Brock Purdy, 49ers Hold Off Commanders 23-17 to Go 6-0

The 49ers are 6-0, and Brock Purdy now owns the best career passer rating in NFL history. Purdy went 21 of 29 for 264 yards and a touchdown with no picks as San Francisco held off the Washington Commanders 23-17 on Monday Night Football at Levi's Stadium.

The record came early. Purdy hit 1,500 career attempts on the opening drive, the threshold to qualify for the all-time leaderboard, and his 105.6 rating puts him ahead of Lamar Jackson's 102.7, per the AP. He capped that same drive with an 11-yard touchdown to George Kittle and never trailed.

Brock Purdy and the fast start

San Francisco went into the half up 20-3. Christian McCaffrey punched in two 1-yard touchdown runs, the second with seconds left before the break, and finished with 64 rushing yards on 16 carries plus nine catches for 53 yards. That is 117 yards from scrimmage, and fantasy managers who were worried about his touches got the two scores they wanted.

Mike Evans did his damage early too, three catches for 94 yards including a 54-yarder. Then he went down after a 16-yard catch, hobbled to the locker room and did not return. Kyle Shanahan said after the game it was the same right Achilles soreness Evans dealt with all week and that he didn't think Evans would need more imaging, per ESPN. With Ricky Pearsall, De'Zhaun Stribling, Demarcus Robinson and Christian Kirk already out, 49ers receivers not named Evans had two catches for 35 yards.

Washington almost stole it

Once Evans left, the game flipped. Jayden Daniels finished 29 of 40 for 300 yards and threw both of his touchdown passes in the second half, cutting a 20-point hole to 23-17. Washington also lost Terry McLaurin to a left knee injury in the first half that the team fears is serious.

Then the 49ers defense closed. On fourth-and-3 from the San Francisco 17 with about two minutes left, Daniels went for Treylon Burks in the end zone and safety Malik Mustapha broke it up. Washington got one more look, and with six seconds left on third-and-22, Romello Height and Keion White dropped Daniels for an 18-yard loss to end it.

"Built like a missile and hits like one," Kittle said of Mustapha.

Records and what's next

The win was the 49ers' 56th on Monday Night Football, breaking a tie with the Steelers for the most in league history. Fred Warner also reached 1,000 career tackles, and rookie linebacker Jaden Dugger led the team with 11 stops as San Francisco held Washington to 53 rushing yards. The defensive line had four sacks.

Washington drops to 1-4-1 and heads into its Week 7 bye before hosting the Eagles on Sunday Night Football on Nov. 1.

The 49ers go to Atlanta to face the Falcons on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET. Keep Evans on the field and Purdy keeps stacking, and 7-0 is right there.