INGLEWOOD, CA — The Los Angeles Chargers honored their alumni players on Sunday. They really needed LaDainian Tomlinson, Antonio Gates and company on the field against the Indianapolis Colts.
The Colts routed the Chargers 38-24 to improve their record to an AFC-best 6-1. It’s Indy’s best start since 2009. The Colts began the contest with three straight touchdown drives as they galloped to a 20-3 first-half lead. Indianapolis added a field goal after a Justin Herbert interception to build a 23-3 halftime advantage.
Los Angeles made the contest respectable in the second half, but Jonathan Taylor and the Colts maintained a comfortable lead.
“(Jonathan Taylor) with a couple really big runs down there. That makes it easy for us when he does that,” Colts QB Daniel Jones said. “I think it’s just being prepared, knowing what to expect (and) executing. Today we got a couple of looks that were a little bit different. I thought we did a good job with that. I think the gameplan and the preparation has been really big.”
The NFL’s top scoring offense scored on six of their first seven possessions, including five touchdown drives against a defenseless Chargers defense. Jones passed for 288 yards and two touchdowns.
Taylor showed his versatility on the ground and through the air. The Colts star compiled 132 yards from scrimmage (94 rushing yards and 38 receiving yards) and three touchdowns. It was his third touchdown hat trick of the regular season. The Colts running back is the third player in the past 20 seasons with three games of three-or-more rushing touchdowns in a season. Futhermore, he’s the only AFC player with at least 85 scrimmage yards in each of the first seven weeks.
“I mean the things JT is doing is kind of crazy,” Colts wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. said. “He’s a threat to score anywhere, like on the field. Like we’d be backed up, we could be in the red zone, like JT is going to get the ball and he’s going to go. So, it just keeps us going.”
The running back is an Offensive Player of the Year frontrunner as the NFL approaches its midway point of the regular season. A running back has won the award in three of the past five seasons, including the last two years.
While Jones is having a career renaissance, Taylor is the engine to Indy’s offense.
“It’s just a testament, of course, to the hard work that I’ve put in individually, but then also collectively as a team,” Taylor said postgame. “What we’ve put in throughout training camp to be able to execute at a high level.”
Taylor entered Week 7 with a league-leading 603 rushing yards and eight touchdowns from scrimmage. He’s now increased his total to 697 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns from scrimmage.
“I think we’re just hitting on all cylinders right now,” Taylor said.
The Colts are “hitting on all cylinders right now” and Taylor is leading the charge.
Follow USA TODAY Sports’ Tyler Dragon on X @TheTylerDragon.