Notes and observations from wacky 49ers win over Commanders

That

was gross, but the San Francisco 49ers will take it.

The 49ers after a dominant first half had to hold on for a 23-17 victory over the Washington Commanders on Monday Night Football. A win is a win is a win, but their inability to move the ball in the second half after wide receiver Mike Evans left with an Achilles injury is a major long-term concern for them.

Alas, the long-term can wait. San Francisco moved to 6-0. Here are our quarter-by-quarter notes from a game the 49ers nearly let slip away:

First quarter

• Jordan Mason has a little juice as a kick returner.
• Three plays, three passes to open. On third-and-4 Brock Purdy hit Mike Evans for 24 yards down to the Washington 34. Purdy is a little erratic to start. He threw high to Evans on the completion, missed high to Kyle Juszczyk on second down, and he's been a little off on two completions to Christian McCaffrey.
• What a first drive for the 49ers. Nine plays, 64 yards and Purdy capped it with an 11-yard strike to George Kittle. Purdy was five-for-six for 51 yards and a touchdown. It looked like Purdy settled in on his last couple of throws. It's 7-0.
• Woof. Big coverage bust by the 49ers on the Commanders first play of the game. It went for 27 yards. Washington WR Terry McLaurin was wide open.
• Big stick by LB Luke Gifford on Commanders QB Jayden Daniels. The 49ers did a nice job closing on Daniels when he stepped through the pocket to run. That'll be a huge key to this game.
• My goodness now a huge hit by Malik Mustapha on a third down incompletion. Washington settled for a 51-yard field goal, but the 27-yard completion was the only real offense for them on the first drive. Well done by San Francisco's defense.
• Good start to the second drive. Purdy hit Evans for 54 yards to get into the red zone. The connection between that duo is pretty remarkable. Evans looked slow running after the catch, but burning speed has never been a hallmark of his game. Have to wonder if that Achilles issue he dealt with in practice hindered him.
• Purdy's legs are a weapon. Fourth-and-3, he gets a first down on the ground. It's hard to call him underrated as a scrambler because it gets talked about a lot, but it still seems to surprise defenses.
• Easy work for McCaffrey on third-and-goal from the 1. Another really strong drive for the 49ers. They're facing a little resistance, but they're converting on third and fourth downs to keep these drives going. That time they went 72 yards on eight plays. Eddy Pineiro missed the extra point. It's 13-3, and Pineiro officially has a problem on PATs. That's his third miss of the year.
• 49ers defensive front is having a nice game. Osa Odighizuwa had a near sack early on Washington's second drive, then he finished off the series with a sack. Perhaps the most impressive part of the blitz was the 49ers keeping their rush lanes and not giving Daniels anywhere to go.
• It's getting harder to justify keeping Jacob Cowing on the 49ers' roster. He was their best option at punt returner, but after muffing a punt last week when he should've called for a fair catch. This week he made another poor decision to try and field a punt and wound up being tackled inside the 5. Those mistakes just can't happen.
• Sick play by Washington linebacker Sonny Styles. He broke up a deep throw over the middle for Mike Evans on a third-and-3. Evans had it and Styles got a hand in to jar the ball loose.
• End of first quarter score: 49ers 13, Commanders 3

Second quarter

• Another coverage bust for the 49ers lets Commanders TE Chig Okonkwo get wide open for 29 yards to the 49ers 21. It looks like San Francisco is struggling to stay in coverage while managing Daniels as a runner.
• Daniels just threw it away on a fourth-and-2 at the 49ers 13? What a strange decision.
• Unreal play by Purdy. He had a defender wrapped around his ankles and he still delivered a third-down strike to Jordan Watkins for 22 yards. His ability to operate in muddy pockets is pretty remarkable.
• Rare mistake from McCaffrey who fumbled trying to pick up extra yards on a screen as the 49ers approached the red zone. Giveaways by San Francisco is how Washington will be able to stick around. They overcame the miscue by Cowing earlier. Now it's up to the 49ers defense to get another stop.
• What a play by Gracen Halton to shed a block and drag down Daniels as the QB stepped up to run. Daniels was going to go for a long time, and instead it was Halton dragging him down for his second sack of the year to put the Commanders in a second-and-22. Really strong last couple of weeks for the rookie out of Oklahoma.
• McCaffrey fumbles. Then Purdy goes right back to him to start the 49ers next drive. The RB picked up 13 yards on the catch-and-run. The next snap was an nine-yard run by McCaffrey. Fumble forgotten.
• Kaelon Black runs like he plays on the 49ers defense.
• Purdy is unreal. Third-and-11, the pocket collapses, he steps through and dives across the first down marker for a gain of 12 and a first down. It was the kind of play not every quarterback is going to make.
• Penalties are killing San Francisco. Two holding penalties, one on TE Luke Farrell that negated a big run by McCaffrey and another by Trent Williams pushed them outside the red zone after they got there.
• Oh no. Mike Evans just limped off after making a catch. He's grabbing at his Achilles on his way to the locker room with under a minute to go in the second quarter.
• 14 plays, 69 yards. What a drive by the 49ers and more good aggressiveness with a fourth-and-1 conversion from inside the 5. San Francisco's offense smells blood and they cashed in with a touchdown by McCaffrey from a yard out. The 49ers outgained Washington 303 yards to 90. They had 17 first downs while Washington ran 17 plays. Whew.
• Halftime score: 49ers 20, Commanders 3

Third quarter

• Welcome back, Mykel Williams. He pulled down Daniels for his first sack of the year on a third-and-8. He got upfield and when Daniels tried to escape to the right Williams shed the block and got home for the 49ers' third sack of the game and their eighth in the last two games.
• Mike Evans has been ruled out officially to start the third quarter.
• Purdy deep shot to Kittle for 35 yards. That'll never get old. It's pretty incredible teams get schemed into Kittle running wide open in Year 10 of his career.
• Oof. Looked like Purdy's third-and-3 throw in the red zone got tipped and San Francisco has a rare empty red zone trip. Pineiro connected on a 33-yard field goal to put San Francisco ahead 23-3. The empty red zone trip doesn't hurt as bad when it comes with a 17-point second-half lead.
• WOW. Sebastian Valdez just blew through the line on a handoff and actually tackled Daniels, but the QB was still able to get the ball away to RB Rachaad White who went for eight yards. It's incredible Valdez didn't come up with a forced fumble there.
• Not super notable, but Jaden Dugger just ran down Chig Okonkwo from behind. That was impressive.
• Gracen Halton doesn't have a sack, but he's been around the quarterback a lot. He was nearly home helping force a third-and-5 incompletion.
• The 49ers run defense has been getting gashed on this series late in the third quarter.
• 11 plays, 65 yards and a Washington touchdown makes it 23-10. Somehow this one isn't over yet. It looked like the 49ers defense took the series off. They've been so stout all game and that time there wasn't much resistance on third down, fourth down or in the red zone.
• Third quarter ends on a sack of Purdy. Yikes! Purdy just never had a throwing lane.
• End of third quarter score: 49ers 23, Commanders 10

Fourth quarter

• Uh oh! The 49ers will punt. McCaffrey nearly fumbled again on a second-and-long reception. Kittle couldn't hang on to a third-and-long catch. This is dicey for San Francisco.
• It feels like the wheels are loosening for the 49ers. They got off the field on a third down, but Renardo Green was hit with an illegal contact penalty to give Washington a first down. It's unclear what's happened the last two series, but San Francisco seems to have lost some focus in the second half and Washington isn't going away.
• The wheels are all the way off for the 49ers. Third-and-8, completion goes for 23 and there's a roughing on Daniels. Goodness gracious.
• An 80-yard, 10-play touchdown drive cuts it to a one-score game. What a nightmare for San Francisco. There is nobody playing well on the defensive side right now. It's 23-17.
• Purdy scramble gets the 49ers to second-and-4. Purdy sack gets it to third-and-10. Incomplete to McCaffrey. This is heinous offensive football. It's clear Purdy has no faith in his pass catchers. Commanders have a chance to take a lead. Wow.
• Third-and-4, no pass rush, easy completion for Daniels who had all day. Embarrassing final 15 minutes for the 49ers defense.
• Ashtyn Davis is on the field for whatever reason. He just got torched for 30 yards. It appears he's in for Upton Stout, and there's just no chance that's the best the 49ers have to offer when Stout is off the field.
• The 49ers did it. They were off the field with a sack by Romello Height on fourth-and-8, but Davis was flagged for illegal contact. Abominable.
• WHEW! Malik Mustapha with a massive hit on a third-and-3 run to drop Jeremy McNichols for no gain. Mustapha has been a difference-maker the last two weeks.
• Mustapha again! This time a fourth-down pass breakup on WR Treylon Burks in the end zone. Wow!
• Romello Height and Keion White sealed it after another three-and-out by the 49ers offense. The 49ers got home with a three-man rush on the final snap of the game after not being able to affect Daniels for most of the second half regardless of how many pass rushers they sent. Ugly win. But a win.
• Final score: 49ers 23, Commanders 17

This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: Notes and observations from wacky 49ers win over Commanders