The 49ers fell behind the Colts 7-0. They now lead 14-7.
San Francisco took six plays, 69 yards and 3 minutes, 17 seconds to tie it 7-7. Demarcus Robinson scored his first touchdown as a 49er, catching a 22-yard touchdown pass from Brock Purdy.
Purdy was 3-for-3 for 54 yards on the first drive, with George Kittle catching a 26-yard pass to help advance things.
Colts returner Ameer Abdullah fumbled the ensuing kickoff, with Ji’Ayir Brown forcing it and Jake Tonges recovering it.
The 49ers needed only five plays to go 26 yards, with Purdy throwing a 2-yard touchdown pass to Christian McCaffrey. Purdy was 2-for-2 for 14 yards on the drive.
The Colts have ruled out center Tanor Bortolini, who was diagnosed with a concussion. Bortolini went out on the second play, and
Danny Pinter has replaced him.
Colts Clips
Philip Rivers can still play.
The Colts quarterback, who unretired last week, threw a touchdown pass on the team’s first possession Monday night.
Rivers went 5-of-7 for 73 yards, leading the Colts on a nine-play, 72-yard scoring drive.
He threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Alec Pierce for a 7-0 lead over the 49ers.
Rivers threw for 120 yards with a touchdown and an interception in last week’s loss to the Seahawks, which was his first game since Jan. 3, 2021.
The Colts lost center Tanor Bortolini on the second play of the game. Bortolini went to the locker room for a concussion check. Danny Pinter replaced him.
The 49ers had already ruled out wide receiver Ricky Pearsall, who missed practice all week with knee and ankle injuries.
“He was close,” coach Kyle Shanahan said after the team’s final practice of the week. “But not close enough.”
Cornerback Renardo Green (neck) was also ruled out Saturday.
The team did activate defensive lineman Yetur Gross-Matos (hamstring) from injured reserve, and he will play. The 49ers also activated cornerback Eli Apple and linebacker Eric Kendricks from the practice squad to play tonight.
The 49ers’ other inactives are defensive lineman Kevin Givens, running back Isaac Guerendo, cornerback Chase Lucas, defensive lineman Robert Beal Jr. and linebacker Curtis Robinson.
The Colts’ inactives are linebacker Jaylon Carlies, cornerback Sauce Gardner (calf), running back DJ Giddens, wide receiver Anthony Gould (foot), safety Reuben Lowery III, tight end Will Mallory and offensive tackle Bernhard Raimann (elbow).
Defensive tackle DeForest Buckner was activated from injured reserve and will play.
San Francisco will have a trio of defensive players available for Monday night’s game against Indianapolis.
The 49ers announced they’ve activated defensive end Yetur Gross-Matos off of injured reserve. The club has also elevated veteran linebacker Eric Kendricks and veteran cornerback Eli Apple for the Week 16 contest.
Gross-Matos has been sidelined by a hamstring injury since early October. In his second season with San Francisco, Gross-Matos has registered four total tackles with one pass defensed in five games so far this season.
Kendricks is set to make his 49ers debut after joining the club’s practice squad late last month. He started 15 games for Dallas last season, registering 138 total tackles with 3.0 sacks and two interceptions.
Apple appeared in one game for the 49ers earlier this season, playing three special teams snaps.
The Colts will officially have one of their key defenders back for Monday night’s game against the 49ers.
Defensive tackle DeForest Buckner has been activated off of injured reserve, Indianapolis announced on Monday.
It’s been expected that Buckner would be back for the finale of Week 16, with both Buckner and head coach Shane Steichen noting that was the plan.
Buckner now will get to face his former team after being sidelined by a neck injury. In nine games this year, Buckner has posted 5.0 sacks, nine tackles for loss, and 13 quarterback hits.
As a corresponding move, Indianapolis waived quarterback Brett Rypien. Philip Rivers is set to start for Indianapolis on Monday night and Riley Leonard is also healthy to be the team’s backup QB.
Additionally, the Colts have elevated receiver Coleman Owen and guard Josh Sills from the practice squad to the active roster for Monday’s matchup with San Francisco.
The Colts have made an update to their injury report for Monday night’s game against the 49ers.
Left tackle Bernhard Raimann has been ruled out for the game. Raimann was initially listed as questionable to play with an elbow injury.
Luke Tenuta will likely get the start in place of Raimann. The Colts also have right tackle Braden Smith on injured reserve, so there will be backups on both sides of the line as they try to keep their playoff hopes flickering.
The Colts have also ruled out cornerback Sauce Gardner and wide receiver Anthony Gould. Defensive tackle DeForest Buckner was the only other player listed as questionable and will need to be activated from injured reserve to play on Monday night.
Wide receiver Ricky Pearsall won’t be in the 49ers’ lineup when they face the Colts on Monday night.
Pearsall missed practice all this week because of knee and ankle injuries that led the 49ers to rule him out on Saturday’s injury report. It will be the seventh game that Pearsall has missed due to injury this season.
Pearsall has 31 catches for 443 yards in his eight appearances this season.
The 49ers also ruled out cornerback Renardo Green with a neck injury. Green was limited in practice all week with a neck injury, so the team may be hoping to get him back to 100 percent for Week 17.
Quarterback Kurtis Rourke (knee) won’t be activated from injured reserve and defensive end Yetur Gross-Matos (hamstring) is questionable to make his return.
Colts cornerback Sauce Gardner officially will not return for Week 16.
Gardner has been ruled out for Monday night’s game against the 49ers due to his calf injury.
The star cornerback has not been able to practice or play since suffering the injury during Indianapolis’ Nov. 30 loss to the Texans.
But, via James Boyd of TheAthletic.com, Steichen said Gardner will play again this season.
Gardner appeared in three games for the Colts after the Jets traded him to Indianapolis. In 10 total games this season, Gardner has recorded 33 total tackles with eight passes defensed.
Receiver Anthony Gould (foot) has also been ruled out for Monday’s game while Steichen noted offensive lineman Bernhard Raimann’s status for Monday is uncertain. Raimann was able to participate on Saturday after he did not practice on Thursday or Friday.
Defensive tackle DeForest Buckner (neck) will play on Monday after missing the last five games. He will have to be activated off of injured reserve.
It looks like Alec Pierce will be able to play when the Colts go against the 49ers on Monday night. But cornerback Sauce Gardner does not look poised to return from his calf injury.
Pierce (foot) was upgraded to a full participant on Friday after he was limited on Thursday.
Gardner, however, remained sidelined as a non-participant. Receiver Anthony Gould (foot) and offensive tackle Bernhard Raimann (elbow) also were DNPs on Friday.
Guard Quenton Nelson (wrist) was downgraded from full on Thursday to limited on Friday.
Quarterback Anthony Richardson (eye) remained limited as the Colts get him back on the field in his 21-day practice window to return from IR.
Receiver Josh Downs and linebacker Germaine Pratt were both back on the field as full participants after each missed Thursday’s session for personal reasons.
Running back Ameer Abdullah (neck), defensive tackle DeForest Buckner (neck), and safety Daniel Scott (knee) all remained full.
It’s not quite Nolan Ryan vs. Steve Carlton, but it’s an interesting wrinkle arising from the surprise unretirement of Colts quarterback Philip Rivers.
Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford entered Thursday night’s game at No. 8 on the all-time passing yardage list. He exited at No. 7.
With 457 passing yards, Stafford leapfrogged Rivers. Currently, Stafford has 63,988 yards. Rivers has 63,560.
Rivers needs 329 yards on Monday night to reclaim the seventh position. (In his first game back, Rivers threw for only 120 yards against a Seattle defense that Stafford torched.)
Stafford likely won’t be looking in the rear-view mirror. With 101 more yards next Monday night against the Falcons, Stafford will bypass Ben Roethlisberger at No. 6 on the career regular-season passing yardage list.
Unless Roethlisberger unretires next week. Which sounds just as crazy now as the notion of Rivers coming back did 12 days ago.
