The 49ers look to avoid letdown, while the Commanders try to get past hangover of disappointing tie

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — The San Francisco 49ers were still basking in the glow of an exhilarating road win against division rival Seattle that extended their perfect start to the season when Christian McCaffrey offered a word of caution.

The 49ers are off to their first 5-0 start since 2023 headed into Monday night’s game against the Washington Commanders (1-3-1). McCaffrey said the Niners know not to get too comfortable after going through a slump the last time they started the season with five straight wins.

“I love our team’s mindset because we’ve been here before,” the star running back said. “We’ve been 5-0 and then went into the bye 5-3, so we’re more worried about continuing to get better every day. That’s what I love about this team.”

While the 49ers are trying not to get too high after beating the Seahawks 32-29, the task for the Commanders is the opposite after their late-game mishandling of the clock turned a probable win last week against the New York Giants into a frustrating 27-27 tie.

The Commanders allowed the clock to run out in overtime after getting the ball into field goal range inside the New York 30 without even getting off a kick.

Coach Dan Quinn took the ultimate responsibility for the mistakes and now wants to make sure there are no lingering effects from last week’s game.

“It’s difficult, some are longer than others, but that’s part of the job to make sure these are the specific moments that we want to learn from and apply and move it forward,” he said. “What I do know about our team, through the first part of the season, we’ve had a lot of adversity. You’ve got to respond and dig deep on a player being out, an injury, things that don’t normally come up like hospitalizations and injuries that knock a guy out for the year. There’s going to be that in our game in terms of fighting through the adversity to go. …

“Although the adversity’s been difficult, this team’s connected, they are tough and you get a chance to show that resilience, not just talk about it.”

Need to know

Washington (1-3-1) vs. San Francisco (5-0)

When/where to watch: Monday, 8:15 p.m. EDT, ESPN/ABC.

Latest odds: 49ers by 7 1/2.

Against the spread: Commanders 2-3; 49ers 4-1.

Last week: Commanders tied the New York Giants 27-27; 49ers beat the Seahawks 32-29.

Last meeting: 49ers beat Commanders 27-10 on Dec. 31, 2023, in Landover, Maryland.

Series record: 49ers lead 23-12-1.

Matchup to watch

Commanders QB Jayden Daniels’ running vs. 49ers defense. San Francisco has done a good job against QB runs so far this season, allowing just 33 yards for the second fewest in the NFL. But the Niners haven’t faced as dynamic a runner as what they will see with Daniels this week. He ran for 103 yards last week and became the first QB with multiple TD runs of at least 25 yards in the same game since Michael Vick against Minnesota in 2002.

Stats and stuff

— The Commanders are one of seven teams never to win at Levi’s Stadium since it opened in 2014. They lost twice to the 49ers there, but did win a road game against San Francisco played in Arizona in 2020 because of COVID.

— Washington has allowed an NFL-worst 95 points in the second half.

— The Commanders are tied for second in the league with a plus-5 turnover margin thanks to only two giveaways.

— Washington has allowed TDs on a league-worst 83.3% of red zone drives, while San Francisco leads the NFL by scoring TDs on 87.5% of red zone drives.

— The 49ers started 5-0 for the third time under coach Kyle Shanahan. They made the Super Bowl the past two times in 2019 and ’23. They have started 6-0 three time in the Super Bowl era.

— San Francisco QB Brock Purdy needs five attempts to qualify for the NFL all-time leaderboard. When he reaches that, he will have the highest passer rating ever with his 105.4 ahead of current leader Lamar Jackson’s 102.7.

— CB Renardo Green had two INTs last week and his three on the season are the most for any 49ers player since 2023.

— Niners K Eddy Pineiro has missed three FGs and two PATs this season, matching his total number of missed kicks from all of last season.

— San Francisco has scored 20 TDs this season with 18 coming from players 30 or older, the most in NFL history through five games.

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AP Sports Writer Andrew Gillis contributed to this report

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