Jonathan Taylor on touchdown-turned-fumble: It just can't happen

Maybe the Colts wouldn't have won anyway, but the worst mistake of Jonathan Taylor's career cost them a chance to find out.

Taylor was running for a 41-yard touchdown that would have given the Colts a 20-7 lead early in the third quarter when he began a premature celebration. Taylor dropped the ball before he crossed the goal line.

Ruled a touchdown on the field, it was overturned to a lost fumble and a touchback as the ball rolled out of the end zone.

Taylor was apologetic afterward.

“You go over those scenarios, but it just can’t happen,” Taylor said, via Joel Erickson of the Indianapolis Star. “No matter the game, no matter the scenario. You can be up by 50, down by 50, playoff game, first game of the season, that should never happen.”

The 40-yard run gave Taylor 94 yards on 16 carries. He had only 13 yards on six carries the rest of the game, and the Colts didn't score in the second half of a 31-13 loss that handed the AFC South title to the Texans.

“It was a mistake," Colts coach Shane Steichen said. "Obviously, it hurt us, but you know, he’s one of our leaders, and sometimes that happens in football. But you know, he’s our guy.

“He said, 'Shoot, I got you, coach.'”