The San Francisco 49ers bounced back from their embarrassing preseason opener against the Denver Broncos with a 22-16 win over the Las Vegas Raiders on Saturday.
But just like the loss last week, the win in Las Vegas means nothing. What we did get to see is that more players were used to seeing, like Brock Purdy, George Kittle, and Deommodore Lenoir (among others), making their 2025 debut. It’s just another sign that Week 1 in Seattle is rapidly approaching.
The 49ers moved to 1-1 with one game remaining
in the preseason, but these are the three players that stood out the most during Saturday’s win in Sin City:
Third star: LB Nick Martin
Martin’s athleticism was never a question, but his football instincts were. Those instincts led to a poor performance last week against the Broncos in the preseason opener.
Saturday against the Raiders was much better for the rookie linebacker.
Martin stuffed the statsheet, leading the 49ers with six tackles, a sack, two tackles for loss, and even had a pass breakup on a ball he got beat on, but was able to make up ground on Carter Runyun to knock the ball free.
Martin’s day started with his lone sack, taking advantage of a gap in the middle of the Las Vegas offensive line with a free run at Aiden O’Connell, stopping a Raiders third-down attempt and forcing a punt. On the next Vegas drive, Martin made another impact behind the line of scrimmage, blowing up an O’Connell swing pass to Alex Bachman to set up a Vegas third down.
Dee Winters has a firm grip on the second linebacker spot, and Martin’s performance on Saturday won’t change that. Still, the improvement over the preseason opener is a welcome sight, especially for a 49ers team that has shown it needs depth.
Second star: WR Ricky Pearsall
He was only on the field for the opening drive, but Pearsall’s performance against the Raiders was encouraging, especially considering the cluster that is the wide receiver depth chart of the 49ers.
With Brandon Aiyuk’s timeline unsure, Jauan Jennings dealing with a calf injury and a contract situation, and Demarcus Robinson facing a potential suspension, the first wide receiver spot for Week 1 is still wide open. We got our first look at both Pearsall and Brock Purdy together on Saturday, and the connection seems to be there already.
Purdy only played the opening drive like Pearsall, and finished completing five of seven passes for 66 yards. Pearsall was far and away his favorite receiver, targeting the second-year player on four passes, connecting for three receptions for 42 of his 66 yards.
The biggest of those completions came with San Francisco facing a third-and-18 nearing midfield, when Purdy connected with Pearsall for a gain of 21 to extend a drive that would ultimately lead to a Jake Moody 30-yard field goal to start the scoring.
There’s usually not a lot to take from the starters in the preseason, especially when they only play one drive. But it’s hard not to note just how important the Purdy to Pearsall connection on Saturday could be as the 49ers are hurdling towards the regular season.
First star: K Jake Moody
Moody made his first attempt, a 30-yarder, but as it tends to go with the kicker, things went sideways after.
On the 49ers’ last drive of the first half, Moody was called on for a 53-yard attempt from the left hash, and the kick stayed left and went wide left, sending 49ers Twitter into a spiral. On the other side of the half, Moody had another chance, this time from a much more manageable 26-yard attempt that he barely snuck inside the left upright. Had the kick been from 27 yards, it likely would have doinked off the upright.
After those shaky attempts, Moody locked in. He would have three more attempts – all coming in the fourth quarter with a chance to tie or take the lead – and he would be perfect. His fourth quarter started with a 50-yard attempt that he nailed to tie the game up at 16 with over nine minutes left in the game. Las Vegas would respond with a field goal of its own to retake a three-point lead.
Carter Bradley and the 49ers did their job, getting the 49ers into field goal range to set up a potential game-tying field goal for Moody with less than a minute left. Facing a 44-yard attempt in a pressure situation, Moody was nails, drilling the kick and tying the game with 37 seconds left in the game.
Las Vegas had the chance to win the game on the next drive, but a Chase Lucas interception gave the 49ers the ball back in Raider territory with 13 seconds left, setting up a potential game-winner for Moody. Moody’s regular season career-long sits at 57 yards – accomplished his rookie season – but on Saturday, he lined up for a potential game-winner from 59. The snap was down, the kick was up, and the ball sailed through the upright on a kick that might have been good from 65 with how much power he put behind it.
The 53-yard miss got plenty of attention, but Saturday should be remembered as the day Moody was three-for-three on clutch kicks. It doesn’t mean anything for the regular season, and the seat should still be hot under the kicker, but sometimes, confidence is key, and Moody’s Saturday performance can only help that confidence.
