What the 49ers Proved In Holding Off the Commanders on MNF to Improve to 6-0

The San Francisco 49ers are the best team in the NFC, Rich says, and they could be the best team in football. Monday night they were ripe for the plucking. They just didn't get plucked.

That was the theme of the whole NFL week, as Rich saw it: good teams winning ugly. The Broncos started it on Thursday night against the Seahawks. Pittsburgh needed four and a half quarters in Tampa to pull out a win. And the 49ers led Washington 23-3 before holding on for a 23-17 win that moved them to 6-0.

It wasn't clean. San Francisco survived a Christian McCaffrey fumble, three three-and-outs in the fourth quarter, and an offense that had been humming in the first half and through the first five-plus weeks suddenly going quiet. Which is why Kyle Shanahan sounded the way he did at the podium.

"I feel good that we just won a game," Shanahan said. "6 and 0 is better than any other options in your record, but I feel good when the year is over and you're the last team to win the last game of the year. So I'll wait till that moment."

Rich's read on what this team has: grit, determination, and enough stars mixed with third-day draft picks that Shanahan, Raheem Morris and the staff can coach up. Mike Evans went down with an Achilles injury after a catch that nearly pushed him over 100 yards, and the offense wasn't the same after he left. A long third-quarter drive ended in a field goal, and then the three-and-outs kept Washington alive.

But the 49ers also have Brock Purdy, who Rich believes is the best quarterback Shanahan has had in front of him since Matt Ryan in his MVP season. Rich credited Steve Young as the first person to come on the show and say Purdy needed to use his legs more. When he does, Rich said, he is very difficult to stop. He kept converting third downs against Washington, used his legs again and again, and threw perfect passes, including a first touchdown that dropped over a defender into the arms of a wide-open George Kittle.

"He's accurate. He is a two-way threat, and he's a self-made guy," Rich said. Purdy now has 14 touchdown passes, tied with Kirk Cousins and Trevor Lawrence for the league lead.

Purdy also knew the night could have gone the other way. "With the lead that we had, it's like, put your foot on the gas pedal and go make plays and put the game away kind of thing, and not put our defense in that kind of situation," he said. "I'm obviously a little upset with how I finished the game, but I know that moving forward, every single game matters."

Then came the graphic. Among players with at least 1,500 career attempts, Purdy's passer rating is the best in NFL history at present, a 105.6 that Rich likened to a soft rock station in the San Jose area. The active players behind him on the list: Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, Aaron Rodgers and Lamar Jackson. "That's what Brock Purdy has turned himself into," Rich said.

Rich also gave it up to McCaffrey. After his fumble, McCaffrey went to his teammates and apologized. Then the coaches kept giving him the ball, and he ran with real determination. "That is what leadership's all about," Rich said, "and that permeates a locker room." The crew pointed out that McCaffrey's workload is back to full: 25 touches a week earlier, and the 49ers needed him in the second half Monday.

The injuries keep piling up. Rich called it "one big Mad Lib for the Niners every week." Kittle wasn't having any talk of bittersweet wins. "No. Winning's fun," he said. "I hope Michael will be fine." He pointed out that "Deebo will be back in a sec. Nick Bosa will be back in a sec." Every year you deal with injuries, Kittle said, and it sucks when guys get hurt, "but the league just rolls on."

Then there's the defense. Last year the 49ers had 27 sacks all season and couldn't pressure anybody. This year they are getting after quarterbacks, including Jayden Daniels on Monday, with their third game of four-plus sacks, tied for the most in the NFL after zero such games last year. That's why, Rich said, Shanahan wants Morris as his defensive coordinator for as long as he's the head coach.

"That's how you got a 6-0 team," Rich said.