Week 6 – Washington Commanders at San Francisco 49ers

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October 20, 2026

By Noonefromtampa

First Quarter

Washington won the coin toss and deferred until the second half. The 49ers took 9 plays to drive 64 yards and score on a Brock Purdy to George Kittle 11 yard touchdown. The big play was a 24 yard completion over the middle to Mike Evans. 49ers started with a 7-0 lead.

Washington started the first drive with 27 yard completion from Jayden Daniels to Terry McLaurin. Washington only gained 5 more yards and had to settle for a 51 yard Matt Stevens field goal cutting the lead to 7-3.

After the kickoff, Evans torched the Washington defense for 54 yards to the 18 yard line of the Commanders. Washington has the 49ers in third and fifteen but allowed Purdy to run for a first down on fourth down. Christian McCaffrey scored three plays later from the one, the extra point was no good, yto make the lead 13-3.

The teams traded three and outs on their next series. The big issue was that McLaurin injured his knee and was carted off the field.

Stefon Diggs caught a 9 yard pass to end the quarter.

Second Quarter

Chig Okonkwo caught a 29 yard pass to put the ball deep in 49ers territory. However, Washington could not convert on 4th down.

The 49ers were able to match down the field again with Jordan Watkins having a 22-yard reception and Brandin Cooks a 13-yard catch. After McCaffrey picked up 11 yards on two rushes, he caught a pass but K’Lavon Chaisson punched the ball free and Frankie Luvu recovered.

Washington started with a holding penalty and a sack to put them in a deep hole. Washington only gained 11 of the 22 yards needed, forcing a Tress Way punt.

The 49ers offense continued to pick up yards and first down despite getting called for holding penalties. Purdy ran for a first down on third and 11 put the 49ers back at the Washington 23-yard line. Evans caught a 16-yard pass on second and 15, but left the game injured. Sonny Styles tackled Kittle short of gain on third down, but Purdy got the first down on a quarterback sneak. McCaffrey scored on the next play and Javon Kinlaw was injured. The successful extra point made the score 20-3.

Washington took a knee to end the half.

Third Quarter

Washington first drive of the second half started with an 18 yard completion to Treylon Burks but featured two penalties for 15 yards and a 12 yard sack on third down.

After the Way punt, the  49ers drive featured some strong running by McCaffrey and a 35 yard completion to Kittle. The Washington defense finally stopped the 49ers offense deep in the red zone forcing a 33 yard Eddy Pineiro field goal for a 23-3 lead.

Rachaad White got the first rushing first down of the game with runs of 8 and 5 yards. Okonkwo picked up 7 yards on a check down and Diggs got 13 yards on fourth down for the first down. Jeremy McNichols picked up another first down with a 4 yard run and then ran it down to 1 yard line. Daniels hit Diggs for the score and Steven caromed in the extra point to reduce the lead to 23-10.

Shy Tuttle sacked Purdy for a 10 yard loss to end the quarter.

Fourth Quarter

Washington was able to force an incompletion on third down with Jeremy Reaves breaking up a pass to Kittle.

After overturning a muffed punt call, Washington started a drive aided by multiple 49ers penalties including a roughing the passer call. The key play was a 23 yard completion before a roughing call. The ball ended up at the 49ers 9 yard line where White scored on a 9 yard reception. The extra point was good, making the 49ers lead 23-17.

Washington’s defense was able to pressure Purdy, sacking him and then forcing an incompletion that led to a punt. Washington got the ball back on their own 22 with 7:46 to go in the game.

Williams was able to pick up a first down with a 10 yard third down reception. After a one-yard run by White, Burks caught a 30 yard pass deep down the left side.

McNichols ran for a touchdown on the next play, but it was called back for a facemask penalty by Chris Paul. On fourth down, Washington caught a break with an illegal contact penalty. Burks caught a 7 yard pass but an incompletion and run for no gain set up another fourth down with two minutes to play. Burks caught the ball but lost it when he hit the ground creating a turnover on downs.

Washington was able to force a punt and get the ball back with 52 seconds left. Williams caught a 17 yard pass, but Daniels was called for intentional grounding on the next play which lost ground and more importantly caused a 10 second runoff. At 6 seconds left, Daniels got sacked on the last play.

Thoughts

You cannot put a team in third and long then continually let them convert for a first down.

To me it looked like the defensive back held Terry and possibly contributed to his knee injury.

Too many penalties and mental mistakes. You don’t throw the ball away on fourth down. Another touchdown called back because of penalty in this game.

Daronte Jones had no answers for Kyle Shanahan’s offense in the first half. In the second half, he brought more pressure and got more stops.

5 on 3 and we give up a sack to end the game.

Bad officiating against Washington every week.

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