49ers Bracing for NFL Punishment Decision on Jonathan Taylor Incident

Jonathan Taylor and the Indianapolis Colts came up short on Monday night, suffering defeat against a red-hot San Francisco 49ers side. The Colts put up a respectable fight, but they just couldn’t compete with the Niners, who have now stacked up five straight victories.

Taylor logged 16 carries in the game for 46 rushing yards and one touchdown, to go along with three catches for 33 receiving yards. It still wasn’t enough, though, as Indianapolis fell, 48-27.

This loss dropped the Colts to 8-7 with two games left in the regular season. Mathematically, Indianapolis has not yet been eliminated from playoff contention, but it will require a bit of a miracle for them to secure a playoff berth.

Taylor was involved in a contentious incident in the second half of Monday’s loss. He was on the receiving end of a hit from 49ers defensive back Deommodore Lenoir, who was called for a personal foul after attempting to punch the ball away from Taylor’s hands.

The Niners stopped Taylor’s rush attempt at the 10:48 mark of the third quarter. As the All-Pro running back made his way back to his feet, Lenoir came rushing in to try to punch the ball. The Niners DB made contact with Taylor’s arm during the dead-ball situation, and it was enough for the referees to call an unnecessary roughness penalty on the play.  

The violation resulted in a 15-yard penalty in favor of the Colts, who were able to score a 51-yard field goal on the same drive, cutting San Francisco’s lead to 31-20 with 8:16 left in the third quarter.

The NFL will now investigate this incident and decide whether Lenoir will be punished for his actions here. For context, the NFL fined 18 incidents of unnecessary roughness in Week 15. The most substantial one was on Kevin Winston of the Tennessee Titans, who received a $23,186 unnecessary roughness fine for a hip-drop tackle.

Lenoir and the Niners will now need to await the league’s decision on the incident. This will be announced on Saturday via the gameday accountability report.

Related: 49ers Announce George Kittle Injury Update After Leaving Colts Game