FINAL: 49ers 23, Commanders 17
The Washington Commanders fell behind 23-3 before giving themselves chances to win late, but their comeback went unfinished Monday night in San Francisco. Washington heads into its bye at 1-4-1.
Below are the final Game Pulse observations, organized by quarter, followed by the archived game feed.
You can also see the full game feed at the bottom of this page, including play-by-play updates and social posts during the game.
Final Pulse – Commanders 17, Niners 23
– Washington was able to tighten the score at the end after the defense tightened up and forced the three-and-outs, but the first half was hard to watch.
– At some point, somebody has to ask in the media if Dan Quinn thought bringing in new coordinators on both sides of the ball in year 3 was a wise decision. Clearly, it says Quinn thought his job security was very high. I still don’t think Josh Harris and company will fire him in-season, but they’ll fire him after if each week brings a new gaffe.
– The rewatch will help me answer this more, but right after watching the game, I’d say this team is still fighting for Quinn heading into the bye despite losing their fourth game of the season. They missed Jacory Croskey-Merritt and need to game plan better around what they do have in Jeremy McNichols, whom they clearly trust.
– I counted at least three major flags that were not thrown on the 49ers; that’s not to say there weren’t any on the Commanders, but for Washington, it’s hard to beat the team and what seems to be the refs who miss hits where star defenders lead with the brim of their helmet.
– Dan Quinn left more points on the field again, choosing to forgo points for chances that fail…all of this is adding up to Quinn’s seat being hotter than the Iron Throne after it was smelted.
– Where is the discipline? Penalty after penalty (seven for 66 yards) truly speaks volumes when they lose to an undefeated team by six points.
Third Quarter Pulse – Commanders 10, Niners 23
– Halftime gave Washington a chance to reset, but holding, a false start, and a sack made the opening possession look painfully familiar.
– Holding San Francisco to a field goal was something to build on, but Washington needs more touchdowns before this turns into playing out the clock.
– With McLaurin hurt, Washington needs to keep working through Okonkwo and Burks instead of waiting for Daniels to rescue every possession. The Niners are extremely aggressive on defense; Washington had ot work on making third downs shorter.
Half-Time Pulse – Commanders 3, Niners 20
– Situational football is not the strong point for this team. When Jayden Daniels rolled out on fourth down and threw it away, after the ref later said the 49ers had declined the penalty, you could see Dan Quinn say, “It was fourth down?” To be clear, Daniels had just thrown it away on fourth down without actually targeting a player after they went for it, and the coach acted like he didn’t know it was fourth down. YIKES. You ask Daniels to protect himself, so I get why he didn’t try to play Superman, but is Quinn the only one who didn’t know it was fourth down? I have real questions about this.
– Washington has been getting killed by penalties. Most of them have put the offense in third and unmanageable situations.
– The 49ers had 17 first downs in the first half; Washington only ran 16 plays.
First Quarter Pulse – Commanders 3, Niners 13
– Washington had a ball go through Stefon Diggs’ hands early on; if caught, that drive would have likely ended in seven points. Refs missed an unnecessary roughness after the drop, but hey, that’s expected league-wide at this point.
– The Niners have looked good; Washington finally stopped them on the drive as the first quarter ended, so let’s hope they can build on that success.
– Terry McLaurin being carted off is about as bad as it gets in terms of losing players.
Pregame Pulse
– Washington has allowed 95 second-half points through five games, and now faces a San Francisco offense averaging nearly 31 points per game. Whatever the Commanders get done early, I’ll be watching how Daronte Jones’ defense handles the adjustments after halftime.
– With Croskey-Merritt on injured reserve, it’ll be interesting to see which direction the backfield goes in. McNichols joins Rachaad White and Austin Ekeler, giving Washington options, but how the staff divides those opportunities could tell us plenty about its plan to keep the offense moving.
– Bosa’s absence helps, but Washington still has to make life easier on Daniels. The Commanders converted just four of 12 third downs against the Giants, and David Blough pointed to too many third-and-long situations. Getting something out of first and second down needs to show up tonight.
The Washington Commanders are in Santa Clara for Monday Night Football against the unbeaten San Francisco 49ers, looking to move past a game they had plenty of chances to win. Washington enters at 1-3-1 after last week’s 27-27 tie with the New York Giants, while San Francisco has won its first five games.
Jayden Daniels makes his second start since returning from his elbow injury, but Washington needs more than another strong performance from its quarterback. The Commanders let a 14-point fourth-quarter lead slip away against New York, and those same mistakes could make for a long night against Brock Purdy and Kyle Shanahan’s offense.
Washington placed Jacory Croskey-Merritt on injured reserve Monday and activated Jeremy McNichols, Trey Amos and Jordan Magee. Stefon Diggs is active, while San Francisco has ruled out Nick Bosa and Deebo Samuel Sr.
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