Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
Brock Purdy and the offence staked San Francisco to a big lead, while the defence made sure they remained undefeated.
Purdy threw a touchdown pass, Christian McCaffrey ran for two scores and the 49ers made two late stops to hold off the Washington Commanders 23-17 on Monday (Tuesday AEDT) for their sixth straight win to open the season.
“You’re not always happy … but real proud of the guys for just the competitive stamina to keep it going all game,” victorious coach Kyle Shanahan said.
The Niners followed up an emotional win last week at division-rivals Seattle by building a 20-point lead and then escaping at the end when the defence stepped up.
The Minnesota Vikings and Kansas City Chiefs are also unbeaten, both enjoying 5-0 records.
Jayden Daniels threw two touchdown passes in the second half to get the visitors back to within six, but Malik Mustapha broke up a fourth-down pass to Treylon Burks near the goal line with 1:54 to play to preserve the lead.
San Francisco extended their best start to a season since winning their first eight games in 2019 on the way to a Super Bowl appearance.
“We dug ourselves in a hole and it bit us at the end of it,” Daniels said.
Purdy went 21 of 29 for 264 yards and officially became the highest-rated passer in NFL history as he passed the 1500-attempt threshold to qualify. His 105.6 rating is ahead of Lamar Jackson’s 102.7.
The game was one-sided early, with the 49ers scoring touchdowns on the first two drives on Purdy’s pass to George Kittle and a one-yard run by McCaffrey.
San Francisco expanded the lead to 20-3 late in the half on McCaffrey’s second TD run as the Niners gained as many first downs (17) in the first half as the Commanders ran plays.
“I’m obviously a little upset with how I finish the game,” Purdy said.
“But I know that moving forward, every single game matters when it comes down to playoffs … so we’ll take this W as a team.”
