Defense was almost entirely dispensed with as the San Francisco 49ers and Las Vegas Raiders engaged in a shootout with huge playoff ramifications.
It wasn’t nearly as easy as first hoped and there were plenty of nervous moments on the way, but the San Francisco 49ers have climbed into the No. 2 seed on the back of a 37-34 win in overtime at Allegiant Stadium.
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With the Minnesota Vikings losing to the Green Bay Packers, this meant the 49ers finally were able to climb above them. An added bonus is the Philadelphia Eagles losing to the New Orleans Saints, which leaves the a shot at the No. 1 seed in the NFC.
The equation for Week 18 is simple. A win over the Arizona Cardinals clinches the No. 2 seed, and also the No. 1 seed if the Eagles lose to the New York Giants.
The Raiders certainly made the 49ers work for it. San Francisco got an immediate taste of what it was in for when Las Vegas marched down the field for an easy touchdown, and didn’t let the foot off the pedal all half with a late touchdown to wide receiver Davante Adams meaning the Raiders went into halftime with a 17-14 lead.
A touchdown to the Raiders early in the third quarter gave them a 24-14 lead that threatened to break the game open, but the 49ers finally switched on with some important scoring drives coupled with some stouter defense seeing the team take a 27-24 lead on the Raiders.
The Raiders didn’t give up and responded to 49ers scores to make it 27-27 and then 34-34. The 49ers had the final drive in regulation and wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk starred with four huge receptions to give Robbie Gould the kick that would send it hope.
Fate had one last twist however, and the kick sailed wide right. That, coupled with the Raiders winning the toss and thus possession to begin overtime, would have led even the most stout 49ers heart to begin to feel cursed.
However, despite the quiet defensive output for the most part, EDGE Nick Bosa popped up when needed most. He shoved a lineman into Raiders quarterback Jarrett Stidham as he threw, which resulted in a huge airball that went right into the arms of safety Tashaun Gipson who returned it well within field goal range.
One Gould chipshot later, and the 49ers were able to run off the field with the win and the No. 2 currently locked up.
One thing’s for sure. If someone told you one of the games of the season would be a shootout between quarterbacks Brock Purdy and Jarrett Stidham, you would have been shipped to the insane asylum.
Let’s look at the grades.
49ers grades: Offense
Quarterback:
Brock Purdy faced a certain kind of test that he never had before, could he stand up when he didn’t have a lead to defend and instead had to chase down a deficit? He wasn’t perfect and he was lucky in some throws, but he proved that he was no shrinking violet either.
Purdy finished the day with 22-from-35 passing for 284 yards, two touchdowns and an interception which was an underthrown deep ball to tight end George Kittle.
Purdy flashed some very good throws. His second touchdown in particular was exceptional, a perfect ball down the back of the endzone to Kittle where only he could get it. He also deserved credit for the poise he showed in the final drive in regulation where he got the team to within field goal range (albeit aided with a very fortunate final throw where he was hit as he threw and it floated dangerously in the air).
He also struggled a bit however, struggling to connect on the deep ball and some dangerous throws a bit lucky not to get picked off. All in all, it was probably his worst start as a 49ers.
But that’s a relative term, he still showed excellent poise and chemistry for the most part and led what was a strong offensive performance. Just not a perfect one.
Grade: B
Running backs:
Christian McCaffrey was stifled last week against a stout Washington defense, but he was back to his regular self with 19 carries for 121 yards and a touchdown to go with six receptions for 72 yards and what was almost a second touchdown. He was an excellent safety valve for Purdy, as well as ensuring the 49ers didn’t have to go purely into pass mode when they were in a deficit.
Jordan Mason had a touchdown of his own as he had 13 yards off two carries, Tyrion Davis-Price also chipped in with an impressive five yard run for a first down.
The engine room was humming strongly against the Raiders, most weeks we would not have seen an overtime game with production like this.
Grade: A+
Wide receivers:
It was the Brandon Aiyuk show today, especially in the final drive where he essentially dragged the 49ers to field goal range single-handedly. We would be talking about that final drive a lot more if the field goal had connected.
Aiyuk had nine receptions for 101 yards and a touchdown. He’s going to be exceptionally tough to stop once Deebo Samuel returns to the field.
Jauan Jennings and Ray-Ray McCloud had only cameo appearances as receivers but both had huge gains on the Raiders defense. Jennings had two receptions for 46 yards and McCloud had a reception for 42 yards.
Although he didn’t have a reception, rookie Danny Gray had a cameo appearance with nine yards rushing off a jet sweep.
Tight ends:
George Kittle had a relatively muted game but did find the endzone for the fifth time in three weeks, recording four receptions for 23 yards. He also had a questionable holding call against him on a running play.
Grade: B-
Offensive line:
Purdy faced some pressure but the offensive line didn’t concede any sacks and blasted open running lanes all day, which is all you can really hope for with the blocking.
Granted they played a team down several key defenders, but they did the job they had to do. The only downside is a suspected MCL sprain to Aaron Banks, which will necessitate Daniel Brunskill moving into the role.
Grade: A
49ers grades: Defense
Defensive Line:
The defense was strangely non-existent today, and it came down a lot on the defensive line who weren’t able to get even one sack on Jarrett Stidham.
Stidham had ample time to find his receivers on most snaps, and was able to use his legs to escape on other occasions.
Two big plays resulting in turnovers stop this from becoming a total failure though. EDGE Kerry Hyder tipped a ball right into rookie Drake Jackson’s waiting hands, and Nick Bosa pushing the lineman into Stidham resulted in the pick that essentially won the game.
Even when they were well beaten on the day, they still managed to find some big plays.
Grade: C-
Linebackers:
The 49ers were able to clamp down on the run somewhat, but Raiders running back Josh Jacobs still ran for 69 yards and a touchdown to have the most success of any running back this year. It was a below average performance in run defense.
Fred Warner had a brutal game by his standards with two costly penalties. A facemask penalty gave the Raiders a first down when they had no chance of getting one, and a pass interference penalty set them up on the goalline. Those penalties ended up costing 14 points.
Unfortunately the linebackers were not nearly as good in coverage, although the defensive line weren’t able to give them favorable looks either with all the time allowed to Stidham.
Grade: D+
Defensive backs:
Unfortunately for the defensive backs, receivers Davante Adams completely tore them apart no matter where he played on the back of a seven reception, 153 yard, two touchdown performance.
Deommodore Lenoir showed in particular he also has a lot to develop, with Adams having him in all sorts when it came to playing the ball. Lenoir has a tendency to get trapped with his head movement, meaning he can’t time his swats to the ball as he has to be worried about giving away a penalty.
Pro Bowler Talanoa Hufanga was in the same boat, his overly aggressive play resulting in the Raiders first touchdown. To his credit, he did recover to perform tight coverage afterwards.
Grade: D+
Special teams/Coaching grades
Special teams:
Ray-Ray McCloud had two kick returns for 48 yards but otherwise didn’t do much, while Mitch Wishnowsky punted well as per usual.
The big attention was on kicker Robbie Gould, who whiffed wide right to end the game at the end of regulation, he managed to redeem himself however with his overtime field goal. He ended up converting three of his four field goals and all his extra points.
Grade: C+
Coaching:
Head coach Kyle Shanahan had massive courage to keep passing the ball on the final drive, and despite some misfires he got the team in a place to win. It was risky, but it paid off.
Indeed the offense did the job, and most times with such a performance he won’t see overtime. He perhaps could have ran the ball more, but 37 points is 37 points.
This was a rare poor defensive game from defensive co-ordinator DeMeco Ryans, as there wasn’t a lot of pressure whatsoever and the coverage got torn apart from a backup quarterback. There were bright spots in the two interceptions, but this isn’t a game to highlight on his head coaching resume.
Grade: C+