49ers Stomp the Commmanders

Good effort, Washington.

SANTA CLARA -- Give the Commanders credit. They showed up, played hard and kept the game interesting for a half. Then the 49ers blew them away in the second half and won 37-20.

That's because the 49ers are much better than Washington. And that's saying something, because if the season ended today, Washington would be a playoff team. But the 49ers dismissed them like they're nobodies, and now the 49ers have won a whopping eight games in a row and are 11-4.

This game actually was tied at seven when the first half ended. That's because near the end of the second quarter, Jauan Jennings bobbled a pass over the middle and tipped it to Commanders safety Darrick Forrest, who intercepted it and set up Washington's first touchdown of the day. The Commanders were doing a good job of pressuring Purdy, holding the 49ers running backs in check and finding holes in the 49ers secondary.

Then the 49ers started calling play-action passes in the second half, and the Commanders never saw them coming. They sold out to stop the run as if Jimmy Garoppolo were the quarterback, but he's history. Brock Purdy is the new quarterback, and he's terrific with play action. Suddenly, he has turned George Kittle into a reinvigorated deep threat -- he finished the game with 6 catches for 122 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Once again, Purdy was the star of the game. He avoided numerous sacks and created big plays when he had merely decent pass protection. He completed 15 of 22 passes for 234 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 interception, and his passer rating was 114.6.

The 49ers showed some vulnerabilities in their secondary, as they gave up some long catches and three touchdown grabs, including one in garbage time. But they knocked out Commanders quarterback Taylor Heinicke and closed out the game.

Now the 49ers won't fance another playoff team until the playoffs. Will they ever lose again?

Stay tuned.