A trip to Levi’s Stadium is hardly the reset button the Washington Commanders wanted after the ugly ending to their tie with the New York Giants. But Monday Night Football against the 5-0 San Francisco 49ers also gives them a chance to show why they made Sonny Styles the No. 7 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.
This is exactly the kind of matchup Styles was built for.
San Francisco’s offense asks a defense to deal with multiple problems at once, and the biggest one is Christian McCaffrey. He can grind out yards on the ground, but he also functions like a receiver in the passing game. Then there’s George Kittle, the kind of tight end Brock Purdy leans on in pressure moments and around the goal line.
Styles gives Washington a defender who can chase both.
At 6-foot-5 and 243 pounds, he brings the frame of a classic middle linebacker, but he moves like a safety. That blend matters against McCaffrey, especially because the 49ers still lean on the outside-zone and stretch concepts Kyle Shanahan has favored for years, while also hitting defenses inside with a more varied run game. If Washington wants to keep McCaffrey from taking over, getting Styles downhill quickly has to be part of the plan.
The Commanders’ front has already shown it can occupy blockers and open lanes for second-level defenders, which makes Styles a natural candidate to attack those gaps. He can be sent on blitzes through the interior, where his speed can turn a run fit into a sudden problem for San Francisco.
Last week, he helped force a fumble against Giants rookie running back Cam Skattebo, and that kind of splash play is exactly what Washington will need if it wants to hang around in San Francisco.
"Ay, get that ball!"
The @Commanders needed a stop in OT, and @sonnystyles_ delivered a forced fumble 🫡 @insidethenfl Week 5 Mic'd Up on X pic.twitter.com/Sot1DeNNTV
- NFL (@NFL) October 14, 2026
That takeaway came before the Commanders’ late-game clock disaster, but it still showed what Styles can do when he’s around the football.
Daronte Jones should have him built into the blitz menu again on Monday night. The same goes for the other side of the game plan: making life miserable for Kittle. Styles has the size to bump him at the line and the athleticism to stay with him in space, which is not something many linebackers can say about a 6-foot-4, 250-pound target who makes so much of San Francisco’s passing game tick.
If Washington can take Kittle out of those third-down and red-zone situations, it can force Purdy to look elsewhere. He still has Mike Evans available as a big target, but Kittle is the safety valve Purdy wants when pressure starts closing in.
Styles may be the free man on passing downs, whether that means shadowing McCaffrey or clashing with Kittle. Either way, the Commanders need him to be a difference-maker.
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Defensive coordinator Daronte Jones believes the answer is less about a wholesale overhaul and more about getting back to basics. His message centers on sound fundamentals, calmer play and trusting the process after halftime, which is exactly the kind of reset the Commanders need after watching leads and control fade against teams like the Giants and Colts. For a defense built to carry more weight, the challenge now is turning those first-half flashes into something sustainable. [Read more 🡒]
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Still, Blough made clear there was plenty to clean up, and the focus landed quickly on the pre-snap mistakes that stalled what should have been a promising second-quarter scoring chance. For a team trying to build on a fast start, those kinds of penalties can turn a good possession into a wasted one, and the Commanders now have a familiar discipline issue sitting right in the middle of an offense that otherwise looked ready to hit another gear. [Read more 🡒]