In the Week 6 edition of "Monday Night Football," the San Francisco 49ers play host to the Washington Commanders. San Francisco is riding high atop the NFC West with a 5-0 record, having defeated the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks in a barnburner last week. The Niners have battled injuries on both sides of the ball all season, yet have remained unbeaten.
They can create a three-game lead in the division with a victory on Monday night. Washington is coming off an absolute debacle last Sunday against the New York Giants, wherein the Commanders had a chance to kick a field goal to win the game at the end of overtime, but bungled the clock management as badly as any team you'll ever see. The Commies are just 1-3-1 entering this game, and they're looking to avoid falling further into the basement in the NFC East.
Will the Niners continue to roll, or will the Commanders pull off the upset? We'll find out soon enough. Before we break down the matchup, here's a look at how you can watch the game.
Jayden Daniels looked no worse for wear last week in his return from another dislocated elbow. He completed 17 of 25 passes for 199 yards, while also rushing nine times for 103 yards and two touchdowns. Had he and the entire offense not totally brain-farted at the end of overtime, it would have been a wildly encouraging performance for Washington's rest-of-season outlook.
While Daniels has been excellent when taking off to run in his three starts, Washington's running backs have been extremely inefficient on the ground. Jacory Croskey-Merritt (who was ruled out for this game after not practicing all week), Rachaad White, Austin Ekeler and the recently-released Kaytron Allen have combined to average just 3.7 yards per carry. The offensive line has created little push up front, with the backs collectively gaining just 0.95 yards before contact per carry, according to Tru Media, and the backs themselves have broken tackles at the second-lowest rate in all of football.
The 49ers, meanwhile, have allowed just 3.7 yards per rush to enemy running backs, with great tackling being the primary method of limiting yardage. Backs have gained 1.47 yards per carry before contact (an above-average mark), but only 2.22 yards after contact thanks to the lowest broken-tackle rate in the league. As a result, San Francisco has allowed only two explosive runs all season, per Tru Media, the fewest in the NFL.
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