The 49ers stay unbeaten, and then they let Washington back in

For a half, Monday night at Levi's Stadium looked like a 6-0 team playing a 1-4 team. The 49ers led 20-3 at the break, then 23-3, and they had outgained Washington 303 yards to 90. They had as many first downs in the first half, 17, as the Commanders had plays. Then the offense stopped. San Francisco managed three first downs and 72 yards after halftime, Washington scored twice, and a game that was over became a 23-17 win the 49ers had to close themselves.

Brock Purdy's fifth pass of the night was the 1,500th of his career, the line that let his passer rating qualify. It qualified at 105.6, ahead of Lamar Jackson's 102.7, which made him the highest-rated passer in league history by that measure. The next throw was an 11-yard touchdown to George Kittle. He had opened the first drive with a 24-yard completion to Mike Evans and finished 21 of 29 for 264 yards. Christian McCaffrey ran for two touchdowns. The defense made the two stops that mattered: Jayden Daniels's fourth-down throw in the red zone fell incomplete with 1:54 left, and Daniels was sacked on the last play before he could get a Hail Mary off.

The cost showed up in the training room. Evans was questionable with an Achilles injury, caught that early pass, and left just before halftime with an Achilles injury. He did not return. Defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw also left in the second half and did not come back. San Francisco is 6-0 for the fifth time in franchise history and the first time since 2019, the first of two Super Bowl seasons under Kyle Shanahan. The unbeaten record is real. So is the second half in which the offense disappeared.

Daniels finished 29 of 40 for 300 yards and two touchdowns, which is how a 23-3 hole became a one-score game. Commanders Wire described a Jeremy McNichols run that looked like a 31-yard score late, then a 10-second runoff that left Washington with six seconds and a third-and-22. Daniels took the sack. Washington is 1-4-1, off next week, and the loss sits in the same place a lot of their losses sit: close enough to argue about, not close enough to change the record.