Brock Purdy becomes highest-rated passer in NFL history as 49ers stay perfect

Brock Purdy threw a touchdown pass, Christian McCaffrey ran for two scores and the San Francisco 49ers held on to beat the Washington Commanders 23-17 on Monday night for their sixth straight win to open the season.

The Niners followed up an emotional win last week at division rival Seattle by building a 20-point lead and holding off the Commanders (1-4-1) with two late defensive stops.

“[The defense] did it for us all game, I’m proud of those guys ... our defense balled,” Purdy said after the game.

Jayden Daniels threw two touchdown passes in the second half to cut that 20-point deficit to 23-17, but Malik Mustapha broke up a fourth-down pass to Treylon Burks near the goalline with 1:54 to play to preserve the lead.

Washington got the ball back at its 46 with 52 seconds remaining and moved down to the 28 before Daniels was called for intentional grounding, giving the Commanders one last play from the 40. Daniels was then sacked by Keion White and Ogbo Okoronkwo before he could throw up a desperation pass.

The Niners extended their best start of a season since winning their first eight games in 2019 on the way to a Super Bowl appearance.

Purdy started the game fast with a 24-yard strike to Mike Evans, who later left the game with an achilles injury, on the third play of the game and an 11-yard touchdown to George Kittle to finish that drive. Purdy went 21 for 29 for 264 yards and officially became the highest-rated quarterback in NFL history as he passed the 1,500-attempt threshold to qualify. His 105.6 rating is ahead of Lamar Jackson’s 102.7.

The Commanders were unable to bounce back from last week’s tie against the New York Giants, when they mismanaged the clock in overtime to cost them a chance at a game-winning field goal.

The game was one-sided early with the 49ers scoring touchdowns on the first two drives on Purdy’s pass to Kittle and a one-yard run by McCaffrey.

San Francisco expanded the lead to 20-3 late in the half on McCaffrey’s second touchdown run as the Niners gained as many first downs (17) in the first half as the Commanders ran plays.