The surging Indianapolis Colts are playing host to the Super Bowl Champion Tampa Bay Bucs and Tom Brady in a game of two teams heading in different directions. The Bucs are trying to build off of a clean win against the Giants last week after losing two straight, while the Colts look like one of the best teams in football over the past month or so. Let’s dive into whether or not Jonathan Taylor will top 85.5 rushing yards in this matchup.
All odds courtesy of BetPrep.
Indianapolis Colts: Jonathan Taylor
The Prop: Jonathan Taylor Rushing Yards vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Odds: Over 85.5 (-115)/Under 85.5 (-115)
While the Colts have been winning big games all month, Jonathan Taylor has been making an MVP push, which really picked up after his 5 TD game last week in Buffalo. That is one of the toughest defenses and places to play against in the NFL, and the Colts dominated that game.
Now, they face a different challenge in taking on the best rush defense in the league by a wide margin. I think that the loss of Vita Vea has hurt the Bucs run defense, but that doesn’t mean that it is a completely different look. The speed and power at linebacker have been huge for the Bucs when it comes to filling gaps and stopping the big runs at the line of scrimmage.
Jonathan Taylor = MVP? @JayT23 | @Colts | #ForTheShoe pic.twitter.com/SsJ38QMnPS
— NFL (@NFL) November 22, 2021
Taylor’s yards often come in bunches, and that is always a scary proposition, but he isn’t a bowling ball that is constantly gaining yards even on plays that seem dead. This is the biggest reason why I hate the matchup here and why I lean towards the under.
The Bucs don’t allow explosive runs, and their defensive runs fits are second to none in the NFL. If Taylor fails to hit a big play or two, I think that the under is a lock in this spot.
