INDIANAPOLIS – Jonathan Taylor made a lightning-fast leap, cut through the hole and saw nothing but daylight in front of him.

When the Indianapolis Colts running back reached the goal line about 65 yards later, his run was still not complete. Taylor kept walking and ran into the tunnel that leads to the Colts’ locker room in the southwest corner of Lucas Oil Stadium. It was Taylor’s way of sending a message: This time he would keep the football after it got to the end zone — something he hadn’t done a week ago.

Taylor reached the end zone two more times on Sunday, including a 70-yard scoring run, during his 218-yard performance in the Colts’ historic 38-30 victory over the Tennessee Titans. Indianapolis’ offense dominated the line of scrimmage and rushed for a franchise-record 335 yards, securing a win that kept the team’s slim playoff hopes alive. The Colts surpassed the previous high set in 1956, nearly three decades before the franchise left Baltimore for the Midwest in 1984.

It was Taylor’s second 200-yard performance of his career, following just his career-high 253-yard game in the final week of the 2020 season. His latest performance followed last Sunday’s game in which Taylor made a costly error and the Dropped ball prematurely as he crossed the goal line on a supposed 41-yard run that could have given Indianapolis a two-touchdown lead.

The Colts lost the decisive match, dealing a serious blow to their playoff hopes. Taylor didn’t make that mistake again this week.

“I had already determined in my head that next time I would go all the way through the tunnel,” Taylor said Sunday.

In fact, Taylor approached the whole situation with ease. He and backup running back Tyler Goodson did some planning in advance. After Taylor emerged from the tunnel, Goodson ran toward him and playfully attempted to strip the ball away, with Taylor firmly in control of it.

“Just trolling, making the crowd laugh a little bit,” Goodson said.

In reality, the way the Colts surrounded the Titans wasn’t funny at all. Tennessee allowed the most rushing yards of any team this season and the second-most in Titans/Oilers franchise history. The Colts also made no secret of their intentions, running 12 consecutive plays on three possessions at one point in the second quarter.

“That’s kind of the exciting part,” Taylor said. “It’s kind of when you start to impose your will and set that battle line. Those are the types of football games as a running back … that you love.”

Tight end Mo Alie-Cox added: “At the end of the game … we were still at 5 yards a pop. They still couldn’t really stop it. They decided it, but there was nothing they could do about it.”

Then Alie-Cox told a story that took place before a particular piece.

“It’s hilarious,” he said. “One time they said, ‘It’s a screen. Boom.’ And then one of their (defensive) ends was like, “Man, they’re about to give up Jonathan Taylor. He’s about to run 300 (yards) at us. “When he said that, I thought, ‘Yeah, we got him.'”

Given the overwhelming success, not much was asked of Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson. He completed just 7 of 11 passes for 131 yards. But Richardson was part of the big success, running for 70 yards, the most of his career.

Now the Colts hope to close out their remaining two games with wins over the New York Giants and Jacksonville Jaguars and hope that plenty more obstacles fall in their path on their path to the postseason.