For 30 minutes on Monday night, the Washington Commanders looked like a team that had no business on the same field as the San Francisco 49ers. It was a beyond embarrassing performance. Commies fans were sitting on their sofas and cringing as they watched their team getting utterly embarrassed on national TV. This was a recurring feeling, as the Commies have been historically bad on Monday Night Football. Since 2000, the Washington franchise has an 8-26 record on Monday Night Football for a .235 winning percentage. This gives Washington the worst winning percentage of any NFL team since 200 on Monday Night Football.
The first half was truly a brutal watch. The Commies looked like a Division II football team. The 49ers were like a cat toying with the mouse, and the hapless Commies could do nothing about it. It was truly a painful half of football for Commies fans. All while the fans of the other NFL teams clowned on the Commies on social media for being so stunningly pathetic.
Then the Commies came out after halftime and looked like an entirely different squad. The Commies outclassed the 49ers 14-3 in the second half. And that’s the whole problem. Jayden Daniels said it better than anybody: “We dug ourselves in a hole, and it bit us at the end of it,” he said, per the AP. “We have to be a four-quarter team, not just a half team.”
But, in the NFL, you have to play a full 60 minutes in order to win consistently. Especially when facing one of the best teams in the NFL, the 49ers. In the end, the result was San Francisco 23, Washington 17. San Francisco is 6-0 and still the class of the NFC. Washington is 1-4-1, heading into the bye with its best receiver in an air cast and its head coach answering questions about whether he knew what down it was.
1st Half Problems
The first half was a beatdown. Pure and simple. Brock Purdy hit Mike Evans for 24 yards on the third play of the game and finished the opening drive with an 11-yard touchdown to George Kittle. Christian McCaffrey punched in two 1-yard scores after that, and it was 20-3 at the break. Washington’s only points were a 51-yard Drew Stevens field goal in the first quarter.
The Commies defense had absolutely no answer for the Evans, who terrorized the Washington secondary with 3 catches for 94 yards in just a half! The 6′ 5″ Evans looked like Godzilla rampaging through Tokyo as 5′ 8″ Amik Robertson was completely overwhelmed.
Brock Purdy continued to look like an NFL MVP as he carved up the Washington secondary, going 17 of 22 for 214 yards, a 77% completion percentage, and 1 touchdown. Purdy also rushed 3 times for 20 yards. The Commies’ defense offered little resistance, and Purdy looked locked in and in total control as he guided the 49ers to 303 net yards and 17 first downs.
On the other hand, the Commies’ offense looked like a beat-up 1978 Ford Pinto as it sputtered to a total of 90 first-half yards and a mere three first downs. The 49ers were able to run 41 offensive plays. The Commies managed just 17 offensive plays. Yes. The 49ers almost had as many first downs in the first half as Washington had snaps.
Washington technically had five first-half possessions. However, the fifth possession was just one kneel-down before halftime. For the four prior possessions, Washington went 5 plays for 32 yards and a field goal, 3 plays for -5 yards and a punt, 6 plays for 46 yards and a turnover on downs, and three plays for -1 yard and a punt. That is brutal.
The Fourth Down
Down 10 in the second quarter, Washington had fourth-and-2 at the San Francisco 13. A field goal would have made it a one-score game. Instead, the Commies went for it, an illegal shift flag came in, and Daniels threw the ball away. Turnover on downs, zero points.
First, what in the world was Daniels thinking? Why would you ever throw the ball away on a 4th down? Daniels should want to do anything and everything to attempt to complete a pass or run for it. Again, it is a fourth down. Who cares if Daniels turns over the football trying to force a pass to a receiver? The 49ers are going to get the ball anyway. Also, even if Daniels saw the flag that was thrown during the play, he has no idea if it was on the Commies or the 49ers. If the flag is on the 49ers, then it would be a free play, and Daniels should feel fine forcing the ball into a receiver.
This is now the second straight game that Daniels has shown a gross lack of knowledge of how to manage a game. This makes Daniels look like he has a low football IQ. Again, Daniels is going to be coming up for what could potentially be a huge contract extension. However, Daniels, for the second straight week, is giving the Commies reason to pause at how big of a contract to give him. It is tough to break the bank for a “franchise” quarterback who has SpongeBob SquarePants-level football intelligence.
This two-week trend from Daniels is disconcerting. It is imperative that Daniels get serious and begin to display the level of football intelligence that is required from a true franchise quarterback in the NFL. These past two weeks are totally unacceptable.
But it did not just stop there with Daniels. The cameras then caught Quinn on the sideline. “This is a very tough look for Dan Quinn. Looks like he thought the 4th down play was 3rd down,” Finlay posted. “Very tough, especially after last week.” Maske was blunter: “Just kick the field goal. That makes it a one-score game. But once you decide to go for it, Jayden Daniels can’t throw the ball away on fourth down. The Commanders come up with a new inexplicable blunder weekly,” he wrote.
At the time, the Commies were down 13-3. Kicking a field goal would allow the Commies to pull to 13-6 with just a touchdown needed to tie the game. Again, this is a second week that Quinn bungled a critical moment in the game. Last week, Quinn should have just trotted out the field goal unit rather than trying to run a senseless and pointless play with 55 seconds left in overtime. This week, we see another bonehead decision that led to disaster.
After the game, Quinn said he knew it was fourth down and that the team was going for it, Finlay reported. According to ESPN’s John Keim, Quinn said someone on the headset asked him about the illegal shift, and he told them they couldn’t kick a field goal at that point. Not everybody’s buying it. “This answer doesn’t explain why he was saying what he said,” 106.7 The Fan’s Grant Paulsen wrote. “He said field goal. Then something like ‘oh it’s not 4th down.'”
Fans are going to either believe what they saw and think Quinn said, or they are going to believe Quinn and take him at his word. The problem is that once you consistently show an utter lack of an ability to manage a game, manage timeouts, and make critical football decisions like Quinn has done over his time in Washington, it opens himself up to this type of criticism and skepticism. At this point, Quinn has no deposits in the Bank of Trust with fans that he can pull from at this point.
The Comeback
After halftime, I expected the 49ers to continue to hammer the Commies. Down 23-3 late in the third quarter, this one should’ve been over. I certainly felt that it was over. However, it was not over for two big reasons. One, Mike Evans left the game with an injury and did not return in the second half. Without Evans, the 49ers offense was not as potent. Second, Daniels got hot. White hot.
Daniels went 5 for 5 on an 11-play drive, converted a fourth-and-5 with a 13-yarder to Stefon Diggs, and then found Diggs at the goal line for a 1-yard touchdown. The defense forced a three-and-out. Daniels hit Antonio Williams for 23 yards, a roughing-the-passer flag on the 49ers moved the chains, and Daniels found Rachaad White for a 9-yard touchdown. Just like that, it was 23-17 with 9:22 to go.
This is Daniels at his best. This is why so many people view him as a franchise quarterback. This also showed that Daniels is far more than just a running quarterback. Daniels is a first-rate passer and can kill any defense, even one as excellent as the 49ers, with his dazzling right arm. In the second half, Daniels completed 22 of 30 passes for a 73% completion percentage for 212 yards and 2 touchdowns and zero interceptions. Just imagine if Daniels actually had an RB1, an WR1, a legit offensive line, a real offensive coordinator, and a real head coach.
From there, the defense was terrific. After allowing 303 yards in the first half, the Commies held San Francisco to three first downs and 72 yards after halftime, per the AP. The 49ers’ last three drives were all three-and-outs. Odafe Oweh got Purdy on one of them. Washington outgained San Francisco 224-72 in the second half.
The Ending
Washington had two real chances to win it. It blew both. That is what losers do. And to be clear, the Washington Commanders are a loser organization.
Chance No. 1. Daniels hit Treylon Burks for 30 yards on the drive. On fourth-and-8, the Commies let the play clock run down and had to burn a timeout. Again, more terrible game management by Quinn. Romello Height then sacked Daniels on that fourth down, but Ashtyn Davis was flagged for illegal contact, and the Commies got new life. A few plays later, Malik Mustapha stuffed Jeremy McNichols on third-and-3, and on fourth-and-3 from the 17, Daniels put it on Burks at the goal line. Burks had it for a second. Mustapha knocked it loose as he hit the ground in the end zone. Turnover on downs, 1:54 left.
Chance No. 2. The defense got another three-and-out, and a fair-catch interference penalty on the punt put the ball at the Washington 46 with 52 seconds left and no timeouts. Daniels got the Commies to the San Francisco 28. Then, with pressure coming, he threw it away and got flagged for intentional grounding. That backed the Commies up to the 40 and, with the runoff, left time for one more snap. The 49ers then sacked Daniels. Game over.
Daniels said he knew there were no timeouts and had to get rid of the ball, Finlay reported, and he felt the grounding was worth it rather than eating the sack, per the Post’s Tashan Reed, who added that all of Daniels’ receivers were downfield. That’s the part that should bother you. No outlet underneath with the season on the line is a design problem, not just a quarterback problem.
Asked whether the team could take anything from the comeback, Daniels didn’t sugarcoat it: “Nah, not really.” Quinn’s version, per the AP: “San Francisco’s already a tough team, and we spent way too much time in the first half battling ourselves. I’m sick about the ending, but we showed a lot of fight.”
Here is the problem with what Quinn said. There are no moral victories in the NFL. What is left of the dwindling Commies fanbase is no longer interested in moral victories. The Commies are now three years into the Quinn regime, and they should not be playing for moral victories. At this point in the Quinn regime, the Commies feel a lot as they did near the end of the Ron Rivera regime.
The Penalties
Speaking of poor coaching from Quinn. We can tack the continued penalty problem onto Quinn’s shoulders as well. Before the second-half comeback began, in the Commies first possession in the second half, the offense went 18-yard pass, 6-yard run, holding penalty, false start penalty, 11-yard pass, sack, and punt. Through 33 minutes, Washington had more penalties (4) than first downs (3). That is unacceptable.
For the game, the Commies tallied seven accepted penalties for 66 yards. There were three holding penalties, one false start penalty, one out-of-bounds penalty, one facemask penalty, and one intentional grounding penalty. Troy Aikman said on the broadcast, “It’s a sign of an undisciplined football team.” Hard to argue.
Too often the Commies look confused on offense before every play; the plays seem to take too long to get called, and offensive linemen look confused as they are at the line of scrimmage. This is a recurring problem with every game this season.
What This Loss Means
A 1-4-1 record should be a eulogy. In this division, it isn’t. No NFC East team has won since Week 4, which NFL Research says is the first time every team in a division has gone consecutive weeks without a win, per NFL.com. The Giants lead at 3-2-1. Dallas and Philly are 2-4. Washington has the same number of losses as both of them.
That’s the lifeline, and it’s a thin one. Over the last 18 games, Washington is 3-14-1, per Paulsen, which ties the Titans and Cardinals for the fewest wins in the league. Keim put it right after the final whistle: “No moral victories. Need real ones.”
Ballers
Jayden Daniels
Daniels completed 29 of 40 passes for 300 yards, two touchdowns, no picks. Daniels had a 73% completion percentage. Daniels had a passer rating of 110.4. In the second half, he was 22 of 30 for 212 and both scores. The brace held up, too. Even more important is that Daniels has now made it through two straight games without leaving hurt. That is a huge accomplishment given that the last time he played two consecutive games without an injury was October 13, 2025!
Sonny Styles
Styles had a team-high 13 tackles (7 solo and 6 assists) and a pass breakup on a deep shot to Evans. There is no doubt that the rookie is already Washington’s best defensive player. We could be looking at Styles hoisting the Rookie Defensive Player of the Year Award at the end of the 2026 season.
The Second-Half Defense
Three straight three-and-outs to close the game. Oweh and Shy Tuttle each had a sack, and Chaisson forced the McCaffrey fumble.
Chig Okonkwo
Chig Okonkwo led the team with seven catches for 69 yards. The fans who were prematurely calling Okonkwo a free agent bust can calm down. Okonkwo has dealt with some injuries to start the season. We are beginning to see the value that Okonkwo brings to the team. This will be even more important going forward with the loss of McLaurin.
Benchers
The First-Half Defense
This looked just like the 2025 Washington defense. What made it even more stunning is that this was the healthiest the Commies’ defense has been all year. There was no excuse for the pitiful first-half performance.
The offensive line’s discipline.
The beleaguered Commies offensive line was as terrible as usual. The offensive line got flagged for five penalties, including back-to-back line penalties without a snap in between. The offensive line also surrendered four sacks. This unit continues to be a disappointment this season.
The Run Game
The Commies rushed seventeen times for just 53 yards for an average of a meager 3.1 yards per carry. Rachaad White led the way with 27 yards on seven carries and averaged 3.9 yards per carry. Jermey McNichols rushed 5 times for 13 yards, averaging 2.6 yards per carry. Austin Eckler rushed 1 time for 3 yards. That type of rushing attack simply will not get the job done.
Injuries
Terry McLaurin is likely done for the season. DT Javon Kinlaw left in the first half with a knee injury and didn’t return. Diggs went down the tunnel on the back of a cart after the game, according to a JP Finlay report, and nobody has said why yet. Just when the Commies start to get healthy, they sustain a rash of new injuries.
Going Forward
The Commies limp into their bye week with a 1-4-1 record. Amazingly enough, the Commies are only two games out of first place in the NFC East. What a dumpster fire this division is this year. After the bye, the next three games are home against the Philadelphia Eagles, home against the LA Rams, and away at the New York Giants. The Eagles are without Jalen Hurts for the rest of the year. The Rams have been a surprise mess and have a 2-4 record. The Giants are now possibly on to their third starting quarterback with J.J. McCarthy.
If the Commies can get their act together, it is not entirely impossible for them to end up at 4-4-1 after the next four weeks. Suddenly, winning the NFC East looks much more possible. As hard as it is to believe, this season is actually still not over yet.
