3 players to blame for Colts MNF loss to 49ers

The Indianapolis Colts endured a stunning smackdown on Monday Night Football in Week 16. The San Francisco 49ers went on the road and played their best game of the season against a Colts team that appeared outmatched and overwhelmed.

San Francisco’s 48-27 bludgeoning of the Colts was not a knockout blow. But Indy’s playoff aspirations are on life support after the team was thoroughly outplayed in prime time. The Colts now need to win their final two games and get a lot of help to have a shot at the postseason. And those final two games are no cakewalk. Indianapolis faces the red-hot Jacksonville Jaguars (who’ve won six straight games) in Week 17. Then the Colts take on the Houston Texans (who’ve won seven straight games) on the road in the regular season finale.

On Monday night, Indianapolis did not look like a team that belonged in the playoff conversation. The 49ers steamrolled the Colts, going up and down the field at will. And Indy’s defense could do absolutely nothing to slow them.

The Colts’ defense collapsed

A defiant Colts team rallied to save their season in Week 15. Indianapolis held a potent Seattle Seahawks’ offense to 18 points and 314 total yards while winning the time of possession battle. The strong defensive effort gave a rusty Philip Rivers a chance to win in his 2025 debut. Although the Colts came up short, they were in the game until the very last seconds.

Week 16 was an entirely different story.

The 49ers blasted past the game’s 46.5 over/under all by themselves, scoring a season-high 48 points on Monday night. San Francisco rolled up 440 total yards of offense in a dominant performance.

The 49ers didn’t need to punt in the Week 16 beatdown. They scored on seven of their 10 possessions. The other three were a missed 64-yard field goal at the end of the first half, kneel downs in victory formation at the end of the game and a fourth-quarter interception.

The pick was likely too little too late, coming with less than five minutes to play and Indianapolis trailing by 14. But whatever boost it provided was promptly undone when Rivers threw a pick-six to Dee Winters three snaps later.

The interception was Brock Purdy’s only blemish on an otherwise outstanding performance. He went 25/34 for 295 yards and a career-best five touchdown passes. Purdy became the first 49ers QB to throw five touchdowns in a game in 35 years.

Yes, the Colts were missing Sauce Gardner and Charvarius Ward on Monday night. But both corners were also out last week when the team held Sam Darnold in check. Purdy diced up Indianapolis’ secondary, connecting with George Kittle seven times for 115 yards and a score. Jauan Jennings added five receptions for 71 yards and a touchdown. And Demarcus Robinson chipped in with a 2/23/1 line.

And then there was Christian McCaffrey.

Coaching counts

It’s time to shift focus onto Indy’s overall game plan. Obviously defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo deserves a massive share of the blame for the Colts’ Monday night calamity. But we’ll put the team’s coaching blunders in general on Shane Steichen’s shoulders.

Clearly McCaffrey is a problem. He just notched his fifth 1,000-yard season with Week 16’s performance and he’s closing in on 2,000 total yards for the third time in his career. But McCaffrey being good at football isn’t a surprise. Yet the Colts appeared entirely unprepared for him, which is perplexing because he’s the very first player you’d expect the team to game plan around.

The 49ers’ All-Pro RB racked up 117 yards on the Colts’ fifth-ranked rushing defense. And Indianapolis had DeForest Buckner back from injury in Week 16. It was McCaffrey’s first 100-yard rushing game since Week 9. He averaged 5.6 yards per carry on Monday night. And when he wasn’t gashing the Colts on the ground, he went largely uncovered on extremely predictable routes out of the backfield, catching six passes for 29 yards and two touchdowns.

The plan on the other side of the ball was just as mystifying. While it was neat to see 44-year-old Philip Rivers pushing the ball downfield, it made little sense to lean on the newly un-retired quarterback. Rivers hucked 35 passes on Monday night. And Jonathan Taylor got just 16 carries.

Sure, game script in the second half forced a more pass-heavy attack. But trailing big late doesn’t entirely account for Indy’s bizarre run/pass mix. The team started out slinging it. Eight of the 10 plays on the Colts’ opening drive were passes. Indianapolis threw on 16 of the first 22 plays Monday night.

To be fair, the approach was working. Rivers carved up the 49ers with touchdown passes on his first two drives. But Steichen had to know – or should have known – that a Rivers-heavy game plan wouldn’t be sustainable. For whatever reason, the team made little effort to get Taylor involved.

Taylor’s tailspin

It seemed as if the Colts were determined to prove that Rivers could throw the ball downfield. And then they got stuck in that plan after some initial success. It would be easy to blame Taylor’s rough night on a lack of involvement early on. He finished with just 16 carries and three targets, compared to 21 and eight for McCaffrey.

But Taylor did very little with the opportunities he was given. The Pro Bowl RB had just 46 rushing yards against the 49ers, averaging a brutal 2.9 yards per carry. He added three receptions for 33 yards. And Taylor scored a rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter that made it a seven-point game. However, it wasn’t nearly enough of a contribution from the Colts’ best offensive player.

While the 49ers have a strong run defense, they haven’t exactly shut out opposing rushers of late. Tony Pollard turned 14 carries into 104 yards and a score against San Francisco in Week 15. Quinshon Judkins had 91 rushing yards and 109 total yards against the Niners in Week 14.

Taylor’s disappointing game on Monday night was the latest in the veteran RB’s post-bye slump. It feels like a distant memory at this point but Taylor was right in the middle of the MVP conversation after he racked up 244 rushing yards and three touchdowns against the Atlanta Falcons in Berlin.

After that Week 10 explosion, Taylor tapered off. He hasn’t hit triple digits on the ground since, with rushing totals of 58, 85, 74, 87 and now 46. His touchdown on Monday night was just his second score in the last five games.

Taylor’s tailspin has come at the worst possible time for the Colts. The team lost Daniel Jones for the season and turned to Rivers with hopes of salvaging an 8-2 start. But Taylor began tailing off before the change at quarterback. Jones tore his Achilles in Week 14 while the RB’s decline began in Week 12.

Monday’s home loss to the 49ers is likely the death knell for the Colts’ season. There’s still a path for Indy to reach the playoffs. But the team currently has just a one percent chance of clinching a Wild Card berth, according to The Athletic.

It’s a bitter pill to swallow after the Colts went all-in on the 2025 season. The team sent two first-round draft picks to the New York Jets for Sauce Gardner when they were a near lock to make the playoffs. Indianapolis brought Rivers out of retirement when Jones was lost for the year. Now the Colts will likely miss out on the postseason altogether.

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