San Francisco 49ers: Notes from Week 7 win over the Washington Redskins

The San Francisco 49ers survived a highly dangerous game in Washington against the Redskins where the weather was treacherous and little-to-no offense was to be seen.

The Niners finished the game with a 9-0 victory, but this could’ve been a real problem if the Redskins got in the end zone just once this game.

When we look at the play breakdown, Jimmy Garoppolo only threw the ball 21 times whereas the Niners ran as a collective unit 39 times.

The Redskins were no different with Case Keenum throwing just 12 times while the run game had 26 attempts (both Adrian Peterson and Tevin Coleman had 20 carries apiece).

Luckily, the 49ers got out of our nation’s capital with a win and sustaining no significant injuries, which is always a huge concern with inclement weather games like these.

But good on the San Francisco 49ers defense for doing their thing and halting any sort of offensive surge the Redskins had to offer for the full 60 minutes of play.

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• 49ers: George Kittle and Deebo Samuel cleared to return to practice
• 49ers expected to place DE Dee Ford on injured reserve
• 49ers sign TE Daniel Helm off the Buccaneers practice squad
• 49ers: Jordan Reed could miss up to two months, will be placed on IR

Games like these actually beg an interesting question as to whether or not football should be played in these sorts of conditions anymore. I get it, and the football purists would proliferate that football is a hard man’s game that tests the will of some of the toughest guys on our planet.

Rain, shine, snow, extreme cold or heat, etc., it shouldn’t matter because football is a war of attrition and only the strongest should survive on that gridiron.

But as the consummate millennial, I have to wonder if it’s still smart to have games like these where the weather plays such a factor. Yes, we’re soft as a nation nowadays. Yes, everyone is coddled.

Former UFC fighter and Special Forces veteran, Tim Kennedy, had a great saying that sticks with me to this day (not sure if it was actually he who made it up). “Tough times make hard men, hard men make good times, good times make weak men.”

And we’re in good times now because of the sacrifices made decades ago by probably the greatest generation this world has ever seen. I’m not saying men are necessarily “weak” now, but we’re definitely softer than we were a century ago (I think that’s fair).

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• Raiders: Rookie stock report following Week 3 performance
• 49ers sign new long snapper amidst a flurry of roster moves
• Oakland Athletics win Game 2 of Wild Card round with late-inning drama
• 49ers: George Kittle and Deebo Samuel cleared to return to practice
• 49ers expected to place DE Dee Ford on injured reserve

That being said, despite the coddling of the modern-day athlete, football players already go through so much physical wear and tear.

The last thing we need to see, and the last thing I certainly want to see, are elite athletes like the ones we see in the NFL get themselves hurt because of silly things like the weather.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t like seeing Ben Roethlisberger out for the season. I don’t like seeing Aaron Rodgers (a couple of years ago) out for the season with an injury.

I hate the prospect of not seeing Patrick Mahomes and Drew Brees for nearly a month. The best players in the world should not have to watch the game from the sidelines.

As consumers, we should want to see these great athletes play at full health all season long so we can see the great matchups and showdowns play out; just to the point that there are no questions about who is the better team/player due to injuries sustained.

Football is a game that should be played in as good of conditions as possible. It’s already the toughest game out there. It may not even be around in 50 years.

Injuries are going to happen, but external conditions like weather should not be a cause of them.