San Francisco 49ers (10-4) @ Indianapolis Colts (8-6)
Monday, December 22, 8:15 PM ET
The primetime matchups for Week 16 end on Monday Night Football with the Indianapolis Colts and Philip Rivers playing host to the San Francisco 49ers.
At one point this season, the Colts looked like the best overall team in the NFL. The 49ers have been battling one injury after another, and they have endured.
I think everyone is fascinated by the Philip Rivers story, and he gave a much better effort last week than most could have possibly expected. He threw a touchdown pass and had helped the Colts get a late 4th quarter lead against the Seahawks, but the Colts' defense couldn't get a stop late in the 4th and Rivers threw an interception in desperation time.
The 49ers have just done a great job of executing on both sides of the ball this season, regardless of their personnel availability. They have the 2nd-best 3rd down offense and the 9th-best red zone offense. They rank 11th on both offense and defense in points per game.
As fun as it would be to see Rivers help the Colts to a win, I just don't think the Colts are going to be able to keep this one a low-scoring dogfight against the Niners.
Prediction: 49ers win 31-17