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The San Francisco 49ers are still perfect, but Washington made them earn every bit of it on Monday night.
San Francisco beat the Washington Commanders 23 to 17 at home to close Week 6.
The 49ers led 20 to 3 at halftime and 23 to 3 late in the third quarter.
Then Jayden Daniels brought Washington all the way back to the edge of a famous win.
It took a sack on the final play of the game to end it.
Major Takeaways
- San Francisco improved to 6 and 0 with a 23 to 17 win, its first perfect start through six games since 2019.
- Jayden Daniels threw for 300 yards and two touchdowns as Washington scored 14 unanswered points after halftime.
- Brock Purdy reached 1,500 career pass attempts and became the highest rated passer in league history at 105.6.
- Both teams lost a star receiver, as Terry McLaurin left with a knee injury and Mike Evans aggravated an Achilles injury.
A Perfect Start Built in a Dominant First Half
The first half was a portrait of total control.
Washington ran just 17 plays before halftime and gained 90 yards.
San Francisco ran 41 plays, picked up 17 first downs, and piled up 303 yards.
Christian McCaffrey scored two touchdowns before the break, both on runs of one yard, and touched the ball 16 times for 82 yards in the first half alone.
Eddy Pineiro added a 33 yard field goal in the third quarter to stretch the lead to 23 to 3.
He finished with 64 rushing yards on 16 carries and a season high nine catches for 53 more yards.
The offensive line gave Brock Purdy time against a Washington defense that entered the night with one of the highest blitz rates in the league.
Trent Williams and Dominick Puni opened the hole that sent McCaffrey into the end zone untouched for his first score.
Washington entered the game allowing just 3.9 yards per carry.
San Francisco still finished with 126 rushing yards on 29 carries.
For a franchise with deep Black roots in its fan base and its locker room, nights like this travel far beyond one stadium in California.
Families from Oakland to Richmond watched a team win with power, patience, and a defense full of Black playmakers.
Read more in our Sports coverage as the season rolls on.
Brock Purdy Makes History With Quiet Precision
The biggest milestone of the night arrived on an ordinary looking screen pass.
Early in the game, Purdy found McCaffrey on a screen for his 1,500th career pass attempt.
That throw made Purdy eligible for the career passer rating list.
He now sits on top of it at 105.6, the highest mark in league history, ahead of Lamar Jackson at 102.7.
His very next throw found George Kittle in the corner of the end zone for the opening touchdown.
Purdy finished 21 of 29 for 264 yards and one touchdown.
He added 28 rushing yards on five scrambles and took only two sacks, both after halftime.
Kittle caught five passes for 69 yards and the score.
Mike Evans caught three passes for 94 yards in the first half and set the tone on the opening drive.
Then Evans aggravated the Achilles soreness that had limited him in practice and limped to the locker room before halftime.
He never returned, and the San Francisco passing game mostly collapsed without him.
Purdy completed no more than one pass to any target other than McCaffrey and Kittle the rest of the night.
Jayden Daniels Nearly Pulled Off a Stunning Comeback
Washington lost its best receiver before the first quarter ended.
Terry McLaurin was carted off with a knee injury and was ruled out for the rest of the game.
Daniels never flinched.
The young Black quarterback, a Heisman Trophy winner at LSU and the Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2024, spread the ball to nine different receivers.
He completed 29 of 40 passes for 300 yards and two touchdowns.
His passer rating of 110.7 was the highest any quarterback has posted against this San Francisco defense all season.
Washington outgained San Francisco 224 yards to 72 after halftime.
Stefon Diggs kept finding space, including a fourth down conversion that set up a touchdown.
Daniels threw both of his touchdown passes in the second half as the lead shrank from 20 points to six.
He found Stefon Diggs from one yard out late in the third quarter.
He hit Rachaad White for a nine yard score early in the fourth quarter.
For Black fans who grew up when this league doubted Black quarterbacks could lead a franchise, watching Daniels command a Monday night stage matters.
He is the face of a franchise in the capital, and he carried a wounded team within one play of beating the best team in the conference.
That echoes what we saw one day earlier, when Patrick Mahomes won his 100th career game in Kansas City.
Two Black quarterbacks owned the two biggest stages of the week, and both delivered under pressure.
The 49ers Defense Bent All Night and Never Broke
San Francisco played its second straight game without Nick Bosa and still owned the line of scrimmage.
Washington managed just 53 rushing yards on 17 carries after entering the night as one of the most efficient rushing teams in the league.
Osa Odighizuwa, Mykel Williams, and Gracen Halton each sacked Daniels.
Daniels lost 21 yards on sacks and gained only 10 yards on four rushing attempts.
Fred Warner made the open field tackle on Rachaad White that should have ended a late fourth quarter drive.
A penalty on Malik Mustapha extended that drive instead.
Mustapha earned his redemption a few plays later.
On fourth down at the San Francisco 17, Daniels gave Treylon Burks a chance in the end zone with 1 minute and 54 seconds left.
Mustapha forced the ball out as Burks hit the ground, and San Francisco took over.
The offense could not close the door, going three and out for a third straight drive.
A fair catch interference call on Siran Neal then gave Washington the ball near midfield with one last chance.
Romello Height forced an intentional grounding call that brought a ten second runoff and left Washington with one final play.
Keion White and Ogbo Okoronkwo finished it, sacking Daniels together for the fourth San Francisco sack of the night.
Costly Injuries Cloud a Classic Finish
Both teams left the field with serious concern at receiver.
McLaurin had already missed time this season with a hamstring injury before Monday night.
Washington now waits to learn how long its top target will be out this time.
Evans gave San Francisco 94 yards in one half and then watched the second half from the sideline.
San Francisco was already playing without Bosa and had leaned on Evans as its top producer at receiver this season.
There were smaller wounds too.
McCaffrey lost his first fumble of the season when linebacker K’Lavon Chaisson punched the ball out near the red zone.
Eddy Pineiro missed another extra point, sailing it wide right, and his coach made clear after the game that the misses have to stop.
Washington fell to 1 win, 4 losses, and 1 tie, and has now gone three games without a win.
San Francisco heads to Atlanta on Sunday with a perfect record and a growing injury list.
Just like the Tennessee State upset of Morgan State this weekend, Monday night proved that belief and defense can carry a team through its hardest quarter.
Washington lost the game, but Daniels won respect in every living room that watched him refuse to fold.
San Francisco kept its perfect record, but it walked off the field knowing exactly how close perfect came to ending.
