The Indianapolis Colts come to Levi’s Stadium to face off with the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday Night Football. The Colts have had a rough start to the season, but they’ve been getting better results lately, including a 31-3 over the Texans on Sunday. The 49ers are coming off the bye, and after three straight losses, they’re hoping to have found some answers. In their last game, they fell 17-10 to the Cardinals, and in this NFC West division, they need to start putting some wins together.
Did the Bye Help San Fran?
Theoretically, time off should help a team that has been battered by injuries already this season. They’re trying to get Jimmy Garoppolo back in there, with his replacement Trey Lance also dealing with a strained knee. As of press time, Garoppolo was at practice, while Lance was out of action, suggesting that it might be Garoppolo this weekend. But while a couple of pieces might be available, the injury issues the Niners have don’t go away in two weeks.
The fundamental question is what the 49ers can come up with amidst all the personnel losses. They still have some juice at wide receiver with Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk, and others. But they’re working with a decimated backfield, and being without TE George Kittle doesn’t help any. They’re thin in the secondary, and a team that had a lot of strengths has been reduced to a team with maybe a few aerial weapons and a good defensive front.
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Indy Getting it Together?
While at 2-4, the Colts won’t be eliciting any fear, they have somewhat subtly gotten it together over the last several weeks. After an 0-3 start, Indy then went on to conclusively beat Miami, take Baltimore to overtime on the road before beating Houston on Sunday. We see Carson Wentz looking more comfortable, getting healthier after dealing with injuries to start the season. A well-regarded offensive line, which started the season in poor form, has started getting the push you want to see as a Colts’ backer. Against San Francisco, that’s definitely something you’d want to see.
With the Colts’ offense finding more success, it has helped spring some of their weaponry. We’ve seen RB Jonathan Taylor taking over in spots the last two weeks. Wentz is hitting his targets with Michael Pittman getting more involved and Parris Campbell finally fulfilling his deep-threat role. The return of TY Hilton (ruled out*) offered further hope, as the veteran receiver made some big plays in his return Sunday. With the offense doing its share of the heavy lifting, the Indy defense has been doing better, making big plays and chipping in to the overall team effort.
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Challenges for the 49ers
Now facing a positively-moving team in the Colts that are relatively intact from a personnel standpoint, can a diminished Niners team find the answers? This is still a well-coached San Francisco team that has been soldiering on through injuries every season other than the one where they went to the Super Bowl. They have some depth and aren’t facing this issue for the first time. Even in this diminished state, they still held division rivals Arizona and Seattle to one-score games while giving the Packers a run for their money in a 30-28 loss. Now at home after a break catching the Colts coming well out of their wheelhouse, I wouldn’t consider them lost in this context.
