The San Francisco 49ers look like they’re getting hot at the right time.
San Francisco beat the Indianapolis Colts 48-27 on Monday night for its fifth straight game. The 49ers are 11-4 and remain a game behind the Seattle Seahawks (12-3) for the top spot in the NFC West. San Francisco has won double-digit games in 29 seasons in its history, which is tied with the Patriots for the third most in NFL history.
The Colts dropped to 8-7 on the year with the loss and snapped a five-game winning streak over the 49ers that dated back to 2005.
Here are my takeaways:
1. Brock Purdy is cooking for San Francisco
Purdy improved to 5-0 as a starter since returning from a turf toe injury by completing 73.5% of his passes for 295 yards and a career-high five touchdowns with one interception, posting a 126.8 passer rating. San Francisco scored on seven of the team’s first eight possessions with Purdy leading the charge.
Last week, Purdy threw for 295 yards and three touchdowns in a 13-point win over the Tennessee Titans. Purdy is peaking at the right time for San Francisco, giving the 49ers a chance to make some noise in the postseason.
Brock Purdy has the 49ers offense thriving with the playoffs around the corner. (Cooper Neill/Getty Images)
Two of the NFL’s elite playmakers at their respective positions, McCaffrey and Kittle, have proven hard to wrap up by the Indianapolis defense.
Kittle, a six-time Pro Bowl tight end, finished with seven receptions for 115 yards and a touchdown on eight targets. Meanwhile, McCaffrey was effective on the ground, totaling 118 rushing yards and two receiving touchdowns.
The 49ers rolled to 443 yards of total offense and 28 first downs, as the Colts had no answers defensively.
3. Philip Rivers does his job by giving the Colts a chance
The 44-year-old signal caller for Indianapolis kept the Colts in the game by throwing for 277 yards and two touchdowns, but he had an ugly pick-6 at the end of the game to San Francisco linebacker Dee Winters that broke the game open late. This was a big improvement from Rivers’ return game last week against the Seahawks, against whom he threw for just 120 yards in a loss.
Against San Francisco, which entered Monday’s game with a league-low 16 sacks, Rivers had more time to throw and was able to dial up some deeper completions down the field.
The setback was Rivers’ first loss to San Francisco, having been 4-0 against the 49ers entering Monday’s game. That’s tied for the most wins without a loss against San Francisco by any quarterback ever, along with Carson Wentz.
Taylor entered Monday’s game leading the NFL in rushing yards (1,443), rushing touchdowns (16) and scrimmage touchdowns (18). However, San Francisco did a nice job of containing him, holding the Colts running back to just 46 rushing yards.
It’s been a tough stretch for Taylor, who had a shot at the single-season touchdown record of 31 set by LaDainian Tomlinson in 2006, but he has cooled down significantly. Taylor has just 350 rushing yards and two total touchdowns in his last five games, which have all been Colts losses.
4 ½. What’s next?
The 49ers have two tough games to finish out the season and potentially earn the No. 1 seed in the NFC. San Francisco hosts another red-hot team in the Chicago Bears this Sunday, then finishes out the year by taking on their NFC West-rival Seahawks, also at Levi’s Stadium.
Meanwhile, the Colts will try and keep their faint playoff hopes alive by hosting the AFC South-leading Jacksonville Jaguars, then finish the season on the road against the streaking Houston Texans.
Eric D. Williams has reported on the NFL for more than a decade, covering the Los Angeles Rams for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Chargers for ESPN and the Seattle Seahawks for the Tacoma News Tribune. Follow him on X at @eric_d_williams.
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