Predicting the Commanders final 4 games with playoffs on the line
By Jerry Trotta
3. Week 16 at the San Francisco 49ers
On Christmas Eve, the Commanders will look to play holiday spoiler for 49ers diehards. A potential playoff matchup if the standings remain unchanged through Week 15, this will be another litmus test game for Ron Rivera’s squad.
Washington will catch a huge break in this festive fixture, as the ascending Niners will be without Jimmy Garoppolo and Deebo Samuel. With third-stringer Brock Purdy looking the part of an NFL quarterback in Kyle Shanahan’s system, Garoppolo’s season-ending injury doesn’t appear as devastating for San Francisco.
Samuel is the much bigger loss as the 49ers’ offensive centerpiece, but they have plenty of leftover talent to fill the void, including Brandon Aiyuk, the team’s leading receiver before Samuel’s injury, Christian McCaffrey, who’s starting to look comfortable in the new offense, George Kittle, and Jauan Jennings.
The Commanders match up well with the 9-4 Niners, but they’re rounding into form with playoff football on the horizon, and have their eyes on the No. 2 seed after Minnesota suffered its third loss of the season in Week 14.
Not to mention, San Francisco boast the league’s best defense that’s allowed a jaw-dropping 10.6 points per game over the last six weeks.
Prediction: 49ers 27, Commanders 16