A San Francisco 49ers win against the Washington Commanders on Monday night will put our NFC West rivals up three games in the division, and honestly, it stings extra because Washington already handed the Seahawks our first loss of the season in Week 3. After watching the Niners snag a huge divisional win against *us* in Week 5, this game against a “lesser Washington team” feels like another gut punch waiting to happen for the Emerald City.
Washington’s Blitzes Won’t Be Enough, And We Know What Can Actually Hit Purdy
Here’s the wild thing: Washington’s defense loves to blitz. They send an extra man or two on 37.7 percent of opponents’ dropbacks, which is the second-highest rate in the entire league. You’d think that’d be trouble for Brock Purdy, right? Especially since *our* Seattle defense finally broke through and got to him for the first three sacks San Francisco had allowed all season. Yeah, that felt good, even if we lost. But here’s the kicker: Washington’s high blitz rate doesn’t actually translate into sacks. They rank ninth in pressure rate and sixth in hurry percentage, but they’re still only 24th in the league with nine sacks.
What does that mean? It means their poor secondary gets exposed. We’re talking 255 passing yards allowed per game (fourth-highest), 14 passing touchdowns (tied for the most), and 67 passing first downs (third-most). Purdy has been in incredible form to start the season, and unless Dan Quinn’s defense can finally turn those hurries into sacks, Purdy’s likely to keep that incredible form going against a defense that struggles to actually bring QBs down.
Jayden Daniels Is A Problem, But The 49ers Have Seen This Show Before
On the other side of the ball, Washington’s quarterback, Jayden Daniels, is a certified problem with his legs. The dude averages 67.7 rushing yards per game, and with their leading rusher, Jacory Croskey-Merritt, out with a groin injury, Daniels is going to have to carry the load even more. He’s already ranked eighth among quarterbacks with 21 rush attempts, and despite missing two games, his 203 rushing yards are second-most for quarterbacks, only behind Josh Allen, who needed twice as many attempts to get to 239. Simply put, Raheem Morris and the 49ers defense will not face a more prolific mobile quarterback this season than Daniels. They’ve only seen one QB with more rush attempts so far this season, and that was Malik Willis back in Week 2 when they played the Miami Dolphins. So, they know what a mobile QB looks like, but Daniels is a different beast entirely.
So, yeah, we’ll be watching this one on Monday night, probably through gritted teeth. If the 49ers handle their business against a team that already embarrassed us, that three-game lead in the NFC West is gonna feel like a mountain. We need to focus on our own game, but it’s hard not to keep an eye on these rivals. Go Hawks!
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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