Monday Night NFL Intel
San Francisco plays Washington without Deebo Samuel, and Mike Evans is questionable with rib and Achilles injuries, which leaves the 49ers short at wide receiver. That puts more of Brock Purdy's short throws on Christian McCaffrey and George Kittle against a Washington defense allowing 255 passing yards a game, 4th-most in the league. The 49ers are 5-0 and 7.5-point home favorites with the total at 51.5, while Washington comes in 1-3-1 off a tie with the Giants.
Christian McCaffreyWAS at SFMonday, Oct 19, 8:15 PM ET McCaffrey caught 102 passes last season, 6.0 a game, and has 19 catches on 25 targets through five games this year. San Francisco's receiver room is thin on Monday: Deebo Samuel is out, Ricky Pearsall is on injured reserve and Mike Evans is questionable with rib and Achilles injuries. With fewer healthy wideouts, more of Purdy's short throws should go to McCaffrey, who has caught 76% of the passes thrown his way this season.
Brock PurdyWAS at SFMonday, Oct 19, 8:15 PM ET Purdy is averaging 239.2 passing yards a game through five starts, and Washington is allowing 255 a game through the air, 4th-most in the league. Washington's defense faces 65 plays a game, above the 64-play average, which means more snaps for Purdy to work with. He has been sacked on just 2% of his dropbacks this season against a 6% league average, so drives rarely stall on sacks.
George KittleWAS at SFMonday, Oct 19, 8:15 PM ET Kittle is at 53.6 receiving yards a game this season, below this line, but Washington allows 255 passing yards a game. He catches 75% of his targets against a 64% league average and is running 3.3 yards after the catch above expected, 7th in the league. With Deebo Samuel out, Kittle is a bigger piece of whatever Purdy throws.
Nick Bosa is out for San Francisco, and Ricky Pearsall remains on injured reserve. Washington lists Stefon Diggs as questionable with a hamstring injury and has ruled out running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt.
Kickoff is 8:15 PM ET at Levi's Stadium on ESPN.
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