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On November 1, 2022, the Indianapolis Colts traded running back Nyheim Hines to the Buffalo Bills in a midseason trade, and in return received running back Zack Moss and a conditional sixth-round draft pick in the upcoming 2023 draft.
On January 8, in the final game of the regular season against the Houston Texans, Moss had not only his best game as a member of the Colts, but the best day of his NFL career. Despite the loss for the Colts, on the day Moss rushed for 114 yards on 18 attempts, averaging over 6.0 yards per carry. Moss also scored a rushing touchdown.
Zack Moss’s Career Day in Week 18
The big day for Moss shouldn’t come as a surprise for Colts’ fans, as over the last four weeks Moss has shown consistent progress on the field. Prior to Sunday’s contest, over his last three games, Moss has averaged 17 carries for over 70 yards, a touch over 4.0 yards per carry. His performance on the field earned Moss the starting nod at running back in the week 17 contest against the New York Giants for the first time. Moss spoke with Andrew Walker of Colts.com about his progress over the last few games.
“I’ve been close the last few games, so, I was wanting to go out with a bang in this one, and I really wanted to just do my job, do my part, and execute as much as possibly could.” Moss said.
Moss certainly went out with a bang, having a career day on the field for the Colts. His performance was highlighted by a hard-fought rushing touchdown in the third quarter. The Colts faced a second and eight in the red zone when Moss took a carry about 3 yards before getting contacted by the Texans’ defenders. With a burst of speed and power, as if he was running downhill, Moss twisted, turned, and bullied his way into the end zone for the score.
Was the Zack Moss-Hyhiem Hines Trade a Win-Win?
In Buffalo, the counterpart in the Moss trade, Hines, had the best game of his season for the Bills. On the opening kickoff against the New England Patriots, Hines took the ball 96 yards in a kickoff return for a touchdown, the first kickoff return for a touchdown for the Bills in over three years.
Hines’s day was not done. In the third quarter of the contest, Hines outdid himself with a second kickoff return for a touchdown, this one for 101 yards. Hines is the second player since 2010 to return two kickoff returns for a touchdown in a single game. Of the 6 kickoff returns for touchdowns on the season across the league, Hines has a third of them.
With both running backs showing their worth on the field, it is looking like one of the rare win-win scenarios for the trade. Heading into the 2023 season, if Jonathan Taylor returns healthy, Indianapolis looks to have a dynamic 1-2 punch in the backfield with Moss and Taylor.
“Since I’ve been here, a couple months now, I think we’ve just made steps, each and every week, we’re a young team with a lot of good vets mixed in. We’ve got a lot of good pieces. I can’t wait to get a full season with these guys and continue to see us grow and get to where we want to be at.” Moss said to Walker on heading into the 2023 season.
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