INDIANAPOLIS – Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor started left, saw two New England Patriots defenders and cut back to the right and took off. Taylor, at one point during Saturday’s game-sealing touchdown run, looked back at the defenders the same way he should be looking back at the rest of the NFL MVP candidates.
That’s because in a time when quarterbacks have routinely dominated the MVP race, Taylor is trying to run his way to the individual award.
“What he is doing now in this NFL, there’s absolutely no question that he is the MVP,” Colts linebacker Darius Leonard said.
Unfortunately for Taylor and the Colts, running back is not a position that routinely wins MVP. The honor usually goes to quarterbacks, who have won eight straight and 12 of the past 14. Running back Adrian Peterson in 2012 was the last non-quarterback to win the award.
Taylor leads the NFL in a number of categories, including rushing yards (1,518), rushing touchdowns (17) and total touchdowns (19) this season. The last three running backs to win the award — Peterson, LaDainian Tomlinson and Shaun Alexander — all rushed for at least 1,800 yards.
Taylor will have to average around 100 yards in the Colts’ final three games (Arizona Cardinals, Las Vegas Raiders and Jacksonville Jaguars) to reach that mark, and he’ll have the advantage of an added game that the others didn’t have.
It won’t be surprising if he surpasses it because he’s rushed for at least 100 yards in five of the past six games.
“I’ve said he’s the MVP for six weeks now,” ESPN NFL analyst Dan Orlovsky said about Taylor. “Hundred yards a game, 5.5 a carry. He has…
Source : espn
