The Indianapolis Colts followed up an encouraging effort in Seattle with a discouraging one inside Lucas Oil Stadium on Monday night, losing 48-27 to the San Francisco 49ers.
Brock Purdy threw five touchdown passes throughout the evening, the most in a single game in his career, as the 49ers worked to exploit the backup outside cornerbacks that have been taking the field in place of the injured stars Charvarius Ward Sr. and Sauce Gardner.
Play after play, the San Francisco skill position players were reliably and consistently gaining chunks of yardage of varying quantities. 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan’s offense is a methodical one that is difficult to read but relatively simple to execute, especially for a team as talented as San Francisco’s.
Through all four quarters, Shanahan’s group incrementally progressed down the field en route to 41 offensive points. An interception returned for a touchdown in the fourth quarter tacked on the final seven tally marks for the visiting team.
Purdy completed 25 of 34 passes for 295 yards, five touchdowns and an interception. His leading receiver was tight end George Kittle, who totaled seven receptions for 115 yards and a touchdown. Christian McCaffrey led the way on the ground with 21 rushes for 117 yards.
In part due to the injury issues that have marred the Indianapolis defense, but most prominently due to the genius nature of and impeccable execution of Shanahan’s offense, the 49ers reached the red zone on six offensive possessions and scored on seven while outgaining the home team by over 100 total yards.
This result is particularly alarming considering the fact that the offense that currently stands with the league’s third most total offensive yards, the Seattle Seahawks, was kept out of the end zone on its own field for a whole 60 minutes a week ago.
After the game, Colts head coach Shane Steichen fielded questions from reporters about the defense and the disparity between its success in Seattle and shortcomings on Monday Night Football.
“It’s the National Football League,” Steichen said, “and we’ve got to be at our A-game every week… you’ve got to come out ready to play every single week.”
The Colts offense showed a great deal of promise early in this contest, scoring a touchdown before five minutes had elapsed on the game clock. Philip Rivers and Alec Pierce capped off the nine play drive with a 20-yard touchdown pass to lift the home team to an early 7-0 lead.
Rivers completed 23 of 35 passes for 277 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. Pierce caught all four of his targets for 86 yards and two touchdowns, while Jonathan Taylor rushed 16 times for 46 yards and a touchdown of his own.
The offense scored 27 points, an improvement from the 16 put on the board in Seattle. Furthermore, the Colts completed three trips to the end zone on Monday, compared to one the previous week.
That said, Indianapolis was certainly behind schedule offensively, especially when tasked with keeping pace with a 49ers group that pressed the proverbial gas pedal to the floor. The most notable cause of this is the 58 total rush yards achieved by Indianapolis. The San Francisco front seven defended the run fabulously, and prevented the run game from becoming an effective mode of transportation for the offense. As a result, the playbook was not opened as easily as in many other games this season, and the offense found itself a step behind its preferred level of productivity.
Turnovers, certainly, did not benefit Indianapolis either. The Colts scored on the opening possession of the first half, but were down 14-7 before Rivers and the offense stepped back onto the field. Ameer Abdullah fumbled on the second Colts kickoff return, allowing San Francisco to snatch the lead. Also, late in the game, Rivers threw an interception that was returned for a touchdown, sealing the game on a drive that appeared to be capable of sparking a fourth quarter comeback opportunity.
A disappointing home performance for Colts fans tees up the final home regular season contest of the season, where Indianapolis will host the Jacksonville Jaguars, who clinched a playoff berth as a result of the Colts’ loss this week.
It is critical that Indianapolis emerges victorious against the Jaguars, with the same being true for the trip to Houston that rounds out the regular season. Quite simply, there is one wild card playoff spot that remains unclaimed, with the Texans standing two games ahead of Indianapolis. To reach the playoffs, the Colts must win both of their remaining games, and the Texans must lose both in Los Angeles against the Chargers and to the Colts in the final week of the regular season.
After the game, Steichen spoke with reporters about the bleak situation his team finds itself in as it pertains to the playoff hunt.
“We signed up for 17 of these things,” Steichen said, “and we’ve got a division opponent, and we’re not out of this thing until they tell us we’re done, we're fighting like crazy.”
Next week is another pivotal one for the Indianapolis Colts, as they remain in Indianapolis to host the Jacksonville Jaguars at 1 p.m. on Sunday. The 49ers will take the field in primetime for the second consecutive week, welcoming the Chicago Bears to Levi’s Stadium at 8:20 p.m. on Sunday Night Football.
The Colts are against the ropes as the regular season winds to a close, and will look to improve from a loss for the second week in a row with Rivers at the wheel. Until then, the pain of a fifth consecutive loss stains the city of Indianapolis, with fears of missing the postseason becoming increasingly more valid as January approaches.
