The San Francisco 49ers should have a real edge in Week 6 against the Washington Commanders, but there are still a handful of battles they need to control if they want to avoid a surprise.
Start with Jayden Daniels. Washington’s ground game as a whole hasn’t been strong, but Daniels is a different kind of problem because he’s one of the best rushing quarterbacks in the league.
The 49ers’ run defense looks strong when you look at expected points, yet it doesn’t always create negative plays snap by snap. That puts the spotlight on Fred Warner, whose athleticism should be front and center against Daniels.
How Warner and rookie Jaden Dugger handle the spy and containment duties could go a long way toward deciding how much Washington is able to score.
The Commanders also have real issues in the middle and deep part of their defense, which is not ideal when San Francisco’s offense leans so heavily on George Kittle and Christian McCaffrey. Washington’s linebackers and safeties have been a soft spot so far.
Nick Cross has been hurt at safety, while Quan Martin and Jeremy Reaves have both struggled. At linebacker, Frankie Luvu is more effective as a blitzer than in coverage, and Sonny Styles is an athletic rookie who still has trouble adjusting.
That’s a dangerous mix against an offense that can feed Kittle and McCaffrey heavily in the passing game.
There’s also the chess match between Kyle Shanahan and Dan Quinn. Back in 2016, Shanahan was calling the offense for the Atlanta Falcons while Quinn ran the defense, and Atlanta went on that Super Bowl run.
Since they split, Shanahan is 3-1 against Quinn. The lone loss came when Quinn was with Atlanta, while the three wins came against Quinn when he was coaching the Dallas Cowboys.
With Quinn now back as Washington’s head coach, Shanahan has the upper hand heading into this one.
Up front, Washington’s biggest problems are at left guard and center. The Commanders have already shuffled two players at center, and current starter Lucas Patrick is questionable.
At left guard, Chris Paul has been an issue. San Francisco’s interior defensive line isn’t especially deep, but Odighizuwa is described as a playmaker and has to take over that matchup.
Connor Colby has held up better than expected through four weeks, but he took a step back in Week 5, and now he’s staring down Daron Payne, Tim Settle and Javon Kinlaw. If Washington can generate too much pressure inside, this game could wind up closer than expected.
In Other News...
Shanahan Just Made Monday Night About More Than Beating Washington
Kyle Shanahans relationship with Dan Quinn goes back to their Atlanta days, when Shanahan served as offensive coordinator under Quinn in 2015 and 2016. As the 49ers prepare to visit Washington on Monday night, Shanahan said the biggest lessons from that stretch went beyond the playbook, with Quinn putting real weight on how a team talks to one another and builds its identity.
That perspective adds another layer to a matchup that already looks lopsided on paper, with San Francisco leading the NFL in point differential and Washington sitting at 1-3-1. It is also a reunion with a coach Shanahan knows well, only now Quinn is guiding the Commanders, which gives this one a little more history than your average cross-country trip. [Read more 🡒]
49ers Get An Early Edge As Commanders Backfield Suddenly Thins
The 49ers got an early break in the lead-up to their meeting with Washington, as the Commanders backfield took a hit before the matchup even arrived. Jacory Croskey-Merritt, the rookie who has given Washington a useful spark this season with 239 rushing yards and two touchdowns, has been ruled out because of a groin injury, trimming one of the more intriguing pieces of the Commanders run game.
Washington still has options, of course, with Rachaad White and Austin Ekeler expected to carry more of the load. The bigger question now is how the Commanders fill out the rest of that group for game day, and whether the added uncertainty forces them to shuffle more than they would like before facing a 49ers defense that will already be focused on controlling the line of scrimmage. [Read more 🡒]
Renardo Green Is Giving The 49ers Defense Something It Needed
Renardo Green has become one of the more encouraging developments for the 49ers defense this season, giving San Francisco a young corner who is starting to look much more comfortable in Raheem Morris system. His growth has shown up in the numbers, too, with Green standing out among the teams cornerbacks in passes defended and ball hawk rate, a sign that he is not just hanging around plays but consistently finding ways to affect them.
The progress has not come out of nowhere, either. Kyle Shanahan pointed to the work Green did before the offseason program even got rolling as a major reason for the jump, and it is the kind of behind-the-scenes preparation that tends to show up once the games start counting. For a defense that always values playmaking on the back end, Green is starting to provide exactly the sort of presence that can change the way opponents test San Francisco. [Read more 🡒]