The 49ers’ stars enabled San Francisco to build a big first-half lead against the Washington Commanders on Monday night.
Then, it was the group of their young defensive players who helped the 49ers close out the 23-17 victory at Levi’s Stadium.
Safety Malik Mustapha, linebacker Jaden Dugger and Romello Height came through with big plays in crucial moments as the 49ers remained perfect with a 6-0 record.
The 49ers extended their NFC West lead to three games over the Seattle Seahawks and four games over the Los Angeles Rams and the Arizona Cardinals.
There are only five teams in the NFL with one or fewer victories. The Commanders (1-4-1) are one of those teams, but the 49ers made enough mistakes to allow them to hang around with a chance to pull off the upset victory.
Here is the 49ers’ report card from their Week 6 game against the Commanders:
Rushing offense
Christian McCaffrey, who had his touches managed through five games, was a huge part of the game plan on Monday. He carried 16 times for 64 yards, and cashed in two short touchdown runs.
Almost all of his production came in the first half, as the 49ers took a commanding lead.
Rookie Kaelon Black mixed into the action and was an effective No. 2 runner with 34 yards on eight attempts.
Brock Purdy used his legs to his advantage on scrambles, and he also picked up first downs on two short-yardage situations.
The 49ers did not get anything going on the ground in the second half.
Grade: B-minus
Passing offense
After a hot start, the 49ers’ offense came to a halt in the second half.
Purdy had it going from the opening drive of the game, when he completed five of his six attempts for 51 yards, including an 11-yard touchdown pass to George Kittle.
Veteran receiver Mike Evans helped set the tone in the first half with three catches for 94 yards. However, he was forced out of the game due to an Achilles injury near the end of the first half. The 49ers’ offense stalled with Evans out of the game.
Kittle added five catches for 69, as Purdy hit him with layered throws on crossing routes.
McCaffrey was responsible for the 49ers’ lone giveaway when he fumbled 12 yards down the field after catching a short pass. Purdy was sacked twice for minus-15 yards.
Grade: C-plus
Rushing defense
The 49ers’ run defense was solid, as the Commanders never sustained success on the ground.
The 49ers also did a good job of containing quarterback Jayden Daniels, who entered the game with 203 yards rushing in three games this season. He had just 10 yards on four rushing attempts.
Dugger registered a team-leading 11 tackles. Fred Warner added eight tackles.
Grade: B-minus
Passing defense
Mustapha came up huge with a pass breakup while in coverage against wide receiver Treylon Burks at the goal line on the first play after the two-minute warning.
That play helped rescue the 49ers, who made repeated mistakes and kept the door open for a potential Commanders comeback.
The Commanders still had one final chance. Height came big when he forced Daniels into an intentional grounding penalty. Height and Keion White teamed up for a sack on the final play.
Daniels got rolling in the second half and found all kinds of holes in the 49ers’ pass defense. He threw for 300 yards.
The 49ers pressured Daniels in the first half. Osa Odighizuwa, Gracen Halton and Mykel Williams each recorded a sack in the game.
Grade: B-minus
Special teams
The 49ers found themselves in a position to potentially lose the game in the final minute because Eddy Piñeiro missed an extra point in the first half.
The 49ers were not good on special teams.
They made two crucial errors with less than a minute remaining when they took a delay-of-game penalty while in punt formation. Then, Siran Neal was flagged for a 15-yard fair-catch interference penalty.
In the first half, punt returner Jacob Cowing made a poor decision to field a punt at the 4-yard line while running backward in the first half.
Grade: D-minus
Coaching
The 49ers were well-prepared and came out with plans on both sides of the ball that enabled them to set the tone.
The offense came to a screeching halt after Evans left the game, so coach Kyle Shanahan did not have the answers to get the 49ers to move the ball.
The defense had too many mistakes. Four penalties prolonged Washington drives.
Grade: C-plus
Overall
The 49ers were dominant in the first half. But they had their issues on both sides of the ball in the second half. San Francisco had to hold on for dear life in order to secure its sixth consecutive victory to open the season.
Grade: C