With how good the San Francisco 49ers offense is compared to the Las Vegas Raiders defense, it was thought the San Francisco offense would be making the big plays on Sunday.
Instead, it was the San Francisco defense that threw the biggest punches of the game, forcing five second-half turnovers en route to a 38-17 win.
The offense held its end of the bargain, scoring 31 of the 38 points; however, mistakes from the offense both kept the Raiders in the game and put the defense in some bad situations.
But the defense never once broke, making big play after big play.
While the offense exploded with plenty of points, all three stars from Week 9 come from the defense:
3rd Star: LB Jaden Dugger
Dugger’s biggest play of the game felt like it was the beginning of the end for the Raiders but ended up being the beginning of the chaos that was the third quarter on Sunday.
Dugger continued his solid rookie campaign as the 49ers super-utility man on defense finished with six tackles (all solo), but it was an early Christmas gift from Kirk Cousins that earned Dugger Sunday’s No. 3 star.
The Raiders started the second half with the ball trailing by only 11 despite the 49ers scoring on three-of-four first-half drives. Any type of points from Las Vegas would have put the Raiders firmly in the game, and with that knowledge, Klint Kubiak wanted to start the drive hot, calling a play-action pass.
Cousins took the snap and went to fake to Mike Washington Jr.; however, at the end of the fake, Washington’s elbow appeared to knock the ball out of Cousins’ hand. Cousins was able to quickly recover the ball but then decided one mistake on the play wasn’t enough. Instead of conceding on the play, Cousins was baited by Dugger, who got the quarterback to throw something that resembled a pass to Tre Tucker but looked like it was intended for Dugger.
The rookie would do the rest of the work, taking the ball back for a touchdown, extending the 49ers’ lead to 18 points.
2nd Star: CB Upton Stout
Dugger’s interception was canceled out just five minutes later with the Raiders responding to the turnover with a touchdown-scoring drive, putting Las Vegas within eight points. The two sides would then exchange turnovers (a 49ers interception followed by a Raiders lost fumble ending with a 49ers turnover on downs).
The Raiders were one yard away from ending that stretch of drives with a touchdown. Upton Stout ensured the turnover streak continued.
The San Francisco turnover on downs gave the Raiders the ball back at midfield down eight. An 18-yard pass to Tucker followed by a Deommodore Lenoir tackle for loss would have the Raiders at the doorstep of the red zone. Cousins would hit Michael Mayer on a strike near the goal line where Ji’Ayir Brown would initially greet Mayer, but Stout would follow closely behind with a punch that got just enough of the ball to knock it free. Fred Warner would pounce on it, and instead of a touchdown, it would be the 49ers’ ball.
Even better, the 49ers offense would take the ball and score seven plays later. From one yard away to a four-point lead late in the third quarter to an 18-point lead as the fourth quarter begins. In a game of big momentum swings, none was bigger than the stretch that was started by Stout’s right hand.
1st Star: LB Fred Warner
First and foremost, Fred Warner forced a loss of two on a quarterback sneak to prevent a Kirk Cousins touchdown. On a play that is designed to keep the quarterback moving forward, Warner alone forced the play to go backward. In a career of impressive feats, that might have been the best of Warner’s career.
To make things even better, the stop would result in a Renardo Green interception to end a second Las Vegas drive at the goal line in a row.
But before his goal-line heroics, Warner had another momentum-changing play in a wacky third quarter. The first turnover that started the stretch of turnovers mentioned above was an ugly Brock Purdy interception. Again, the Raiders would take the ball with a chance to get within four points with a short field. The drive started innocently enough, with a Cousins pass to Ashton Jeanty falling incomplete. They would follow with a quick pass to Brock Bowers.
That’s where Warner comes in. The All-World linebacker would come in with that patented Warner Punch (the Peanut Punch is used so frequently around the league, but no one is better than Warner, so it’s his punch now) to knock the ball free to be picked up by Dre Greenlaw, giving the ball right back to the 49ers offense (to promptly give the ball back to Vegas four plays later).
Several drives later, Warner would hold Cousins to the loss on the sneak, leading to the interception that would seal the deal. Week 9 might end up being example No. 1 in Warner’s Defensive Player of the Year campaign.
Throughout the season, we will track the three stars of the season by tallying points for each star award using a complex scoring system: three points for being the first star, two for the second, and one for the third. Through Week 9, the standings are:
- WR Mike Evans – 8 points
- QB Brock Purdy – 7 points
- LB Fred Warner – 6 points
