The 49ers are still undefeated. San Francisco held off the Washington Commanders 23-17 to move to 6-0, and while it wasn’t always pretty, this is what championship teams do.

It was a tale of two halves. The Commanders mounted a strong comeback effort after the break, and the 49ers’ offense sputtered for long stretches. But the Niners found a way to hold on and get it done. Right now, San Francisco is in that top tier of the NFL.

Christian McCaffrey, Mike Evans, George Kittle, and a handful of defenders came up big. A couple of position groups, however, have some explaining to do. 

Winners 

RB Christian McCaffrey

McCaffrey ran for 64 yards and two touchdowns and added nine catches for 53 yards. Obviously, he had a tough fumble, but the way he bounced back from it was big-time. He was one of quarterback Brock Purdy’s best weapons in the passing game during the second half. That matters, because the passing attack was lackluster after Evans went down. McCaffrey helped fill some of that void.

WR Mike Evans 

Evans only played one half before leaving with an Achilles injury. Honestly, I’m not sure why the 49ers suited him up. That’s said in hindsight, of course. Still, Evans caught three passes for 94 yards before exiting, and he was on his way to an extremely big night.

Don’t get me wrong, 94 yards on three catches is a strong night on its own. It’s more than enough to make the winners list. The bigger takeaway is how badly this team needed him on the field in the second half. San Francisco couldn’t get anything going through the air without him. Evans balled out while he was out there. The Commanders couldn’t cover the 49ers WR1.

TE George Kittle

Kittle caught five passes for 69 yards and a touchdown. He’s one of the premier weapons on this football team, and he showed it again against the Commanders.

S Malik Mustapha

Mustapha only notched four tackles, but he made two of the biggest plays of the game. He delivered a huge hit on running back Jeremy McNichols on third down late. Then the 49ers safety followed it up with a pass breakup on an end zone shot to Commanders wide receiver Treylon Burks. Those were game-winning plays from No. 6.

LB Fred Warner

Warner finished with eight tackles. Look, he’s a winner more than anything because he didn’t draw any big penalties on a couple of helmet-to-helmet hits that went uncalled. Warner was flying all over the field and delivering vicious blows. In fact, the entire defense was, but Warner certainly set the tone per usual. 

DE Mykel Williams 

It’s great for the 49ers to have Williams back, as he was able to record a sack in his return. Williams was forcing Daniels to step off the spot plenty of times and you could tell it rattled Washington’s quarterback.

DE Romello Height

Height only got credit for half a sack, but his pass rush turned up late in the fourth quarter. It was impressive to watch the rookie go to work when San Francisco needed it most. On the last play of regulation he took on three Commanders blockers in order to get to Jayden Daniels. 

Punter Corliss Waitmann

My eighth and final winner is Waitman. Washington came close to getting to him a few times, and he still got the ball off in time. He also put a beautiful ball out there that led to a near-muffed punt by Commanders returner Luke McCaffrey. Washington got very lucky on that one. Waitman did a really nice job.

Losers

The 49ers’ wide receiver room

Outside of Evans, this group was a complete joke. Jordan Watkins, Brandin Cooks, and Jacob Cowing did not step up at all. Besides Evans, Kittle, and McCaffrey, nobody could get anything going in the passing game. That’s a lack of performance this offense can’t afford.

CB Renardo Green 

Green had some penalties and struggled in coverage on the perimeter against Washington’s receivers. I’ve seen him play better football. He’s been better in coverage, and he simply wasn’t against the Commanders. Against a more talented team, his play might have really hurt San Francisco. 

K Eddy Pineiro 

Pineiro missed an extra point. It didn’t come back to bite the 49ers, but if Washington had scored a late touchdown, the Commanders could have kicked the extra point to win 24-23. Luckily, the defense held strong. Still, Pineiro has to be perfect on extra points.

San Francisco keeps stacking wins

Now, there’s plenty to clean up. The passing game went quiet without Evans, and the special teams margin was too thin for comfort. But a 6-0 team that can survive a second-half punch and still close is a team built to contend.

I’ll tell you this much: if the defense keeps making plays like Mustapha’s and Warner’s, the 49ers are going to stay right at the top of the NFC.