Buccaneers end MVP campaign in huge win versus Colts

Jonathan Taylor will remember his game against the Buccaneers.

The Buccaneers just completed their biggest win of the season. The recent weeks haven’t been great for the defending champs, from bad losses to bye weeks that lasted forever, but this game has hopefully flipped the script for the Bucs.

The Colts are a much better team than their record indicates. The AFC is a mess this season, and while a few too many losses make Indy look like they are middle of the pack, this team has the talent to be one of the best in the conference.

That talent starts with a great offense that has received increased media coverage in recent weeks due to running back Jonathan Taylor. We won’t get too deep into the credibility of the notion that a back can be MVP in the modern era, but Taylor was undoubtedly getting some credit from the media on this front.

At least, Taylor was before he met the Bucs.

Going into the game, some Colts fans seemed to believe that Taylor would be able to run with ease against the best front-seven in football. He wasn’t.

This game was a major uphill battle for the sophomore running back as the Bucs sold out in the first half to mitigate his impact. This worked well, and Taylor was held to a mere 25 yards. Despite the lack of production on the ground, the Colts were still able to jump out to a relatively comfortable 24-14 lead on the back of Carson Wentz.

Taylor was able to salvage his stats with a great drive in the fourth quarter, but this is where his MVP campaign loses steam. Your team shouldn’t be able to look better against the defending champs when you are taken out of the game.

With Taylor relegated to a blocking and diversionary role, the Colts were able to pass with ease, and that is not what the voters want to see when they are looking for the player that brings the most value to their team.

But hey, Buccaneers fans already knew that trying to run against this defense was a bad idea. Now, the Colts know too.

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