How to watch Washington Commanders vs. San Francisco 49ers on Monday Night Football
Watch the Commanders and Niners on ESPN Monday, October 19 at 8:15PM ET, with Sling Essentials, Orange, Essentials & Select, or Orange & Blue.
Monday Night Football week 6 features a pair of NFC teams heading in opposite directions. The San Francisco 49ers are off to a sizzling 5-0 start, including wins over their NFC West rivals Seattle and Los Angeles. The 49ers sit atop the power rankings and QB Brock Purdy is among the favorites to win league MVP. Contrast that with the Washington Commanders, who just suffered one of the most humiliating ties in living memory to drop to 1-3-1 on the season. There are serious long-term health concerns about QB Jayden Daniels and the hotseat is to the point that head coach Dan Quinn can’t sit in a chair without it catching fire. This is exactly the type of game that looks like a complete mismatch, yet winds up coming down to the final play.
Here’s a full preview and how to watch the Monday Night Football game between the Commanders and 49ers with Sling. To watch the game on ESPN with Sling, subscribe to Sling Essentials, which will also have the debut of the Monday Night Football Field Pass with The Pat McAfee Show on ESPN2.
How to Watch Washington Commanders at San Francisco 49ers on ‘Monday Night Football’ with Sling
All Monday Night Football games air on ESPN, which is available with Sling by subscribing to Sling Essentials or Sling Orange. Both packages also include ESPN2, which will debut the new simulcast Monday Night Football Field Pass with The Pat McAfee Show on ESPN2 during the Commanders-Niners game. To watch ESPN/ESPN2 for the best price with Sling, subscribe to Sling Essentials.
Commanders at 49ers on ‘Monday Night Football’ preview
https://youtu.be/shP9NMtcYC4?si=u8y1YyzGfCk0n_TA
Now in his 10th season coaching the Niners, Kyle Shanahan has firmly established himself as one of the best coaches in the NFL. Despite playing in the hardest division in football, the Niners have been a model of consistency. Last year (and many others), San Francisco was rocked by injuries to key players, yet in spite of this, the team not only made the playoffs, but knocked off the defending champion Eagles on the road. A clear early frontrunner for Coach of the Year (an award neither he nor his legendary father Mike Shanahan have ever claimed), Shanny has the 49ers ranked in the top 3 in both scoring offense and scoring defense. And he did this despite an opening schedule that featured games against three of last year’s final four teams.
Washington, conversely, is dreaming of Daniels’ rookie season two years ago, which culminated in a trip to the NFC title game. It’s been a bumpy ride since, with Daniels in-and-out of the lineup due to injury and middling play on defense. The Commanders bottomed out last week with the inexplicable overtime ending, a play so instantly infamous that some pundits are wondering if Daniels or Quinn can ever recover. That’s probably a bit much, but with a cross-country road trip on deck, week 6 is hardly a respite for Washington.
This is the part of article where I’m obligated to point out the Commanders are +7.5 underdogs, that the Niners have nearly twice as many wins in their head-to-head series (San Francisco is 23-12-1 all time against Washington), and that the 49ers won the previous two meetings by 17-points. But this is the NFL. Weird stuff happens every single week (like, say, a coach and QB mangling routine clock management in overtime). So you know what? I’m planting my flag: Commanders win 24-20 in a shocking upset. In the NFL, making no sense often makes the most sense.
Who are the key players to watch?
San Francisco: Christian McCaffrey (RB) McCaffrey is the heartbeat of a 49ers team winning despite an "epic rash of injuries," and with the receiving corps thinned (Deebo Samuel out, others banged up) he's the engine Kyle Shanahan leans on hardest. Through five games, Run CMC has piled up roughly 218 rushing yards and 340 scrimmage yards with 4 touchdowns, giving San Francisco a chain-moving, clock-controlling identity even when the passing game is struggling. He found the end zone again in the Week 5 win at Seattle, and McCaffrey’s ability to produce yards after contact (39 of his 68 rushing yards came after contact that day) is exactly what keeps a shorthanded roster undefeated. Against a Washington defense that just melted down in a tie, controlling tempo through McCaffrey is San Francisco's cleanest path to 6-0.
Washington: Jayden Daniels (QB) Daniels is the whole ballgame for Washington — and he reminded everyone why in his Week 5 return from a dislocated left elbow, rushing nine times for 103 yards and two scores while adding 199 passing yards on 17-of-25 accuracy. His legs are the Commanders' most dangerous weapon, and that matters here: the one soft spot on San Francisco's roster is an injury-depleted defensive line. With backup Marcus Mariota banged up (knee), there's no cushion behind him. If Washington is going to steal one on the road as a heavy underdog, Daniels has to be special. We think he will be.
Odds via DraftKings
Spread: WAS +7.5 (-112) | SF -7.5 (-108)
Total: O 51.5 (-108) | U 51.5 (-112)
Moneyline: WAS +330 | SF -425
Commanders at 49ers broadcast details
The Week 6 Monday Night Football game gets underway at 8:15 PM ET, 5:15 local time. You can watch the game with Sling by subscribing to Sling Essentials or Sling Orange.