49ers Deliver Holiday Cheer with Win over Washington

Week 16 - With the NFL's schedule dwindling down to the final three games of the regular season, the NFC playoff picture slowly comes into focus. While the (10-4) San Francisco 49ers are among just a handful of teams to have clinched a playoff spot entering Week 16, the (7-6-1) Washington Commanders are one of the hopeful teams vying for a Wild Card position. Looking to celebrate Christmas eve with an eighth straight victory, Niners quarterback Brock Purdy would face his toughest challenge yet in the form of an impressive Washington defense. Stealing the show early on for both teams would be the defense as neither team scored in the first quarter. Instead, both defenses had big stops in their respective red zone as coaches Kyle Shanahan and "Riverboat" Ron Rivera gambled on offense to no avail. 

After San Francisco marched 50-yards on nine plays on their first possession of the game before making it to the red zone and failing to convert on a 4th and 1 from the Washington 15-yard line, their defense returned the favor to do the Commanders one better. Embarking on an 18-play drive that went 79 yards and spanned nearly 11-minutes long, Washington's ground attack could not break thru from the 1-yard line as they were stuffed at the goal-line. Taking over at their own 1, Purdy and company was able to get some space with their own rushing attack before a big play from receiver Ray-Ray McCloud. Filling in for the injured Deebo Samuel, McCloud showed shades of his dynamic teammate when he went in motion to take a handoff and darted free for a 71-yard touchdown run to give his team a 7-0 lead. The play would mark the 49ers' longest play of the season and the first rushing touchdown of McCloud's career. Fittingly enough, Deebo would be one of the first members on the 49ers sideline to congratulate McCloud for his big play. But the festivities on the San Francisco sidelined would be short lived as their next possession went up in flames in a hurry.

Looking to tack on and add to their lead before the half, Brock Purdy would have his first down pass intercepted when Juaun Jennings bobbled the ball and batted it into the air which allowed a Washington defender to make an easy grab. Capitalizing on the turnover, Commanders QB Tyler Heinicke found rookie receiver Jahan Dotson in the back of the end zone for the game-tying touchdown. With the game all knotted up at 7 at the half and Purdy completing less than 50% of his passes thru the first two quarters, coach Shanahan made a much needed offensive adjustment. Receiving the second half kickoff, San Francisco's offense put up points for the 9th time in 15 games this season to open the second half when Purdy connected with tight-end George Kittle on a 34-yard touchdown. After forcing another Washington turnover on downs, Purdy found Kittle again for a 33-yard score, this time allowing Kittle to do what he's best at by piling on yards after the catch. The touchdown connection from Purdy to Kittle would be their second of the game and fourth in the last two weeks. However, Washington would again make things interesting after a 51-yard bomb to Pro Bowl receiver Terry McLaurin set up a short touchdown pass from Heinicke to McLaurin just two plays later. 

After answering with a Robbie Gould field goal, the San Francisco defense would put their stamp on the game with back to back turnovers forced on a strip-sack fumble by Nick Bosa and a Jimmie Ward interception which led to another pair of field goals. After seeing enough of Heinicke who seemed to be rattled following the big hit from Bosa, Ron Rivera called on Carson Wentz to finish the game at quarterback. And while Wentz would march Washington down the field for a touchdown capped off by a 20-yard strike to receiver Curtis Samuel, San Francisco would ice the game with one final touchdown-scoring drive of their own as Christian McCaffrey scored from a yard out to land the final blow. Pulling off the 37-20 victory, the 49ers won their eighth straight game to improve to 11-4 on the year. Throwing for 234 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 interception in the win, Brock Purdy became the only QB in 49ers franchise history to win his first three NFL starts. Tight-end George Kittle led all receivers with 120 yards and 2 touchdowns on six receptions. San Francisco's Ray-Ray McCloud had only one carry on the afternoon and made it count as he led all rushers with 71-yards and a touchdown. Meanwhile, Nick Bosa added two more sacks to his NFL-leading season total of 17.5, furthering his campaign for this year's NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award. Bosa is also creeping up on the franchise-record for the most sacks in a single-season held by Aldon Smith (19.5). 

Week 17 Preview: Making a trip to Sin City to face the (6-9) Las Vegas Raiders at Allegiant Stadium for the first time since their relocation from Oakland, the (11-4) 49ers will look to log their ninth consecutive win when they face off against their former Bay Area rival on New Year's Day. Turning the page on 2022, the Niners hope to see continued success in the new year, only with a twist in the continued Quest For Six. Under first-year head coach Josh McDaniel, the Raiders have been one of the bigger disappointments in the NFL this season, despite having fought back a bit from a 2-7 record thru the first 10 weeks of the season. Coming off a 13-10 loss on the road in Pittsburgh on Christmas eve in which the Raiders let a 10-6 lead slip away in the final minute and were intercepted in a last-ditch effort of their own, Vegas is hanging on for dear life with their playoff hopes slowly fading away. They'll need to turn things around fast and hope for a handful of other scenarios to take place as their playoff chances dropped from 7% to just 1% following their loss to Pittsburgh. 

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49ers Clinch the West with Sweep of Seattle

Week 15 - With the (9-4) San Francisco 49ers on the road to face the rival (7-6) Seattle Seahawks on Thursday Night Football with a chance to clinch a playoff spot and the division, the team would again turn to their rookie third-string quarterback. After passing the test in Week 14 by beating Tom Brady and the Bucs in his first career start, Brock Purdy would be tested yet again by playing in the hostile environment that is Seattle's Lumen Field for the first road start of his career. Known for being one of the more intimidating venues to play in in the entire NFL due to the high volume of the raucous crowd, Mr. Irrelevant again proved to be, well, relevant. Entering the match-up as rare road favorites in Seattle despite being winless in their last two trips to the Emerald City. 

On short rest following the quick turnaround from last Sunday's game at home against Tampa Bay, Purdy would get the nod at quarterback despite oblique and rib injuries that kept him limited in practice all week. Unfazed by it all, Purdy would continue to perform in a way that seems fit for a Hollywood script. After punting on their first possession of offense, the 49ers struck first on a brilliant play-call as Purdy faked a pair of screens before rifling a pass down the middle to a wide-open George Kittle who broke for the 28-yard touchdown. Keeping the game close, the Seahawks would get on the scoreboard with a field goal in the second quarter and threatened to take a lead before the half, but a big time hit on Seattle's Travis Homer from Niners linebacker Dre Greenlaw would result in a fumble that San Francisco would turn into a touchdown just two plays later. Scoring with under a minute remaining in the half, Christian McCaffrey would spring forward for the easy score to give the 49ers a 14-3 lead at halftime. 

It would be an interesting turn of events as Seattle nearly picked off Purdy on the other end prior to Homer's fumble. Instead for Seattle, the only team with a turnover in every game this season, that stat would continue to haunt them following their latest miscue. With 11 straight games scoring 10+ points in the first half, the longest streak in one season in 49ers team history, San Francisco wouldn't score nearly as many points as they should've in the second half, but the defense would more than make up for that. Before you could even blink after the second half kickoff, the San Francisco offense found the end zone two plays into the half when a wide-open George Kittle leaked out towards the sideline and caught a deep ball that he would take 54-yards to the house, juking a pair of Seattle defenders on his way to the end zone. Now leading 21-3, the 49ers nearly added to their double-digit lead when Seattle quarterback Geno Smith was facing pressure and launched a deep pass that was intercepted and returned for a touchdown. Instead, 49ers defensive stalwart Nick Bosa would be flagged for a bogus roughing the passer call that wiped the San Francisco touchdown off the board. Seattle would take advantage of the second-chance by adding a second field goal.  

After exchanging a pair of punts, the 49ers had looked to add to their lead just before the 5-minute mark of the fourth quarter, but a 43-yard field goal attempt by 49ers kicker Robbie Gould would sail wide right, keeping the score at 21-6. Making matters worse, Seattle would march 67 yards on eight plays, while chewing up only 1 minute and 25 seconds of game time. Inching closer by making it a 21-13 ballgame, Seattle would score their first offensive touchdown in nearly two whole games versus San Francisco this season, scoring at the 3:35 mark of the fourth quarter to pull within a single score. Looking to close out the game, the 49ers offense would take to the ground and do just that, taking advantage of a poor Seattle run defense which ranks 31st overall against the run. Having allowed 160 rush yards per game, Seattle had surrendered 838 rushing yards over their last four games prior to Thursday. The duo of Christian McCaffrey (26 carries, 108 rush yards) and Jordan Mason (4 carries, 64 yards) would add 170 more rushing yards for San Francisco, including 55 yards on a dash up the middle by the undrafted rookie, as Mason sealed the game-clinching first down before leaking oil and being stopped at the 3-yardline where they would let the clock run out. 

Becoming only the second team in the league to wrap up a playoff berth after Philadelphia, the 49ers on the other hand are the first to secure a division title, with their first NFC West crown since 2019. Sweeping the season series from Seattle for the first time since 2011, the 49ers currently have the longest active winning-streak in the NFL with seven consecutive victories, trailing them are the Cincinnati Bengals who are next with five. Niners QB Brock Purdy registered a turnover-free game, completing 17 of 26 pass attempts, including his first 11, and threw for 217 yards and 2 scores. Purdy's 11 consecutive completed passes to begin a game is the longest such streak by a rookie QB this season. Purdy is also the first rookie QB to win his first two starts vs a Super Bowl-winning QB in Tampa Bay's Tom Brady and a Super Bowl-winning head coach in Seattle's Pete Carroll, while also leading all rookie QB's this season with 6 passing touchdowns. Purdy did equally as well at the podium at his postgame press conference, deflecting all credibility to fellow Niner QB's Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo. Purdy's favorite target on the night -- tight-end George Kittle, had his best game of the season, hauling in four catches for 93 yards and 2 touchdowns. Meanwhile, the 49er defense held Geno Smith to 238 yards and a touchdown. 

Week 16 Preview: Returning to Levi's Stadium on Christmas eve, the (10-4) 49ers will look to gift themselves an eighth straight win when they take on a (7-5-1) Washington Commanders team vying for an NFC Wild Card spot. With San Francisco having already clinched a playoff berth, the Commanders are not to be taken lightly as they will have plenty on the line to fight for, not to mention they are the only team thus far to hand the (12-1) Philadelphia Eagles a loss this season, albeit they are division rivals. If the Niners can continue to win and the Minnesota Vikings continue to fall, Kyle Shanahan's 49ers have a chance to soar into the NFC's No. 2 seed, and while the chances of them catching Philly are possible, they remain slim. But most importantly, San Francisco will hope to avoid the injury bug during the regular season's homestretch. 

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49ers Dismantle Brady's Bucs in Purdy's First Career Start

Week 14 - Heading into Week 14's match-up between the (8-5) San Francisco 49ers and (6-6) Tampa Bay Buccaneers, all the chatter revolved around Mr. Irrelevant Brock Purdy versus the GOAT Tom Brady. Two guys nobody gave much of a chance after being drafted in the seventh and sixth round, respectively, the two QB's would square off with both of their teams looking to stay atop their respective divisions. Featured as FOX's "Game of the Week," the highlighted match-up would turn into a rout by halftime and would force the network to switch to the more competitive game between the Carolina Panthers and Seattle Seahawks with 9:44 remaining in the third quarter. 

Playing 25 miles outside of his hometown for only the second time in his career against the team he grew up rooting for, Bucs quarterback Tom Brady who was seen taking it all in before and after the game, had purchased tickets for over 100 friends and family members who were in attendance on Sunday. Unfortunately for him, his supporters would have little to cheer for in the lopsided affair. Niners quarterback Brock Purdy would also have his family in attendance as his parents were able to witness their son make his first career NFL start. And as if the juices weren't flowing already after player introductions, he would be awoken with a helmet to helmet hit that resulted in a 15-yard roughing the passer penalty on the first play of the game. From that point on, it would be a remarkable day at the office for Purdy who helped lead the 49ers on a touchdown-scoring drive on their first possession. Receiver Deebo Samuel would put San Francisco ahead early with a 13-yard touchdown run. 

Looking to answer, the Bucs would cross midfield and attempt a 55-yard field goal which kicker Ryan Succop would miss terribly. San Francisco would find the end zone again two possessions later when Purdy struck pay dirt with a touchdown run from two yards out for his first career rushing touchdown. One drive later, Purdy would launch a 27-yard touchdown to running back Christian McCaffrey to take a three-score lead which led the Levi's Stadium faithful to begin chants of "Purdy". With the touchdown pass, Purdy would become just the third QB in 49ers franchise history to record a rushing touchdown and a passing touchdown in his first career start (Shaun Hill & Jeff Garcia). With the 49er offense rolling to a 21-0 advantage, Purdy and company would lose one of their most dynamic weapons in the second quarter when Deebo Samuel was tackled awkwardly and fumbled the ball. Grabbing at his lower leg as he went down, he would need to be carted off the field. Noticeably upset and in tears, not one player on the 49ers team went without padding Deebo on the back or going to a knee as he was being attended to by the team's medical staff. 

After a turnover on downs by the Bucs on the other end, the 49ers were able to add another touchdown just before the half. Nearly suffering their second consecutive turnover, San Francisco caught a break when a Brock Purdy interception was negated thanks to a holding call by the Tampa Bay defense. One play later, Purdy found receiver Brandon Aiyuk on a deep pass for a 32-yard touchdown. Taking a 28-0 lead into the half, San Francisco's number one defense would hold Tom Brady and the Bucs offense to their third shutout of the first half this season. Opening the second half with more sloppiness from the Tampa Bay offense, the 49er defense would intercept Brady on back to back possessions in the third quarter as Tashaun Gipson and Dre Greenlaw picked off the Bucs QB. Adding one final touchdown, McCaffrey broke for a 38-yard touchdown run, stiff-arming his way to the end zone to put the Niners ahead, 35-0. Becoming only the fourth player in NFL history with 30+ rushing touchdowns and 20+ receiving touchdowns in his first six seasons, McCaffrey would log his 11th career game with 1+ rushing TD and 1+ receiving TD, tying him with the great Jim Brown for 4th most all-time. 

The Buccaneers would finally break thru with a score of their own with just under three minutes remaining in the third quarter when receiver Russell Gage caught a fluky touchdown pass after being in the right place at the right time. With Brady's pass nearly intercepted, the ball was deflected before finding Gage who made a shoestring grab for the lucky score. Brock Purdy would depart the game in the fourth quarter with an oblique and rib injury and did not play the final 13 minutes, allowing the recently acquired Josh Johnson to enter and closeout the game. Adding one more turnover with a fumble on defense, the 49ers milked the clock to a 35-7 victory. Despite not recording a single sack for the first time this season, the San Francisco defense still managed three takeaways with two interceptions and a fumble. Brock Purdy completed 16 of 21 passes for 185 yards and 2 touchdowns, outdueling Tom Brady who threw for 253 yards, 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions on 34 of 55 pass attempts. With the win, Purdy also became the first QB to defeat Tom Brady in his first career start. McCaffrey led all players with 2 touchdowns and 162 all purpose yards with 119 on the ground and another 34 yards thru the air, logging his 41st game with 100+ scrimmage yards since 2017 which is the most in the NFL in that span and 9th this season. He's also the only player in the league this season with 700+ rushing yards & 500+ receiving yards thru Week 13. 

Week 15 Preview: Taking the stage for their one and only Thursday Night Football game of the season, the (9-4) 49ers will take a trip to the Pacific Northwest to face the division rival (7-6) Seattle Seahawks with a chance to clinch the NFC Western Division on the line. Coming off a loss at home to the Carolina Panthers, Pete Carroll's Seahawks who have been leading the 49ers or on their heels in the standings, have now lost three of their last five games which has given San Francisco some breathing room as the 49ers have also won six straight. Unfortunately, Niners head coach Kyle Shanahan will have a decision to make before kickoff as Brock Purdy may not be ready in time for Thursday's game on short rest as he's dealing with oblique and rib soreness. Purdy who had the highest passer rating among QB's in Week 14 with a 134.0 QBR, will be ruled a game-time decision. If Purdy is unable to start, QB Josh Johnson will be next in line for the start in what is his fourth stint with the Niners. Johnson completed 1 of 2 passes for 10 yards to closeout Sunday's win over the Bucs. Hopefully San Francisco's dominant defense will do enough of the heavy lifting on Thursday to the point that it won't matter who is under center for San Francisco come kickoff. 

San Francisco also dodged a bullet with the Deebo injury as it was revealed that the 49ers' receiver did suffer knee and ankle sprains but avoided a major injury as he's expected to return to the field this season. 

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49ers lose Garoppolo, Rally behind Mr. Irrelevant to down Dolphins

Week 13 - One of the more anticipated games to highlight another busy week in the NFL was Week 13's meeting between the (7-4) San Francisco 49ers and the visiting (8-3) Miami Dolphins in what would be a match-up of teacher and student between Niners head coach Kyle Shanahan and 'Fins skipper Mike McDaniel who faced off for the first time after having spent 14 seasons coaching together. As if the two high-flying offenses wasn't enough to look forward to, the game would also feature a number of 49er players now on the Dolphins, including Miami's running back tandem of Raheem Mostert and Jeff Wilson Jr. who had some choice words come up in a recent interview regarding their former team which led to several Niners taking to social media to respond. But no response would be louder than the one that took place on the field when the final whistle blew on Sunday.

Facing the league's number one defense, Miami's offense which had scored 30+ points in four consecutive games entering Sunday's tilt and has produced some of their best offensive statistics since the Dan Marino-led Dolphins in 1986, came out guns blazing on the first play of the game. After pitching a shutout a week ago at home against the Saints, the 49ers saw their hopes of logging back to back shutouts evaporate almost immediately after kickoff and before many fans could even find their seats. Dolphins receiver Trent Sherfield who tallied a total of 87 yards and a touchdown last season with the 49ers, nearly topped that mark on one play when he caught the first pass of the game on the first play from scrimmage and took it 75-yards to the house for the game-opening touchdown and ending the Niners' streak of six consecutive shutout quarters on defense. But as expected when you poke a sleeping giant, Miami's big play would only anger San Francisco's defense which woke up following the early score. Equally as troubling for the offense, the 49ers would see quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo hauled to the locker room with a lower leg injury following San Francisco's first possession on offense, thrusting rookie QB Brock Purdy into the spotlight. 

Purdy, taken with the final pick of the 2022 NFL Draft, this year's Mr. Irrelevant was anything but on Sunday when called upon to take over for the injured Garoppolo who went down on the final play of the Niners' first drive before having to settle for a Robbie Gould field goal. With the defense settling down and recovering from the gut-punch on the opening-play, Purdy came into the game and marched the offense to the end zone for his first career touchdown pass as he hit fullback Kyle Juszczyk for the 3-yard score. After Miami tied the game at 10 with a field goal of their own, Purdy again led the offense down the field and into the red zone where he found Christian McCaffrey for the short touchdown strike from 3-yards out in the final seconds of the half. Going into the locker room with a 17-10 lead, the 49ers' late first half touchdown meant San Francisco had now scored in the final two minutes of the first half in each of their last five games (all wins). Meanwhile, at the time of Garoppolo's injury, the extent of the injury was still very much unknown. As it turned out, Garoppolo would be ruled out for the game at the half and it was learned following the game from coach Shanahan that his quarterback had suffered a broken foot that would require season-ending surgery. 

Down to their third-string quarterback, the former standout QB who started nearly all four years at Iowa State and went on to set a number of school records with the Cyclones, over 30 to be exact, including winningest QB in program history, most passing yards, most completions, highest completion percentage and most touchdowns, Purdy looked very comfortable under center given the circumstances. Other than the fluky 75-yard touchdown scored on Miami's first play of the game, the San Francisco defense held their own in the first half, allowing just 82 yards on their next 24 plays. That defense would start the second half red hot by intercepting Tua not only on consecutive possessions, but on consecutive passes to open the half. Ending Tua's streak of 193 straight passes without an interception, the longest active streak in NFL, was 49ers safety Jimmie Ward who took advantage of a Dolphins receiver who lost his footing on the play and corner Deommodore Lenoir who secured an errant pass off the hands of Tyreke Hill. The 49ers would turn both picks into field goals, adding to their lead. 

But like the saying goes, "all good things must come to an end," the same would be said for San Francisco's second-half shutout streak as a deep pass from Tua to Hill ended in a 45-yard touchdown to start the fourth quarter. The 0 points allowed in the second half of four straight games for San Francisco's defense would tie the longest streak since 1939 and spanned an impressive 22 opponent possessions. But after having to punt on their ensuing possession, the 49ers suddenly found themselves in a vulnerable position, giving the ball back to their opponent and clinging to just a six-point lead. A key overturned catch on 4th and 2 for the Dolphins that would've resulted in a first down, was instead reversed to an incomplete pass thanks to a nice play by 49ers linebacker Dre Greenlaw who upon further review got a hand on the ball just enough to disrupt the catch. Cashing in on another field goal, the San Francisco defense would put a dagger in the heart of the Dolphins offense when Nick Bosa forced a strip-sack that resulted in a scoop and score fumble return for the aforementioned Greenlaw. It would be the final stamp of the day for the 49er defense and Bosa who had a monstrous afternoon, tallying 3 total sacks on the day. 

Adding insult to injury, Tua would be replaced one possession later by QB Skylar Thompson who's one and only pass resulted in a Fred Warner interception to ice the game and send the Niners off with the 33-17 victory. Whether or not it was the 49ers defense making Tua uncomfortable, there would be an awful lot of misfires and overthrows for the league's most accurate passer on downfield passes virtually all afternoon long as he entered Sunday's game with a QB rating of 115.7 to lead the NFL. With another dominant second half, San Francisco has now outscored opponents 70-7 in the second half of their last five games. They have also allowed 17 points or fewer in five straight games, their longest streak since 1997. As for the man of the match, quarterback Brock Purdy threw for 210 yards, 2 touchdowns and an interception while becoming the first Mr. Irrelevant to throw a touchdown pass in a regular season game. Tagovailoa threw for 295 yards, 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions in the loss. Christian McCaffrey (8 receptions, 80 yards and 1 touchdown) and Tyreek Hill (9 receptions, 146 yards and 1 touchdown) each led their teams in receiving. McCaffrey and rookie running back Jordan Mason also combined for 66 and 51 yards rushing, respectively, while former Niners Raheem Mostert and Jeff Wilson Jr. were held to a combined 33 yards rushing for Miami. 

Week 14 Preview: One of only six QB's taken with the final pick in NFL Draft, Purdy who has already made NFL history by being the first Mr. Irrelevant to throw a touchdown pass in a regular season game, will now become the first with that title to start a game at quarterback when he gets the call under center next week against Tom Brady and the (6-6) Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Concluding their three-game homestand at Levi's Stadium, the vaunted 49er defense will look to continue their recent onslaught against a Buccaneers team that has not looked nearly as good as they had in the previous two seasons with Brady at the helm. But after erasing a 13-point deficit with less than 5 mins remaining on Monday Night Football to steal a game against the rival Saints, the lowly Bucs are not to be taken lightly despite their record. The 49ers will also need to continue their winning ways to keep their distance from second-place Seattle. 

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