This group must continue to ascend for 49ers in Week 16

This is a big game.

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Brock Purdy had no excuses against the Tennessee Titans and had to have a big game against their weak pass defense. Fortunately for the San Francisco 49ers, they did not leave that game with more questions about their quarterback as he played well, and the team nearly scored 40 points.

This week, the Indianapolis Colts defense is not quite as bad as the Titans', but the idea should be the same. 

The San Francisco 49ers' passing attack should look strong against the Indianapolis Colts 

The Colts lost DeForest Buckner to an injury in Week 9. They went on to lose Charvarius Ward due to a concussion, and after trading for Sauce Gardner, he suffered an injury. If you asked Colts fans to write down the top three players who impact the pass defense, it may be these three players. None of them is expected to play in Week 16. 

Instead, it will be Ade Adebawore, Mekhi Blackmon, and Jaylon Jones, Those players lack the name value, and at this stage in their careers, they are also not quite on the level of playing that any of the starters give the team. 

Since Week 9, the Indianapolis Colts' defense ranks 14th. That is not bad, but they are aided by the fact that they are 4th in success rate and 12th in expected points allowed per rush. Their run defense has been solid despite the losses. 

That is because their best run defense players are still on the field. Also, teams have no real incentive to run on them when they are worse against the pass. To be fair, they rank 19th in success rate and expected points allowed against the pass without Buckner. 

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That is obviously not good, but not as awful as a team such as Tennessee. This is actually a nice ascension for Purdy. He got a few weeks to shake the rust off before the bye week. Coming out of the bye week, he faced a pass funnel and a terrible defense, and lit them up. 

Now, he faces a bad pass defense that is much better against the run. It should start to prepare him for the average Chicago Bears pass defense that will precede the Seattle Seahawks elite pass defense. The hope is that he continues to level up and perform well against each group. 

Will he fare well against Indianapolis or bring questions before a big matchup against Chicago?