49ers, Colts not ready to abandon division-title hopes
Having had an opportunity to watch division rivals attempt to hold serve in a tight playoff race, the San Francisco 49ers and Indianapolis Colts get a chance to help themselves on the field when they clash Monday night in Indianapolis.
The 49ers (10-4) sit in third place in the NFC West, looking up at the Seahawks (12-3) and Rams (11-4). Seattle pulled out a 38-37 overtime win against visiting Los Angeles on Thursday night.
A win over the Colts would serve three purposes for the 49ers: It would clinch a playoff spot, move them into a tie for second place in the division with the Rams and keep them within one game of the West lead.
While watching the competition beat up on each other is fun, 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan assured this week, earning a fifth straight win is the top priority.
He recognizes that doing it even against a 44-year-old starting quarterback -- Colts substitute starter Philip Rivers -- won't be easy.
"You don't out-athletic a really good defense," Shanahan said. "You've got to be able to get rid of the ball. Some people have it and some people don't. Whether it's vision, whether it's arm-throwing angles, whether it's mental processing or whether it's just your feel and clear mind in the pocket, when things are moving fast at an elite level, athletically, it's really hard to get away from (athletic defenders).
"It's about getting rid of the ball and letting someone else do it."
The Colts (8-6) find themselves in a similar situation to the 49ers, only in the other conference and farther down the playoff ladder. They begin the week as the "last team out" of the seven-team AFC playoff picture, but just one game behind the Houston Texans (9-5) and two back of the Jacksonville Jaguars (10-4) in the South.
Indianapolis finishes its regular season with matchups against the Jaguars (home) and Texans (road), giving the Colts -- like the 49ers -- an opportunity not only to make the playoffs but potentially also win the division title.
The Colts managed just one touchdown last week in an 18-16 loss at Seattle as Rivers started in place of injured Daniel Jones. Even so, Indianapolis offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter believes the veteran's impact on the attack should increase on a week-to-week basis.
"It was really fun to talk about different concepts with him and different ways to attack a defense, different ways he saw (the Seattle game) and how we could sort of build that into the weekly game plan as we got going with our weekly planning (for the 49ers)," Cooter said. "Real fun to be able to talk ball with him."
The interconference matchup features a duel between improbable quarterback starters Brock Purdy, the final pick of the 2022 draft, and the previously retired Rivers. But it's also a rare head-to-head between two of the league's most productive running backs -- San Francisco's Christian McCaffrey and Indianapolis' Jonathan Taylor.
Taylor leads the NFL with 1,443 rushing yards and 18 touchdowns on the ground. McCaffrey has 14 total TDs and he is just 19 yards behind Taylor (1,761-1,742) when rushing and receiving yards are combined. They rank second and third in the league in yards from scrimmage, trailing only the Atlanta Falcons' Bijan Robinson (1,858).
Taylor carried a heavy load (25 carries, three catches) in Rivers' first start last week. He hasn't topped 87 rushing yards in the Colts' past four games (all losses) after going for 102 or more five times as the team got off to an 8-2 start.
McCaffrey, meanwhile, has rushed for touchdowns in four straight games, which coincides with Purdy's return from a toe injury. They connected through the air a total of 16 times in wins over the Arizona Cardinals, Carolina Panthers and Cleveland Browns before hooking up just once in a blowout, 37-24 win over the Tennessee Titans last week.
The 49ers hope to have receiver Ricky Pearsall available on Monday after he sustained knee and ankle injuries last week. Pearsall sat out practice on Thursday, as did offensive lineman Spencer Burford (knee/ankle), defensive lineman Jordan Elliott (knee) and linebacker Nick Martin (concussion).
The Colts had three players miss the Thursday practice because of injuries: cornerback Sauce Gardner (calf), wide receiver Anthony Gould (foot) and tackle Bernhard Raimann (elbow).