- REWATCH: Niners-Colts on NFL+ Premium
- READ: Colts have just a 3% playoff chance after latest loss
- READ: Shanahan: Purdy 'close to perfect' with 5-TD performance
- Brock is back and better than ever. If you compared Brock Purdy's last Monday Night Football appearance (Week 12 against Carolina) to Monday night's prolific outing, you might think an impostor was wearing No. 13 last time around. That's how good Purdy was on Monday night, racking up a career-high five touchdown passes by torching Indianapolis' defense with precise, occasionally adventurous passes that almost always seemed to produce positive results. The stats are great, of course, but what's even more exciting for 49ers fans is the point Purdy proved Monday night: After an injury-riddled season, Purdy is finally healthy and at the peak of his powers, playing with unbridled confidence that elevates the 49ers into serious title-contending status. Those who have watched the 49ers in their last two games knew this might be coming. Now, they'll wait to see just how high Purdy can ascend.
- Colts' defensive absences prove to be their downfall. While the prevailing reaction from Monday night's game will revolve around San Francisco's offensive dominance, it's impossible to reflect on this game without noting how the absences of Charvarius Ward and Sauce Gardner hamstrung Indianapolis' defense. No matter what the Colts tried -- zone coverage, man coverage, blitzes -- none of it worked in part because their best personnel wasn't out there. DeForest Buckner returned, played a majority of defensive snaps and registered three pressures but wasn't able to make an impact, and even one of the Colts' best defensive play -- Laiatu Latu's strip-sack -- resulted in a 3-yard Niners gain because Jake Tonges caught the loose ball and ran for positive yards. Indianapolis' early reliance on zone coverage didn't produce positive results and instead invited Purdy to pick the Colts apart, targeting the middle of the field early against Cover 2, and when the Colts got desperate and switched to man coverage late, play-action fakes and crossing routes vanquished their hopes of getting a stop. Most of the Colts' 2025 obituary will be written with a focus on the loss of Daniel Jones, but their defensive injuries ended up drilling the final nail into their coffin.
- Kittle burnishes receptions machine reputation. He's long been known as a matchup nightmare and a consistent producer, so it shouldn't have been a surprise to see George Kittle shred the Colts' defense on Monday night. This game, however, felt especially dominant. Before exiting with an ankle injury, Kittle caught seven of eight targets for 115 yards and a touchdown and could have had another (because a great Kyle Shanahan scheme left him wide open) if Purdy hadn't instead tossed a scoring pass to Jauan Jennings early in the third quarter. Since returning from an early season injury, Kittle has been a key part of this Niners offense throughout the tumult that was the middle portion of the campaign. Now that San Francisco is closer to full strength than it has been at any other point in 2025, he's poised to have more outings like the one he had Monday night.
- Indianapolis' storybook hopes are all but finished. Philip Rivers' return to football after five years out of the sport made for easy jokes and compelling TV. Unfortunately, that's all it was ultimately worth. Indianapolis isn't eliminated from the playoffs yet, but it'll need a miracle to finish what was once an incredibly promising season with a postseason berth. Rivers' comeback gave Colts fans reason to hope they might be able to salvage this campaign but his limitations as a 44-year-old quarterback and high school football coach became unavoidably apparent on Monday night when he struggled to find targets downfield, succumbed to collapsing pockets and failed to make a few key throws under pressure. It was fun to think it might happen, but we were reminded of how Father Time comes for us all -- even when one man thumbed his nose at the oppressive, mythical figure to play football well after everyone thought he was done.
- The high-octane 49ers are here -- because they have to be. The 49ers' offense was a machine Monday night, racking up 440 yards and finishing all but two of their nine legitimate possessions with points. Fans of the 49ers and of those looking to vanquish them better get used to it, too, because they'll need to be an offense-first team if they want to fulfill their Super Bowl dreams. While Monday night's win was a triumphant, lopsided one, the 49ers defense's inability to stop a 44-year-old quarterback with a vertically limited arm is concerning. It's nothing new, of course; San Francisco entered Monday night ranked 18th in yards allowed per game (333.6) and 23rd in passing yards allowed per game, an unavoidable flaw in an otherwise strong squad. What's most important, however, is how defensive coordinator Robert Saleh is limiting opposing scoring chances: San Francisco ranks 11th in points allowed per game at 20.9. Against better playoff competition, that number will likely rise, placing more responsibility on the offense to produce. Monday night wasn't an example of reliable output, but should embolden fans who believe their team is capable of reaching Super Bowl LX -- conveniently set to be played in the Niners' home of Levi's Stadium in February. Those same fans better hope the offense continues to show up like it did Monday night.
Next Gen Stats Insight for 49ers-Colts (via NFL Pro): Brock Purdy has a 144.6 passer rating when targeting George Kittle this season, the highest between any QB-receiver duo in the last five seasons (minimum 50 targets).
NFL Research: Brock Purdy became the first 49ers quarterback to throw five passing touchdowns since Steve Young threw six passing touchdowns in Super Bowl XXIX (Jan. 29, 1995).
