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Santa Came a Day Early and He Brought Me Two Presents

Merry Christmas, 49ers fans.

Ted Hazelrig

In this story:

With their 37-20 win over the Commanders, the 49ers remain the hottest team in football, riding an NFL best eight game win streak. Not only that, but they seem to have broken several of the teams that they bested. The Rams won just one game out of their next seven after being swept for the fourth straight season by the 49ers and before being eliminated from playoff contention. The Dolphins still haven't won a game since Kyle Shanahan showed Mike McDaniel why he's still the master.  Four straight losses have them at 8-7 and on life support. The Seahawks also haven't won a game since the 49ers swept them. I know that they've only played one game, but feels like a trend to me. Brock Purdy has won four straight games -- three against teams that are in the playoffs and one against the Seahawks, who are on contention for a playoff spot. This all sounds great now, but most of the Commanders game was a nail-biter.

The game on Christmas eve started with a poor decision on the 49ers first drive. They had moved the ball well, getting to fourth and one at the Commanders 15 yard line. Shanahan was forced to use a timeout, after Brock Purdy was unable to coax the Commanders defense to jump offsides. In a game that looked likely to be a defensive battle, points were likely to be tough to come by. I thought Shanahan would certainly take the three points on an almost certain 33 yard field goal attempt. Instead, he went for it with a Kyle Juszczyk option play that failed. This was a mistake not to take a 3-0 lead:

Luckily, the Commanders next drive was a three and out.

Then the 49ers returned the favor.

The next Commanders drive ate more than 10 minutes off the clock and gained 84 yards from the Commanders 15 yard line to the 49ers 1 yard line. On fourth and goal from the one yard line, Ron Rivera aka "Riverboat Ron" (due to his total lack of fear of going for it on fourth downs) elected to eschew the chip shot field goal attempt from under 20 yards. The play was blown up by penetration by TY McGill, which allowed Fred Warner to fill the gap and tackle Antonio Gibson:

Taking over on their own one yard line, the 49ers first order of business was to get out of the shadow of their own goal post, in order to give Mitch Wishnowsky enough room to punt, if it wasn't possible to get first down. This was the second time in the last two games that Purdy was pinned 99 yards from his opponent's end zone:

Christian McCaffrey got three big yards to get to the four yard line. Then he got nine more yards and a first down, to give the 49ers some breathing room:

Purdy had a ball batted down by Chase Young:

Then on third and nine, Jauan Jennings aka "Third and Jauan" made a spectacular catch of a ball that was nearly in the dirt, getting the the ball out the 29 yard yard line:

On first down John Ridgeway batted down another of Purdy's passes.

Things weren't exactly dire at 0-0, but I was starting wonder if Purdy's height of only six feet and five eighths of an inch was going to keep from from being able to overcome this elite Commanders defensive line.

Then Shanahan called a sweep that Ray-Ray McCloud ran for 71 yards for the first touchdown of the game 7-0:

The Commanders only gained 10 yards on their next drive before having to punt.

The 49ers took over on their own 14, which seemed like it shouldn't be much of a problem -- 13 yards better than their previous drive began. However, on the first play, Purdy threw to Jennings who tipped the on target pass up in the air, allowing Darrick Forrest to intercept the ball on the 49ers 31 yard line: 

As stout as the 49ers defense is, it was unable to stop the Commanders after the sudden change and a very short field. The 31 yard scoring drive was capped off by a four yard Jahan Dotson touchdown catch, making it 7-7 to end the first half. This game was shaping up to be a low scoring defensive battle, as I had predicted:

Luckily the 49ers received the kickoff to begin the second half. They drove the ball down the Commanders 34, where Purdy threw an absolute dime to Kittle, who was open on the goal line for a huge touchdown grab to make it 14-7:

The Commanders then went three and out.

The 49ers again returned the favor, due to an Aaron Banks hold:

The Commanders began at their own 25 yard and got out to their 34, bringing up fourth and one. Riverboat Ron struck again. Going for it that deep in their own end seemed unimaginable, even for him, but go for it they did. Taylor Heinicke was stopped short and the 49ers took over 16 yards into Commanders territory.

Purdy hit Aiyuk for a one yard catch to the Commanders 33. Then Purdy faked a toss, rolled left and hit Kittle to the same side, not more than five yards past the line of scrimmage. Kittle showed why he has the best yards after catch and yards after contact of any tight end, as he rumbled 28 yards to pay dirt to make it 21-7, It was his second touchdown of the game and his fourth in the last two games:

It was starting to look as if the 49ers might run away with the game, but that joyous feeling didn't last long. 

On the following drive, Heinicke hit Dotson for an 18 yard catch, then Terry McLarurin aka "Scary Terry" for a the longest catch of the day, up to that point, of 51 yards:

Moments later Heinicke hit McLaurin again for a three yard touchdown catch, to make it 21-14:

It was the second time that Talanoa Hufanga had given up a touchdown reception in the game.

The 49ers began their next drive on their own 40 yard line. Purdy hit Brandon Aiyuk for a the longest catch of the day at 54 yards:

After a one yard gain and sack that lost 4 yards, Mike McGlinchey had a false start on third down that stalled the drive. Despite the longest play of the game, the 49ers settled for a field goal to make it 24-14.

A two score lead made me feel a bit more comfortable.

Nick Bosa strip sacking Heinicke on the second play of their ensuing drive, for his second sack on Heinicke, made me feel much more comfortable. Especially since Jordan Willis recovered the fumble on the Commanders 11 yard line. 

It seemed very likely that 49ers would score a touchdown, to take a commanding three score lead over the Commanders at 31-14. Instead, Mike McGlinchey committed his second false start of the day and Shanahan elected to kick a field goal on fourth and four, from the Commanders five yard line, to make it 27-14 and still just a two score lead. I thought this was another fourth down mistake by Kyle. This time, not to go for it.

It didn't take long for Shanahan to get bailed out again. On the second play of the Commanders next drive Heinicke was pressured by Arik Armstead and threw an errant pass that picked by Jimmie Ward. This was the second time that had happened in the last four games. Armstead pressured Tua Tagovailoa into throwing a pick to Jimmie Ward as well. At first it appeared to be pick six by Ward, but it was determined that he was down by contact on the Commanders 25 yard line:

The 49ers came up just shy of a first down and Shanahan elected to kick a field goal to make it 30-14 with 9:20 to go in the game. Still technically only a two score game, but the Commanders would have to score two touchdowns plus a pair of two point conversions just to tie the game. I agreed with Shanahan's decision here.

Ron Rivera pulled Heinicke for Carson Wentz. When the schedules were released many thought this would be a battle between two North Dakota State quarterbacks: Trey Lance and Wentz. We ended up getting to see only half of that match-up and for less than one full quarter. Wentz threw the ball well and eventually hit Curtis Samuel for a 20 yard touchdown pass, on third and ten, to end the 82 yard drive, despite pass break ups by Deommodore Lenoir and Hufanga. 

The Commanders went for a 2 point conversion, but failed when Bosa got his third sack of the game, which sadly didn't count towards is season total, making it 30-20 with 5:30 remaining. Somebody direct messaged me to see how my feed was ahead of theirs, since I tweeted this before the announcers said it. I told him that my feed wasn't ahead of his. Instead, that I was simply ahead of the announcers on this call. This happens to me a lot:

The Commanders attempted an onside kick. Not only did they fail to recover the ball, but the also got a penalty for an illegal touch, which gave the 49ers the ball on the Commanders 33 yard line. Riverboat Ron had bailed out Shanahan again. When the Seahawks kicked off to the 49ers with less time on the clock the week prior, I said that they had made the right decision. The Commanders have a much better defense and should've taken their chances with stopping the 49ers offense.

After some smaller plays, Tyrion Davis-Price had a big run for a first down and Kittle caught a ball down to the one yard line:

Then McCaffrey bounced off of defender to score on a one yard touchdown run, making it 37-20, finally a three score lead, with just 2:16 to go:

Wentz was able to gain 46 yards, before time ran out, but was unable to score.

Some guessed the two touchdowns by Kittle, for the second game in a row, might be the two presents. Others mused that it was the second Jimmie Ward pick in four games from an Armstead pressure. Many thought it was the two Mc-rushing touchdowns, one each by McCloud and McCaffrey. If you said that overcoming two bad decisions by Shanahan on fourth down, then you'd be getting warmer. The truth is that two presents that Santa brought me a day early, on Christmas eve, were simply a 49ers win andm even more so, no injuries.

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Ted Hazelrig
TED HAZELRIG

Ted Hazelrig grew up on the mid peninsula in the '70s and '80s and is a life-long, rabid 49ers fan from prior to Eddie DeBartlolo Jr., Joe Montana and Bill Walsh, all the way through to the present. He is a graduate of Santa Clara University, who enjoys golf, biking, hiking, tennis and water/snow skiing. He was a 49ers season ticket holder at Candlestick Park and still attends several games every season at Levi's Stadium.  His career has been as a tech recruiter, but he would like nothing more than to pivot into covering the 49ers on a full-time basis. He loves to read, watch and listen to all the brilliant 49ers content creators. To take his knowledge to the ultimate extreme, he has found that arguing with passionate and knowledgeable fans of both the 49ers and opposing teams really puts his knowledge over the top.  Right now, his most hated team is the Seattle Seahawks. For many years it was the Troy Aikman led Dallas Cowboys and for a while the Brett Favre led Packers. The Patrick Mahomes led Chiefs are his most-hated AFC team. Ted's second-favorite team is the Josh Allen led Buffalo Bills. While he may like other teams, Ted is passionate about the 49ers. He endeavors to always be honest, polite, not profane and never get personal. He got his break covering the 49ers for @49ersHive and also has written some articles for @49ersCap. You can find him at @TedH6 on twitter, or Ted Talks Ball on YouTube and other platforms. Ted is thrilled to join Grant Cohn and his extremely talented team at @All49ersFN.

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