Week 16 Game Preview: 49ers vs Commanders

By Scooter_McG

The NFC West Champion San Fancisco 49ers play host to the Washington Commanders on Christmas Eve.

The last time these teams met was in a monsoon in Washington - a victory for the 49ers that was part of an 8 game winning streak to start the 2019 season. The 49ers head into this game as the form team of the NFL and a win this week would make it Shanahan's second 8 game winning streak in his 49ers coaching career. 

The 49ers will be gunning for another type of 8 game streak in this one as well. The current 7 game win streak has coincided with (or, more accurately, been partly due to) a defensive effort that has seen opposing rushing attacks kept under 70 yards. This current streak ties the 49ers with the 2000 Ravens team for the NFL all-time lead, and if they can keep the Commanders under 70 rushing yards will give the 2022 49ers defense sole ownership of the record. 

The 7 game win streak has also seen the 49ers lead the league (by quite some way) in teamwide DVOA over the span. Put simply - the 49ers have been by far and away the most complete and dominant team in the NFL over their past seven games, ever since they were blown out by the Chiefs. 

But you don't win Championships in November and December. As good as the team has been it won't mean anything if they can't maintain their level of play come the playoffs. And that is where managing the next three games can become tricky for Shanahan and the 49ers. On the one hand you don't want to unnecessarily risk players and see them get hurt before the playoffs. But on the other hand, players need to play and be battle tested before big games. Shanahan discussed this during the week and it appears he is of the belief the best course is to have his players prepare for the playoffs by seeing action. 

Of course, just because your best players are on the field doesn't mean they are playing their best football. The other trick over the next three weeks will be keeping the players focused on the task at hand now that the division is won. Kittle outlined how the players are keen to keep the wins coming and stay hot which sounds promising, but it is also natural for players to suffer something of a letdown after the emotion that comes with completing a task such as winning the division. Especially when you then have a gap until the next key goal - the playoffs. 

On the other side of the field will be a Commanders team that, in short, has to win this game to remain in the thick of playoff contention. They'll be hungry. And making them even hungrier will be the sting of feeling like they were unfairly treated by the refs in their loss to the Giants last week. The Redskins have a good defense and play a ball control brand of offense that can make games tight and leave the result hanging on the balance of a few key plays. Coming in riding a wave of emotion can sometimes be enough to swing those key moments in your favour. And it wouldn't be a surprise if the Commanders see some favourable calls of their own this week in a bout of NFL officiating apology. 

On paper, and based on recent form, this is a contest the 49ers should win. They have the defense that is well suited to stopping the Commanders offense, and have the offensive firepower to create enough points to make this a comfortable victory. But something tells me this will be a tough day out for the 49ers. This is the sort of matchup, given where both teams are at in the season right now, where I wouldn't be surprised to see the Commanders get out to an early double digit lead and we'll then see how serious the 49ers are about finishing the regular season out strong. At the same time I wouldn't be surprised to see the 49ers come out looking to make a statement to the rest of the NFL and blow the Commanders away.