Broncos shoutout Colts star Taylor after ‘significant’ gaffe

The Broncos should have been down 20-7 in the fourth quarter but Colts star rusher Jonathan Taylor dropped the ball

Dec 15, 2024, 6:28 PM

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The Denver Broncos should have been down 20-7 early in the fourth quarter on Sunday but Indianapolis Colts star rusher Jonathan Taylor dropped the ball, literally.

The Broncos, who are now on the verge of a playoff berth and just secured their first winning season since 2016 are thanking Taylor for the huge error. He took a stretch to the right side and cut it back, exploding for a 41-yard rushing touchdown to put the visitors up two scores. The Mile High faithful saw rookie quarterback Bo Nix struggle and some nightmarish thoughts likely started to pop up while the broadcast went to commercial as Denver may have needed a miracle at that point—or maybe just a giant mistake.

While there was a break in the action the officials called for a review and determined that Taylor didn’t finish off his touchdown. The 25-year-old actually started his celebration and dropped the ball a yard or so outside the end zone. It took a touchdown off the board and gave Denver the ball.

“That was significant, I don’t get it but I’m not going to try to,” Broncos head coach Sean Payton said dumbfounded after the game. “That was something.”

The Broncos out-scored the Colts 24-0 after that moment, to give the team a ninth win on the back of a 31-13 effort.

“That was a crazy play from Jonathan Taylor,” Jonathon Cooper said. “Shoutout to him.”

The play is obviously crazy and had a huge impact on the game given what the score would’ve been and what happened afterward. Even stranger than dropping the ball before a score is how not unique it is. The same thing happened elsewhere in the NFL earlier on Sunday when Bengals defender Jordan Battle’s scoop-and-score was taken off the board because he dropped it before going in.

IT HAPPENED AGAIN!

This time it's Jonathan Taylor, erasing a huge Colts TD. 🏈🤦 #NFL pic.twitter.com/VCV1XMaMix https://t.co/AqBZS7sXxL

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) December 15, 2024

“It was a mistake it hurt us but he’s one of our leaders sometimes that happens in football,” Colts head coach Shane Steichen said of Taylor’s blunder. “He’s our guy.”

There was a good YouTube video from Isaac Punts made about the play earlier this year documenting just how often this actually happens.