There are so many storylines revolving around the San Francisco 49ers visit to Lucas Oil Stadium where they meet the Indianapolis Colts tonight it is a tough decision to decide where to begin. Before getting into the details, let me just point out that we have a quarterback starting for the Colts tonight that retired nearly five years ago, was closing in on eligibility for Hall of Fame induction, and has now restarted that five year waiting period.
That wouldn’t be such a big story if Philip Rivers hadn’t looked good in his return debut last week and almost knocked off one of the two teams the 49ers are chasing in the NFC West Division. Rivers led the Colts, double-digit underdogs last Sunday, to a lead with only seconds on the clock before Sam Darnold led a late drive that provided the home team a chance to win with a sixth field goal, which they converted in an 18-16 win over old man Rivers.
Rivers playing tonight would be a huge story, but this game has a bigger one.
Talk in the football world this season has focused on a couple teams as the best in football, the Seattle Seahawks and Los Angeles Rams. These two powers play out of the NFC West and with the defending champion Philadelphia Eagles down a notch from their 2024 play and the team that had the best record in the conference last year, the Detroit Lions, in danger of missing this season’s playoffs, the talk around town was that either the Rams or Seahawks were the best NFC, and maybe NFL, team.
Yet, with the Seahawks narrow win over the Rams last Thursday night, the door was opened that if the 49ers win their final three games they move into the number one seed in the conference. If they do that, wouldn’t they have to be considered the best team in the NFC and maybe, just maybe, the NFL?
The 49ers three game sprint to the number one seed needs to start with a victory tonight when they take on Indianapolis with their quarterback that is closing in on receiving social security checks. If they survive tonight’s road encounter, the 49ers next two needed victories will be at Levi’s Stadium against the Chicago Bears and Seattle Seahawks.
This is tough duty; both the Bears and Seahawks are first place teams and Seattle will be looking to avenge a season opening loss against the 49ers.
The 49ers story this year is one of guile and guts. You don’t have to be a fan of football to appreciate this team if you know anything about what they’ve done this season. They have had a myriad of injuries that would have struck down mere mortals. They have played nearly half their games without their starting quarterback and lost their best two defensive players. Brock Purdy was sidelined with a turf toe, which is a name given to an injury much more serious than that sounds. I suggest we change the name of this injury to debilitated foot. That designation would better amplify the seriousness of the injury.
While Purdy was sidelined, backup quarterback Mac Jones filled in admirably and kept the 49ers in contention with victory after victory. Along the way, Robert Saleh’s defense lost the services of Nick Bosa and Fred Warner, a pair of defensive studs with Hall of Fame credentials.
Still, the 49ers found a way to survive the challenges and keep winning.
Now, with three games left in the season, the mathematicians have figured out a team they didn’t consider among the best all year just may prove to be with three more wins. You can’t blame the football world for not giving the 49ers their due, after all they have outscored their opponents this season by only 51 points while their division competition, the Seahawks and Rams, have outscored their competition by 164 and 158 respectively.
Now, these points for and points against figures bring to mind what happened in the AFC last year when the Kansas City Chiefs advanced to the Super Bowl while only outscoring their regular season opponents by 59 points. In contrast, the teams they outdistanced in the regular and postseason, the Buffalo Bills and Baltimore Ravens, had both scored 159 more points than their opponents.
So, even though the 49ers have not been blowing their opponents away by big margins, the job Kyle Shanahan has done deserves coach of the year consideration. He won’t win it, there are four other candidates that will garner more votes who are also deserving of the award. But their coach is like his team, underrated.
So, the 49ers know their toughest challenges on paper to win three straight games are next week and the following Sunday when they meet the Bears and Seahawks. But tonight, against the oldest quarterback in the league who was coaching high school football in recent years, the 49ers are favored by nearly a touchdown on the road.
While San Francisco has clinched a playoff berth and is looking for a bigger prize, the Colts have struggled in recent weeks after rolling though the first half of the campaign while scoring a near record number of points. Their hold on first place in the AFC South Division has been overtaken by the Jacksonville Jaguars and second place Houston Texans. Now the Colts are on the cusp of missing the postseason altogether, a huge shift from strong Super Bowl aspirations as recently as six weeks ago before they dropped all four games since their mid-November bye week.
Tonight, the recently assured playoff participating 49ers challenge the desperate Colts looking to avert a second half of the season collapse that leaves them out of the postseason field.
The 49ers is a great story, but who do you think has more to play for tonight?
Qoxhi Picks: Indianapolis Colts (+5½) over San Francisco 49ers.