NFL Week 16 Fantasy Football Recap: San Francisco 49ers vs. Washington Commanders

• George Kittle: 6 receptions, 120 yards, 2 touchdowns

• Jahan Dotson: 6 receptions, 76 yards, 1 touchdown

Jump to another recap:

ATL@BAL | DET@CAR | SEA@KC | NO@CLE
HOU@TEN | CIN@NE | NYG@MIN | BUF@CHI
| PHI@DAL |

Washington Commanders @ San Francisco 49ers

• George Kittle: 6 receptions, 120 yards, 2 touchdowns
• Jahan Dotson: 6 receptions, 76 yards, 1 touchdown

Christian McCaffrey’s frustrating usage: McCaffrey only touched the ball 17 times while his backup did nine times.

• In previous games where McCaffrey’s touches were limited, it was because the backup played a lot in the second half while the 49ers had a comfortable lead.
• This week, he lost a few carries here and there throughout the game.
• He only ran the ball three times in the first quarter, which was his fewest in the first quarter since Week 8.
• Tyrion Davis-Price was the primary backup Saturday. Jordan Mason had been the backup, but he was added to the practice report on Thursday due to a hamstring injury.
• Davis-Price also ran the ball three times in the first quarter. The 49ers' backup running backs only had four carries in the first quarter from Weeks 8-15.
• The run game, in general, wasn’t effective against a strong Commanders run defense, outside of a 71-yard run by wide receiver Ray-Ray McCloud III.
• The 49ers running backs have a much more favorable matchup next week against the Las Vegas Raiders, who have allowed the fifth-most fantasy points to running backs this season.
• McCaffrey should be able to put up big numbers even if a backup also takes several carries next week, but this will be a concern for 2023.

Washington turns to Jonathan Williams: When the Commanders turned to Carson Wentz at quarterback, they also put in Williams at running back.

• Williams started the season fourth on the Commanders' depth chart. He received a few snaps early in the season when Brian Robinson was not playing.
• He started seeing offensive snaps again in Week 12 well after J.D. McKissic landed on injured reserve. He only played seven offensive snaps from Weeks 12-15.
• Williams was similarly used sparingly to begin this game with two snaps in the first half, and none in the third quarter.
• The run game was ineffective over those three quarters, and neither back contributed much to the passing game at that point.
• Williams played in 18 of the last 19 snaps of the game, corresponding to Wentz playing at quarterback. There were no other changes made to the offensive personnel.
• It’s unclear what if anything this will mean for next week, but it will at least make start/sit decisions more complicated when it comes to Commanders running backs.

Table Notes

• Snaps include plays called back due to penalties, including offensive holding or defensive pass interference. The other three stats have these plays removed.

• Targets may differ from official NFL sources. The most likely discrepancy would be from a clear thrown-away pass, where the NFL may give the target to the nearest receiver, while this data will not.

• Carries are only on designed plays. Quarterback scrambles won’t count for the total number of carries in the game.