Best and worst performances from 49ers' Week 16 win vs. Colts

The San Francisco 49ers hit the road in Week 16 for a primetime, interconference battle with the Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium on Monday night, and Kyle Shanahan's squad earned a 48-27 victory.

San Francisco's defense didn't look their best early on, but they buckled down, while the offense did their job to bring the team to 11-4 on the season and to move them up in both the division and conference.

As we do after every game, let's take a look at some 49ers who deserve credit and criticism for their performance on Monday night.

BEST: QB Brock Purdy

Purdy had one of his best games of the year on Monday, completing 73.5% of his passes for 295 yards, five touchdowns and one interception. His five touchdowns are a new career high, which also puts him tied with Alex Smith for the eighth-most in 49ers history.

WORST: CB Darrell Luter

Luter was targeted early and often against the Colts, which included Philip Rivers' second touchdown of the game on a play where the cornerback also committed a defensive pass interference.

BEST: RB Christian McCaffrey

McCaffrey hasn't been the most efficient running back this year, but he may have had his best game of the year on Monday. The 29-year-old rushed for 117 yards on an impressive 5.6 yards per attempt while catching six passes for 27 yards and two touchdowns.

WORST: CB Deommodore Lenoir

This is very nitpicky, but Lenoir gave up a few completions and was called for a dumb unnecessary roughness penalty when he tried to punch a ball out well after the whistle.

BEST: TE George Kittle

Kittle caught seven passes for a season-high 115 yards and a touchdown on Monday. He's sitting just two receptions away from Terrell Owens for the second-most in franchise history. Unfortunately, an ankle injury ended his night prematurely. Hopefully, it's nothing serious.

BEST: Offensive line

The big guys up front deserve a ton of credit for helping McCaffrey and Brian Robinson Jr. rush for 137 yards on 5.3 yards per carry. They also did well protecting Purdy, who was sacked just once, which came on a pressure allowed by tight end Luke Farrell.

WORST: Kyle Shanahan's challenge

Early in the third quarter, Philip Rivers completed a 14-yard pass to wide receiver Michael Pittman. It was pretty obvious, but Shanahan decided to challenge anyway. Unsurprisingly, the 49ers lost the challenge and a timeout. Luckily, it didn't come back to bite them.

BEST: Run defense

Jonathan Taylor has been one of the best running backs in the league this year, but the 49ers held him to just 46 yards and a score on 2.9 yards per attempt. That's his least efficient effort this season.

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This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: Best and worst performances from 49ers' Week 16 win vs. Colts