Brock Purdy throws career high 5 TD
passes and leads 49ers to 5th straight win, 48-27 over the Colts
[December 23, 2025]
By MICHAEL MAROT
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — San Francisco's offense is revving up just in
time for the playoffs.
One day after the 49ers clinched a playoff spot, Brock Purdy threw a
career-high five touchdown passes and Dee Winters returned an
interception of Philip Rivers' final pass 74 yards for a score in a
48-27 victory over the Indianapolis Colts on Monday night.
“He was awesome, he played really well,” coach Kyle Shanahan said,
describing Purdy's play. "I got on him for a couple throws he
missed, but it was pretty close to a perfect game. He did a hell of
a job.”
San Francisco (11-4) has won five straight to stay competitive for
both the NFC West title and the conference's top seed. It also
snapped a five-game losing streak in the series that dated to former
Colts coach Jim Mora’s infamous “playoffs” rant in November 2001.
Indy's loss also clinched playoff spots for Buffalo, Jacksonville
and the Los Angeles Chargers in the AFC.
The biggest reason: Purdy's sensational play.
He completed 25 of 34 passes for 295 yards as San Francisco produced
440 total yards and didn't punt for a second straight week.
Christian McCaffrey rushed 21 times for 117 yards and had six
catches for 29 yards and two scores. George Kittle added seven
receptions for 115 yards and one TD.
And aside from Purdy's lone interception, the 49ers offense seemed
to do anything it wanted against Indy's defense.
“We've got to be better,” Colts coach Shane Steichen said. “Bottom
line, we can't give up that many yards. They scored a lot of points,
went up and down the field and we've got to get that cleaned up in a
hurry. Our defense played great last week and then this week ...
we've got to be better.”
The 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. But he also couldn't
pull the Colts (8-7) out of a late-season swoon that has nearly
ended their playoff hopes.
Indy has lost five straight and six of seven.
Rivers started strong in a wild first half, throwing the first of
two TD passes to Alec Pierce, a 20-yarder on the opening series.
Pierce finished with four receptions for 86 yards and two scores.
Purdy countered with a 22-yard scoring pass to Demarcus Robinson
and, after a Colts fumble, a 2-yard TD pass to McCaffrey to make it
14-7. Rivers tied the score early in the second quarter by neatly
fitting a 16-yard throw to Pierce in a tight window.
Purdy then broke the tie with an 11-yard touchdown pass to Kittle
and the teams traded field goals before Eddie Pineiro's 64-yard
attempt hit the crossbar as time expired in the first half with the
49ers up 24-17.
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San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey (23) runs
against the Indianapolis Colts during the first half of an NFL
football game, Monday, Dec. 22, 2025, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/AJ
Mast)
San Francisco was just as efficient in the second
half. Purdy capped the first possession with a 15-yard TD pass to
Jauan Jennings to take control with a 31-17 lead.
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.
“It was cool to be out here playing against Philip Rivers and the
Colts,” Purdy said. "To go out and execute like we did, I’m really
proud of these guys, everyone. Our defense, the turnover at the end
of the game with Dee Winters, huge win for us.”
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 RG Dalton Tucker
with shoulder injury in the second half. The Colts also lost DE JT
Tuimoloau with an oblique injury in the first half.
Stat sheet
49ers: Purdy has seven TD passes in the last two games, the most
over a two-game stretch by a 49ers quarterback since 2001. ... San
Francisco has scored in 23 consecutive quarters, its longest streak
since 1995.
Colts: Taylor's TD early in the fourth 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 while topping the 20-point mark.
Up next
49ers: Host Chicago on Saturday night in a possible playoff preview.
Colts: Close out the home schedule Sunday against AFC South leading
Jacksonville.
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