49ers’ OT Game-Winner Eliminates Raiders From Playoff Contention

(CTN News) – The San Francisco 49ers won 37-34 in overtime against the Las Vegas Raiders. Here are the details:

• Robbie Gould missed a 41-yard field goal attempt in the closing seconds of regulation.

• Jarrett Stidham threw an interception in overtime. He avenged the 23-yard game-winner.

• In the end, the Raiders finished 6-10 and missed the playoffs. Now 12-4, the 49ers have won nine in a row.

Derek Carr’s first game as a Raider

Life after Derek Carr was pretty enjoyable. To tie the game and send it to overtime, Stidham threw for 365 yards and three touchdowns. His escape was key to the Raiders’ 24-14 win. He ran for 34 yards as well.

Stidham’s second interception led to the Raiders losing in overtime. Despite being eliminated from the playoffs at 6-10, they retain their top-10 draft pick.

The Raiders’ defense is very shoddy, but the 49ers sleep-walked through the first half with a huge crowd advantage. Chandler Jones and Denzel Perryman are injured.

Stidham performance evaluation

Stidham surprised everyone. In announcing the benching of nine-year starter Carr this week, Josh McDaniels suggested part of the reason was to see what Stidham could do.

Stidham lit up the 49ers, who entered the game with the highest scoring defense in the league. He has been in coach McDaniels’ system since 2019, dating back to their time together with the Patriots.

Although he had played no meaningful snaps for the Raiders this season and had only 61 passing attempts in his four-year career, it was largely unknown whether he could translate that into results on the field.

Besides making a number of nice throws, Stidham frequently used his legs to evade sacks, gain extra time downfield, and scramble for positive yardage.

This added an element to the offense that the Raiders simply lacked. The first of his interceptions was tipped, and the second was caused by one of his offensive linemen pushing him.

Stidham still played well even though the Raiders ultimately lost.

To do this against a 49ers defense that has given teams hell all year is nothing short of remarkable. As a result, the Raiders scored 34 points and gained 500 total yards.

Despite not being considered the Raiders’ full-time starter beyond this season, Stidham deserves credit for flat-out playing well. The Raiders can use it to justify their decision to move on from Carr this offseason, which is all but guaranteed.

Defense struggles

The 49ers’ defense struggled throughout most of the game, allowing 500 yards of total offense to the Raiders. In the first half, the 49ers recorded two goal-line stops, while in the second half, they recorded two interceptions.

In overtime, Gipson Sr. intercepted Stidham after Nick Bosa delivered a throw-altering pressure, and that led to the game-winning field goal.

Brock Purdy’s performance was evaluated

In about a month as Jimmy Garoppolo’s replacement, the rookie quarterback dazzled with his composure and confidence. But Purdy struggled against the Raiders.

The 49ers missed three shots downfield, including an underthrow to George Kittle that was intercepted by the Raiders. Purdy looked shaky against aggressive blitzes for the first time in his NFL career.

McCaffrey helps the 49ers

Last season, Deebo Samuel would have gouged a Raiders defense that has consistently faded in second halves this season.

The 49ers relied heavily – very heavily – on Christian McCaffrey, who set up blocks perfectly and had a very Deebo-like 38-yard catch late in the fourth quarter.

Taking advantage of a short screen, McCaffrey waited for his blockers to catch up before plowing over cornerback Amik Robertson. The third time in four games McCaffrey has over 100 rushing yards from scrimmage – 43 percent of the team’s total.

The 37-yard run gave him his third 100-yard run of the season. For the second time in his career, could he get 1,000 rushing and receiving yards? The Cardinals’ finale next week requires 293 receiving yards.

SEE ALSO:

One Great Day Of College Football, 179 Points And 2 Epic Playoff Games

Luka Doncic Drops 51 Against Spurs, Averages 45.6 Points In Last Five