Three Takeaways from the 49ers’ Week 17 win over the Raiders
Jan 2, 2023, 12:00 PM
Jeff Bottari/Getty Images
ICYMI: Week 17 between the Las Vegas Raiders and San Francisco 49ers was one of the games of the 2022 season, ending with an overtime field goal to lift the visiting 49ers over the Raiders, 37-34.
With the victory, the 49ers are now the No.2 seed in the NFC after the Minnesota Vikings lost to the Green Bay Packers Sunday. San Francisco is also riding a nine-game win streak, the most since the 1992-93 season.
In a contest that had so many twists and turns, it’s hard to break it down into three key points. But here at Sactown Sports, we try our best. So without further ado, here are the three biggest takeaways from a wild day in the desert.
Brock Purdy Steps up to the Challenge
Trailing for the first time in his short NFL tenure, rookie quarterback Brock Purdy was unexpectedly in the biggest spot of the season. Thanks to the Minnesota Vikings’ loss to the Green Bay Packers, San Francisco just needed to win in Week 17 to leapfrog into the two-seed in the NFC.
And he delivered.
Down 24-14 early in the this quarter, Purdy kept the offense calm under pressure, taking them down the field in eight plays to make the game one-score. After big plays to wide receivers Brandon Aiyuk Jauan Jennings, running back Christian McCaffrey got loose inside the redzone, scoring from 14 yards out to make the score 24-21 halfway through the quarter.
After a quick three & out by the Raiders, the 49ers had a chance to take the lead in Las Vegas. Then Purdy finally had his rookie moment.
Getting chunk plays to Aiyuk and Jennings again, head coach Kyle Shanahan drew up play-action post corner route for tight end George Kittle. Selling the play to almost perfection, Purdy fired the ball a hair too late, pushing it to Kittle’s right and allowing cornerback Amik Robertson to snag the interception.
A mistake that highlights Purdy’s lone weakness: Arm strength.
Despite the missed opportunity, San Francisco got the ball back after a turnover on the very next possession. The offense did enough, finishing regulation with three drives consisting of two field goals and one impressive touchdown set up by an angry McCaffrey screen pass.
Purdy finished the day with 284 yards passing, two TDs and one INT. In a game where he struggled some, his ability to come up clutch when it mattered was eye-opening, bouncing back in a way that few rookies can do.
“Yeah, I think that was great for him,” coach Shanahan said postgame. “I mean, he had to, we had to come from behind, especially there at the end. Also, he made a ton of plays today, but there’s a number that he missed too. And that’s the coolest part. There were some he’d love to have back. He was never one way too much or the other, whether he was struggling or doing well. But there were some mixed plays, and to keep coming back and keep attacking…He never got gun shy, made some real good decisions too, and fought it out throughout the whole game and found a way to win.”
“First of all, no one’s ever not missed some things…But he was able for the most part to keep his head out of harm’s way, and he stuck with it and made a lot more good plays than bad plays, which is the key.”
Purdy is now only the fifth rookie QB in history to win his first four starts in the NFL. What’s more impressive is the command he takes into each huddle, using poise and calmness to rally his offense down the field with the game on the line.
Brock Purdy has the highest passer rating in the NFL since he took over as starter (112.7) 👀 pic.twitter.com/YA6qBAJVyf
— PFF (@PFF) January 2, 2023
“He was great. Not only was he poised but he took the throne and made a couple calls in the huddle. He was definitive in how he ran things,” McCaffrey said about his QB Sunday.
“He showed me who he’s been all along. He’s been exactly what we’ve needed at that position and has stepped up big time,” linebacker Fred Warner added about Purdy.
Sometimes we forget that Purdy was the last pick in the 2022 NFL draft. His play Sunday, while both good and bad, is a testament to the intangibles he showed as a four-year starter at Iowa State.
The Christian McCaffrey Trade was worth every penny
When the 49ers traded four draft picks to the Carolina Panthers in October, some thought that might have been an overpay for McCaffrey, a seasoned RB that hasn’t played a full schedule since 2019. Those opinions have been put to bed the last few weeks.
CMC has been the ultimate safety valve for Brock Purdy and Kyle Shanahan, making him the workhorse offensive weapon in all facets of the game. Sunday in Vegas was another example of that, finishing with 193 all-purpose yards, the most since 2019. 121 of those came on the ground in the form of 19 carries, while he also caught six passes for 72 yards. Throw in a 14-yard scamper to the endzone, McCaffrey not only led the team to victory, but also a few fantasy football championships to a win as well.
Make it FIVE games in a row with a TD for McCaffrey pic.twitter.com/WdTgCCweI3
— 95.7 The Game (@957thegame) January 1, 2023
His biggest plays of the game were monumental, taking a first quarter run 37 yards before being tripped up at the one-yard line. The biggest one went for 38 yards, taking a screen pass downfield with vision and anger, running through and around Raiders to get down to the 14-yard line.
The closer, rookie RB Jordan Mason, finished it off with a 14-yard run of his own to put the 49ers up 34-27.
McCaffrey also made a bit of history Sunday afternoon, passing 49ers great Roger Craig for most receptions by a RB in his first six NFL seasons. Only arriving in Red & Gold Week 7, CMC has been everything 49ers Faithful could have dreamed of.
“He was great. We needed it,” Shanahan said. “That screen at the end was huge. He had a real good one earlier too that got called back when we had one of our guys down field. I thought he ran hard, that big one at the beginning too. I know he would like to score on it, but Christian’s done some great things helping us in the run and pass game, and I feel very fortunate to have him.”
Reaching over 1000 rushing yards in Week 17, CMC has taken the Pro Bowl snub personally, amassing the most yards from scrimmage in the NFL at 1,801 yards on the season. Still only 26 years old, McCaffrey is only getting started for his second stint in the Bay.
San Francisco’s Defense needed a humbling experience to grow
The 49ers’ league-leading defense has been putting on a clinic the last two and a half months of the regular season. So naturally, they’d face some adversity one of these weeks.
Not many expected it to come Week 17 against QB Jarrett Stidham and the Raiders.
San Francisco got thrashed by the Silver & Black Sunday, allowing 500 total yards of offense, the most all season by the unit. To put it into perspective, during the 49ers’ nine-game win streak, they have only allowed 300-plus yards four times prior to Week 17.
Stidham, starting his first game of the season, went off for 365 passing yards, three touchdowns and a 108.1 passer rating. WR Davanate Adams finished with seven catches for 153 yards and two TDs, torching CBs Charvarius Ward and Demmodore Lenoir in the process.
And yet, Sunday in Vegas was a learning experience for San Francisco, coming up big when it mattered most to get a resilient win over their rivals.
“Obviously, it’s a great learning lesson for us,” Fred Warner said after the game. “Not ideal. You don’t want to have to learn that lesson, but a lot to take away from it. We got to take a look at the film. There’s a ton of things we could have been better on all day long. It felt like they had their way all day. We for sure have to be a lot better.
“As much as I hate to say that we needed this, I want us to dominate in all facets of the game every single time we step out there. Adversity makes you stronger. We’re as tough as they come. We will take a look at it and we’ll be better for it.”
49ers' D-line pressures vs Raiders (PFF)…
Nick Bosa: 10
T.Y. McGill: 4 (!!)
Charles Omenihu: 2
Samson Ebukam: 2
Kerry Hyder Jr.: 2
Javon Kinlaw: 1
Arik Armstead: 1The pass rush really started to hit late, and that ultimately won the game for SF
— David Lombardi (@LombardiHimself) January 2, 2023
DeMeco Ryans’ unit came on late, forcing vital stops in the fourth quarter to give their offense a chance to come back. After missing the field goal to end regulation, and losing the coin toss in overtime, some thought it was over.
Not the 49ers. Like the old saying goes ” Good teams find a way to win”, and defensive end Nick Bosa wasn’t letting them lose.
Facing a second down, Stidham and the Raiders dropped back to pass, looking for Adams deep downfield. This time, Bosa bull-rushed left tackle Kolton Miller into his own QB, forcing an errant throw that ended up in the hands of safety Tashaun Gipson Sr.
A couple plays later, Robbie Gould came on to seal the win for San Francisco.
“I think we needed this as a defense,” Bosa said. “That’s a really good team. Best running back [Josh Jacobs] I’ve played against in my career, no doubt about it. That dude is a beast. The NFL will humble you 100 percent of the time.”
In a game expected to be a cakewalk, Las Vegas brought it to a surging playoff contender, making them work for the dub all day long. It wasn’t pretty, but the Red & Gold thank their former Bay Area counterparts for showing them their weaknesses heading into the postseason.
“You never know when you’re going to be in one of those game situations,” McCaffrey added. “Obviously you want to blow every team out but that’s not realistic in this league. You need to be battle tested, you need to have your back against the wall so you now how to respond and figure out and find ways and have experience under pressure. It was good that we got it.”
