The San Francisco 49ers emerged from their bye week to crush the Las Vegas Raiders 38-17 on Sunday at Levi’s Stadium on the strength of a well-balanced offense and an opportunitisic defense.
Offense: A-
Another week, another example of Brock Purdy finding a way to make it work with a threadbare wide receiver room. Purdy strung together a 17-for-25 performance for 232 yards and two touchdowns, with one interception on an underthrown ball to George Kittle. Purdy completed passes to seven targets, with second-year wideout Jordan Watkins (team highs of four catches, 86 yards) making a 37-yard touchdown catch, the first of his career. Just as key was Purdy’s ability to keep plays alive, as he scrambled for a season-high 40 yards on seven carries, including a 1-yard TD. San Francisco’s ground attack piled up 190 yards on 43 carries.
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Defense: A
The 49ers feasted on turnovers, from Kirk Cousins’ gift-wrapped pick-six to rookie Jaden Dugger, to punchout fumbles forced by Fred Warner and Upton Stout, the latter erasing a touchdown at the goal line. Warner, who recovered that fumble for a touchback, should be squarely in the Defensive Player of the Year conversation. Dre Greenlaw showed up big as well, with a team-high eight tackles, including three for loss, and a fumble recovery. Renardo Green and Malik Mustapha both made fourth-quarter interceptions. The 49ers allowed just 24 rushing yards on 15 attempts. On the flip side, the pass rush might have been the biggest disappointment, considering the unit returned Nick Bosa from injury and acquired DeForest Buckner. The 49ers failed to record a sack for the second straight game. Buckner finished with one tackle and two QB hits. Bosa’s final tally: one tackle for loss.
Special teams: C
The best news here is that Eddy Piñeiro made all five of his extra-point attempts and tacked on a 35-yard field goal, just his second game this season in which he converted all of his kicks. However, the 49ers allowed a 54-yard return by Dylan Laube and Jordan James bobbled a kickoff return, positioning the 49ers at their 11-yard line. Punter Corliss Waitman got to enjoy a day off, thanks to the offense (and Kyle Shanahan going for it on fourth down three times).
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Coaching: B
Shanahan entered with a goal of rushing the ball at least 40 times, and it’s no mystery why: The Raiders owned the NFL’s second-worst rushing defense and S.F. is undefeated when it surpasses 40 carries in the Shanahan era. The 49ers wound up with season highs in both carries (43) and yards (190). They did this without overtaxing Christian McCaffrey, who had fewer than half of the attempts (18) and scored his ninth rushing and first receiving TDs of the season. Kaelon Black had a team-high 70 yards on 11 attempts. Though Las Vegas tight end Brock Bowers got his numbers (seven catches, 111 yards, 1 TD), the 49ers rendered Cousins ineffective in his worst game of an otherwise stellar season. What was questionable: Going for it on 4th-and-1 and getting stuffed on their own 40 late in the third quarter, and in the second quarter the decision to not call a timeout before the Raiders kicked a field goal, giving the red-hot 49ers offense the ball back with 1:12 before halftime instead of closer to two minutes.
Overall: B+
The 49ers are 7-1, their best start since 2019. They looked like they would breeze through this one after a dominant first half, but when things got dicey in a back-and-forth third quarter, they persevered and Purdy furthered his MVP campaign. One lingering question: When will Bosa get back to his game-breaking ways? He looked rusty in his first action since Week 2, and Gracen Halton’s season-ending broken ankle deepens problems on the defensive line.
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This article originally published at 49ers game grades: Defense feasts on five turnovers to rout Raiders.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
