Purdy Leads 49ers in Monday Night Shootout over Colts

Week 16 - With three games remaining on the regular season schedule for the (10-4) San Francisco 49ers, the team would learn on Sunday night that their playoff ticket would be punched before even having to take the field on Monday night against the (8-6) Indianapolis Colts thanks to a loss from the Detroit Lions. And with a chance to secure the NFC's No. 1 seed by winning their final three games, first on the list would be a 44-year old quarterback in Philip Rivers. Stealing the headlines entering Monday night's game, all eyes would be on Rivers who would make his home debut for the Colts after coming out of retirement on December 10, ending a layoff of nearly five years. And after nearly returning to a victory one week earlier had it not been for some late-game heroics from Seattle Seahawks kicker Josh Myers, Rivers who played well enough to win in his season debut, would try his luck at Indy's Lucas Oil Stadium. Through nearly 3 1/2 quarters Monday night, Rivers would go toe-to-toe with 49ers QB Brock Purdy in a tit-for-tat slugfest that saw the most combined points scored in a Monday Night Football game since a 54-51 shootout between the Rams and Chiefs in 2018. 

Winning the coin-toss and electing to receive, it was Rivers and the Colts who came out guns blazing on offense to begin the game. Having lost their last four games, Rivers had the Colts offense looking much like they did earlier in the year when they jumped out to a 7-1 start to the season under quarterback Daniel Jones. Marching 82-yards in 11-plays, Rivers capped things off with the first free-play touchdown of his career, connecting on a 20-yard pass to receiver Alec Pierce inside the end zone to open up the scoring and give Indy an early 7-0 lead. Up for the challenge, Brock Purdy and the 49er offense would answer quickly with a touchdown of their own by marching 69-yards in only 6-plays before a touchdown pass to receiver Demarcus Robinson from 22-yards out, his first of the season. With a fumble on the ensuing return from the Colts' special-teams, the 49ers would take over with a short field and once again wasted little time before finding the end zone again as Purdy threw a strike to running back Christian McCaffrey for a 2-yard score, giving San Francisco their first lead of the ballgame. 

After throwing for a total of 120 yards a week earlier against Seattle, Rivers would have more passing yards in the first quarter Monday night than he had all of last week. Looking to answer and keep his team in the game, Rivers would do just that on the Colts' next drive, opening the second quarter with another touchdown pass to Pierce, marking the first time since 2012 that Rivers would have touchdown passes on his first two drives. But no matter what Rivers and the Colts offense threw at the San Francisco defense, Kyle Shanahan's offense continued to throw haymakers in return as Brock Purdy and company showed no signs of slowing down and kept firing away with successful drives of their own. By the 9:30 mark in the second quarter, Purdy would have three touchdown passes to three different targets over his team's first three possessions as George Kittle joined in on the scoring palooza with an 11-yard touchdown reception to help San Francisco regain the lead. Following a three and out punt from Indy, the 49ers added an Eddy Pineiro field goal to add to their lead. After the Colts answered with a field goal of their own, Pineiro came on for one final field goal attempt to send the game into halftime, but his 64-yard try that would've set a new career-high clanked off the crossbar, keeping the score at 24-17 in favor of San Francisco. 

After tossing three first half touchdowns for the first time in his career, Purdy picked up right where he left off to begin the third quarter, connecting on big plays to Jauan Jennings and Kittle before a touchdown pass on third down to Jennings, ending a streak of seven games without allowing a third quarter touchdown by the Colts defense, their longest streak since 2007. Both teams would exchange field goals before setting up a wild fourth quarter that began with the Colts making it a 7-point game following a 1-yard rushing touchdown from running back Jonathan Taylor. With a record of 9-0 this season when leading at the half for San Francisco, Niners running back Christian McCaffrey did his part to keep that streak alive by tallying a 24-yard run, his longest of the season to put him over 1,000 rushing yards for the season. Purdy would award his running back later in the drive with his second TD reception of the night from 9-yards out to give Purdy a career-high 5 passing touchdowns, the most by a 49ers quarterback since Steve Young in Super Bowl XXIX. As for regular season statistics, you would have to go back even further to 1990 when Joe Montana threw a franchise-record 6 passing TD's against the Atlanta Falcons. On a near perfect night for Purdy, his only blemish on the evening came on a tipped pass just out of the reach of a leaping Kendrick Bourne and into the arms of a Colts defender. 

With Rivers and Colts looking for a quick score with under 5-minutes remaining, the San Francisco defense came up with their biggest play of the night when linebacker Dee Winters made his first career interception a good one, making a house call with a 74-yard pick-six. It would be the final nail in the coffin on the night for Robert Saleh's defense that failed to play anywhere near their best ball but made a big play in the end when they needed it most. With a final score of 48-27, the 49ers captured their first win over the Colts since 2001 after dropping their last five meetings. San Francisco also improved to 11-4 on the year and increased their winning streak to an NFC-best 5 straight games, all by 10+ points, their 2nd longest streak under coach Shanahan. San Francisco's offense which is firing on all cylinders, has now gone two full games without a single punt, a feat achieved by only four other teams in the Super Bowl era: 2004 Steelers, 2021 Bills, 2024 Commanders and the 2025 Colts. With 11 touchdowns and 6 field goals over their last 20 drives, the last 49ers punt took place on November 30 against the Cleveland Browns. Having scored in 23 straight quarters, the 49ers are on their longest scoring streak since 1995. Helping spearhead that offense on Monday night was Brock Purdy who would be named NFC Offensive Player of the Week for throwing for 295 yards, 5 touchdowns and 1 interception for a PFF grade of 96.6, setting a career-high and the highest grade of any QB in an NFL game this season. 

49ers tight-end George Kittle led all receivers with a season-high 115 yards and a touchdown before having to leave the game in the third quarter with an ankle injury. Christian McCaffrey added 117 yards on the ground, while scoring both of his touchdowns on the night thru the air and is now just 151 receiving yards shy of becoming the first player ever with two 1,000 yards rushing/1,000 yards receiving seasons. Kittle and McCaffrey would be two of six 49ers named to the NFC Pro Bowl team, joining Kyle Juszczyk, Trent Williams, Luke Gifford and Jon Weeks. With six representatives being named, they tie the Ravens, Broncos and Seahawks for the most players chosen from one team. For the Colts, Monday night's loss guaranteed playoff berths for the Chargers, Bills and Steelers in the AFC. With the Colts having a playoff percentage of 98% back in Week 8, those chances have now plummeted to 5% after the loss on Monday. Despite the loss, Rivers had an impressive outing by throwing for 277 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 interception to add to his Hall of Fame resume. 

Week 17 Preview: Setting up a primetime clash on Sunday Night Football, the (11-4) 49ers will play host to the (11-4) Chicago Bears, leaders of the NFC North. In their first year under head coach Ben Johnson, Caleb Williams and the Bears have gone from last to first in the division and are currently sitting in the No. 2 position in the NFC and like San Francisco, have their eyes set on the No. 1 seed. With San Francisco riding their NFC-best five game winning streak, Chicago enters Sunday's game having won 7 of their last 8. The Bears are coming off an overtime win at home over the archrival Green Bay Packers in which Chicago came back from being down 13-3 in the fourth quarter before capitalizing late and recovering a successful onside-kick. Facing a stout secondary which leads the NFL in interceptions forced with 21 and a league-best +21 turnover differential, Brock Purdy and the 49ers will attempt to keep things rolling on offense with 26+ points scored in six of their last seven games. 

With 8 passing touchdowns over his last two games, Brock Purdy is getting hot at the right time and has made receiver Jauan Jennings a top target of his with Jennings scoring touchdowns in four straight games and six of his last seven. While the Chicago defense has excelled against the pass, they've struggled to contain the opposition on the ground, allowing 5 yards per carry to running backs this season which ranks 29th in the league. That could translate to another big game on the ground from San Francisco's Christian McCaffrey who's coming off his best game in eight weeks. 

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49ers Pummel Titans, Inch Closer to Playoff Berth

Week 15 - With the (9-4) San Francisco 49ers entering the homestretch of their regular season schedule, a late Bye might be the perfect remedy for Kyle Shanahan's club that has continued to win games despite having suffered a laundry list of injuries at virtually every position imaginable. After moving up in the standings last week while enjoying the Bye week, the 49ers would have a chance to increase their playoff odds which already stood at 90% and add to their resume with a favorable matchup in front of them on Sunday in the form of the (2-11) Tennessee Titans. Having won five of their last six games coming off the Bye under coach Shanahan, the team would look to continue that trend on Sunday while also seeking their fourth consecutive win of the season. Facing the No. 1 overall pick in April's Draft in QB Cam Ward, coming off his second career win a week ago against the Cardinals, Sunday's game would feature a match-up between the first pick of the draft versus the last pick as the 49ers selected Brock Purdy 262nd overall in 2022 to be that year's Mr. Irrelevant. 

Before kickoff on Sunday, it was reported that 49ers defensive-tackle Jordan Elliott was injured during pregame warmups, tweaking his knee. Another Niner that appeared banged up on San Francisco's first offensive drive was receiver Ricky Pearsall who has already battled a myriad of injuries and was tackled awkwardly on a hip-drop tackle as he winced in pain and limped to the sideline but would eventually return to the field. After missing the previous two weeks with a hamstring injury, Niners kicker Eddy Pineiro also returned to the field on Sunday and continued his solid campaign with the team. Following a three and out punt on Tennessee's opening-drive, Brock Purdy and the 49ers offense kicked things off with an impressive 12-play, 70-yard drive that ended with a touchdown grab from receiver Jauan Jennings on third and goal. The drive would mark the 25th 10+ play scoring drive of the season for San Francisco, the most in the NFL. In what would be a busy day for the offense, the early touchdown would spark a streak of five consecutive scoring-drives for Purdy and company, marking their longest streak in a single game since November 21, 2021. 

Equally as successful on their second drive, Purdy connected on big passing plays to Demarcus Robinson and George Kittle before handing the ball off to running back Christian McCaffrey who found the end zone from a yard out to extend the lead. Tennessee would add a first quarter field goal as well as a touchdown pass from Ward to make things interesting at 14-10, but that's as close as things would get as Pineiro connected on his first of three field goals on the afternoon. With a missed field goal attempt on the other end by Titans kicker Joey Slye to end the first half, the 49ers clung onto a 17-10 lead heading into the locker room at the half. Receiving the second half kickoff and staying hot on offense, the 49ers added another pair of touchdowns on each of their first two second half possessions with touchdown passes to Jennings and Kittle to take a commanding 31-10 lead. Putting a temporary stop to the 49ers' scoring barrage, Purdy was striped of the ball by Tennessee Pro-Bowl defensive-tackle Jeffery Simmons for a fumble. 

The very next play of the Titans' ensuing-drive, Ward would connect on a 43-yard bomb to receiver Van Jefferson who came down with the ball at the 1-yard line. The Titans would award Simmons' big play two plays earlier on the defensive side by bringing him in on offense and tossing him a 1-yard touchdown pass in the back of the end zone from Cam Ward, his second career TD reception.  Sandwiched between a pair of Eddy Pineiro field goals in the fourth quarter, the Titans would add a final touchdown on a 6-yard rush from running back Tony Pollard who had a nice game statistically with 104 yards on 14 carries. With a final score of 37-24, the 49ers won their fourth straight game to improve to 10-4 on the season, marking the 5th 10-win season under coach Shanahan, and perhaps his most impressive given the many injuries sustained and the magnitude of players lost this year. Thanks to the successful day on offense coupled with the lone turnover on the strip-sack fumble, the 49ers went the entire game without having to punt. It would mark their first game without a punt since September 27, 2020. 

Brock Purdy finished with a solid performance, throwing for 295 yards and 3 touchdowns, while also adding 44 yards on the ground including a 26-yard scamper, the longest rush of his career and the longest by a 49er this season. Etching his name into the record books, Purdy logged his seventh career game with a passer rating of 140-plus, which ties him with Hall of Famer Kurt Warner for the most such games by a player in his first four seasons in NFL history. Purdy's counterpart Cam Ward finished with 170 yards passing and 2 TD's in the loss, showing flashes of why Tennessee made him the first overall pick in April's Draft. Running back Christian McCaffrey added 73-yards and a touchdown on the ground and receiver Ricky Pearsall shook off an early injury to finish with a game-high 96-yards receiving on 6 receptions. 

Week 16 Preview: With a tough stretch ahead in the final three regular season games of the season for the (10-4) 49ers, first on tap will be a road game in Indianapolis to face the (8-6) Colts on Monday Night Football. Losers of four straight and 5 of their last 6 games, it wasn't that long ago that the Colts were touted as being the class of the AFC and one of the top teams in the league after getting off to a 7-1 start to the season before the injury bug set in. After what appeared to be a resurgent year for quarterback Daniel Jones who was a cast off with the New York Giants, a ruptured Achilles tendon in Jones' right leg would force the team to turn to the 44-year old former Colt Philip Rivers who returned to the team after spending the last four years retired. In his first NFL action since January 9, 2021, Rivers nearly finished off a storybook return for the ages with a road win over a high-powered Seahawks team before being outdone by a game-winning field goal in the final moments. After converting on a go-ahead 60-yard field goal with 52-seconds left, it looked as if Rivers would come out triumphant in his return after 1,800 days off, but that was before Seattle kicked a late field goal of their own from 56-yards out with 18-seconds remaining. 

Had the Colts hung on for the win, the 49ers would've benefitted in the playoff standings by leaping Seattle. Now, they'll have a chance to get the job done themselves with wins in their final three games of the regular season, including a season-finale match-up at home against Seattle. San Francisco can clinch a playoff berth with a win in Indy or a Lions loss vs the Steelers, or in the more unlikely scenario of a tie from both the 49ers and Lions. Like the Niners, the Colts have had a fair amount of injuries and will likely be without several key players on defense including cornerbacks Sauce Gardner and Charvarius Ward as well as former first-round pick of the 49ers -- defensive-end DeForest Buckner. Being without three of their top defensive players, things should be a little easier for Brock Purdy and company to navigate the ball on offense come Monday. Having lost their last five games versus the Colts, the 49ers will try to leave Indy with their first win over the franchise since 2001. 

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49ers End Drought in Cleveland with Win over Browns

Week 13 - Hitting the road for one final game before entering the Bye week, the (8-4) San Francisco 49ers would head into the dog pound to face the (3-8) Browns in Cleveland where the Niners have been unable to escape with a win since 1984, having lost in each of their last four tries. With a win on Sunday, the 49ers would be guaranteed to clinch their fifth winning season under head coach Kyle Shanahan. But with poor weather conditions expected in the forecast, defensive stalwart Myles Garrett and a stout Browns defense wouldn't be the only thing 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy and company would have to worry about out onto the field. However, the snowy and rainy conditions that effected much of the area in the days leading up to gameday would clear for the most part in time for kickoff with the exception of the cold wind. Regardless, coach Shanahan would take no chances with mother nature as he won the coin-toss and elected to receive the opening kickoff to start Sunday's game, a rare occurrence for San Francisco. 

Looking to shake off a rough performance in his last outing when he threw three first half interceptions in an ugly win at home over the Carolina Panthers, Purdy would complete a 23-yard pass on the game's first play from scrimmage before the 49er offense struggled to gain more than a yard over their next three plays and were forced to punt. Cleveland quarterback Shedeur Sanders who became the first Browns QB to win his first career start since 1995 a week earlier, saw a similar fate on his team's opening-drive by converting a quick first down before things went awry and ended with the punting unit. And on that punt, return man Skyy Moore would come up with another huge play on special-teams by logging a 66-yard return, the longest punt return of his career to set things up for the 49er offense inside the red zone. Dialing up a heavy dose of plays for running back Christian McCaffrey, San Francisco would strike first with a 1-yard touchdown on third and goal. The Browns offense would begin to march on their ensuing possession by making it to the San Francisco 20 yard-line, but that's as far as they'd go as a 4th and 1 attempt was stuffed by the 49er defense to force a turnover on downs. 

With a series of punts from both sides, the Browns would get on the scoreboard before the end of the half after relying heavily on their rushing attack from rookie running back Quinshon Judkins. Following nine consecutive run plays to begin the drive, Sanders connected thru the air with his tight-end and fellow rookie Harold Fannin for a 34-yard touchdown. After a 49ers penalty for too many men on the field during the extra-point attempt, the Browns would try their luck at the two-point conversion and succeeded with a 1-yard rush from Judkins to give Cleveland a 8-7 advantage with 39-seconds remaining before halftime. 39-seconds would be all the San Francisco offense would need, however, as Purdy and company moved the ball 58-yards on three plays with passes to receivers Ricky Pearsall, Jauan Jennings and George Kittle, respectively. The last of which a 33-yard reception that setup kicker Matt Gay for a 25-yard field goal that clanked the left upright before making it thru as San Francisco jumped back ahead, 10-8 at the half. 

After punts from both teams to open the second half, the 49ers pounced on the first of two Cleveland fumbles on the day when a fumbled snap on 4th and 1 allowed for a short field for the San Francisco offense. With little success from McCaffrey from inside the Cleveland 5 yard-line, Purdy executed a perfect read-option and ran it in for the touchdown on third and goal for his first rushing touchdown of the season. With nothing to show for on their next possession, the 49ers would punt before coming up with another big play on special-teams by pouncing on and recovering a muffed fair-catch attempt that resulted in a fumble. Turning another turnover into points, the 49ers cashed in on a third and goal with a strike into the end zone from Purdy to Jauan Jennings to take a 23-8 lead. Sandwiched between a pair of turnover on downs forced by San Francisco's defense, Matt Gay would add his second field goal of the afternoon to give the Niners a commanding 26-8 lead that they would hang onto for the win. Shanahan and Purdy became the first 49ers head coach-QB duo to pull off a win in Cleveland since a pair of Hall of Famers -- Bill Walsh and Joe Montana did it in 1984 with a 41-7 drubbing of the Browns. 

On a day that was far from great for the offense, the 49ers won on Sunday by playing the field position game and took advantage of the opportunities they were given with short fields to work with. They also received big time contributions from their defense and special-teams units. Tallying three sacks on the afternoon, all from newcomers Clelin Ferrell (2) and Keion White (1), Robert Saleh's defense has turned in impressive performances in back-to-back games, allowing a combined 17-points over their last two games. Brock Purdy threw for 168 yards and a touchdown in the win, besting Cleveland's Shedeur Sanders who threw for 149 yards a touchdown in the loss. Running back Christian McCaffrey had another busy day at the office on Sunday but produced minimal results, totaling 20 carries for 53 yards and a touchdown, as well as 4 receptions for 21 yards. With 849 rushing yards and 806 receiving yards on the season, McCaffrey joins Marshall Faulk as the only players in NFL history with at least 800-800 in three seasons. His counterpart Quinshon Judkins was one of the lone bright spots for a lackluster Browns team, rushing for 91 yards on 23 carries while adding another 18 yards on three receptions to put him over 100 total yards on the day. Niners tight-end George Kittle led all receivers with a game-high 67 receiving yards on 4 receptions. 

Week 15 Preview: With San Francisco improving to 9-4 on the season following their win over Cleveland, coach Shanahan and the 49ers will head home for their Week 14 Bye before returning to Levi's Stadium in Week 15 where they will host the (1-11) Tennessee Titans and the No. 1 overall pick in last April's Draft QB Cam Ward. With their lone win of the season coming on the road against the Arizona Cardinals, 22-21 in Week 5, the Titans are in the driver's seat to draft first overall for the second consecutive season. Having fired their head coach Brian Callahan only six weeks into the season after a 1-5 start in back-to-back years, the team is currently led by interim coach Mike McCoy. 

It's not often a team wins during their Bye week, but the 49ers were guaranteed to do just that as San Francisco moved into the No. 6 seed in the NFC Playoff picture following the Chicago Bears' loss to the Green Bay Packers. Following the Bye week, coach Shanahan has to be feeling good as his team's playoff chances have increased to 90% following the results of other games around the league in Week 14. The Bye will also help refuel a banged up 49ers team during a pivotal time with the playoffs on the horizon. 

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