Week 17 Game Preview: 49ers at Raiders

By Scooter_McG

The 49ers are heading to Vegas in week 17 to take on their 'Bay Area' rivals the Raiders. The 49ers need to keep winning to put pressure on the Vikings for the second seed, but will need at least one loss by the Vikings over the next two weeks to do so. Technically the first seed is still in play but that would require the 49ers winning out AND the Eagles losing out, which seems unlikely. 

For the Raiders, they remain a mathematical chance at the playoffs but fair to say they need a lot to go their way. Despite the slim chance it appears they have given up any thoughts of a playoff appearance this week as they made the decision to bench Derek Carr and insert Jarrett Stidham. The 4th year QB will be making his first career start and Raiders fans should be under no illusions - he isn't expected to be their saviour or QB of the future. In fact, the move to Stidham doesn't even appear to be one of trying to spark the offense but rather one based on money; the Raiders look to have made the decision to move on from Carr next season, who has an easy out in his contract at the end of the year, and want to avoid Carr sustaining an injury that could result in triggering his injury guarantee for 2023. 

The Raiders passing attack should be dangerous with the likes of Davante Adams, Darren Waller and Hunter Renfrow. But with Stidham under centre the 49ers defense shouldn't be overly threatened by the passing attack so long as they play with energy and discipline. 

The real threat will come from RB Josh Jacobs. Jacobs leads the NFL in both rushing yards and yards from scrimmage this year, and has been one of the few bright spots for the Raiders in 2022. The 49ers have yet to allow any single player to rush for more than 60 yards on them this year but that record will be tested this week. With Stidham at QB the Raiders are likely to rely on the run more than ever so Jacobs should have ample opportunity, unless the Raiders decide to effectively put Jacobs on ice for the rest of the year as they have little left to play for.

For the 49ers offense we should expect to see more of the same - the 49ers have done a good job with Purdy under centre of using a balanced pass and rush attack that strains all levels of the field. I expect the 49ers will come out of the gate hard looking to put the game away early and then rest players in the second half. With that in mind, I expect a heavy dose of McCaffrey in the first half this week, while the Raiders will likely look to take Kittle away after back-to-back big games. The Raiders defense has struggled all season and is in the bottom third of the NFL in most categories. But one player the 49ers will need to worry about is Maxx Crosby who will primarily line up across from McGlinchey. The good news for the 49ers is that Purdy has shown excellent pocket awareness, escapability and improvisation which should help minimise the impact of Crosby throughout the game, even if McGlinchey has some struggles. 

All in all this is a game the 49ers should win comfortably despite not necessarily having a lot to play for. The only reason they lose this game is if they beat themselves.