49ers 37, Commanders 20: Grades

Talk about peaking at the right time.

SANTA CLARA -- The 49ers just won their eighth game in a row with a 37-20 victory over the Washington Commanders. Here are the 49ers' grades for this performance.

BROCK PURDY: A-PLUS.

He was the MVP of the offense. He started slow, completing just 4 of 9 passes in the first half, as he had a couple passes tipped, one of which was intercepted -- not Purdy's fault. But in the second half, Purdy completed 11 of 13 passes for 179 yards, 2 touchdowns, no interceptions and a perfect passer rating of 158.3. Once Kyle Shanahan started calling play-action passes and rollouts, Purdy took over and made plays Jimmy Garoppolo could not make. On the first touchdown pass, Purdy saw Kittle wide open deep and nailed him. And on the second touchdown pass, Purdy executed a perfect play-action fake, an outstanding naked bootleg and a beautiful pass while rolling to his left. No way Garoppolo would have made either of those throws, because he doesn't see the field well, he can't roll out and he mostly chooses not to throw downfield. That's why the 49ers were a run-first offense with him. Now, they're not -- they're balanced. In fact, with Purdy at quarterback, they might be better at passing than running. So if teams continue to sell out to stop Christian McCaffrey and the 49ers running backs, Purdy will continue to gut them. Defenses better adjust quick.

RUNNING BACKS: C-PLUS.

Christian McCaffrey scored a touchdown in garbage time, but averaged just 3.1 yards per carry and gained a mere 58 yards from scrimmage -- low for him. His backup, Ty Davis-Price, averaged just 3.3 yards per carry. And Pro Bowl fullback Kyle Juszczyk had zero catches and zero yards. The 49ers really missed Jordan Mason, who played but didn't carry the ball due to an injured hamstring, and Elijah Mitchell, who's on the Injured Reserve List.

WIDE RECEIVERS: B-MINUS.

Brandon Aiyuk had a 54-yard catch, and Ray Ray McCloud had a 71-yard touchdown run on a sweep to the right that the 49ers typically call just for Deebo Samuel. The Commanders clearly didn't expect the 49ers to call that play for McCloud, as they seemed unprepared to stop it. Jauan Jennings made a big mistake trying to tip a pass to himself over the middle -- that's a high-risk, low-reward decision, and the pass got picked off. Still, Jennings partially atoned for his mistake by making two key blocks downfield on long gains.

TIGHT ENDS: A.

Purdy has completely reinvigorated George Kittle, who caught 6 passes, gained 120 yards and scored two touchdowns in this game. When Garoppolo was the quarterback, Kittle had become an afterthought in the offense who generally would catch three or four short passes and gain 20 or 30 yards. Now, he's catching long touchdown passes weekly. Call it the Purdy Effect.

OFFENSIVE LINEMEN: C-MINUS.

The run blocking was terrible, Spencer Burford gave up a sack, Aaron Banks committed a holding penalty and Mike McGlinchey committed two false starts. Purdy made this group look good by running around and avoiding multiple sacks, but he still went down three times.

DEFENSIVE LINEMEN: A-PLUS.

Nick Bosa was the MVP of the defense, like every week. He recorded two sacks and forced a fumble which was recovered by fellow defensive end Jordan Willis, who had a great game, too. Bosa should be the Defensive Player of the Year and probably the MVP, too. He's that good. Plus Javon Kinlaw played and was a key participant in a goal line stand.

LINEBACKERS: A.

Fred Warner made a whopping 13 tackles, plus a huge stop on fourth and goal from the 1. Dre Greenlaw also made 7 tackles.

DEFENSIVE BACKS: D.

They had a bad game. Talanoa Hufanga gave up two touchdown catches. Charvarius Ward committed two holding penalties, one of which took away a third-down sack to enable a 10-minute drive. Samuel Womack gave up a long catch when Ward left the game temporarily with nausea. Deommodore Lenoir got picked on repeatedly. Tashaun Gipson gave up a first-down catch on third-and-long. And although Jimmie Ward intercepted a bad throw, he also gave up a touchdown catch. This group needs to clean it up, because a better quarterback will make them pay.

SPECIAL TEAMS: A-MINUS.

They were above reproach with the exception of a kickoff that landed out bounds.

COACHES: A-MINUS.

DeMeco Ryans didn't trust his cornerbacks to cover Washington's receivers man to man, so he called lots of soft zone coverage and got burned. This will be something to monitor in the playoffs when the 49ers face other teams with quality receivers. Fortunately for Ryans, the Commanders were committed to running into eight-man boxes, and the 49ers shut down those plays. On offense, Kyle Shanahan started poorly with a ridiculous call on fourth and 1 -- a pitch from Kyle Juszczyk to Christian McCaffrey on the short side of the field that gained no yards. Terrible play. A quarterback sneak would have been better, or a field goal -- the 49ers were in range. But the 49ers tried a gimmick play to their left because they can't run right and they know it. That's why McCloud's 71-yard touchdown run was so impressive -- it was to the right. Give Shanahan credit for finally finding a run that works in that direction. Also give Shanahan credit for opening up the passing game for Purdy in the second half. Shanahan must continue to trust Purdy for the 49ers to win the Super Bowl, and it seems like Shanahan's trust in the rookie quarterback grows every week.