Keeler: Broncos Country’s Not-So-Secret Santa? Colts RB Jonathan Taylor, whose unforced fumble fueled amazing Broncos rally

Broncos Country has a new not-so-secret Santa.

‘Twas the weekend before Christmas, Empower resigned

For Jonathan Taylor scored easy … then lost his dang mind.

“Whenever something happens that should never happen, that’s always going to sting,” Taylor, the Colts’ stellar tailback, said of his unintentional fumble at the 1-yard line early in the third quarter, a turnover that flipped the script on a bizarre 31-13 loss to the Broncos. “Like, that should never, ever happen.

“As a professional running back, that should never happen. So you’ve just got to make sure that that never happens again. It never will.”

We know how much the NFL script-writers love drama, right? Broncos-Colts was a screwball comedy. Certifiably Looney Tunes from start to finish.

Taylor ran well enough to win. He was dragging Denver tacklers in the first half. He juked them out of their socks in the second. He finished with 107 yards on the ground, more than any Broncos rusher during the Sean Payton Era.

But for years, all we’ll talk about is The Gift.

The one that opened the door for the Broncos. The one that put nine wins on the table and the playoffs — playoffs! — back in the picture, all wrapped in a neat little bow.

With 12:43 left in the third quarter, the Colts, leading 13-7, had picked off Bo Nix, then rode a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty to the Denver 41.

On first down, Taylor followed his offensive line to the right. He cut back against the grain, found a seam and outran everybody on Vance Joseph’s defense, untouched, to the end zone. Man, it looked easy. Too easy.

So easy, in fact, that Taylor relaxed the right arm that was holding the football, allowing it to drop gently to the turf as he crossed the goal line and started to celebrate. The Colts were up 19-7 before the extra point.

With Nix struggling badly, the game was in doubt,

When the zebras noticed that the ball had come out!

A review showed that Taylor actually lost possession before crossing the plane, turning a back-breaking touchdown run into a 40-yard scamper, a fumble in the end zone — and a Broncos touchback.

Jonathan Taylor's TD is OVERTURNED after replay reveals he dropped the ball just before crossing the goal line pic.twitter.com/h8AtKhpm1K

— NFL on CBS (@NFLonCBS) December 15, 2024

Yes, Virginia, there is a replay booth. The score reverted back to 13-7 as Empower Field couldn’t believe what Indy had just left under the tree. Denver (9-5) outscored the Colts 24-0 after that.

“I wouldn’t think that it would get into people’s heads,” Taylor said of the momentum swing. “Of course … that’s a blow. But, you know, everybody here (are) professionals, including myself, which — case in point, you know, that should never happen.”

But it did. And it did just a few hours after a similar play unfolded during the Bengals-Titans clash earlier in the day. Cincinnati safety Jordan Battle returned a fumble 61 yards in Nashville for what appeared to be an easy score, only to bobble the rock just before crossing the plane, sending the ball skidding through to the back of the end zone.

“(It’s) up there for me, you know what I mean?” sighed veteran Colts defensive DeForest Buckner, whose 6-8 squad was all but mathematically eliminated from the AFC postseason race. “You see a turn of events like that happen, that’s what makes it so hard.”

A TD reversal on an unforced fumble is rare enough. But in the same game in which Broncos pass-rushing ace Nik Bonitto picks a lateral out of the air and returns it for a touchdown?

“That was something,” Payton said.

Sure was. But when someone gifts you one step closer to the postseason in mid-December, don’t ever, ever reach for the receipt.

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