Niners Nation
The San Francisco 49ers impressed offensively in their 48-27 win over the Indianapolis Colts on Monday, failing to punt for the second straight game.
While the offense was lights out, the defense remains a work in progress, as they struggled to contain Indianapolis’s offense, despite Jonathan Taylor going for only 46 yards on the ground.
However, one player who did play well on that side of the ball was Dee Winters, who had the game-sealing interception, marking his first-career pick, let alone a pick-six.
While the stats weren’t overly eye-popping (three tackles, two pass breakups, a forced fumble), Winters was flying all over the field on Monday and came up big on the interception, thanks to his film study.
“The drive previously, I kind of heard a check, and they kind of ran a little spot route the same way they did on the interception,” Winters said after the game. “And I kind of just heard the check, and I was like, ‘Man, I’m just about to just try to trust my instincts right here and make a play.’ And you know, it came up huge for us.’”
“It felt like a movie, honestly. When I caught the ball, all I heard was my heart beating, and I just saw the end zone. So, I was like, ‘Let’s go score. Why not?’”
Winters ended up taking the interception to the house to make it a three-score at 48-27 with 3:26 to go, sealing the win for the 49ers and improving their record to 11-4.
That even impressed Colts quarterback Phillip Rivers, who waited to talk with Winters after the game and praised him for pointing out the check to make the play.
“Good play, man,” Rivers said on a clip caught by NFL Films.
After the game, defensive coordinator Robert Saleh pointed out Winters’s growth, which has been encouraging.
“It kind of just happened. We’ve been doing the same stuff. This is encouraging, and you know the players are getting better. Dee has gotten to the point where he’s not thinking, he’s just watching,” Saleh said. “For him to gather the information he gathered and just know. I tell my players there are occasions in the game where you’re just going to know. You’re going to know exactly the play. That’s exactly what he did. Credit to him.”
The 49ers defense is not what’s going to carry them in the playoffs. But, if the team can make just enough clutch plays while the offense shoulders the load, they have the chance to get hot when it matters the most. Growth, like what we’re seeing from Winters, is the key to that.
