Week 17 Post Game Review: 49ers @ Raiders

By Scooter_McG

We got a show in Vegas as the 49ers won their ninth straight game this time beating a surprisingly effective Raiders in overtime 37-34. This won't go down as one of the 49ers greatest ever performances, especially on defense, but good teams find ways to win even when they aren't at their best and that is what we saw today. 

Heading into the game it looked like this should be one the 49ers won and won easily as the Raiders made the somewhat surprising move to bench Carr and give Stidham his first career start. But the 49ers defense came out flat and looked somewhat uncertain on how to defend the unscouted QB throughout the first half. This resulted in numerous blown coverages to give up big plays and points. Making life more difficult the defense also struggled to contain the Raiders running game, with both the RBs and Stidham finding yards with their legs too easily throughout the half. They gave up 17 points in the first half, and if it wasn't for a couple of big plays by Arik Armstead it would have been more. 

It was more of the same to open the second half as first a facemask by Warner nullified what should have been a 3 and out and then Stidham kept a play alive and the 49ers once again lost Davante Adams in coverage, this time letting him take it 60 yards for the TD as he got behind the defense on the scramble drill. The score gave the Raiders a 10 point lead early in the third quarter. 

It would be easy to just blame the coverage for all the mishaps but really it was a defense wide failure. The DL was poor against the run and struggled to get much pressure on Stidham throughout the first 35 minutes of the game.  

The defense started playing with a little more fire and focus after the second TD to Adams, making a few stops and getting a turnover to give the 49ers offense some opportunities. The run defense in particular picked up and started limiting the rushing yards, forcing the Raiders to pass the ball more often. And as the game wore on the pass rush started to make their presence felt, in particular Bosa who came up with a number of QB hits and pressures in the second half. Aside from the Raiders final TD drive (which was significantly aided by a Davante Adams catch that looked like he used the ground to secure the ball) the defense did a good job of stopping the Raiders in the back end of the game, including two important takeaways.   

Thankfully for the 49ers the offense didn't have the same issue as the defense. Led by Christian McCaffrey, the 49ers easily marched down the field on their opening two drives, both of which ended in TDs. Even so, the 49ers found themselves behind 17-14 at the half. The second half was something of a mixed bag, with some highly efficient drives mingled with some missed opportunities.   

As the game progressed and the 49ers found themselves chasing the game a little they started to rely a little more on Purdy's arm. He missed a few plays down the field, including a bad and underthrown pass to Kittle that was picked off. There were a few other times where he was lucky not to be picked. But he also came up big down the stretch with some smart reads for chunk plays and important first downs that kept drives alive and allowed the 49ers to keep the scoreboard ticking over. 

While the passing game became more of a factor in the second half, the running game continued to be effective when leaned on. McCaffrey had himself a big day as he ended up just shy of 200 total scrimmage yards, including 121 rushing yards and 72 receiving yards, as well as a rushing TD. Aiyuk also had himself a big second half, finishing the day with 101 yards on 9 catches and a TD, as well as a 16 yard run. 

It looked like Purdy and the offense had done enough in regulation to end the game as they marched down the field with just over a minute left to the Raiders 23 yard line, with Purdy hooking up with Aiyuk four times on the drive, including a tipped ball on the final connection that luckily fell into Aiyuk's arms. But the ever reliable Robbie Gould got the yips and was unable to seal the game as time ran out.   

The Raiders got the ball in OT but MVP Bosa turned up to close out the game as he walked the LT back into Stidham to force another errant throw, this time leading to an INT by Gipson which he took back to the Raiders 7 yard line to set up the game winning FG by Gould. 

Overall this felt like the let down game many had been expecting since the 49ers secured the division. It is hard to maintain the same level of competitive fire and focus over a nine game stretch, especially after the elation of meeting a key goal such as winning the division. To come away with the win despite not playing well is a big bonus, and now the onus will be on the team to see this game for what it was and not get caught thinking everything is ok just because they won. Play like this again next week and they could easily end up on the wrong side of the scoreboard despite playing a lesser opponent.

In terms of seeding the win was an important one. With the victory the 49ers moved into the second seed in the NFC with one game to go and remain a chance at the first seed if they are able to win next week and the Eagles fall to the Giants.