5 Things Learned: Colts Defense Shredded In Primetime

1. Horrific Colts Defense

Wait, that was the same Colts defense that played in Seattle? And it added DeForest Buckner over the last week? That was beyond rough from Lou Anarumo’s group. Yes, you are down your top 2 outside cornerbacks, but you are healthy on defense everywhere else. Simply, San Francisco did whatever it wanted, with balance you dream of, from the opening whistle. Plans for Christian McCaffrey and George Kitttle were met with equally poor execution. The 49ers didn’t even encounter a third down until their third drive of the game, and that was because of a drop. They didn’t punt. They scored or got into scoring range on every drive that mattered. Brock Purdy was hit on one of his 34 pass attempts. San Francisco is a quality football team, but they have not had this incredible balance in 2025, and did it Monday without their top wideout. Simply, just a horrific performance from Lou Aanarumo’s defensive unit.

2. AFC South Hope Is Gone

The Colts losing streak has now reached 5 games, and 6 of 7. The Colts have won just one game since Halloween. Their playoff hopes are on life support with the Jaguars and Texans waiting in the final two weeks of the season. While this loss doesn’t eliminate the Colts from the playoffs, it does create must wins in Weeks 17 and 18, along with a slew of other games that must go their way. And with the loss, they are officially eliminated from the AFC South. That’s now 11 straight seasons without a division title (and likely another year without a home playoff game). This season continues to trend towards one of the biggest collapses in the NFL. How will Carlie Irsay-Gordon view that? Do injuries excuse this collapse trending towards historic levels?

3. Philip Rivers, I Was Wrong

Hand raised. I didn’t think Philip Rivers had that in him. Even if you want to say it really only lasted for a quarter, Rivers pushed the ball down the field much more than I thought he could, and it led to quite the entertaining opening quarter. All week long the Colts were adamant Rivers could provide more down the field. The goal was to find some tempo, get Rivers to the line of scrimmage early in the play clock and let his brain maestro it up from there. Early on, it worked beautiful, even if the zip on the ball is lacking. Rivers was precise with his anticipation and ball placement, highlighted by a big-time 3^rd-and-Goal from the 16-yard line TD toss to Alec Pierce. Sure, you had some jittery moments in the pocket form Rivers, with a hint of pressure affecting him quite a bit. And playing from behind is going to expose him a bit. This offensive game plan and play calling was extremely impressive from Shane Steichen, with 27 points on the scoreboard. But, remember, Steichen is also the head coach of a team that had an absolute no show in the other facets of the game. This has happened far too often in late-season games during his 3 years head coach. And it now has the Colts on the brink of playoff elimination. Also, on the quarterback front, I’d expect Rivers to continue to start until the Colts are officially eliminated from the playoffs.

4. Needed Blueprint Doesn’t Show Up

Last week in Seattle, the Colts defense and special teams supported Philip Rivers like they needed to. But that didn’t happen at all. And Ameer Abdullah getting the ball punched out on a kick return at 7-7 was a massive early turning point. Whereas in Seattle, the Colts played from ahead for virtually the entire game, the Abdullah fumble helped give the 49ers an early lead they never gave up. It was particularly a really rough night for the Colts kick return and coverage units. You had the obvious Abdullah fumble a kick return in the first quarter, which helped suck some early life out of the home stadium. You also had a holding penalty on a later kick return. And a big 49ers kick return right before half nearly led to a late-half field goal. Even a Tyler Goodson late-game kick return was brought back due to multiple penalties. One of the biggest issues in this Colts slide has been the inability to get Jonathan Taylor going again. And more of that occurred on Monday night. Taylor finished the night averaging a season-low 2.9 yards per carry. Of course, scoring 27 points should be enough. It wasn’t even close to it on Monday and that’s a major problem.

5. Alec Pierce Must Be Offseason Priority

Anytime you get to this point of the season, inevitable thoughts are there about free agents and their futures. Alec Pierce has become an absolute priority to the Colts, no matter the quarterback. Certainly, Pierce will be coveted around the NFL. But he’s too unique of a downfield target with such an impressive catch ratio when targeted at the second and third level. You get the ball in the general vicinity of Pierce, he’s more than likely to either come down with it or be competitive enough to potentially draw a flag. Weirdly, the Daniel Jones injury situation might have opened up some things financially, potentially franchise tag wise, too.

6. QUICK HITTERS

-Injury Report: The following Colts were inactive on Monday: OT-Bernhard Raimann (elbow), CB-Sauce Gardner (calf), WR-Anthony Gould (foot), LB-Jaylon Carlies, S-Reuben Lowery III, RB-D.J. Giddens, TE-Will Mallory. The following players got injured and did not return: C-Tanor Bortolini (concussion), DE-JT Tuimoloau (oblique), TE-Drew Ogletree (neck), OG-Dalton Tucker (neck)

-Key Stat: The 49ers scored on 7 of their first 8 drives on Monday. The lone non-scoring drive was a missed field goal, from 64 yards, at the end of the first half.

-What’s Next: The Colts (8-7) will have their final home game of the season coming up on Sunday, hosting the Jaguars (11-4) in a 1:00 PM Kickoff.