At 6-1 overall, it’s no surprise the San Francisco 49ers boast a Top 10 offense and defense at this particular juncture of the 2026 season.
The Niners have the fourth-best scoring offense of the 32 NFL teams at 197 points per game and accumulated the sixth-highest total yards at 2,600. In addition, the team’s defense allows the sixth-least amount of points at 139 and the fourth-least amount of yards at 2,095.
The Las Vegas Raiders’ Klint Kubiak and Rob Leonard will certainly have their hands full when
the Silver & Black head to Santa Clara for a Week 9 matchup with the 49ers. The head coach and defensive coordinator, respectively, are the play callers for offense and defense and have the headset and play sheet to combat their counterparts in San Francisco head coach Kyle Shanahan and defensive coordinator Raheem Morris.
Of the Raiders combo, Leonard has the tougher challenge trying to stymie Shanahan’s explosive offense that hasn’t skipped a beat even though injuries change the lineup.
“Yeah, they do. They’re fundamentally sound, man,” Leonard said of the 49ers offense. “They’re a clean operation, and they got some good players. Quarterback’s playing at a high level, good tight end, running backs, and the offensive line is really good. So, that’s what jumps out to me, how fundamentally sound they are, and they’re able to put a lot of pressure on you.”
With an accurate and collected quarterback in Brock Purdy, Shanahan funnels the offense through his signal caller and it’s one that attacks every level of the opposing defense. Very physical in the trenches, the offensive line buys Purdy the time to go through his progressions and get the ball to a target like tight end George Kittle. The 33-year-old veteran leads the team with 34 catches for 425 yards and five touchdowns and shows no signs of slowing down — as evidence by his 56-yard catch-and-run below:
Shanahan’s ground game is domineering ranking eighth-best in yards (892) and third in rushing touchdowns (10) and bolsters his ability to open the full play book to deploy on the opponent. Christian McCaffrey paces the run game with 84 carries for 389 yards and eight touchdowns. Spell back Kaelon Black has 57 totes for 233 yards and a score while Purdy has scrambled for 161 yards and a touchdown on 32 attempts.
As fundamentally sound Leonard says the 49ers are on offense, his Raiders defense must be equally as coherent — something Las Vegas has tumbled down the rankings as it lost four-straight games before a Week 8 win against the New York Jets to get to 4-4 overall.
The Silver & Black are giving up the second-most points (230) and third-most yards (3,055). Leonard’s unit is ranked 25th against the pass with 1,884 yards allowed and 31st against the run with 1,171 yards yielded. The defensive play caller knows his crew has a lot to work on and can’t afford a lapse against a quality team like the Niners. Especially with San Francisco’s penchant to run outside zone runs and a multitude of pre-snap motions to create chaos. To combat this, Leonard is likely to use more single-high safety alignments for run fits and creatively blitz to ground the 49ers.
Then — now don’t gasp if this brings past pain with the Raiders — maintain eye discipline is vital. The motions Shanahan habitually uses is intended to break coverages that end up explosive plays. Las Vegas can ill-afford to get “caught looking” against San Francisco, a team that’s deployed 21 personnel (two running backs and one tight end) to perfection at times this season.
How Leonard counters with personnel is going to be intriguing.
Perhaps going into sub packages built on speed and athleticism that brings slot corner Taron Johnson in the lineup is the route to go. Safeties Treydan Stukes and Jeremy Chinn have shown the ability to stop the run while Johnson is both a steady cover man and tackler over the middle.
“Stack plays,” Leonard said when asked what was stressed during practice this week. “Really focusing on us, our alignment, our assignment, key technique, fundamentals, and it’s especially that time of the year where it’s hard to really out-scheme people. Everybody knows who they are, so you have to go out and execute.”
The chess game between the Raiders offense and 49ers defense is the marquee matchup for the Silver & Black. Unlike the defense, Kubiak concocted the sixth-best scoring offense in the league (221 points) that’s generated the 12th most yards (2,739). The aerial attack is third-best in the NFL with 2,121 yards and 19 touchdowns.
Morris, meanwhile, is the architect of Niners’ sixth-ranked defense in points allowed (139) and fourth-ranked in yards allowed (2,095). Under Morris’ command, San Francisco has the fifth-best run defense allowing 623 yards and the second-least rushing touchdowns (three).
With Las Vegas unable to get a consistent ground game going (31st in yards at 618), expect Kubiak to dial up creative passing concepts to get tight end (in-name-only) Brock Bowers loose against a 49ers defense that’s 11th-best in yards allowed (1,472) and 17th most touchdowns given up (10).
“It’s a talented bunch. Been together for a long time. Experienced bunch,” Raiders offensive coordinator Andrew Janocko said of the 49ers defense. “It’s a team that have a lot of familiarity with playing against them last year. They’re well coached, well prepared. They attack the football. They’re very opportunistic. So, it’ll be a heck of a challenge for us against one of the best teams in the league.”
With how disciplined 49ers defenders play, Las Vegas must win their blocking assignments to keep veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins upright to throw. And to ensure a more productive run game by establishing its own outside zone runs, the offensive line must anchor and push forward and not get stonewalled or driven backwards. A ground game that gains positive yards consistently allows play action to be truly effective — which is a staple of Kubiak’s offense.
Head-to-Head
Sunday’s clash marks the 16th time the Raiders and 49ers have met. The Niners lead the all-times series 8-7 (all regular season games) and the Las Vegas variant of the Silver & Black have played the Red & Gold only once: Back on New Year’s Day in 2023 which the 49ers won 37-34. San Francisco is riding a two-game win streak with the 2023 meeting the latest one and a 34-3 victory over the then-Oakland Raiders in 2018 being the other. The Raiders last win over the Niners arrived in 2014 — a 24-13 win in Oakland.
Quote of Note
“Another top five defense in the league. Feels like I’m saying that every week the last several weeks. I don’t know who the bottom five defenses are, but we’re not playing them. So, maybe someday. But what a challenge.”
—Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Kirk Cousins on the Week 9 matchup
