The San Francisco 49ers used their bye week wisely, shoring up the defensive line by adding DeForest Buckner.
The 49ers have one final game before the trade deadline, hosting their former neighbors, the Las Vegas Raiders. With San Francisco getting a bye week following its first loss of the season, the Raiders ended a four-game skid with a win over the Jets.
Las Vegas started hot with a 3-0 start, but that quickly turned to 3-4 before the Week 8 win. The 49ers look to return the Raiders to their losing
ways on Sunday.
Here are three numbers to know going into the former Battle of the Bay:
1
Team. The Raiders are the only team in the league to be in the bottom three in yards allowed and points allowed.
Simply put: the Raiders’ defense is bad. It’s 381.9 yards allowed per game, the third-most allowed (only the Titans and Cowboys are worse), and the 28.8 points allowed per game is second-worst (only Arizona has allowed more, and the Colts are slightly better).
And the scary thing for Vegas is the defense is only getting worse. In each of its last five games, the Raiders have allowed 30 or more points after allowing just 27 points combined in the first two games of the season. Part of the reason the points have gone up is the Raiders just can’t stop the ball.
Las Vegas has allowed more than its average of 382 yards in four of the last five games, with the offense only able to keep up last week, going 1-4 in those five games.
The New York Jets scored 30 points for the first time since Week 8 of last season. It’s easy to see a 49ers offense even without Mike Evans and Deebo Samuel putting up points against this Raiders defense.
13
Turnovers. The Raiders defense has forced 13 turnovers, fifth-most in the league.
Not a good one, but a defense that can take the ball away if you aren’t careful, and the 49ers haven’t been protective of the ball recently. Hopefully the bye week fixed that issue.
The Raiders have been plenty opportunistic (and maybe a little lucky) with only five interceptions, placing them in the middle of the league in picking the ball off. Where the Raiders shine is when the ball is loose, with seven fumble recoveries. The bad news: the 49ers average a fumble per game, with five of the six that were lost coming in San Francisco’s last three games.
Turnovers have been a recent plague for the 49ers. After turning the ball over two times in the first four games, San Francisco has eight turnovers in the last three games, with four of those coming against an Atlanta team that entered Week 7 with just six turnovers.
The Raiders defense can be beat, but the 49ers must shake this recent turnover issue to fully take advantage.
265.1
Passing yards per game. The Raiders offense averages 265.1 passing yards per game, third-best in the league.
While the Raiders defense isn’t great, its offense is explosive, which puts them in the category of “not a great team, but a fun team” that has the ability to get into a shootout. In four of the Raiders’ eight games this season, both teams have scored more than 24 points, with the Raiders splitting those games.
The spark for the Las Vegas offense has been giving second-year tight end Brock Bowers a competent quarterback in veteran Kirk Cousins. Cousins has turned the clock back with Las Vegas under Klint Kubiak, throwing for 19 touchdowns and five interceptions through the first half of the season. His 6.7 touchdown percentage is his highest since 2020, while his 1.8 interception rate is his lowest since 2023.
But Bowers has been the key to Cousins’ resurgence. Despite missing the first two games of the season, the tight end leads the Raiders in targets by 14, receptions by four, receiving yards by 73, and touchdowns by one. The Las Vegas offense looked fine in the two games without Bowers but has taken a step up with him, scoring 30 points in three of the six games the tight end has played in.
How the 49ers choose to cover Bowers will be something to watch. They could use a safety (maybe Ji’Ayir Brown?) or maybe a corner (but the 49ers’ corners might have a tough time with the size of Bowers). I’m curious to see if the 49ers even throw Fred Warner at Bowers a few times just to see how he handles it.
