Niners Nation
With the San Francisco 49ers winning their last four games against what may be the easiest stretch of their schedule, they turn around to begin the toughest stretch of their schedule with a Monday night tilt against the Indianapolis Colts.
A few weeks ago, this game against Indianapolis was trending towards being a matchup between two of the best teams in the league, but while the 49ers have won their last four games, the Colts have dropped their last four, going from the top seed in the AFC to being on the outside looking in.
While Indianapolis has been in free fall, the 49ers are looking towards the top of the NFC, still alive to earn the No. 1 seed in the conference. But that pursuit must begin with a victory in Indianapolis. These are the numbers to know for the Week 16 matchup:
3.66
Colts’ running back Jontathan Taylor has averaged 3.66 yards per attempt over his last four games.
Allowing Tony Pollard, Tyjae Spears, and Quinshon Judkins to combine for 229 rushing yards on 40 attempts over the last two games doesn’t instill much confidence in the run defense facing one of the best running backs in the league in Jonathan Taylor on Monday night. But Taylor’s last four games, combined with the 49ers potentially getting Yetur Gross-Matos, Sam Okuayinonu, and Tatum Bethune, could give some hope to the defense.
Taylor lit the world on fire in his first ten games of the season, capping off that stretch with a 244-yard performance against the Falcons in Berlin back in Week 10. That performance put Taylor at 6.03 yards per attempt, making him the league’s rushing leader. And while Taylor is still the league’s leading rusher entering Week 16, something has changed over the last month to where Taylor statistically is just about half the running back he had been in the first 10 games of the season.
The 6.03 yards per attempt through the first ten weeks would have been the best in the league. His 3.66 yards per attempt would currently rank 42nd in the league; that’s how severe a drop-off Taylor has faced.
Maybe it was the injury to Daniel Jones, or maybe it’s teams focusing more on the one-time All-Pro, but Taylor has been nowhere near that productivity in the last month. Before the Colts’ Week 11 game against Kansas City, Taylor hadn’t gone more than two games in a row without a 100-yard game. But now Taylor is in the midst of a four-game stretch where he hasn’t crossed the 90-yard plateau, his longest stretch of games without 90 or more rushing yards since 2022.
The 49ers’ defense has had its fair share of struggles, but they could be facing Taylor at the perfect time. Combined with the 44-year-old arm of Philip Rivers, Robert Saleh should be able to stack the box and make Taylor’s day as difficult as possible while daring Rivers to beat him with his arm.
6.7
The Colts’ defense allows...
