Commanders have one major advantage over the undefeated 49ers, and it starts with Jayden Daniels vs. Brock Purdy
Washington enters Monday Night Football against an unbeaten San Francisco team with disadvantages across the roster, but one quarterback comparison gives the Commanders a reason to believe.
The Washington Commanders tied the New York Giants, the sports world has spent three days arguing about whose fault it was, and I’m done with it. Was it Jayden Daniels? Dan Quinn? David Blough? That conversation has been had. The new pressing matter is Washington’s Week 6 Monday Night Football trip to face the San Francisco 49ers, a matchup that looks close to impossible on paper.
Close to impossible is not impossible, though. The Commanders are outmanned & have less talent across the board than San Francisco. They do have one key edge, and it might be the most obvious one on the field.
The Seattle win isn’t the blueprint it looks like
I keep hearing the same counterargument this week. “Washington already beat the Seahawks, and it did it in gritty fashion with Marcus Mariota.” Correct. That was a fantastic win.
It was also a different game. Sam Darnold was playing his first game back from injury. It was a rainy slop fest in Washington. Seattle had to fly cross-country, it wasn’t on Monday Night Football, and the Commanders were playing with heart to salvage their season.
The stakes are similar this time. The morale situation isn’t. The explosive coverage of the tie, plus letting the Giants crawl back into that game on multiple occasions, could hit this locker room as hard as Daniels’ injury in Week 2 against Dallas did. That kind of stench sticks to an entire roster. Now Washington is up against the wall against one of the NFL’s best teams again, three weeks later.
Could it happen twice? Sure. The league is built for any team to win on any Sunday, Monday, or Thursday. The problem is the 49ers are good, & they are deep.
San Francisco wins nearly every matchup on paper
Go one-on-one down a sheet of paper and the advantages pile up for San Francisco.
Head coach? Easy choice with Kyle Shanahan over Dan Quinn
Running back? Christian McCaffrey & Kaelon Black are better than Washington’s room.
Wide receiver is the closest thing to a wash. Mike Evans blowing the doors off defenses this late in his career is mind-boggling, but the room is thin. Deebo Samuel got hurt last week. Plus Christian Kirk, Ricky Pearsall, Demarcus Robinson, and De’Zhaun Stribling are all still hurt. It’s effective, not deep. I won’t hand the 49ers that one.
Tight end? Don’t make me laugh. George Kittle is on one.
The offensive line of Trent Williams, Connor Colby, Jake Brendel, Dominick Puni, and Colton McKivitz still wins the group, even if Washington has a case at a couple of spots. Josh Conerly Jr. has played exceptionally well, and Sam Cosmi belongs in that conversation.
The defense is where it gets ugly. Keion White, Osa Odighizuwa, and Nick Bosa are a problem before you even reach Mykel Williams & Romello Height, backups who would start in Washington. I love Sonny Styles, but Fred Warner is better. The 49ers’ secondary is beat up, which looks like a weakness right up until you look at Washington’s secondary & realize it’s basically the same.
Jayden Daniels is the one edge Washington has
Run through that whole lineup and one position still gives this team and its fans hope. It just happens to be the most important one.
Jayden Daniels is a better quarterback than Brock Purdy. I’d argue he’s a full class better. Daniels is an A while Purdy is a B.
The difference, for me, is what Daniels can create when everything around him breaks down. Purdy has been excellent within Shanahan’s offense, but Daniels has the mobility and off-script playmaking ability to turn a busted play into a first down or a touchdown. That’s the kind of quarterback advantage that matters when the opponent has the stronger roster.
Is a class better enough to overcome a franchise that is 8-22 in its last 30 Monday Night Football games? It could be just enough to keep this from being an impossible matchup. I won’t call it a win. I’m a pragmatist about this team. But San Francisco is banged up, and Purdy has played a near-perfect season by Brock Purdy standards without hitting the wall yet.
For Washington to pull it off, Daniels needs a near-perfect game. The receivers need one or fewer drops. The offensive line has to give up two or fewer sacks. With a bye next and Philadelphia waiting on the other side of it, there is no bigger game on the schedule right now.
It’s also been a season of firsts that should never repeat. Antonio Williams’ called-back touchdown against the Colts. Stefon Diggs jumping on the pylon and hurting Washington on a two-point try. Daniels, Quinn, and Blough each taking a third of a share for botching the end-of-game procedure against the Giants. Those firsts have to become learned, unrepeatable behavior now.
San Francisco is a wagon. Washington still has a quarterback capable of catching a team off guard, and if anyone in this league is fighting for his life more than Quinn, point him out to me. It’s going to be very difficult. It is not impossible.
