NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - 49ers-Colts Week 16 MNF Recap: Brock Purdy and Philip Rivers Give Us a Night to Remember

Episode Date: December 23, 2025

Gregg Rosenthal and Nick Shook react to the Week 16 Monday Night Football action between the San Francisco 49ers and Indianapolis Colts. Brock Purdy went nuclear with 5 passing touchdowns, but Philip Rivers showed flashes of greatness to keep Indianapolis in the game. In the end, the 49ers pushed forward with high chances at top seeding in the playoffs, and the Colts dropped to near-zero chances of playing deep into January.NFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Is that another email from your boss bragging about their fantasy football team? It's time to take them down in the playoffs. I'm J.J. Zacharyason, host of the Late Round Fantasy Football Podcast. Tune in daily for winning insights to help dominate your work league, your family league,

or the league with your college friends who still think they know ball. It's time to lock in and get your roster championship ready. Listen to late round fantasy football in the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, everybody. Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the 6th, we take you inside the game from breaking down college prospects and NFL rookies to evaluating team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front

offices construct winning rosters. We study the tape, talk to decision makers, and give you a perspective you won't find anywhere else. It's everything you need to understand the why behind what happens on Sunday. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Sticks podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up? It's Cam Jordan. I'm back with season three of your favorite podcast, the Off the Edge with Cam Jordan podcast. Tap in every Wednesday to hear conversations with my friends and stars for the NFL, the sports world in general, and entertainment. About anything from teams and players making waves to pop culture.

And I'll take you inside my journey through my 15th season in the NFL. Looking forward to you joining me this season, the season of more. more on the Off the Edge with Cam Joined podcast. Catch new episodes every Wednesday on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Wasabi Hot Cloud Storage, store more and do more with your data. Try them for free at wasabi.com. I'm Marcus Grant.

And I'm Michael Fiorio, and together we host the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast. Ready to dominate your fantasy league this season? Then you need the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast, your ultimate source. for player news, draft tips, and winning strategies. Whether you're a rookie manager or a fantasy vet, we've got the insight to help you crush your opponents. Listen to the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts. Shanahan used his challenge earlier, so they snapped the ball on third down. Now he throws in a near pipeline, and it's caught by McCaffrey. Touchdown 49ers. Touchdown. I guess when you're such a precise play call or just let one go and get it to Christian McCaffrey

wide open out in the in the flat the fifth touchdown a career high for Brock Purdy tonight oh how dare you Brock Bertie on Philip Rivers's night we're watching old man rivers go up and down the field and you have the gall to put up a 40 burger on a Colts defense that couldn't get a stop all night. Yes, Brock Bertie, five touchdowns in a 48 to 27 victory over the Indianapolis Colts, all but eliminating the Colts from playoff contention and clinching a playoff spot for three AFC teams, the Bills, the Jags, and the Chargers. But this night, my friend Nick Shook, was all about Brock Purdy and Philip Rivers,

and we're going to give Philip Rivers a lot of time. And if you're looking for that pick six at the end of the game, you're not going to find it on this show. We don't support Philip Rivers pick sixes. But we do support an awesome performance by this 49ers offense, which we just got to give them their flowers. They are, to me, the team that no one is going to want to face in the NFC playoffs. Absolutely. This is a team that has been fighting through so many injuries since the start of training camp. There was much news made about how they were missing so many receivers in camp.

And then they lose Brock Purdy and they lose George Kittle. And yet they somehow continue to. to find ways to win with Mac Jones. They lost Fred Warner. Their defense is still playing good ball. And now they're getting hot at the right time. They seem to be healthier than at any other point in this season. And Brock Purdy is back to full strength.

He's back. He's better than ever. He sets a career high with five touchdown passes. Get out of the Niners way. It just might be their year. I can't believe how easy they made it look. And sometimes Purdy and whoever's quarterbacking the 49ers, like the receivers are so open

that you give Kyle Shanahan all the credit but if you think about the throws that Purdy made during this game he has what nine incompletions or something like that on the night like so many of the incompletions either went off the hands of his receivers or were in the right spot

where only his receiver could get it or were thrown out of bounds and so many were thrown with incredible anticipation and yeah the Colts did not have much of a pass rush but Shanahan was basically putting a big X on Jermaine Pratt and Zaire Franklin and the linebackers for the Colts

and he was absolutely cooking them all night. Let's actually watch one of Purdy's best throws and that was the fourth touchdown throw of the night to America's heel, Joanne. Third down and goal. Balls at the three-yard line. Purdy in the shotgun takes the snap, wants to throw. Throws out to the near pie line.

Up high and it's snag. by Jennings with his fingertips. John Jennings with the touchdown for the 49ers. And that looks like it's an easy throw, but the thing I love about Purdy is he always puts it in the right spot. And he's almost a little bit of a, like a younger version of Philip Rivers, where he throws it hard when he needs to.

He puts the touch on it in small areas when he needs to. And he's obviously more athletic than Rivers is, but neither of them have a huge arm. and yet they both have a lot of dip on their chip. Like, they are just oozing confidence. And Rivers definitely met his maps tonight with that 2025 Purdy. Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, that throw, I'm glad that we played that one

because that was probably one of the best throws in the night. Another one was, you know, a bit of an adventurous, if not risky throw when he threw a touchdown pass to George Kittle in the back of the end zone, kind of going across his body. He looked a little bit like the Caleb Williams touchdown pass against the Browns a couple of weeks ago. And what I really like the most about Brock Purdy is how he's married so well with Kyle Shanahan.

We kind of see what Kyle saw in him back when he was the third stringer and he was telling people in the building, our third stringer might be our best quarterback because the way that Kyle schemes up a lot of these plays, it's perfect for what Purdy does. He reads, he understands where he needs to put his eyes and he delivers. Accuracy, one of his strengths. That play right there that we played, George Kittle's open there too because of scheme. There's a crossing, there's a play in the fourth quarter where I think it might be third down there on a drive that essentially puts the game away where they run a, uh,

Play action with a stretch to the right, takes the entire defense flowing to the right. He throws it to a cross to the left. That's Kyle Shanahan design. They absolutely victimize this Colts defense, which admittedly, short-handed, doesn't have Soss Garder, doesn't have Charverius Ward. And they couldn't, no matter what they did, they couldn't stop him. They tried zone early. Purdy picks him apart against Cover 2, throwing it to Kittle, contested ball over the middle.

They try man later. They get beat on the play that I just described. No matter what they did, it didn't matter because Brock Purdy was dialed in. that was Guy Haberman and Tim Ryan, by the way, on KNBR. You heard the local voices. I loved on the national broadcast, and you could kind of hear it there, the crowd when Juan Jennings scored that touchdown, and he goes over to appear to give the touchdown ball to one of the Colts fans nearby and pulls it back, and you could hear the

crowd go, oh, it was just an awesome moment. And Joanne Jennings is fully lenient to the heel of this season. What was it that your boy Shelby Harris said about Joanne earlier this season? Can I say the full thing that he said? I'm not sure if I can say it. He said, you're just quoting. And I quote, he's a ho and I want that known, end quote. Shelby Harris.

I disagree. Some fans tonight. I disagree. If you watch Juan Jennings every week, he does something that either annoys the opponent or annoys the opposing crowd. And I had a great follower tonight point out that Brandon Ayyuk took out his contract frustrations on the 49ers all season. And, you know, no longer with the team. He put an Instagram post up this week of him driving 90 miles an hour past the facility.

Very strange. Juan Jennings, on the other hand, has taken out his frustrations on the rest of the league. That's what you want to do with your contract negotiations. And he's had a really good end of the season. Five catches 71 yards in a touchdown tonight. And the thing that stands out to me about this 49ers team before we get to Rivers and in everything else that was great about tonight,

they are fully healthy now on offense. And we've been talking about the path to them winning in the playoffs. And look, they have a chance to be the number one seed. If they beat the Bears and they beat the Seahawks, they're the number one seed in the NFC. Crazier things have happened. They've literally beaten the Seahawks this season. I don't think they'll sweep them, but they have done it.

And the path to me was a way that some old Colts teams, for instance, would win games in the playoffs. It's just all offense, all gas, no breaks, win some shootouts. Tonight looked like a team with a healthy offensive line, all their skilled position guys playing their best. They're running the ball really well that could win a big time shootout and do kind of like what the Rams did in Seattle the other night. I know they didn't finish off the game. But put up 500 yards on a great defense. Great offense can be great defense sometimes in the playoffs. Yeah, you know, I did a radio spot earlier today and said that basically the NFC West

might have the three best teams in the NFL. Like the NFC champion is probably going to come out of the NFC West. It's just a matter of which team do you trust the most? Last week, I would have told you the Rams, but after seeing tonight with the 49ers could sound like a little bit of hyperbole, I acknowledge that. If you think about their potential, now they don't have a pass rush, that's their biggest issue. But do you think about their potential offensively, what they can do to control a game offensively could end up winning them one of those games against one of those other division

rivals or somebody else in the conference. So you really can't take them lightly, especially now that they're healthier than ever. I've seen like the vision because Trent Williams, they mentioned it again on the broadcast, is playing better right now than he has all season. He's always been Trent Williams, but he's back to peak form right now. The offensive line's really moving well. The Christian McCaffrey you saw tonight where he rips off his biggest run of the season, 24 yards was actually his biggest run in a couple of years. Yeah, our friend Patrick Claibon points out, in the past, he would have been taking that to the house.

He does not have the long speed, but they have been running more effectively with him lately. So I think it's the offensive line has cohesion. The receivers, Purdy's obviously healthy. Like, it's coming together. But I will push back on you about the best teams in the NFL. I guess I got to see this defense, which, you know, just made Philip Rivers in the 2025 Colts look like one of the best offenses in the NFL for three quarters plus tonight. I got to see them against tougher competition next week and the following week before I believe.

Because to me, they're a pretty big tier down from Seattle and the Rams. And if you want to tell me because of this offense shook that you put them right there with Packers and the Bears in the rest of the NFC mix, I'll buy that. I'll accept that argument, but I'm not quite seeing it. It means they could win one game, even against the Rams or Seahawks in the playoffs. Or maybe two, but can you get through three games with this lack of a pass rush? They get that one seed. They're not going to need to get through three games.

They'll get through two games. I mean if they get that one seed, it means they beat the Bears and the Seahawks in a row. And then I will back off that stance. And they will have shown everything that they can be. But this offense really is that good. It's almost always that good as long as they're healthy under Kyle. Yeah, it's true. And again, it's like I said before,

It's because of his scheme. I mean, he's just one of the masterful play callers. You know, I have to give a tip of the cap to Monday Night Football Playbook. Their new alternative broadcasts that they rolled out tonight. You know, I think they need to do the wire cam more than the sideline their version of like Live All 22. But otherwise, there was a lot, just being able to see the whole field, you can see more of what was going on.

You can see the ingenuity of Kyle Shanahan and just how he's toying with a defense with his design, whether it's pre-snat motion, whether it's just play action, getting it play to flow one way and going the other. It just makes them such a complete offense when they're healthy. haven't seen this all year. It kind of brings some sense to why Mack Jones found success with them because if your scheme is good enough to get guys open and even if you're hamstrung at other positions because you're missing guys, as long as you can play a little bit of point guard pass or you can still move the football, which is what we saw from Mac back then. And that's again

why I think that, you know, what you said about them being able to win a shootout, it's absolutely 100% in their favor if they get into a shootout. But you're right. The defensive part obviously does matter, so we'll see. And if I'm going to talk about bad defense, I mean, the Colts who had been taken on water late in the season on defense, but then played a good game overall against the Seahawks. I thought they really played with a lot of energy. Last week, man, they were rough. The series summary for the 49ers, touchdown, touchdown, touchdown, touchdown, touchdown, field goal, missed field goal at the end of the first half, but you're not even going to give them credit for that because it was a two-play drive where they got into position.

Touchdown, field goal, touchdown. They were literally pitching a perfect game until they picked off Brock Purdy on a tipped pass. And I don't know if it was one of the worst defensive performances in the history of the NFL, but it was pretty bad. While we're giving the broadcast some love, before we give Philip Rivers some love, let's actually hear a moment from that ESPN broadcast at the end of the first half. NFL kicking, right? Attempts from 60 yards are routinely tried.

and doyke almost hit i can hear that doink here from bristol oh that was field yates our friend here on nfl daily doing a little play by play and that was one of the all-time doin i mean if you're talking about the the sound that it made and then the length that the football went off the crossbar and back and it's from 64 yards out and it's Eddie Pinheiro? I mean, how many doyts have been better than that? The double doink is better, but that's like one of the greatest.

Yeah, absolutely. You know, do you have doorstoppers in your home, like those spring-loaded doorstoppers? You ever accidentally hit one with your foot and it just like makes that sound? It was like that. The reverberation through the crossbar was fantastic. And the best part about it was that it was even that close.

He kicks it and you're like, oh, it's between the uprights, but does it have the distance? Boom, the finality of it. of hitting the crossbar and the ball coming back, nothing more satisfying for, you know, the aesthetic part of watching a football game. I totally agree.

And appreciate the commenter who's reminding everyone. If you're in the chat with us, we love having you live. We obviously love everyone that's listening in their ears. Like the video right now. Subscribe to NFL Daily. We appreciate you. Last real point, actually, I'll make on that.

They're special teams right now. We talked about the Seahawks in how that was a huge advantage over the Rams. the 49ers, and there's a great article on the athletic about that has as big a one year-to-year improvement in terms of special teams in DVOA rankings in different ways you want to measure special teams of almost any team in NFL history, they are one of, if not the best special teams in the entire NFL. And that was a huge reason they won this game because they forced a fumble on a kickoff

against the Colts, and that gave them an extra possession in the first half. And the first half did not have literally any defensive stops. Until the fourth quarter of this game, the Colts and Philip Rivers, every time they had the ball, scored. It was what, three touchdowns, three field goals. That's better than any, you know, team in NFL history, if you kept up that pace. Philip Rivers was doing through six drives of this game. And I got to say, you know, I'm about Philip Rivers' age. He's one of my all-time favorite quarterback to see him out there ball in like this.

and shutting up everyone who said it was a disaster and embarrassment and what are they doing throwing him out there. And oh, like we have to point out, he didn't play that well last week. I don't think he actually was that good. I'm sorry to be such a truth teller. How about he stuck it in their eye? Let's listen to the Philip Rivers pass to – let's go with the second touchdown to Alec Pierce.

Love that one. Four down linemen for San Francisco. Rivers out of the gun. Back's to pass. He's got time. He throws up into the end zone. It's touchdown. Pierce again.

Touchdown. Number two tonight for Alec Pearson. It covers 16 yards to the house. Pierce having a huge game. Touchdown. I-N-D-Y. 14-13 to score. I love that call from Matt Taylor on WFN-I.

This is time for quarterback keeper presented by Snapdragon. Didn't think we'd have a sponsored segment with Philip Rivers in the year 2025. But tell me what you saw out of them. because you know how I feel it's going to sound bias. But tell me what you saw out of the old man tonight. So I've already given some love to ESPN for their broadcast choices tonight. Main broadcasts, first drive.

Buck and Aikman just stepped out of the call entirely. Every snap for the Colts. They let the on-field mic carry the game. And they let Rivers adjustments pre-snap carry the entire drive and the full moment, the excitement, the buzz that was in the stadium, and him going out there and just adjusting calls based on, that he's seeing pre-snap over and over and over again. It was a great demonstration and an explanation of why Shane Steichen felt so confident

to go get a 44-year-old out of retirement and put him right into the starting lineup, even if he looked like Sonny Jurgensen with a bit of a gut because he's 44 years old and said, you know what? I believe that you can help us win football games. Most importantly, you're not going to lose us football games. He went out there and gave them a fighting chance, more than a fighting chance tonight, with the way that he deciphered the 49ers' defensive looks. and moved them right down the field.

The first touchdown pass was glorious. The second one was just as fantastic. By the way, Alec Pierce has made himself a lot of money this whole season and made himself more money with those contested catches tonight. But I just thought that it wasn't until they were down multiple scores where you started to see like, okay, he is 44 years old with a limited arm. Before that, he was pinpoint passing.

Again, point guard passing kind of like Brock Purdy all over the field to keep them in the game. And most of that was done with the way that he looked at the look pre-snap and made his decisions right out. after the snap. You know, we talk a lot about Aaron Rogers getting the ball out quickly. Philip Rivers did the same thing. How do you neutralize a pass rush that's really kind of non-existent with San Francisco, but how do you neutralize your lack of mobility? You just get the ball out. You figure out what you're going to do. Tom Brady at his best, pre-stapp, you know, figuring out where the coverages are going and making a quick decision. And he did that all

night. And that is why he was deserving of the starting job and why he did a good job, even though they lost this game. Yeah, the turnover happens late. They're down two touchdowns. He actually had just a great pass into Pierce before that to set them up. But there's under four minutes to go. They're in hurry up mode. And he did have a fumble on the drive before that set up a punt. And before that, though, it wasn't just Dinkin and Duncan. He averaged nine air yards per attempt.

And the times he looked truly old was when he tried to rip some passes, 45, 50 yards downfield. Both of those came up short. They just weren't happening. He was trying to make the defense respect it. But he was winning in the way that Philip Rivers has always won, which was over the middle and the intermediate parts of the field. And sometimes on the sideline, too. In that first drive alone, he had gains of 18, 20, 19, and 14.

He threw a 33-yard pass to Pierce. And why don't we listen to that first touchdown that he threw to, yes, a wide receiver that's going to make a lot of money this off season. Rivers goes out of the gun, born the left pass. Three receivers go to the right side. Here's a flag on the play. Rivers has a free shot throws him. The end zone, touchdown. In the back of the end zone, it's Alec Pierce, and the plate covers 20 yards to the house.

Touchdown! I-N-D-Y and the cold score a touchdown on their opening drive of the game. It's so funny to me because that visual there, like, obviously it's a great throw, not taking anything away from it, but Rivers looks so much like your dad in the backyard in the pocket there, like stepping. up and just kind of flinging it. It's just remarkable that it works and it works really well. It's just a reminder and he's got to wait an extra five years to possibly make the Hall of Fame. I think he will make the Hall of Fame. To me, it's a no doubter, but he might be the type of guy that has to wait a little bit.

But this night, and he might not get another start, Troy Aikman, I wonder if he knew something said at the end of the game that he thinks Riley Leonard will start playing after this, which is interesting because the cults are not eliminated from playoff contention. The Texans still have some work to do to get that final spot. But if this was it, unfortunately, it was kind of fitting for him because there's just been so many games where his defense and his special teams let him down and essentially through no fault of his own, he didn't get a win. But when they talk about him for the Hall of Fame, like, everyone's going to remember this game. Like, it, it was. was great that he got out there. He put them ahead in Seattle, the number one defense in the league,

right now the number one team in the NFL with under a minute to go. They win that game if the defense just just holds up. And he, like I said, was averaging 4.5 points per drive through, you know, the early part of the fourth quarter, his first six drives, which is almost double, you know, the amount of points per drive that the Rams have this year, for instance, who are the number one offense in the NFL. Obviously, he's not going to keep that up for an entire season or even in this case, an entire game. But he had them moving and it really shows that if you don't face a pass rush, that's the

problem. Like when they started sending in some heat, if you don't face a pass rush, like he is so smart that he is winning from the neck up, like you said, on snap after snap after step. And he could probably play until he was like 48, 49. years old. The problem is when he plays most of the other teams that do have a pass rush or, you know, start to blitz like they did later in this game. Well, it goes to show why quarterbacks can get to 40 and beyond. And as long as they still have a little bit of physical

ability, they can find success because it is such a cerebrally dominated position. And if you can diagnose coverages and know where you're going from all those years of experience that you've gained from playing quarterback, it just makes the job a lot easier. Now, your ceiling is lower because you maybe not, won't have the arm to get downfield, but it's still, you know, you still carry value to the field. Now, I am sad, though, if this is his last outing, because I just check the playlist to reinforce what I thought I saw. And I would hate it if his final NFL pass was an interception, because that is just a very unfair, but also kind of poetically fitting way for him to go out in some way. Well, it, it kind of mirrors the way his career

ended with the Colts before, which was he played excellent in a playoff. game against a young Josh Allen and they put a lot of points up. It was 2724 but that was a really good Bill's defense and he was up for the challenge and they fell a little bit short because it was always Philip Rivers time late in close games trying to catch up but I think that memory almost does a disservice and I went back and I looked at the old QB index rankings shook for the year after year and I wrote him down. It's killing me that it's inside but he had a season where

we had him, like, and I was doing the rankings each year, and this is watching him each and every week. He had a season, and this is seasons 10 through 15 of his career. And it was, I think he finished the season ranked sixth, ranked second, ranked third. There was a season where I think he was eighth, and then another one third, and then 12th. And that's the back half of his career. It obviously falls off a little bit after that, like years 16, 17. And so that's three seasons where he's top five in the NFL. And then I looked that before that part of his career, he got votes for an MVP two other times and votes for offensive player of the year, top four an offensive player of the year, three other times. So for the people that didn't watch him at the time, it kind of

kills me to see him thrown in the mix with Eli Manning, who at no point in any of those seasons was better than Philip Rivers. Like he might have had one top five season. And I'm not trying to kill Eli-Manning's career. When he got hot, he got hot. His Hall of Fame career, or discussion is another discussion. But he wasn't dropping six, seven different seasons where he's a top three or four quarterback in the NFL. And so I'm glad a whole new generation got to see the old guy slinging. Well, we're also diving into the whole argument against the, oh, rings matter. Like football is a team game. Like, that's not count rings when it comes to establishing somebody's legacy. And it also helped him that, you know, he was the quarterback of one of the most prolific

offenses in the NFL, you know, at their peak with the Chargers. I mean, this is a team that once fired its head coach because when they go 14 and 2 or 12 and 4 and missed the Super Bowl and they just got tired of being so good, but never getting over the hump that they fired their coach. Like, that's how good they were. This guy played an AFC championship game with a torn ACL with a big bulky brace on. Like he gutted it out for his team. He was willing to come out of retirement at 44 years old to help out his pal who's the coach

of the Colts and desperate for a solution. Like, how do you not love the guy? And I just like, yeah, I love the way that he played tonight. That was quarterback keeper presented by Snapchat. Learn more at Snapchat.com slash laptops. And yeah, we might be premature saying that it's going to be the last start of his season. We'll have to find out. Hey, what's up, everybody?

Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. If you love breaking down football from every angle, you're in the right place. Every week on Move the 6th, Bucke Brooks and I dive deep into the game from the X's and O's to the front office moves shaping the league. We kick things off with Brian Baudinger, breaking out what really went down on Sunday. It is as good at timing, rhythm, offense as there is in the league right now. Ben Rett Lewis joins us for our rookie draft and coordinator of the week, where we highlight

the rising stars and the masterminds calling the shots. DJ talked me into A Ronde Gadsden Jr. He had a monster game. A monster game. And you hear from the voices who actually build the game, GMs, coaches and players who give If you insight, you won't get anywhere else. High standards and high care, that's the right combination. So whether you're studying tape or just love great football talk, subscribe to Move the Sticks

on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Is that another email from your boss bragging about their fantasy football team? It's time to take them down in the playoffs. I'm J.J. Zacharyason, host of the late round fantasy football podcast. Tune in daily for winning insights to help dominate your work league, your family league, or the league with your college friends

who still think they know ball. It's time to lock in and get your roster championship ready. Listen to late round fantasy football in the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, y'all, it's me, your man, M.G. Marcus Grant.

And I'm Michael F. L'Oreo. And I'm Lequan Jones. If you're looking to win your fantasy football league, you need to tune in to the NFL fantasy football podcast. It's right there in the name. Every week, Florio, LQ, and I bring you the latest news from around the league. We break down every matchup, give you our analysis and advice, so you know who to start, sit, drop, and trade to bring that championship trophy home.

I just want to remind everyone how good Rishie Rice was last season. And these three healthy games, he was the wide receiver 2 in fantasy. I think Rishie Rite just goes off this week. The Chiefs come on a flip past, a Rice. Nearside, touchdown! Remandre Stevens is my sleeper this week. This is a matchup where I think I can slide and slide. Stevenson in my flex position, and he could deliver double-digit points this week.

Drake takes the snap, hands it off, we're monitoring, running it right, and running into the end zone. Touchdown! It's never too late to turn your fantasy season around. Subscribe to the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up? It's Cam Jordan. I'm back with season three of your favorite podcast, the off the edge with Cam Jordan podcast. Tap in every Wednesday to hear conversations with my friends and stars from the NFL. The Sports World and and entertainment about anything from teams and players making waves to pop culture and i'll take you inside my journey through my 15th season in the NFL looking forward to you joining me this

season the season of more on the off the edge with cam join podcast catch new episodes every wednesday on the iHeart radio app apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast wasabi hot cloud storage store more and do more with your data try them for free at wasabi I did want to talk a little bit about George Kittle, who left the game with an injury, and it is time for who delivered, presented by Uber Eats. I did want to mention Kittle, and he has a chance to get that first team All-Pro over Trey McBride. The two of them have really been going back and forth.

Brock Bowers was in the mix for it last year, too. McBride's stats are incredible. Kiddell has looked incredible lately, and he was really cooking this Colt defense. And so that injury was, I think they called it an ankle injury, which he didn't finish the game with, is going to be something really important to watch this week with a matchup against the Bears coming. Yeah, absolutely. And this is a guy who missed a significant portion of the early part of the season with,

I think it was a hamstring injury. And you could tell how much they missed him when he was gone. And that also coincided with Brock Purdy's absence after that lost to Jacksonville when he came back too soon. They found a way to win games, but they weren't the same offense that they are now. Tonight was a great example and just great proof of how good he is and how did how better, how much better he makes this offense. I mean, he absolutely torched the Colts defense in the first half with, you know, just making contested catch after contested catch, finding the soft spots in the zone, run after catch, catching that touchdown pass. It just, it was a classic, if not quintessential,

George Kittle performance. And I hated that he left with the ankle injury just because he probably would have racked up even more numbers. Hopefully it's not serious, though, because he's an essential part of this offense. And in order for them to fulfill their destiny or whatever their greatest potential is, he's going to have to be a part of it. And so you hope for the best with him.

Yeah. Maybe they were just making sure they certainly didn't need him on the field, like at the end of the game when they were up by two touchdown. So hopefully they were just, you know, making sure that he was okay. But yeah, as great as the, the Colts offensively were, in terms of throwing the ball, we had to give the 49ers who put 48 up, 41 on offense,

the honor, and that was who delivered, presented by Uber Eats, when football makes you hungry, get game day deals on Uber Eats, the official on-demand delivery partner of the NFL order now. So I mentioned the situation for the 49ers. They play the Bears, Sunday night football, great game on NBA. and lots going to be on the line the bears are trying they got a chance at the one seed still too they're trying to win the nfc north they'll know if the packers you know have one on on saturday before that if the packers lose that would clinch the nfc north but otherwise the

bears are playing uh what like what do you see for this 49ers team do you think they need to get the one seed to possibly uh go on a long run in the play yeah um because i think that like we talked about earlier, they are an offensive. Remember last year how we talked about the Buccaneers being an offensive team, even though Todd Bowles is a defensive-minded coach? I think that is the story of the 49ers at this point. Because they lost Fred Warner, because they lost Nick Bosa. They don't have a pass rush to speak of. They lost so many more players, by the way. Michael Williams, I can continue to go down the list. They are playing with a patchwork defensive front and trying to get the most out of it. Now, they're getting some contributions from

some guys like C.J. West, shout-out former Mac guy. But ultimately, they are an offensive team. And in order to increase your odds of victory, your chances of success, you're going to need that home field advantage, not just because you're at home, but because of the weather. You don't want to end up on the road in a frigid Chicago in the playoffs. You just don't want that to get in the way of you being able to throw the football down the field or trying to get Christian McCaffrey going. And so, yeah, I think it's paramount to them that they do everything they can to win this, or to take the one seed and give themselves the best chance of playoff success. I want to give a little bit of a shout out to the 49ers fans who by the way

showed up and we're making a lot of noise in Indianapolis tonight. And it's like people always get on the Chargers fans and the fans here in LA. But it is when the opposing team comes and takes over. But man, it is becoming a trend around the NFL. I think just it's a national game. and the way the ticket markets are, you're seeing this at almost every, like, game now. Like, you saw the Chargers take over a little bit in Dallas, their fan, and I saw the Niners fans tonight being really loud

and enjoying a really special night. I misspoke, by the way, on the kiddle yardage. I knew something was off before, so I did want to correct the record. There's no way he said, I misheard something. No, he's like around 600 this year. This guys had multiple thousands of seasons. You can correct me, Shook.

I know I rule NFL daily with an iron fist, but if I get something wrong, I want you to tell me I'm wrong, please. Well, you did yourself, and I'm just a guy in a box right now, so, you know. You are, and you're going to stay there. But you're going to be back there later in the week. We will have shook back to break down all the games on Sunday, but I don't think I will see you until then. So I do want to wish you, my friend, a Merry Christmas.

And I don't, I mean, I care that they lost, but I appreciate that we got to share this game together, a little Philip Rivers match. Oh, yeah. It was a little holiday spirit for everyone, I feel like. Look, if you learned anything in this game other than the fact that the Niners are peaking at the perfect time, it's that dreams can come true. They may not be the dreams that you initially envisioned them to be, but dreams of a 44-year-old quarterback coming out of retirement, walking away from his high school football team who had just lost in the state. semi-final to go play football and have his high school football team have watch parties to watch coach go ball out on an NFL field. This can all come true. So just believe in your dreams because one unfortunate circumstance might open the door for you to realize them. I know. And you know

what? Like, how dare you Colts defense for giving up 48? I love Lou Anarumo, but for you to not show up in this spot and just get your pants pulled down by Kyle Shannon. We talked about it last week. this coaching staff for the Colts isn't necessarily safe to get to get serious for a second. This perform, even if it doesn't feel fair, this is not going to help their chances. And it does annoy me. But you know who annoys me even more? Chuk, all the people out there who didn't believe in the spirit of the holidays, who said that the Philip Rivers cult signing was making a mockery of the league and that like, how could they do this? And they're being irresponsible.

And then even worse were the people that after Rivers' first performance where he had four or five days to get ready. And he was playing on the road in bad conditions against the best defense in the league and leads them to a drive that gives them a lead with under a minute's left. Has the temerity, the temerity shook to say afterwards, hey, I hate to be the one to point this out. But when you break down the film, actually, like, he didn't really look that good last week. We have to be real about heat play. We get it. You can analyze it. But where you lose me is where I hate to be the one that does it.

Shut up. You don't deserve to watch Philip Rivers on Monday night football. I'm going to tag this with a bad joke. The uniforms are the cults board tonight. They're under the theme name of Indiana Knights. The defense, they should be renamed Invisible Knights because the defense was not on the field all night. And that's a disservice to Philip Rivers. Yes.

And a disservice, frankly, to Brock Burdy and Trent Williams. and Christian McCaffrey and Kyle Shanahan and this offense who had the temerity to make the Colts defense look at that because the 49ers offense is just that good and as I was going through that list I was like well McCaffrey he might be a Hall of Famer got a good Jean kiddle that's probably a Hall of Famer Trent Williams that's a Hall of Famer I don't think Brock Brady's going to be a Hall of Famer but he might be a Pro Bowl or an All-Pro that is a one hell of a unit. They are a wagon. So is this YouTube. We're not going away. We're going to be back on Monday night next week. It's going to wrap up our regular season Monday night football, but we do have a playoff Monday night football. Shuki. So hit the music.

We will get out of here. And we will look forward to our show on Tuesday. Be me and our friend Ali Connolly talking about Coach of the Year candidates. One of the coaches tonight will be mentioned prominently. And it is not Lou Anna Rima. It is not just like it. We'll see you then on the next NFL Daily. Big week.

You hear that? That's the sound of the group chat going off when your fantasy team scores another touchdown in the playoffs. I'm J.J. Zachary Eisen, host of the late round fantasy football podcast. Every move matters this time of year. So tune in daily. to help build a championship roster to beat your friends, your family, and that one co-worker who won't stop talking.

Literally. Listen to late-round fantasy football on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, everybody, Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move to Six, we take you inside the game from breaking down college prospects and NFL rookies to evaluating team-building philosophies,

coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. We study the tape, talk to decision makers, and give you a perspective you won't find anywhere else. It's everything you need to understand the why behind what happens on Sunday. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Sticks podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up? It's Cam Jordan. I'm back with season three of your favorite podcast. The Off the Edge with Cam Jordan podcast. It's happening every Wednesday to hear conversations with my friends and stars from the NFL, the sports world in general,

and entertainment about anything from teams and players making waves to pop culture and i'll take you inside my journey through my 15th season in the NFL looking forward to you joining me this season the season of more on the off the edge with cam join podcast catch new episodes every wednesday on the iHeart radio app apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast wasabi hot cloud storage store more and do more with your data try them for free at wasabi dot com i'm marcus grant and i'm michael and together we host the NFL fantasy football podcast. Ready to dominate your fantasy league this season? Then you need the NFL fantasy football podcast,

your ultimate source for player news, draft tips, and winning strategies. Whether you're a rookie manager or a fantasy vet, we've got the insight to help you crush your opponents. Listen to the NFL Fantasy Football podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human