Colts’ Shane Steichen explains Jonathan Taylor’s lack of touches in second half of Week 8 loss

Jonathan Taylor has been back in the fold with the Colts for the past few weeks, but, for a minute, it looked like Sunday’s matchup against the Saints was going to be his coming out party for the 2023 season. In the first quarter, Taylor piled up 82 yards on seven carries and looked to be on the verge of a full-fledged takeover. The veteran back added on another four carries in the second quarter but then saw just one carry for the entire second half. 

Wait, what?! That is probably what you’re asking yourself, right? Well, it was a head-scratching situation for most folks, which led to a number of questions being asked about his usage to Indy’s first-year head coach Shane Steichen. He told reporters this week that he reviewed the tape and chalked up Taylor’s lack of usage in the second half to the game flow. 

“Sometimes the game, the flow of the game will kind of dictate how it’s called there,” Steichen said, via the Indy Star. “You’re down two scores in the fourth quarter. Could I have popped a run in there? Absolutely, but I decided to throw it there towards the end.”

Taylor got the first touch of the second half for the Indianapolis offense and took the carry for just one yard. A penalty a second down put them in a second-and-long situation and they ultimately punted the ball away. On the next series, Zack Moss got touches out of the backfield as the Colts have continued to give him run after performing well when filling in for Taylor when he was on IR to begin the year. Moss has continued to complement the Indy rushing attack upon Taylor’s return. 

“We have stuff that J.T. is tagged on, same thing with Moss,” Steichen said. “We try to ride the hot hand. J.T. is a big-time playmaker, and he’s continuing to improve every single week — obviously, you saw there in the first half. We’ll continue to evaluate those things going forward and making sure we have the guy that we want in at the right time.”

By the time Taylor would alternate back in, the Could found themselves down by two scores and in must-throw situations. 

Once the dust settled on the game, Taylor and Moss effectively split the carries evenly with Taylor getting 12 rushing attempts and Moss 11 carries. While there’s a school of thought to continue that split to keep both backs fresh, it is a bit curious that Indy wouldn’t lean a little heavier on the back it just gave a three-year, $42 million extension to, especially when it looked like he was about to go nuclear on the ground in Week 8. 

As a team, the Colts rank ninth in the league in rushing yards per game (129) and sixth in yards per attempt (4.5). Given that success, it’ll be interesting to see if Steichen alters his approach on how he deploys his backs out of the backfield going forward.