49ers Notebook: Malik Mustapha brings the pain in the clutch; Welcome back Mykel; A win’s a win, but...

The 49ers moved to 6-0 with their win over the Washington Commanders on Monday night, although win number six felt a lot closer than it should have been.

The 49ers had a near-collapse in their 23-17 win over the Washington Commanders, who trailed 23-3 in the third quarter before nearly rallying to steal a victory at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara. It was a comeback that gave the win a bit of an ugly aftertaste.

But even though the win didn't feel as positive as it would have if the 49ers had the start-to-finish blowout they looked to be well on their way to producing, there was still plenty from the game to be happy about. We'll dive into both sides of the equation in this version of 49ers Notebook. Let's get started...

Dodging a bullet

Monday night's win over the Commanders was a tale of two halves for the San Francisco 49ers, with the second half being one that showed a team that still has plenty of room for improvement.

The 49ers jumped out to a 20-3 halftime lead on the Commanders and were dominant in the fashion one would expect from an unbeaten team and a Super Bowl contender. But they were outscored 14-3 in the second half and had to battle to the end to get the win, which led to it feeling not quite as satisfying as the other five victories the 49ers have had this season.

"A win is a win," 49ers left tackle Trent Williams said on Monday night. "They're hard to come by, and no game is given to you. You know, we had a lot of guys go down. They did as well, so it's not an excuse. But I think we were just a hair off, a couple plays where we could have kept the drive alive, and ultimately, we could have probably ended the game on our terms."

The 49ers allowed just two first downs to the Commanders in the first half while racking up 17 of their own. Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels finished the half with less than 100 yards passing. But, by the time the game was over, the Commanders had 19 first downs compared to 20 for the 49ers, while Daniels racked up 300 yards and two touchdowns on 29-of-40 passing.

So, while the 49ers were happy to be 6-0, they also came out of Monday's game knowing they can't let a similar second-half performance happen against better teams.

"Winning in the league is incredibly hard, so I'm always happy to win," tight end George Kittle said. "But when you're up 20—we're up 20 to 3 and you can't shut the door on a team that has been struggling. I mean, if we're playing a super efficient team, I think we lose that game pretty easily. And like we just can't have that."

49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan wasn't focusing on the negatives after the game, telling his team instead that being able to fight through adversity and get the win was something to be proud of.

"I just told them, I don't care how it ended in terms of like some of the stuff that guys are frustrated about," Shanahan said in his postgame press conference. "I was just really proud that they found a way to persevere and get that win. Anytime you get off to such a good start and you have a comfortable lead and it slowly dwindles and the other team has the ball down less than one score inside the 50, it's usually it's not a good feeling and usually the momentum takes over, especially after a couple of those penalties kept them on the field on fourth down. It wasn't looking good for a while and I thought that was a huge challenge for our guys to just the competitive stamina to keep that focus, to keep it going, to not think negatively of that the fact that we let them back in it and I was just proud of them for being able to finish it and find a way to get a win."

Still, things won't get any easier as the season progresses, so hopefully the 49ers learned a lesson on Monday night they can apply down the road.

"We have more difficult games in our future," Kittle said. "We have to go to Kansas City, we have to play Seattle again. Anytime you play the Rams, Matt Stafford is Matt Stafford. There's teams out there that will take advantage of us going three-and-out multiple times. And our offense, whether it's the players or our game plan, I think it's too good for us to perform like that."

Missing Mike Evans

The Mike Evans-Brock Purdy connection was humming for the 49ers in the first half against the Commanders, with Evans catching three of Purdy's passes for 94 yards. But the veteran wide receiver left the game after aggravating a problem with his Achilles before halftime, stopping whatever momentum the two of them had established.

It would have been fun, of course, to see what Purdy and Evans were able to do in the second half had Evans stayed on the field. But Shanahan thinks Evans might not have made a major impact if the game followed the same trajectory.

"It's definitely a big deal when you lose a player like Mike, but we got a sack on our first drive (in the second half), (which) I thought was one of our better drives of the game," Shanahan said. "We ran the ball real well, we just got a ball tipped on third down, and that would have been a score and we got a field goal. The next two drives, really, we got a sack on first down, got us in 2nd-and-20, we went three and out both times. And then the fourth time was a four-minute drill, we were trying to run the clock out. So just the way it ended up being, Mike wouldn't have had a chance to have that much of an effect there in the second half. Now, if we would have gotten some first downs and stuff and got driving, you would have felt the lack of presence of him, but we didn't get enough first downs to really show where we would miss him."

Evans' status for the 49ers' upcoming game in Atlanta on Sunday isn't yet known. He's been Purdy's most potent target so far this season, so the 49ers will have some strategizing to do if he winds up being unavailable.

"Obviously he's one of our best playmakers," Purdy said. "So, you want to get him the ball as much as you can and what he brings to the table with making plays and sort of what defenses have to do to respect him. That's another conversation. So, it obviously sucks having having him go down, but you know, I still obviously believe in the guys that had to step up and and make plays for us and stuff. So, we'll be good, but obviously we'd love to have him out there."

Missile impact

For the past two weeks, safety Malik Mustapha has been delivering the "next man up" mentality with emphasis and aplomb for the 49ers.

Mustapha started off behind the 8-ball this season due to the fact he was dealing with injuries during training camp. But he's been in the spotlight the past two weeks after an ankle injury to starter Marquis Sigle and has been able to give the 49ers huge plays when they've needed them the most.

In last week's 32-29 win over the Seattle Seahawks, Mustapha helped stop wide receiver Cooper Kupp on a fourth down play to seal the victory for the 49ers. In Monday night's 23-17 win over the Washington Commanders, Mustapha stepped up on back-to-back plays on a potential game-winning drive for the Commanders -- first by stuffing running back Jeremy McNichols for no gain on a 3rd-and-3.

Mustapha then delivered on the following play by breaking up a pass intended for wide receiver Treylon Burks at the goal line.

"He hit the s*** out of him, I ain't gonna lie to you," defensive end Keion White said when asked about the stop on Burks. "He really comes downhill."

Mustapha's stops on those plays gave the 49ers the ball back with just under two minutes to play. The 49ers then ran about a minute off the clock while forcing the Commanders to take their final two timeouts before punting the ball back to the Commanders. The defense rose to the occasion one more time from there to stop the Commanders from taking a last-second win, but it was Mustapha who made sure the best chance the Commanders had at taking the lead came up empty.

Mustapha told reporters after the game that the fact he was able to keep his focus after the third down tackle helped him bounce right back and stop Burks on fourth down.

"It's four-down territory," Mustapha said. "So, it's like, 'All right, we've got to get off the field again.' It's just rinse and repeat, rinse and repeat. You can't be dwelling on one play either whether the outcome is good or bad. We've just got to get on to the next. And even when I got the fourth down stop, yeah, we're celebrating, but at the end of the day, there's a there's a sense of urgency that we're going to be able to have to go on the field again."

The past two games have been gratifying for Mustapha, who was viewed as a potential long-term starter after being selected in the fourth round of the 2024 NFL Draft but has had to fight through injuries throughout the past two years.

"I didn't have the start that I wanted this year, but it gave me a chance to really scale back, take a step back, observe and see what ways I can improve on my game even if I'm not getting the physical reps, and then just being ready for my moment," Mustapha said. "Everyone has a role on this team, and you never want to be too high or too low on yourself. You're just trying to find ways to improve day in and day out. And then once my number is called, being in the best shape or best mindset to help my team win is key for us because they depend on me like I depend on them. So, you know, just thank God I was able to go out there these past couple weeks and just put it out on full display."

At the very least, Mustapha has proven that the 49ers have some talented depth at safety and that he's someone they can expect to make big plays in whatever role he's given.

"He's a missile," running back Christian McCaffrey said of Mustapha. "It's so fun watching him. Every time he he's on in on a tackle, it's so violent. And it's really cool to see him come into his own and play the way we all know he can play."

Mykel Williams and his "crack" sack

Monday night's game proved to be a moment for the young 49ers defensive line core to shine, with former first-round pick Mykel Williams being among those to make a significant impact.

Williams was one of five players to contribute to the four sacks the 49ers racked up on quarterback Jayden Daniels on Monday night. Others to chip in included veteran defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa, rookie defensive tackle Gracen Halton, and defensive ends Keion White and Romello Height, who split a sack on the game's final play. Williams' sack was the first since his rookie season, which was cut short due to a torn ACL.

When asked after the game what it felt like to get that sack, Williams was rather blunt in his reply.

"Like crack," Williams said, while adding, "No, I'm playing. It felt good though, man. It's been on my mind for ten, eleven months. To be able to go do it in the first home game and the second game back, it felt good."

The 49ers' young group of defensive linemen have been instrumental in recent weeks in providing a boost to the pass rush while defensive end Nick Bosa recovers from a calf injury. They delivered again on Monday night, and with Williams back on the field, the options the 49ers have are proving to be greater than many expected at the start of the season.

"We've been great," Williams said. "Romello, (linebacker Jaden) Dugger, G-Baby, all those guys. The way they came into the game and just took us to another level is tremendous. It's crazy to see really."

Shanahan didn't notice that Williams was in on a sack during the game but told reporters he was thrilled with the fact his young defensive lineman has been able to contribute for two consecutive games after returning from his injury.

"It's huge," Shanahan said. "I didn't know that he had a sack and I'll see how the tape looks, but just being able him to string two games in a row, getting back from a bad injury, you know, it's been a long recovery for him and I'm just really happy that he's made it back. He's been out there two games and hopefully he didn't have any setbacks in this game and can keep getting better with another week of practice."

Meanwhile, Williams was all smiles after the game and made it seem like his sack on Monday was the first of many big plays to come.

"All glory to God," Williams said. "It was just like divine timing. It was great to go out there and go do my thing. It's just a result of the work I put in and the work I'm going to continue to put in moving forward."

An interesting perspective

Keion White was asked about the team's resiliency after Monday night's win and he gave an answer that served as one of the better quotes to come out of the postgame interviews.

White credited Kyle Shanahan with the team's resilience, saying he's led by example this season after going through his offseason car crash that left him with a concussion and multiple broken bones.

"I think it starts from the head man," White said. "He says it doesn't matter -- next guy up, and just play the next play and really persevere. He preaches that. He started off this season with a car accident and (he's) still out there. So if you can see that from him, then who am I to not give that same energy to him?"

That mindset has certainly been a good one to have this season, as the 49ers have gone through adversity on two fronts -- by having to win close games and by needing to fight through a seemingly never-ending parade of injuries. Whether the motivation comes from Shanahan or elsewhere, this team is already showing it has the resilience it needs to be right in the thick of things come January and February.

More info on: Nick Bosa, Mike Evans, Gracen Halton, Romello Height, George Kittle, Christian McCaffrey, Malik Mustapha, Osa Odighizuwa, Brock Purdy, Keion White, Mykel Williams, Trent Williams