
Taylor added 10 and 1-yard rushing touchdowns in the third quarter to make it a blowout. Allen and Diggs hooked up for a 9-yard scoring strike early in the fourth quarter before a Badgley field goal rounded out the scoring.
Allen was 21 of 35 for 209 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions.
–Field Level Media