The San Francisco 49ers nearly scored 50 points on the road against the Indianapolis Colts on Monday night. The previous four games felt like “get right” or “tune up” games. We were always going to find out who the Niners really were during this final stretch of games. Against the Colts, we did. Let’s get into three takeaways in every phase of the game, starting with the defense.
Defense – Mission accomplished by taking away Jonathan Taylor
The Colts scored on five of their 10 drives. It felt like they were scoring at a clip higher than 50 percent. Maybe that’s
because Philip Rivers was moving the ball up and down the field at will early in the game.
Rivers finished with 277 passing yards and a pair of touchdowns. If the 49ers were going to lose, it was going to be on the arm of a 44-year-old. The score may have affected the Colts’ ground game, but the 49ers did a fantastic job of bottling up Jonathan Taylor. He had 16 carries for 46 yards, and never had a rush longer than seven yards.
The Colts lost their center early in the game and were already without both starting tackles. That certainly played a part, but you could also feel Tatum Bethune’s impact as a run defender. The same is true for Upton Stout and Ji’Ayir Brown. The linebackers and safeties limited the missed tackles in the running game, and didn’t give Taylor any room to run.
In a league that’s about adjustments, the Colts had five second-half drives. They scored on the first two, but punted, were intercepted, and then turned it over on downs to finish the game. It was a tale of two halves, with the defense finding different ways to get off the field in the second half.
Twenty-seven points allowed should be enough to win. The bar is low for the defense, but that’s because it’s so high in the other two phases of the game. Any drive that ends in a kick for the 49ers defense is a win, and that proved to be correct on Monday night.
Special teams continue to be spectacular
Thomas Morstead has to be bored out of his mind. For the second week in a row, his services weren’t needed. Eddy Pineiro was 2-for-3. His first miss of the season came from 64 yards. Pineiro’s field goals all answered a Colts score.
The Colts had a couple of 30-yard returns, but the game flipped early when Ji’Ayir Brown forced a fumble peanut punched the ball away from Ameer Abdullah. It’s easy to say now, but that was essentially the ballgame. When you give the 49ers offense a short field, they take advantage. The offense was also set to get the ball at halftime, so they were always going to be able to extend whatever lead they had at halftime.
Brown’s forced fumble was the play of the game.
Skyy Moore and Brian Robinson both had 30+ yard returns. Moore’s return before the half gave Pineiro an opportunity to try a career-long.
There were only two missed tackles on the kick coverage teams. The execution was sound all night.
Shanahan embraces a shootout
The 49ers offense ended up playing the final three drives without George Kittle, who had done plenty before leaving the game with an ankle injury. They were already without Ricky Pearsall and the 96 receiving yards he had the week prior.
This season, it doesn’t seem to matter. There’s always somebody who has stepped up on this side of the ball. Without Kittle, Jauan Jennings had receptions of 19, 17, and 11. Christian McCaffrey and Brian Robinson picked up the slack.
What won’t be discussed much amid Brock Purdy throwing five touchdowns was how many clean pockets he had and how often the running backs were running through holes big enough for Philip Rivers to run through. It felt like the best game the offensive line played all season. So it shouldn’t be a surprise to see the skill players thriving.
Shanahan put on a masterclass, embracing the shootout against another great offensive mind in Shane Steichen. Shanahan was two steps ahead of defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo all night. He knew what coverages he’d get, and Purdy got the ball to the right spot.
If every game is going to be a shootout, good luck stopping this offense.
