Turning the page from a humbling result at home in a divisional game that led to headlines across the league, the Washington Commanders' comeback efforts fell short on the road after falling, 23-17, against the San Francisco 49ers in week six.
The 49ers took control of the game on the opening possession after a nine play, 64 yard drive was capped off by an 11 yard touchdown pass to tight end George Kittle. Running back Christian McCaffrey would add to it with a pair of first half touchdowns from one yard out, putting the Commanders into a deep hole ahead of halftime with more questions than answers in a must-win game.
Washington was able to turn San Francisco's opening score into one of their own after a five play drive was highlighted by a 27 yard completion to veteran Terry McLaurin on quarterback Jayden Daniels' first pass attempt, setting up Drew Stevens for a 51 yard field goal, his third make from at least 50 yards in 2026.
McLaurin's 27 yard reception also proved to be his lone highlight of the night after going down with a non-contact injury in the first quarter, eventually being carted off the field with his left leg in an air cast and being ruled out.
Washington also had a chance to make it a one possession game on a drive that spilled into the second quarter, but stalled in the redzone after Daniels threw the ball out of bounds on fourth down with a penalty flag thrown against Washington. With Daniels drawing criticism for his throwaway, Dan Quinn did too after he was seen mouthing for the field goal unit after the failed fourth down play, another controversial moment one week after reiterating the lessons learned coming out of the humbling overtime finish.
Yet the defensive struggles loomed large as the Niners amassed over 300 total yards of offense -- by halftime -- with Mike Evans approaching the 100 yard receiving mark by halftime. A big reason for that was Evans' 54 yard reception on the first play of the Niners' second drive that set up the second touchdown of the day and first for McCaffrey, pushing Washington into a 13-3 deficit after the missed extra point.
Washington's defense entered halftime allowing six touchdowns over its last eight drives.
The offense opened the second half with the ball, yet after Quinn noted third down execution would loom large in the final 30 minutes, the opening drive ended after Daniels was sacked on third down. The Niners answered with a six minute drive that ended in a field goal, extending Washington's deficit to 23-3.
Yet two straight touchdowns from Washington would make it interesting late.
Washington responded with its first touchdown drive inside the last minute of the third quarter after Daniels found wide receiver Stefon Diggs, making his return from injury, for his fourth touchdown of the season. After forcing the Niners into a three-and-out, Daniels led the offense on an 80 yard drive capped off by a nine yard receiving touchdown by running back Rachaad White to make it a one possession game and a 23-17 score with less than ten minutes left.
After forcing the Niners into three-and-outs on each of the final three possessions, Washington had two chances to take the lead in the final minutes.
The second drive of the fourth quarter was highlighted on the touchdown that never was after Jeremy McNichols' 31 yard score was negated by an illegal shift on Chris Paul. Four plays later, Daniels' fourth down attempt to Treylon Burks was broken up at the goal line.
Yet with under one minute left, Washington approached the redzone before Daniels was called for intentional grounding, leading to a hopeful Hail Mary attempt before the Niners ended the game with a sack.
Washington, now 1-4-1, will head into the bye week looking for answers before hosting the Philadelphia Eagles then Los Angeles Rams.