The San Francisco 49ers’ hopes of winning the Super Bowl took a major hit on Christmas Day when they got dismantled by the Baltimore Ravens. But they righted themselves at least somewhat on Sunday when they downed the Washington Commanders, 27-10, to improve to 12-4 on the season.
Perhaps it wasn’t the most dominant performance, especially considering their talent. But it was a relatively strong one.
Quarterback Brock Purdy, who had a nightmare game with four interceptions versus Baltimore, completed 22 of 28 pass attempts and threw for 230 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. Running back Christian McCaffrey had 64 rushing yards despite sustaining a calf injury, while Brandon Aiyuk racked up 114 receiving yards on just seven catches.
As a result, the 49ers have become the first team in nearly 20 years to have a QB with 4,000 passing yards and four skill players with at least 1,000 yards from scrimmage.
NFL News & Rumors: Brock Purdy, Christian McCaffrey, Brandon Aiyuk, San Francisco 49ers Updates
The last team to accomplish this feat was the 2004 Indianapolis Colts. Those Colts teams of the early to mid-2000s were very talented and explosive offensively, and it resulted in a world championship ring for them in the 2006 campaign.
It is way too early to tell if these Niners are one of the NFL’s better offensive teams in recent memory, and they will certainly have to win the Super Bowl in order to receive any such consideration from the national media. But they are third in points, rushing yards and rushing touchdowns, second in passing yards and first in passing touchdowns and first downs.
Purdy may not win the MVP award this season, but he’s still the league leader in passer rating and QBR, and he’s second in passing yards and touchdowns, as well as third in pass completion percentage. McCaffrey leads everyone with 1,459 rushing yards, and he has an NFL-high 2,023 all-purpose yards and is tied for the league lead with 21 total touchdowns.
Aiyuk seems to be on his way to his first Pro Bowl appearance with 1,317 receiving yards, while fellow wide receiver Deebo Samuel has 871 receiving yards and 12 total touchdowns.
Of course, San Francisco’s main calling card is its defense, which ranks second in points allowed.
The team is still favored to win the Super Bowl according to at least one sportsbook. The storied franchise hasn’t claimed the Vince Lombardi Trophy since the 1994 season, and its fans are growing very restless for another world championship.
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