For others, most notably Niners quarterback Brock Purdy, the game would serve as a chance to bounce back as many around the league have written off San Francisco's signal-caller after his putrid 4-interception performance less than a week earlier on Christmas night. By game's end, Purdy would indeed bounce back in a big way with a 124.7 passer rating, on his way to recording the most passing yards in a single season by a 49ers quarterback with 4,280 in just his first year as the starting QB, eclipsing the previous mark of 4,278 passing yards set in 2000 by Jeff Garcia. With Purdy in a three-way race for the league's MVP Award alongside Baltimore's Lamar Jackson and teammate Christian McCaffrey, the 49ers QB would also witness history being made by McCaffrey and a few other of his teammates on Sunday.
Opening the game on offense, the 49ers were able to march into Washington territory with a busy first drive from McCaffrey who entered the game leading the league in rushing. Making their way to the red zone rather easily, it was there where the Niner offense fizzled out and was forced to settle for a Jake Moody field goal, giving San Francisco an early 3-0 lead. Forcing a three and out at the other end on defense as Washington held the ball for less than a minute in time of possession, the 49ers had a much more successful drive on their second possession. With more touches to McCaffrey, Purdy was able to distribute the ball to both Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk, as the tandem of receivers helped the offense setup shop at the 2-yard line where Purdy flipped a pass to Deebo who was able to score with a walk-in touchdown. Taking a 10-0 first quarter lead, Washington would flip the script as soon as they started quarter no. 2, answering back with a Joey Slye field goal and a 3-yard touchdown pass to receiver Terry McLaurin. Commanders quarterback Sam Howell who was benched earlier in the week by head coach Ron Rivera for backup QB Jacoby Brissett, suddenly found himself at the forefront of a tie game against the NFC's No. 1 team after being reinserted as the starter with Brissett ruled out a day earlier due to a hamstring injury suffered in Thursday's practice.
Looking to stave off a late season upset against one of the NFC's worst teams, the 49ers were able to march to Washington's goal-line where they struggled to find the end zone on three straight plays from the 1-yard line. Settling for a field goal, San Francisco took a 13-10 lead into the half with work to do. Making the needed adjustments at halftime, the 49ers defense forced a Washington three and out to open the third quarter. Adding to their lead, Brock Purdy and company put together the longest drive of the afternoon for either team with a 14-play, 68-yard drive that chewed up over 7-minutes of clock. Backup running back Elijah Mitchell who has had a roller coaster season with nagging knee injuries, recorded his best game of the season after filling in for McCaffrey who would leave early in the third quarter with a lower leg injury that was later described as a mild calf strain. Toting the rock for seven carries on the drive, Mitchell punched in his first touchdown of the season with a 2-yard score.
Putting their clamps down on defense, San Francisco forced back-to-back turnovers with interceptions from Charvarius Ward and Deommodore Lenoir on consecutive drives. Turning one of those turnovers into points, Purdy was able to find Aiyuk with a pair of big plays, including a 38-yard connection that put the Niners inside the red zone. Several plays later, Purdy would work a bit of his magic by scrambling out of the pocket to avoid a sack and slinging the ball across the field to find Aiyuk all alone on the left side of the end zone. San Francisco would again make their way to the goal-line, but were unable to punch thru on fourth and goal as Elijah Mitchell was denied a second touchdown on the day. After exchanging punts, the 49ers forced a turnover on downs of their own to seal the 27-10 victory. Making their way to the locker room, several members of the 49ers joined members of the media to catch the ending of the Philadelphia Eagles-Arizona Cardinals game where they witnessed a remarkable comeback win by their division rivals which helped lock up the NFC's top seed for San Francisco.
In the win, Brock Purdy threw for 230 yards and a pair of touchdowns, while also avoiding the turnover bug that plagued him a week earlier. His counterpart Sam Howell was held to just 169 yards passing, 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions. Elijah Mitchell led all rushers with 80 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries, followed by 64 yards on 14 carries by McCaffrey before the injury. McCaffrey also added 27 yards on 4 receptions, becoming the first 49ers player with 2,000+ scrimmage yards since 2006 (Frank Gore), while also posting a new career-high in rushing yards with 1,459. Receiver Brandon Aiyuk had another big day at the office, recording his 6th game of the season with over 100 receiving yards, tallying 114 and a receiving touchdown on 7 receptions. Tight-end George Kittle had only 3 receptions for 29 yards receiving in the win, but did surpass 1,000 yards receiving for the third time in his career as the 49ers became the first team in NFL history with a running back, two wide receivers and a tight-end to each have 1,000-plus scrimmage yards in the same season (McCaffrey, Aiyuk, Deebo and Kittle). They're also just the 4th team in NFL history with a 4,000+ yard passer and 4 players with 1,000+ yards from scrimmage in a season. With the 17-point win, the Niners added to their dominance over the NFC Eastern Division, increasing their point differential to +90, the highest of any team versus an opposing division this season.
Week 18 Preview: Having already clinched the NFC's top seed, (12-4) San Francisco's regular season dominance over the rival (9-4) L.A. Rams could very well finally come to an end in the team's regular-season finale as head coach Kyle Shanahan will likely sit a majority of his starters in a game with little significance. With nine straight regular season wins over Sean McVay and the Rams, the 49ers are on the cusp of hitting double-digits in consecutive wins against their southern California rivals. Other than a slight tune-up leading up to the 49ers' Playoffs Bye Week in the first round of next week's Wild Card round, I'd be very surprised to see San Francisco's starters out on the field longer than the opening quarter, if at all. The Rams who have also clinched a playoff spot as a Wild Card team after a close call on the road against the Giants, coming off a 26-25 win, are also expected to sit a number of starters. Among those sitting out for L.A. will be QB Matthew Stafford who will be benched in favor of Carson Wentz who will face off against Niners backup Sam Darnold. Sunday's game won't be completely meaningless for the Rams who can seal the NFC's No. 6 seed with a win over the Niners, or they could fall to the 7 seed with a loss and a Green Bay Packers win over the Chicago Bears.
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