Frank Gore is having a very impressive season with the Colts

Since coming to the Indianapolis Colts last year, things haven’t really worked out as Frank Gore had hoped. The veteran signed with the team looking for a Super Bowl, and instead he’s likely going to miss the playoffs for the second straight year.

But though that hasn’t gone as he would have hoped, he’s been a consistent producer. He’s always played hard and done his job, and he’s been a reliable running back. This year, in fact, he’s got a chance to have the best season by a Colts running back in several years.

A Colt hasn’t topped 1,000 yards rushing in a season since Joseph Addai did so in 2007, when he rushed for 1,072 yards and 12 scores while averaging 4.1 yards per carry. This year, however, Gore is closing in on that milestone.

Frank Gore has rushed for 891 yards this year, and with two games remaining that puts him on pace for 1,018 yards this season. He’s just 109 yards away from the milestone, and though it would be the ninth time he’s reached 1,000 yards in his career, it would be the first time a Colt has done it in nine years.

Gore has also already broken another streak this year, as he became the first Colt to rush for 100 yards in a game since 2012 earlier this season. Then yesterday, he did it again. Gore rushed for 101 yards on 26 carries against the Vikings, averaging 3.9 yards per carry. He’s now recorded a 100-yard game in two of his last nine games, which is impressive when considering the Colts’ struggles in that area. Gore has done it twice in the past nine games, but before that the Colts had done it twice in the past 78 games combined! An individual Colts player hadn’t done it twice in the same season since Joseph Addai in that 2007 season (when he did it four times).

Furthermore, no running back has topped 1,000 yards at age 33 or older since 1984, so Gore is on the cusp of doing just that. That would be an incredibly impressive feat, considering the fact that running backs typically drop off earlier than other positions. Gore just keeps going at age 33, and while he’s not the player he once was, he’s still a very good running back, capable of producing on the ground as a runner and in the passing game as a receiver and a blocker - plus, of course, serving as a leader in the locker room.

So considering the Colts’ history - and NFL history, really - what Frank Gore is doing this season is quite impressive. He’s rushed for 891 yards and four touchdowns, and he’s also recorded 35 receptions for 251 yards and four touchdowns - meaning he’s already recorded 1,142 total yards and eight total touchdowns through 14 games. He’s only 13th in the NFL in rushing yards (though he’s ninth in total carries), but he’s become the best Colts running back in recent memory.

So unfortunately for him, he hasn’t gotten what he signed up for when he signed with the Colts, as he likely won’t be playing further into January this year either. But the Colts are in fact getting what they signed up for when they added Gore, as they’ve gotten a running back who’s a hard-worker, who always does his best, and who produces. Against the backdrop of the Colts’ recent running back struggles and the struggles of older running backs, Frank Gore has more than done his job.