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

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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.