One half of decent football does not earn you a passing grade. Washington got outgained 303-90 before halftime, per Ben Standig, trailed 20-3, clawed back to 23-17, and then lost on a fourth-down breakup and a final-snap sack. And not just any sack. A sack when the 49ers rushed three players versus Washington’s six players blocking. The Commies are 1-4-1, limping into the bye. Here’s the Commanders report card.
Pass offense: B-
The passing game did enough to make Washington dangerous, but not enough to earn a top grade. Jayden Daniels completed 29 of 40 passes for 300 yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions. Chig Okonkwo supplied seven catches for 69 yards, Treylon Burks added 66 yards, and Antonio Williams chipped in 50 yards. There were productive options beyond the quarterback, even after Terry McLaurin’s knee injury.
The reason the pass offense scored a B- was the incredible second half. Daniels threw touchdown passes to Stefon Diggs and Rachaad White, and Williams supplied a 23-yard third-down reception on the latter possession. To be clear, this was not the usual garbage yardage that teams pull up when the opposing defense is protecting a large lead and has mentally checked out. All of the Commies’ passing yards mattered and were against a 49ers defense desperately clinging on for a win.
Despite all of the nice passing by Daniels in the second half, the deductions are substantial. The offensive line gave up four sacks that cost 39 yards, leaving Washington with 261 net passing yards. The offensive line also committed five costly penalties. One of the penalties was a pointless facemask penalty on Chris Paul that wiped a go-ahead touchdown off the scoreboard. Also, Daniels turned into Patrick Star for a second straight game and threw the ball away on the early fourth-and-two, ending a scoring opportunity. On the final possession, intentional grounding brought a 12-yard penalty and a 10-second runoff before the game-ending sack. A sack that saw six Washington players unable to block just three rushing 49ers.
Run offense: D
Washington’s running game was as useful as Hawkeye in a fight with Thanos. Seventeen carries, 53 yards, 3.1 a pop, and a long of 8. That is brutal. White led with 27 yards on seven carries, followed by Jeremy McNichols with 13 on five, Daniels with 10 on four, and Austin Ekeler with three on one. The three running backs combined for 43 yards on 13 carries.
The play that could have changed my grade for the run offense instead captured the problem. McNichols reached the end zone on an apparent 31-yard touchdown, but Chris Paul’s facemask penalty erased the score. Even when the Commies run game got going, the offense would commit a bonehead penalty to nullify the gain.
With Jacory Croskey-Merritt on injured reserve, nobody in this backfield scared San Francisco for a single snap, and that’s how you end up in third-and-16 and down 17 at the half. The run game didn’t lose this game. It just never gave the offense a reason to stay on schedule. This is a problem given the pre-season expectation that David Blough would be running more under center and play action passes. For that to be successful, the offense needs to have a good ground game.
Pass defense: C-
The late recovery prevents a failing grade. The early damage prevents an adequate one. Brock Purdy finished 21 of 29 for 264 yards, one touchdown, and no interceptions: 9.1 yards per attempt. Mike Evans accumulated 94 yards on just three catches before leaving before halftime, including a 54-yard gain. After halftime, the 49ers managed three first downs and 72 yards, per the AP, and Sonny Styles was terrific all night.
Evans’ departure also matters when assessing the defense’s improvement in the second half. It does not invalidate Washington’s stops, but it prevents us from treating the two halves as identical tests. I firmly believe that if Evans had stayed in the game, then he would have continued to terrorize the Washington secondary. The 49ers were hamstrung given all the injuries they have at wide receiver once they lost Evans.
Run defense: C
The run defense was better than the pass defense, though this was hardly a clinic. San Francisco finished with 126 yards on 29 carries, or 4.3 per attempt. Christian McCaffrey gained 64 yards on 16 carries and scored twice; Purdy added 28 yards on five attempts.
The most damaging issue was situational. Purdy converted both fourth-down rushing attempts and escaped for an 11-yard gain on third-and-11 during the late first-half touchdown drive. San Francisco finished with 11 rushing first downs. Having said that, the Commies defense shut down the 49ers’ run game in the second half as they only managed 37 rushing yards after halftime.
Special teams: B-
Tress Way was Tress Way: three punts, a 52-yard average, two inside the 20. Drew Stevens hit a 51-yard field goal and two extra points. On the bad side, Tyler Owens’ five-yard penalty for going out of bounds on punt coverage was an avoidable blemish.
Then you have the ugly. Washington did not log a single punt return, and the scariest moment came when Luke McCaffrey lost a punt in the third quarter, and the 49ers recovered. McCaffrey continues to unimpress this year. McCaffrey either needs to catch a ball or know that he cannot and make sure he gets out of the way. The Commies defense is already bad when the opposing team has a full field to travel for a touchdown. There is no reason to give a short field to an opposing offense since it practically guarantees a score. At this point, the Commies need to end the McCaffrey punt return experiment and go with a different option.
Coaching: D
Offensive coordinator David Blough: C
Credit where it’s due. After watching the All-22, Blough did manage to get guys open during the game. Blough’s offense eventually found enough through the air to threaten a comeback. The touchdown drives featured completions to multiple options, including the tight end and running back. That is meaningful production from an offense that had lost McLaurin.
On the bad side, the first half possessions were a comedy of errors. On the first possession, the offense settled for a field goal. On the second possession, the offense went three-and-out and gained -5 yards. On the third possession, the offense failed on fourth down after the defense got the ball on a takeaway. That failed fourth-down play was undermined by an illegal shift and a throwaway. On the fourth possession, the offense went three-and-out for -1 yard.
The offense looks like a mess. The team is late coming out of the huddle. Players are moving around like they have no clue what play they are running. Daniles looks like he is in a panic trying to get the ball snapped before the play clock runs out. All in all, this offense looks like one run by an offensive coordinator with zero experience and who is in over his head at the moment.
The end of the game was ugly. Washington had the ball at the San Francisco 28-yard line with 21 seconds left in the fourth quarter. For some reason, Blough thought that calling a four-vertical play near the end of the game was a great idea. The result is that Daniels has nobody to dump the ball off once the offensive line predictably got overwhelmed by the 49ers’ pass rush. The result was an intentional grounding and a ten-second runoff of the clock.
There was no reason to send everyone deep at that point. There was still enough time on the clock to run a pass play to the sideline to pick up some more yardage and stop the clock.
The protection plan broke down too. Daniels was under siege from the 49ers’ pass rush all day. This was punctuated when Daniels was sacked when the 49ers rushed three men against Washington’s six men blocking. What an embarrassment.
Defensive coordinator Daronte Jones: C-
Three straight three-and-outs to close the game is impressive. Of course, it is slightly less impressive when you realize that the 49ers basically had a can of tomato sauce, an old hot dog, and duct tape at the wide receiver position in the second half. What is less impressive is getting carved for 303 yards in a half.
Also, the blitz-heavy plan isn’t producing sacks. If you blitz that often, the pressure has to get home. The fact is that Washington’s pass rushers aren’t doing their job, and the Washington secondary is not talented enough to hold up.
Head coach Dan Quinn: D-
Dan Quinn’s clock management and game management decisions remain horrendous. A good example of poor clock management was when, with 3:01 left, Washington used a timeout ahead of fourth-and-eight while the game clock was stopped. That left fewer resources to stop the clock after the subsequent turnover on downs. Getting the Commies ready for a pivotal snap is part of the head coach’s job. The Commies needed both a touchdown and time to pursue it.
A good example of poor game management decisions was when the Commies were down 10, fourth-and-2 at the San Francisco 13, and Quinn passed on the field goal that would have made it a one-score game. An illegal shift and a throwaway later, Washington had zero points.
The poor start, the situational disorder, and the wasted timeout justify the D. The response and continued competitiveness prevent an F. Showing fight is necessary. Arriving organised and managing the game are necessary, too. This has been a recurring problem for Quinn’s team over the 2025 and 2026 seasons.