Washington's real problem is the fourth quarter. The Commanders led New York 27-13 and gave up 17 straight points. Jameis Winston drove for 4 straight scores, and Malik Nabers caught the tying touchdown with 1:43 left. Then, in field-goal range at the end of overtime, Daniels took off on a scramble and Washington couldn't stop the clock before time ran out. A team that can't close against the Giants is now flying across the country to face the best record in football.
The scores tell you how different these teams have been. San Francisco hasn't needed to be pretty. It beat the Rams by 20 and the Dolphins by 22, then won tighter games against Arizona and Seattle. In the Seattle game the defense did the heavy lifting: Renardo Green intercepted Sam Darnold twice, Malik Mustapha recovered a fumble, and rookie Gracen Halton picked up another fumble and ran it in for a touchdown. Washington's one win was a 33-31 shootout with Seattle. Since then it has lost by 17 to the Colts in London and blown the Giants game.
Both injury lists are long, so watch the practice reports this week. For San Francisco, it's Samuel's hamstring, plus Nick Bosa and Kyle Juszczyk, who were both inactive in Seattle. For Washington, it's whether any of those 3 safeties come back, and whether Stefon Diggs, inactive again against the Giants, returns to help a receiver room that just lost Jaylin Lane to IR. Kickoff is 5:15 PM PT. If Daniels can throw more than his elbow let him last week, Washington has a chance to make it close. If he can't, the 49ers should take care of it.