The Indianapolis Colts have had to turn to their backup quarterback in Gardner Minshew, but he's not the key that Deuce McAllister is focusing on this week.
That'd be the two-headed rushing monster of Zack Moss and Jonathan Taylor, which the Saints will have to slow down to get back in the win column in Week 8.
Listen to the full interview with Deuce McAllister in the player above. Can't see the embed? Click here.
"I mean, Gardner put up some unbelievable numbers last week," McAllister told Bobby Hebert and Mike Detillier on WWL, "but against the Colts, if you’re not stopping the run, good luck.”
Moss, a 5th-year back out of Utah, has been one of the bigger surprises in the NFL this year. The former third-round pick was shipped unceremoniously from the Bills to the Colts last season, but saw his role expand this season with the absence of Jonathan Taylor. After missing Week 1, he's responded with 523 yards -- which already marks a new career high -- and four touchdowns on his 114 carries. Moss is second in yardage to only 49ers star Christian McCaffrey.
Taylor ended his holdout and has been active the past three games and got off to a bit of a slow start, logging just 37 yards rushing on 14 carries, and another 62 yards receiving on 6 catches. That changed in Week 7, as the former rushing champ tallied 120 total yards and a touchdown in Indy's narrow loss to the Browns.
"[Taylor's] got long speed where he will surprise you, like, from a quickness standpoint but also a long speed," McAllister continues, "where it’s like, man, nobody’s catching him. He’s running away from people."
Stopping the run has been something of a success for the Saints this year, having not allowed any individual rusher to go over 63 yards on the season (Derrick Henry in Week 1).
The Saints (3-4) and Colts (3-4) face off at noon Sunday in Lucas Oil Stadium.
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MORE FROM DEUCE
On Zaire Franklin, the NFL's leading tackler through 8 weeks (88)
“When you look at it, he’s around the football. That’s what it’s telling you. He is around the football. He’s putting in the work. He’s reading and diagnosing plays. He’s able to do it and so when you talk about just being a football player, yea. I may nothave been the guy that was drafted in the top 5, top 10, but I’m a playmaker.”
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On Colts rookie head coach Shane Steichen
“Here’s the thing, when you talk about it, it’s a mixture offensively of what he did in Philly and then they designed it for their quarterback, like you talked about, Richardson to be able to run. And now, Mike, they’ve opened it up a little bit more, all right, Gardner, you like to throw it around. We can throw it around like you did, but we’re also just going to try to use some of those weapons that we’ve got, and you talked about the running game being a run game-based offense, but at the same time you’ve got some guys on the outside that you can take advantage of some 1-on-1s.”
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On Saints defense not getting pressure
“I thought that we were off-balance, not only from a defensive line standpoint, but from a defense standpoint, particularly in the first half. And then I thought you were undisciplined with your rush lanes defensively. I mean, because there’s no way that a quarterback should be able to step up how he did continuously against us, but not only in this last game but going back probably in the first 4-5 games as well. You’re just giving up way too many rush opportunities to quarterbacks that shouldn’t be running on you, and that’s just being honest.”
