Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) – Brock Purdy threw five touchdowns as the San Francisco 49ers all but ended the Indianapolis Colts’ hopes of reaching the postseason with a 48-27 victory on Monday. San Francisco quarterback Purdy finished with 295 passing yards from 25-of-34 attempts in a clinical exhibition at the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Purdy’s performance made him the first San Francisco quarterback to throw five touchdowns in a game since the legendary Joe Montana achieved the feat in 1990.
“It’s an honor to be able to play for this organization with guys like Joe Montana and Steve Young and to be out here wearing the same uniform,” Purdy told ESPN. “I’m just a kid living a dream.” The 49ers went into Monday’s game safe in the knowledge that they had already clinched a playoff spot after results combined in their favor on Sunday. But defeat for the Colts leaves them at 8-7 and needing a miraculous sequence of results in the final two weeks of the season if they are to reach the playoffs.
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The Colts, with the 44-year-old Philip Rivers making his second appearance since his emergency call-up earlier this month, got off to a dream start with a touchdown on their opening drive when Rivers connected with Alec Pierce in the end zone. Purdy then took over for the 49ers, finding Demarcus Robinson and Christian McCaffrey in quick succession to put the 49ers 14-7 ahead. Although Rivers found Pierce again for a second touchdown to make it 14-14, Purdy led another touchdown drive for George Kittle to help San Francisco take a 24-17 lead at half-time.
San Francisco continued to keep the scoreboard ticking over in the second half, with Purdy tossing touchdowns to Jauan Jennings and McCaffrey to make it 41-27 midway through the fourth quarter. An unhappy outing for Rivers ended with the Colts quarterback tossing an interception to the 49ers’ Dee Winters, who galloped into the end zone for San Francisco’s sixth touchdown of the night.
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