Commanders at 49ers on Monday Night Football: kickoff, TV and what to watch as unbeaten San Francisco hosts Washington

Week 6 ends on Monday, Oct. 19, when the Washington Commanders (1-3-1) visit the unbeaten San Francisco 49ers (5-0) at Levi’s Stadium. Kickoff is 8:15 pm ET, which is 5:15 pm in Santa Clara and 3:15 am Tuesday in Cairo. ABC carries the national broadcast, which is simulcast on Disney’s main cable sports channel.

How to watch

Joe Buck has the play-by-play with Troy Aikman as analyst, with Lisa Salters and Laura Rutledge reporting from the sidelines. On Washington’s radio call, Bram Weinstein and London Fletcher are in the booth and Logan Paulsen is on the sideline.

How they got here

San Francisco and Minnesota are the league’s only 5-0 teams, and Kansas City (4-0) is the other unbeaten club. The 49ers won a shootout in Seattle 32-29 on Sunday, sealed by Eddy Pineiro’s late field goal and a fourth-down stop at midfield. They are 3-0 in division games, rank third in the league in both points scored (30.8 a game) and points allowed (18.6), lead the NFL in third-down conversions at 51.9% and have allowed only two sacks.

Washington has not won since Week 3. On Sunday it led the Giants by 14 points with about eight minutes left in regulation and still finished 27-27 after Jayden Daniels took a sack as overtime ran out, with the Commanders out of timeouts. Daniels completed 17 of 25 passes for 199 yards and ran nine times for 103 yards and two touchdowns. Washington has the league’s sixth-best rushing offense and is tied for second in turnover margin at plus-5, but it ranks 30th in scoring defense at 29.8 points a game.

Who is missing

San Francisco will be without linebacker Dre Greenlaw, whose appeal of a one-game suspension for headbutting Seattle’s Ernest Jones IV was denied. Receiver Deebo Samuel is also out. Kyle Shanahan said Samuel’s hamstring injury will cost him time, and he is expected to miss at least two games. With Christian Kirk, Ricky Pearsall, Demarcus Robinson and De’Zhaun Stribling on injured reserve, Mike Evans, who is playing through a rib injury and leads the team with 326 receiving yards, and Brandin Cooks are the top healthy wideouts.

There could be good news for the 49ers. Shanahan said edge rusher Nick Bosa, who has missed three games, and fullback Kyle Juszczyk both have a chance to return this week.

Washington’s defensive front is thin. Dan Quinn said Javontae Jean-Baptiste suffered a pectoral injury against the Giants, one he has dealt with before, and Charles Omenihu is already sidelined. The Commanders also signed running back Devin Neal to the practice squad on Tuesday. Because the game is on a Monday, both teams’ first practice reports are due Thursday.

Players to watch

• Brock Purdy has 1,196 passing yards and 13 touchdown passes. Christian McCaffrey leads the 49ers with 286 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns, George Kittle has four touchdown catches and Fred Warner has 50 tackles.
• Cornerback Renardo Green has three interceptions, and defensive end Keion White leads San Francisco with three sacks.
• For Washington, Jacory Croskey-Merritt leads the team with 239 rushing yards, Terry McLaurin has 203 receiving yards, Stefon Diggs has three touchdown catches and K’Lavon Chaisson leads with 2.5 sacks.

History

San Francisco leads the all-time series 23-12-1. This is Washington’s first trip to the Bay Area since 2022, and its last win over the 49ers in San Francisco came in 2004. Washington’s 2020 win over the 49ers was played in Glendale, Arizona, because of COVID-19 restrictions. The Commanders are 3-10-1 all-time on the road in San Francisco.

Raheem Morris is in his first season as the 49ers’ defensive coordinator, and Klay Kubiak calls the offense for Shanahan. On the other side, Quinn, offensive coordinator David Blough and defensive coordinator Daronte Jones are all in their third year in Washington.