The San Francisco 49ers used their bye week wisely, strengthening their defensive line by adding DeForest Buckner.
The 49ers have one last game before the trade deadline, hosting their former neighbors, the Las Vegas Raiders. While San Francisco enjoyed a bye week after its first loss of the season, the Raiders ended a four-game streak with a victory against the Jets.
Las Vegas started strong with a 3-0 start, but that quickly turned into 3-4 before the Week 8 victory. The 49ers look to bring the Raiders back to the losing path on Sunday.
Here are three numbers to know before the ancient Battle of the Bay:
Team. The Raiders are the only team in the league to rank in the bottom three in yards allowed and points allowed.
Simply put: the Raiders defense is bad. That’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 are the second worst (only Arizona has allowed more, and the Colts are slightly better).
And what scares Vegas is that the defense is only getting worse. In each of their 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 increased is that 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 pace 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 scoring points against this Raiders defense.
Turnovers. The Raiders’ defense forced 13 turnovers, the fifth-most in the league.
Not a good one, but a defense that can get the ball if you’re not careful, and the 49ers haven’t been protecting the ball recently. Hopefully the bye week solved that problem.
The Raiders have been very opportunistic (and perhaps a little lucky) with just five interceptions, which puts them in the middle of the league in getting the ball back. Where the Raiders shine is when the ball is loose, with seven fumbles recovered. The bad news: The 49ers average one fumble per game, with five of six lost in San Francisco’s last three games.
Turnovers have been a recent bane for the 49ers. After turning the ball over twice in the first four games, San Francisco has recorded eight turnovers in the last three games, including four against an Atlanta team that entered Week 7 with just six turnovers.
The Raiders defense can be beat, but the 49ers need to overcome this recent turnover problem to take full advantage.
Passing yards per game. The Raiders offense is averaging 265.1 passing yards per game, third best in the league.
While the Raiders’ defense isn’t great, their offense is explosive, putting them in the category of “not a great team, but a fun team” that has the ability to go 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 Las Vegas’ offense was giving second-year tight end Brock Bowers a capable quarterback in veteran Kirk Cousins. Cousins turned back the clock with Las Vegas under Klint Kubiak, throwing 19 touchdowns and five interceptions in 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 per 14, receptions per four, receiving yards per 73 and touchdowns per one. Las Vegas’ offense looked good in the two games without Bowers, but took a step up with him, scoring 30 points in three of the six games the tight end appeared 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 struggle with Bowers’ size). I’m curious to see if the 49ers even throw Fred Warner to Bowers a few times just to see how he handles it.
Gn sports
