Jonathan Taylor’s run-game “chunk” ability gives the Colts a path against the NFL’s new anti-explosive logic

The Colts are trying to solve a problem that has become more common around the NFL: it is getting harder to manufacture explosive plays consistently through the air. In its preview-style feature on how Indianapolis plans to attack on offense, the team points to one through line it believes it can control more reliably than most, the ground game built around Jonathan Taylor’s ability to consistently produce “chunk” yardage.

Taylor’s role, as framed by the Colts, is not simply that he is a capable runner, but that he creates the specific kind of production teams covet when defenses are set to challenge the pass. “Chunk” gains matter because they change how defenses have to live. When the offense can sustain momentum with the run, it forces safeties and linebackers to defend longer stretches of the field and reduces the defense’s comfort level in managing down-and-distance.

That dynamic is particularly relevant for Indianapolis because the article ties Taylor’s superpower to countering a broader NFL trend: the league-wide challenge of generating explosive plays in the passing game. When teams struggle to hit the deep ball or consistently stretch defenses vertically, they look for other ways to keep defenses from settling into predictable schemes. The Colts describe their approach as one that can keep drives moving even when the pass is not producing immediate separation.

The practical football impact of that approach is straightforward. A run that repeatedly turns short attempts into bigger gains makes play-calling less fragile. It can also change the timing of defensive rotations, because the offense is no longer asking the run game to only “set up” the pass. Instead, it can function as a standalone threat that keeps the defense from fully committing to stopping the explosive play on one plane.

Taylor’s presence also offers the Colts something that many teams do not have at a comparable level, at least in the way Indianapolis is describing it. The feature emphasizes consistency, the ability to generate sizable chunks without needing a perfect scenario. In the NFL’s current ecosystem, where defenses are prepared for pattern recognition and matchup planning, that kind of repeatable production can be the difference between a one-dimensional drive and one that forces responses across the defense.

To be clear, the Colts’ argument is about structural advantages, not magic. Even with an effective run game, offenses still face variance, including game scripts that alter how a defense chooses to attack. And the NFL’s passing efficiency is influenced by personnel, protection, and coverage design, none of which can be overridden by one player alone. What Indianapolis is effectively saying is that Taylor gives it a stable foundation when the explosive-play market through the air becomes harder to cash.

What to watch next is how the Colts translate this concept into game plans. If Indianapolis can repeatedly win early-down leverage with the run and keep drives alive through sustained “chunk” production, it would support the premise of the feature. If not, it will show how quickly the NFL’s defensive adjustments can blunt even the most effective skill sets.