Chargers officially in playoffs after 49ers pull away to beat fading Colts
By MICHAEL MAROT AP Sports Writer
INDIANAPOLIS — Brock Purdy and the San Francisco 49ers kept winning and did their neighbors to the south a favor in the process.
Purdy threw a career-high five touchdown passes and Dee Winters returned an interception of Philip Rivers’ final pass 74 yards for a score to lead the San Francisco 49ers to a 48-27 victory over the Indianapolis Colts on Monday night. The result clinched playoff spots for three AFC teams: the Chargers, Buffalo and Jacksonville.
Purdy was 25 of 34 for 295 yards with one interception. Christian McCaffrey rushed 21 times for 117 yards and caught six passes for 29 yards and two scores. George Kittle had seven receptions for 115 yards and one TD.
The 49ers (11-4) won their fifth straight to stay in the chase for the NFC’s top seed, one day after clinching a playoff spot by virtue of Detroit’s loss to Pittsburgh. San Francisco also snapped a five-game losing streak in the series, beating Indy for the first time since Jim Mora’s infamous “playoffs” rant in November 2001.
But 44-year-old Rivers sure didn’t make it easy on San Francisco in his second game back after a five-year layoff. He was 23 of 35 for 277 yards, two TDs and the one interception. The Colts (8-7) have lost five straight overall and six of their last seven as their playoff hopes continue to fade.
Rivers opened the scoring with a 20-yard TD pass to Alec Pierce, who had four receptions for 86 yards and two scores. Purdy countered with a 22-yard scoring pass to Demarcus Robinson.
After the Colts fumbled away the ensuing kickoff, Purdy hooked up with McCaffrey for a 2-yard TD pass to make it 14-7 late in the first quarter. Rivers tied the score early in the second by neatly fitting a 16-yard throw to Pierce in a tight window. Purdy broke the tie with an 11-yard touchdown pass to Kittle.
Indy and San Francisco then traded late field goals and Eddie Pineiro’s 64-yard attempt hit the crossbar as time expired.
The track meet continued in the second half as Purdy capped the first possession with a 15-yard TD pass to Jauan Jennings, making it 31-17.
Jonathan Taylor’s 1-yard TD run early in the fourth quarter cut Indy’s deficit to 34-27, but the 49ers sealed it with a 9-yard touchdown pass to McCaffrey with 7:37 to play and Winters’ interception return with 3:26 to play.
INJURY REPORT
49ers: Kittle injured his ankle while making a cut during the third quarter, and linebacker Tatum Bethune injured his right ankle late in the third quarter.
Colts: Indy opened the game without either of its starting offensive tackles – Braden Smith (concussion) and Bernhard Raimann (elbow) – then lost center Tanor Bortolini with a concussion on the third offensive play of the game. Then they lost starting right guard Dalton Tucker with shoulder injury in the second half. The Colts also lost defensive end JT Tuimoloau with an oblique injury in the first half.
STAT SHEET
49ers: Purdy has seven touchdown passes in the last two games, the most over a two-game stretch by a 49ers quarterback since 2001. … San Francisco has scored in 22 consecutive quarters, its longest streak since 1995.. … For the second straight week, Thomas Morstead did not punt.
Colts: Taylor’s touchdown early in the fourth quarter gave him 17 rushing scores this season, breaking a tie with Hall of Famer Lenny Moore for the second-highest single season total in franchise history. … Indy lost its first game of the season when topping the 20-point mark.
UP NEXT
The 49ers host the surging Chicago Bears on Saturday night in a possible playoff preview.
The Colts close out the home portion of their schedule on Sunday against AFC South leading Jacksonville.