The Indianapolis Colts head into Wild Card weekend with a couple of award-winning players on their roster.
The NFL announced their Player of the Month Awards for December on Thursday. Among those eight individuals, two were members of the Colts.
Defensive tackle DeForest Buckner took home the AFC’s Defensive Player of the Month hardware while running back Jonathan Taylor won AFC Rookie of the Month honors.
Buckner had 18 total tackles from Weeks 13-17, including six for loss, seven sacks, two passes defended and a forced fumble. Of those five contests, three of them saw Buckner grab two sacks.
Buckner was one of just four players in the NFL this season to register at least four tackles, 2.0 tackles for loss, 3.0 sacks and one forced fumble in a single game. Pro Football Focus also graded Buckner as the league’s fourth-best defensive tackle in the NFL this season with an 89.7 overall grade.
Taylor took the NFL’s rookie rushing title in 2020 thanks to his hot finish to the regular season recently, and in the past five games, he averaged 6.7 yards per carry for 651 total rushing yards. Taylor also had seven touchdowns in that span. Additionally, Taylor had 10 catches for 72 yards and a receiving score.
Among Taylor’s December was a 250-yard rushing outing and a 150-yard contest. Three of his five games saw him notch multiple touchdowns as well. Taylor’s 253-yard effort was the second-most rushing yards in a single game for a rookie running back in NFL history.
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