It was a lot harder than in needed to be, but the San Francisco 49ers were able to pull out a victory against the Washington Commanders on Monday night.
While it would have been much better for our collective blood pressure if the Niners had just blown the Commanders out like it looked like they were going to do in the first half, the way they were able to grind out the win could prove to be beneficial in the long run.
The Niners have already had tight contests this season against the Arizona Cardinals, Denver Broncos, and Seattle Seahawks, so it isn't like the 2023 season when it seemed like all of their victories were lopsided blowouts.
49ers can learn valuable lessons from narrow win over Commanders
Teams having to win in different ways is healthy over the course of the regular season. The defense had to come up big to stop the Commanders from coming all the way back on Monday, and young players like Gracen Halton, Romello Height, Jaden Dugger, Mykel Williams, and especially Malik Mustapha all came up with big plays when they were desperately needed.
We know how great Fred Warner, Dre Greenlaw, and Nick Bosa are when they are on the field. But to have a truly great defense, you need contributions from all 11 guys, and the fact these younger Niners are rising to the occasion now is only going to give them more confidence they can do the same in a playoff game.
The game also serves as a wake-up call for the offense. Without wide receiver Mike Evans in the second half, the offense essentially ground to a halt. That shows just how important Evans is to the offense, but it also shows San Francisco either needed other guys to step up, or general manager John Lynch needs to make a move to get another receiver.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan needs to be better, situationally, as well. He didn't use a timeout when the 49ers punted with about a minute left in the game, and the delay of game cost them 5 yards. Obviously, it didn't end up costing them the game, but Shanahan nearly renewed all of the jokes about how he seems to have a special talent for blowing leads.
In short, a win is a win, and the defense should take a lot of positives away. But Shanahan and the offense need to learn from those second-half struggles and clean things up going forward, all of which will hopefully make for a more complete team by the end of the season.
Add us as a preferred source on Google