49ers Right Ship vs Washington, Lock up Top Seed

Week 17 - Looking to bounce back from a blowout loss at home on Christmas night to the Baltimore Ravens, Brock Purdy and the (11-4) San Francisco 49ers set their sights on the (4-11) Washington Commanders in hopes of finishing 2023 by getting back on track with a win. Heading to the nation's capital to face a struggling Commanders team on New Years Eve, Kyle Shanahan's 49ers would aim to make Sunday's game their last of the season as members of the road team as a win coupled with a loss from the Philadelphia Eagles would lock up the NFC's No. 1 seed and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. But before San Francisco could look ahead to the postseason, the meeting against Washington would be especially important for two current members of the 49ers in left-tackle Trent Williams and defensive-end Chase Young, both of whom are former Washington players. Facing off against their former team, Sunday's bout with Washington marked the first time for Williams at FedEx Field as a visitor and Young for the first time of his career at home or away. 

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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Niners Back on Track with Dominant Win over Jags

Week 10 - Coming out of the bye week and hitting the road for Jacksonville, the (5-3) San Francisco 49ers would face the red-hot (6-2) Jaguars in a battle between two teams that have gone in completely different directions from one another after totally different starts to the season. While the 49ers got off to arguably the best start in all of football with a blazing 5-0 start, the Jags on the other hand began the season 1-2 through their first three games. Since those starts, the Niners have dropped three straight, and the Jags have won an NFL-best five in a row entering Sunday. In desperate need of a win to stop the bleeding and end their three-game skid, the 49ers received some much needed help on defense from defensive-end Chase Young who was acquired at the trade deadline from the Washington Commanders. 

Coming out of college as the No. 2 overall pick in 2019, Niners defensive-end Nick Bosa was touted as being one of the best pass rushers of this generation. And coming out of college a year later was his Ohio State teammate Chase Young who many believed was even more talented after also being drafted with the No. 2 overall pick. Now the two former Defensive Rookies of the Year have reunited at the professional level in San Francisco and will attempt to duplicate the success they had together at the collegiate level when they wreaked havoc and combined for a total of 33 sacks in two seasons with the Buckeyes. Facing a stout defense of their own, Jacksonville entered Sunday tied with the Saints for the most takeaways in all of football with 18, while also ranking 3rd in the NFL in rushing yards per game allowed (79). Like San Francisco, the Jags were also coming off the bye week, making it three straight weeks the 49ers would face a team coming off the bye and given an extra week to prepare for them. The extra week of preparation wouldn't matter for Jags quarterback Trevor Lawrence, however, as the San Francisco defense had his number virtually all afternoon long. But it wasn't all about the defense in this one for the 49ers, as quarterback Brock Purdy helped get the offense back on track in a big way.

With Jacksonville receiving the opening-kickoff, the 49er defense would come out swinging by getting to the quarterback for a sack and forcing a three and out punt. Equally as impressive would be the 49er offense which needed only four plays to march 57-yards before finding the end zone on a 13-yard pass from Purdy who hit receiver Brandon Aiyuk for the touchdown. Escaping the pocket and running left, Purdy would throw across the field to find his target for the early score, and although it would be a success, his coach was not a fan. In his postgame press conference, coach Kyle Shanahan recalled the play as, "one of his worst decisions I think he's made since he's been here." While the daring play didn't win his coach over, it did help give his team an early 7-0 lead. The opening-drive score for the 49ers would be their sixth opening-drive touchdown on the season, the most in the NFL. Meanwhile, the Jags defense had given up zero opening-drive touchdowns on the year up to that point, allowing only 3-points on opening-drives which ranked as the fewest in the league. The theme of those first drives would be commonplace throughout the afternoon for both teams. 

Getting back to back stops on defense by forcing another Jacksonville three and out as the 49ers got to Lawrence for the second time in as many drives, the 49ers added to their lead with a Jake Moody field goal to take a 10-0 lead. The Jaguars would finally get the ball across midfield in the second quarter on their fourth possession, but two plays after their biggest play yet, a 16-yard run, the 49ers would force the first of many turnovers on the day as Bosa and Young combined for the sack just like old times, forcing a turnover recovered by the defense. Exchanging field goals before the half, the Niners took a 13-3 lead into halftime. Turning things up a notch on both sides of the ball to start the second half, Brock Purdy recorded the longest touchdown pass of his career on a deep ball to his tight-end George Kittle, launching a 66-yard strike just two plays into the half as Kittle was able to walk into the end zone untouched. The 49er defense would then string together three straight drives with forced turnovers as two interceptions and a fumble ignited a busy day for defensive-coordinator Steve Wilkes who was on the hot seat after the Niners' recent skid and was asked by coach Shanahan to ditch the press box in favor of calling the game from the field. Safe to say it worked. 

Jacksonville's one and only trip to the red zone in the second half would end in disaster when receiver Christian Kirk fumbled inside the 10-yard line after being tackled by San Francisco's Ambry Thomas. The turnover was initially returned 92-yards for a touchdown by Thomas, but an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty by the 49er sideline nullified the big play as players were called for stepping onto the field before the play was over. Although the touchdown on defense would be called back, the offense would make up for it just a few plays later as utilityman Deebo Samuel returned to the lineup in a big way with a 23-yard rushing touchdown. After missing the last two games with a shoulder injury and all but one possession of the game prior to that, Deebo helped the 49er offense get back to their old ways alongside left-tackle Trent Williams who also returned after sustaining an injury to the Browns in Week 6, the same game Deebo was injured in. 

The 49er defense would intercept Trevor Lawrence a second time on Jacksonville's following possession to open the fourth quarter thanks to a pick from linebacker Fred Warner, as Javon Hargrave applied pressure that led to the errant pass. Putting the final nail in the coffin would be 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk  who hauled in a 22-yard grab, making it a 34-3 lead and putting the game well out of reach. Brock Purdy was able to sit the rest of the way, allowing Sam Darnold to finish the game under center. With star running back Christian McCaffrey sitting at 17 consecutive games with a touchdown, tied with Hall of Famer Lenny Moore for the all-time record, coach Shanahan dialed up multiple plays down the stretch in the fourth quarter for McCaffrey who had his eyes set on history. However, everyone in the building knew the ball was going to McCaffrey, including the Jags who sniffed out a pass attempt near the goal line, denying McCaffrey and forcing the turnover on downs.

Putting up a career-high passer rating of 148.9 and completing 73% of his passes, 49ers QB Brock Purdy did manage to make history of his own as Sunday's win marked the 3rd time in Purdy's professional career that he recorded at least three touchdowns and a passer rating of 140 or more, joining Kurt Warner as the only other QB in NFL history to accomplish that feat during their first two seasons in the league. Completing 19 of 26 passes for 296 yards and 3 touchdowns, Purdy helped the Niners score 30+ points for the sixth time this season, the most in the NFL. Even more impressive, all 3 of Purdy's TD's against the Jags traveled over 10 yards in the air with a time to throw off at least 2.5 seconds. Only five QB's have recorded a game with three such TD's this season, and Purdy is the only one to accomplish it multiple times. Elsewhere, the league's leading-rusher McCaffrey logged his 6th game this season with 100+ scrimmage yards (95 rushing, 47 receiving), the most in the NFL. Tight-end George Kittle led all receivers with 116 yards receiving and a touchdown on only three receptions. For Jacksonville, QB Trevor Lawrence was held to just 185 yards passing and 0 touchdowns, while throwing 2 interceptions and was sacked five times on the afternoon. 

Week 11 Preview: The (6-3) 49ers will look to build upon their most recent win in dominant fashion when they return home to Levi's Stadium to face Baker Mayfield and the (4-5) Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It’ll be the first time Brock Purdy faces Tampa Bay since making his first career start against them in Week 14 a season ago, helping defeat the Tom Brady-led Bucs by a final score of 35-7 and putting the league on notice that he was more than just the latest Mr. Irrelevant. 

Coming off a 20-6 win at home over the Tennessee Titans, the former 1st overall pick of the Cleveland Browns in 2018, has enjoyed a resurgent year under-center in his first season with the Bucs, having thrown 14 touchdowns to just 5 interceptions and has his team playing respectable football in what has been a poor division up to this point. One player that will look to contain Mayfield is Nick Bosa who had some fun the last time he faced Mayfield, planting the flag in his famous sack celebration that was in reference to Mayfield planting the Oklahoma Sooners flag at midfield in a win over Ohio State when the two faced off in college. Coming off his best game of the season with 1.5 sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery which earned him NFC Defensive Player of the Week honors, Bosa will try to exact more revenge against Mayfield and apply pressure on the quarterback for a San Francisco defense that now leads the league in interceptions with 13 on the year. 

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Skid continues for Niners who drop third straight

Week 8 - After never enduring a single loss during the regular season a year ago after taking over the reigns of the Niners' starting quarterback position in Week 14, Brock Purdy entered Sunday's Week 8 tilt versus a rejuvenated Cincinnati Bengals team that had won back to back games after getting off to a slow 2-3 start. With their own week 9 bye on the horizon, the sluggish 49ers who are limping to the break, faced a team coming off the bye week for a second consecutive week. With an extra week to prepare for their opponent, Joe Burrow and the Bengals offense looked the part and came out guns blazing, leaving much to desire from the San Francisco defense that hasn't looked like their normal self in each of the last two weeks after dominating their opponents through the first five weeks of the season. Despite their recent struggles and two-game skid, Brock Purdy who was cleared to play on Saturday after being in the league's concussion protocol as recent as Wednesday, still entered Sunday's game with a perfect record of 8-0 at home in his career. His perfect track record at home would be in jeopardy on Sunday, as was San Francisco's 11-game home winning streak which dates back to their last loss at home over a year ago on October 23, 2022 versus Kansas City. 

Winning the coin-toss and electing to defer, the Cincinnati defense sniffed out a rush attempt by the 49ers fullback on 3rd and 1, forcing a three and out punt on San Francisco's opening-drive. Equally as impressive was the Bengals offense which marched 80-yards on 12-plays before finding the end zone for an early lead, marking their third consecutive game with an opening-drive touchdown for the first time since 2016. Answering quickly with a score of their own, Purdy connected on a 31-yard pass to receiver Brandon Aiyuk before running back Christian McCaffrey tied the game at 7-all with a 2-yard rushing touchdown. With his 17th consecutive game with a touchdown (including playoffs), McCaffrey tied Baltimore Colts Hall of Famer Lenny Moore for the longest touchdown streak in NFL history. Cincy's Joe Burrow would tally an impressive streak of his own by opening the game with a career-best 18 consecutive completions, including a pass on the final play of the 1st quarter for a 2-yard touchdown to rookie receiver Andrei Iosivas. The Bengals would look to add a field goal to their lead one possession later, but kicker Evan McPherson missed wide-right from 50-yards out, keeping it a one-score game. 

On the other end, the 49ers inched closer with a field goal from Jake Moody on San Francisco's ensuing possession. The 49er defense would get an even bigger break during Cincinnati's next drive which spanned 10-plays for 71-yards and appeared destined for the end zone before going up in flames on a fumble inside the 5-yard line by tight-end Irv Smith as Clelin Ferrell forced the turnover. San Francisco would try to get within field goal range before the half, but with 31-seconds on the clock and no timeouts to work with, they would run out of time to try to clock the ball in hopes of giving their kicker a chance. The Bengals would add a field goal to open the second half thanks to the legs of quarterback Joe Burrow who finished Sunday's game with more rushing yards against San Francisco (43) than he had in the team's first six games this season combined, showing that his once injured calf is doing just fine. Purdy would also have a strong day on the ground, finishing with a career-high 57 rushing yards on 6 carries, besting McCaffrey by 3-yards. After a 12-yard run got the 49ers inside the red zone, San Francisco looked like they were going to tie the game before a nonchalant pass intended for backup running back Elijah Mitchell was picked off. 

Unable to do anything with the turnover, the Bengals were held to a punt. San Francisco would not be so fortunate on their next possession, however, as Purdy was intercepted again on his very next pass attempt, giving him two interceptions in as many passes and his first career game at home with multiple interceptions. Burrow and company would capitalize, needing only one play as the Bengals signal-caller hit Ja'Marr Chase for a 17-yard touchdown reception. Purdy and the Niners would answer with a touchdown of their own as Christian McCaffrey added a 4-yard receiving touchdown to his productive day, giving him 14 career games with a rushing and receiving touchdown in the same game, 2nd all-time to Marshall Faulk's record of 15 such games. Trailing by a touchdown and in need of stop, the 49er defense was unable to contain Bengals running back Joe Mixon who added a devastating 9-yard touchdown run to put the 49ers out of their misery. One final last-ditch effort by Purdy would go sideways when he was sacked and stripped of the ball to put the final nail in the coffin as the Niners fell 31-17 for their third straight loss. 

Joe Burrow who entered Sunday 3-0 against the NFC West this season, completed the sweep of the division by throwing for 283 yards and 3 touchdowns. Brock Purdy tallied 365 yards and 1 touchdown, but his fumble and two interceptions would prove to be costly. Christian McCaffrey added a pair of touchdowns to give him 22 scrimmage TD's since joining San Francisco via trade last season, and had over 100 total yards (54 rushing, 64 receiving), while tight-end George Kittle and receiver Brandon Aiyuk both eclipsed the century mark in receiving yards with 149 and 109, respectively. Ja'Marr Chase of the Bengals led all receivers with 10 receptions and finished with an even 100 yards receiving and 1 TD. 

Week 10 Preview: When the (5-3) 49ers return from the BYE Week, they'll be headed to Duval County to face the (6-2) Jacksonville Jaguars and quarterback Trevor Lawrence. Winners of five straight games, the Jags and Niners are two teams that appear to be going in completely opposite directions as Jacksonville got off to a slow start but has been on a tear as of late, whereas San Francisco seemed unbeatable out of the gates and now resembles a reeling team in desperate need of righting the course. The bye comes at a pivotal time for Kyle Shanahan and the 49ers who since losing receiver and Swiss Army knife Deebo Samuel to injury in Week 6, have been playing like a team with an identity crisis as they seem lost and unable to find their rhythm without one of their key cogs. Although rough at times, the defense has also taken a step back from their dominant start to the season, but hopes to get back on track with a little help thanks to a big move made by GM John Lynch who had already made a move a few weeks earlier with the addition of Randy Gregory. 

Just before Tuesday's NFL trade deadline, the 49ers went out and made a splash by acquiring defensive-end Chase Young from the Washington Commanders in exchange for a third-round pick. Young, at 24 years old, is a former Defensive Rookie of the Year Award winner and former teammate of Nick Bosa as the tandem spent two seasons together at Ohio State where they tallied a combined total of 33 sacks as teammates from 2017-18. Both players were drafted with the No. 2 overall pick one year apart by their respective teams and will now reunite in hopes of helping provide a boost to San Francisco's pass rush. Young is slated to be a free-agent at the conclusion of the 2023 season after the Commanders declined to pick up his fifth-year option during the offseason due to his injury history. After his Defensive Rookie of the Year campaign in 2020 which also included a trip to the Pro Bowl, an ACL tear limited Young to only 3 games last season. However, Young has enjoyed a bounce back season up to this point and joins SF with 5 sacks thru 7 games this season after leading Washington in the category. 

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Costly Turnovers spell Doom for 49ers

Week 14 - Hanging onto a sliver of hope in the NFC's Wild Card Playoff picture, the San Francisco 49ers (5-7) would take a second crack at winning a home game away from home while having to host the Washington Football Team (5-7) at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. For whatever reason, history would not be on the side of San Francisco as teams having to play their "home" game at another team's stadium, boasted an overall record of 1-5 since the 1970 merger entering Sunday's bout. And like many of those other teams who failed before them, the 49ers would resemble anything but a team playing focused and comfortably at home. 

With the main headline entering Sunday's game being the return of Washington quarterback Alex Smith playing against his former team, the likely favorite to win this season's Comeback Player of the Year Award, was not around very long as he was forced to depart Sunday's game early with a leg injury. Unrelated to the devastating lower leg injury that took place just over two years ago that nearly ended Smith's playing career and even worse, his life, Smith's injury was later described as a calf strain. Taking over under center for Smith just before halftime would be second-year QB Dwayne Haskins. But regardless of who Washington had out there playing quarterback, the offense was ineffective and had little to show for as San Francisco jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first quarter following a rushing touchdown from Jeff Wilson Jr. Washington would narrow the deficit with a pair of field goals, but where their offense lacked, their defense surely made up for it as the 49ers' turnover bug continued to bite them. Having suffered 2+ giveaways in six straight games entering Sunday, the Niners had yet another setback with two more in the first half to make it seven straight games of at least 2+ giveaways, their longest such streak since 2008. 

The first big blow to the 49er offense would be dealt by Washington's rookie and 2020 first round pick (2nd overall) Chase Young who had himself a game to remember on Sunday. After already logging a sack on the quarterback and forcing a fumble on the running back, Young scooped up a fumble recovery which he returned 47-yards for a touchdown as Washington took a 13-7 lead into the half. With another field goal to open the second half, the Washington Football Team relied on their defense and the mishaps of the 49ers offense to supply most of their scoring. Trailing 16-7, QB Nick Mullens and the 49er offense embarked on an 11-play drive and made it as far as the Washington 24-yardline before Mullens made an errant pass that was intercepted and returned 76-yards for a pick-six touchdown. With 23 unanswered-points scored by Washington, the 49ers found themselves playing from behind and down two-scores with only a quarter remaining. Their ensuing possession, another 11-play drive, would end much better for the San Francisco offense on their second time around as fullback Kyle Juszczyk hauled in a 6-yard touchdown reception, followed by a successful two-point conversion from Mullens to receiver Kendrick Bourne. 

Unfortunately for San Francisco, their final three possessions would end in a pair of punts and a turnover on downs as Washington prevailed over the Niners by a final score of 23-15. Having soared near the top of the league in quite a few defensive categories including points allowed and rushing yards allowed, the Washington defense once again stood on its head when they needed it most, seeing as their offense was virtually nonexistent all game long. San Francisco's defense was also stout in the loss, allowing only 193 yards of total offense compared to the 344 yards allowed by Washington, but their inability to force the costly turnovers like those committed by Nick Mullens and the 49er offense, proved to be the major difference on Sunday. For Washington, the defense would score multiple touchdowns in a game for the first time in over 20 years (1997), as the team won on the road without scoring an offensive touchdown for the first time since 1992. With Washington's win coupled with a Giants loss suffered at the hands of the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, first-year head coach Ron Rivera witnessed his team capture first place in the NFC East as they try to become the first team in the Super Bowl era to make the playoffs after starting the season with a 2-7 record. 

Meanwhile, San Francisco saw their playoff hopes take a major hit as they fall to 5-8 on the year and will be without their dynamic receiver Deebo Samuel for the remainder of the season after he reinjured his hamstring in the first half of Sunday's loss. Samuel finished the game with 1 rush for 9 yards and 0 receptions. Neither Alex Smith (57 yards) nor Dwayne Haskins (51 yards) had much success in the passing game as both QB's failed to throw for 60 yards, but they were able to avoid the costly turnovers that eventually spelled doom for their counterpart in Nick Mullens. The 49ers QB threw for 260 yards and a touchdown, but his costly interception and fumble, both of which leading to Washington touchdowns, dug too big a hole for the San Francisco offense to climb out of. The lone bright spot on the day would be that of Brandon Aiyuk as the 49ers' rookie receiver continued to shine, making a game-high 10 catches for 119 yards.

Week 15 Preview - With division opponents in Weeks 16 & 17 to closeout the regular season, Week 15 will see the last of San Francisco facing foes outside of the NFC West as they make a trip to the lone star state to take on the Dallas Cowboys (4-9). Like the 49ers, Dallas has had to make due without their starting quarterback for most of the season as QB Dak Prescott saw his season come to an abrupt stop after suffering a horrific leg injury suffered back in Week 5. Clearly not the same team without their leader, Dallas is coming off a 30-7 victory against the Bengals in Cincinnati, their first win of the season by more than 3-points. And like their reunion with Alex Smith in Week 14, Week 15 will see the 49ers face off against another familiar face in Dallas' Aldon Smith. The former 49ers Pro Bowl defensive-end turned troubled individual has had somewhat of a resurgence in 2020, helping make plays for the Cowboys defense, while also keeping his nose clean. Unfortunately, this once proud rivalry will not have the same juice that it otherwise would have had both Prescott and 49ers QB Jimmy Garoppolo been healthy. Instead, both franchises are near the bottom of their respective divisions and could very well be fighting for draft position at this point. 

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