Instant analysis of 49ers’ 48-27 win over Colts on path toward No. 1 seed

INDIANAPOLIS – Brock Purdy threw a career-high five touchdown passes Monday night, outdueling unretired counterpart Philip Rivers and setting up the 49ers for potentially their greatest homestand in franchise history.

By winning Monday night’s final regular-season road game in a 48-27 shootout over the Colts, the 49ers remained in control of their playoff destiny, which could include the NFC’s No. 1 seed for home-field advantage en route to Super Bowl LX at Levi’s Stadium.

The 49ers (11-4) have won five in a row, and if they win another five (all at home), they’ll hoist the Lombardi Trophy on Feb. 8.

To first clinch the NFC’s No. 1 seed, they will need to beat the two teams currently atop the NFC standings — the Chicago Bears (11-4) next Sunday night, then the Seattle Seahawks (12-3) in their regular-season finale.

The 49ers officially secured a playoff berth 24 hours earlier, by virtue of a Detroit Lions’ home loss to Green Bay. Several 49ers watched that broadcast in a meeting room at their posh hotel near Lucas Oil Stadium, only for a special teams meeting to pull them away while officials untangled that penalty-plagued finish in Detroit.

The 49ers, from start to finish Monday night, used offensive fireworks to hand a fifth straight loss to the Colts (8-7). That said, Dee Winters’ 74-yard interception return for a touchdown truly finished off Rivers and the Colts with 3 1/2 minutes to go.

That was Rivers’ 35th and final pass in his otherwise endearing homecoming; he completed 23 passes for 277 yards with two touchdown passes that came on his first two drives.

Purdy, who turns 26 this Saturday, traded touchdown throws with the 44-year-old Rivers from the outset in the latter’s second game back from 2020 retirement.

Purdy saved his best touchdown drive for last, and it started with 12 1/2 minutes to go, with the 49ers up 34-27, and with tight end George Kittle sidelined by an ankle injury.

Purdy opened that game-clinching drive with a 17-yard completion to Jauan Jennings, then it was Christian McCaffrey’s turn to run, springing a season-best 24-yard run on third-and-1 to the Colts’ 20. After Purdy found Jennings on third-and-8 to the 8-yard line, it set up third-and-goal from the 9, where Purdy coolly found McCaffrey open in the left flat for touchdown pass No. 5 and a 41-27 lead.

It was McCaffrey’s second touchdown catch, and it came in the same game he crested the 1,000-yard rushing mark. His 117 yards pushed his season total to 1,039 rushing yards; he is 151 yards away from 1,000 yards receiving, after Monday’s six-catch, 29-yard effort.

Purdy threw touchdown passes on each of his first three drives, the first 49ers quarterback to do that since at least 2000, according to The Associated Press. Aside from the scoring strikes to McCaffrey, his other touchdown passes went to Kittle, Jennings and Demarcus Robinson.

Purdy nearly made it four scores in four drives, but Kittle failed to snag a contested third-down fade in the end zone, resulting in Eddy Piñeiro’s 25-yard field goal for a 24-14 lead.

The Colts responded with a field goal to take a 24-17 deficit into halftime, but only after Rivers underthrew an open receiver on third down from the 21-yard line. It took a crossbar to halt the high-scoring first half as it rejected Piñeiro’s 64-yard attempt as time expired.

Purdy’s fourth touchdown pass came just after halftime and made it 31-17 on a 3-yard throw to Jennings, who earlier in the drive converted a third-and-8 catch for a 21-yard gain.

Rivers couldn’t respond in kind, as Upton Stout broke up a third-down pass that forced the Colts to settle for a 51-yard Blake Grupe field goal, cutting the 49ers’ lead to 31-20 midway through the third quarter. The 49ers answered with a Piñeiro field goal, but only after a third-down play ended with Kittle limping to the sideline due to an ankle injury.

Kittle had seven catches for 115 yards, including a go-ahead touchdown reception early in the second quarter for a 21-14 lead. He had his helmet on for the fourth quarter but did not re-enter the game, nor was he needed.

Rivers, who nearly delivered a last-minute win last Sunday in Seattle, got the ball back for more late-game magic once safety Camryn Bynum intercepted a high Purdy pass that went off Kendrick Bourne’s hands.

The 49ers’ defense not only finished strong, it limited NFL rushing leader Jonathan Taylor to just 46 yards on 16 carries.

The first-half touchdown recap:

Colts 7-0: Rivers’ 20-yard pass over the middle to Alec Pierce against Ji’Ayir Brown’s coverage. Rivers, one game back from his 2020 retirement, opened by underthrowing Michael Pittman on a deep ball, but he twice converted on third-and-long to set up his first touchdown pass.

49ers 7-7: Purdy fires a 22-yard scoring strike to Demarcus Robinson, his first of the season and the first by a 49ers wide receiver other than Jennings.

49ers 14-7: Purdy would throw a second touchdown pass less than 3 minutes later, that being a 2-yard toss to McCaffrey for a 14-7 lead. It was McCaffrey’s 15th touchdown this season, sixth on a reception. It was made possible by Brown forcing a fumble on the Colts’ kick return and Jake Tonges recovering at the Colts’ 26.

Colts 14-14: Rivers again found Pierce for a touchdown, this against cornerback Darrell Luter Jr., who started in place of the injured Renardo Green; Luter drew a pass-interference penalty that was declined.

49ers 21-14: Purdy scrambled before finding Kittle open for an 11-yard touchdown catch only 2:24 into the second quarter. For the third time in five games since returning from a toe injury, Purdy had a three-touchdown effort.