At halftime of Monday Night Football, this game looked over. The San Francisco 49ers led the Washington Commanders 20-3, had run 41 plays to Washington’s 17, and had out-gained them 303 yards to 90. By the final snap, the home crowd at Levi’s Stadium was holding its breath. The 49ers hung on for a 23-17 win to move to 6-0, but this one raised more questions than it answered.
The First Half Was a Clinic
For 30 minutes, San Francisco looked like the best team in football. Brock Purdy picked the Washington defense apart, Christian McCaffrey scored twice from close range, and George Kittle caught a touchdown pass. Washington managed two first downs in the entire first half.
Purdy finished 21 of 29 for 264 yards and a touchdown. McCaffrey ran for 64 yards and two scores on 16 carries and added nine catches for 53 yards. At 30 years old, he is still the engine of this offense when he gets the ball in space.
Then Mike Evans Left, and So Did the Offense
The turning point was not a play. It was an injury. Mike Evans caught three passes for 94 yards before aggravating his Achilles late in the first half, and he did not return. Without him, the 49ers offense was a different unit. San Francisco managed one field goal in the second half, gained 72 total yards after the break, and went three-and-out on each of its last three possessions for a grand total of 7 yards.
That should concern 49ers fans more than the final score. This team is already working without several of its top receivers, and Purdy cannot do it alone if the injuries keep piling up.
Jayden Daniels Almost Pulled It Off
Washington lost Terry McLaurin to a knee injury in the first quarter, and nine different Commanders caught at least one pass by the end of the night. That is what makes Jayden Daniels’ second half so impressive. He finished 29 of 40 for 300 yards and two touchdowns, including a 1-yard score to Stefon Diggs late in the third quarter, and Washington out-gained San Francisco 224 to 72 after halftime.
The Commanders had two real chances to win it in the final two minutes.
On the first, the 49ers appeared to have Daniels stopped on a sack, but an illegal contact penalty kept the drive alive. It was one of four defensive penalties by San Francisco that handed Washington a first down. Facing fourth down at the 49ers’ 17, Daniels found Treylon Burks in the end zone, and for a moment it looked like a touchdown. Malik Mustapha knocked the ball loose as Burks hit the ground with 1:54 to play.
On the second, a fair-catch interference penalty on the punt gave Washington the ball near midfield. Daniels moved them to the San Francisco 28, but an intentional grounding call came with a 10-second runoff that left six seconds and a third-and-22. On the final play, the 49ers’ pass rush brought Daniels down for the fourth sack of the night. Game over.
What It Means
For San Francisco, a win is a win. The 49ers are 6-0 for the second time under Kyle Shanahan. The last time was 2019, and that season ended in the Super Bowl. They and the 5-0 Chiefs are the last two unbeaten teams in the league. But a team that wants to be playing in February cannot go dormant for an entire half, and the Evans injury is the story to watch this week.
For Washington, this is the kind of loss that stings because it shows what the team could be. The Commanders are 1-4-1 heading into their bye, and the questions about Dan Quinn’s future are only going to get louder over the next two weeks. On this night, though, they at least made it a game nobody turned off early.
Featured photo: Levi’s Stadium by Jim Bahn, licensed under CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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