The San Francisco 49ers needed to win their final three games to clinch the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs. Things got off to a promising start, winning the first of three in dominating fashion on Monday night with a 48-27 victory in Indianapolis over the Colts.
While the defense left some things to be desired, they held on enough against Philip Rivers and the Colts’ offense, limiting Jonathan Taylor to just 46 rushing yards, while the offense did its thing, going a second game in a row without a punt.
With the offense as dominant as it was, it makes sense that all three stars come from that side of the ball. These are the three stars from the win on Monday night:
Third star: RB Christian McCaffrey
It’s been at most an MVP-caliber season and at least an Offensive Player of the Year-caliber season for McCaffrey, but he’s definitely been lacking in the run game with a career-low 3.6 yards per attempt entering Week 16. But on Monday night, he gave the 49ers offense exactly what they’ve been looking for with a massive game on the ground.
In his first game with more than 100 rushing yards since the start of November, McCaffrey finished Monday with 117 rushing yards on 21 attempts, good for 5.5 yards per attempt, his second-highest average on the season. Not only was the average rush where we’ve come to expect it from McCaffrey, but he also collected his longest rush of the season, a 24-yard run on a third-and-1, marking just his second run of 20 or more yards this season.
Oh, and by the way, McCaffrey made an impact in the passing game, per usual, as well. His six receptions were his most in a game since the 49ers last appeared on a Monday night, totalling just 29 yards, which was his fewest since Week 8. But the 49ers will take the low yardage when a third of his receptions result in scores. With Brock Purdy throwing for five touchdowns – more on him in a second – McCaffrey was his favorite target in the end zone, with the running back recording his first multi-receiving touchdown game of the season.
The 49ers offense scored 41 of the team’s 48 points on Monday night, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that McCaffrey had a big game. But the dominance coming on the ground as opposed to the receiving game is a promising sight for a team pushing for the NFC’s top spot.
Second star: TE George Kittle
Purdy had the biggest day of any 49er, but any time he needed a big play on Monday night, he would go to big No. 85. And each time, Kittle would reward Purdy for that decision.
Kittle finished Monday with a season-high 115 receiving yards – his first 100-yard game of the season – on a team-high seven receptions with a touchdown. And that was on a short night for the tight end, with an ankle injury ending his night in the third quarter. But before the injury, Kittle was shredding the Indianapolis defense to pieces.
His day started with his longest reception of the game, with Purdy finding Kittle for a gain of 26 on the 49ers’ second play from scrimmage. The reception put the 49ers in plus territory, and four plays later, the offense would put their first of many points on the board. After the 49ers’ special teams forced a fumble on the ensuing kickoff, Purdy found Kittle on the first play of the next drive for a gain of 12 and moved the 49ers into the red zone. Four plays after that reception, the 49ers would again find themselves in the end zone for their first lead of the night.
While using the first two drives to set up the touchdowns, Kittle would hit paydirt on the 49ers’ third drive. After a few chunk runs from McCaffrey – including an 18-yard rush – the ball was moved deep into Indianapolis territory. After getting the ball into the red zone, Purdy looked Kittle’s way for the first time on the drive, and the tight end would reward the quarterback with six points for his first and only touchdown of the game.
Kittle would add four more receptions and close his day out with a 22-yard catch before exiting with the ankle injury. Obviously, there will be concern for the status of that injury during the next week, but Monday night was easily Kittle’s best game of 2025.
First star: Brock Purdy
Below is a list of 49ers’ quarterbacks to throw five touchdowns in a game in the Super Bowl era (including the postseason):
- Joe Montana (four times!)
- Steve Young (in the Super Bowl!)
- Steve Spurrier
- Brock Purdy (and ESPN really wanted you to know he became the first 49er to do so on Monday Night Football)
Joining a list that includes Joe Montana and Steve Young is plenty to earn the No. 1 star of any game, which is just what Purdy did on Monday night.
Purdy backed up his strong performance against Tennessee last week with 295 yards on 25-of-34 passing, with five touchdowns and just one interception. Over his last two games, he’s combined for eight touchdowns to one interception for 590 yards.
His day started with a stressful throw, with Dominick Puni stepping on Purdy’s front foot, causing the pass to float dangerously, but Kittle went up between a few Colts defenders to bring down the pass for a 26-yard gain. From there, Purdy was nearly flawless.
Each of Purdy’s throws seemed to be on point, starting with his first touchdown pass. Purdy hit DeMarcus Robinson with a rope perfectly on target to beat some tight coverage for a 22–yard touchdown to open the scoring. He’d follow that pass up with a short-drive touchdown pass to McCaffrey for the first of two touchdowns from the running back. Purdy would end the half with a hat trick, finding Kittle for the 11-yard touchdown to close the book on his first half.
Purdy would come out just as hot in the second half, connecting with Kittle for a 15-yard pass and then Jauan Jennings for 21 yards, before going back to Kittle again for 22 more yards. Purdy would then find Jennings to close the opening drive of the second half with a touchdown, extending the 49ers’ lead to 14. The quarterback would find McCaffrey to open the fourth quarter for his fifth and final touchdown pass of the game, before ending his day with an interception that bounced off the hands of Kendrick Bourne.
Purdy had a slow start after returning from his toe injury, but he has really hit his stride in the last few games. It could be a case of the quarterback peaking at the right time before the playoffs.
Throughout the season, I will track the three stars of the season, tallying points for each star award using a complex scoring system: three points for being the first star, two for the second, and one for the third. Through Week 16, the standings are:
- RB Christian McCaffrey – 15 points
- LB Fred Warner – 11 points
- TE George Kittle – 11 points
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