49ers Get Pushed to the Limit in 37-34 Overtime Win Against the Raiders

The Raiders put the 49ers in a position that they had not been in yet with Brock Purdy.

What a battle. What an absolute hectic battle.

You cannot say enough words about how exhilarating and shocking this game played out. All the signs pointed to this game being a stinker. The Raiders are a 6-9 team with little to nothing to play for. Getting up for this game for the 49ers was going to be tough. But not only was this game not a stinker, it was arguably one of the best regular season games in 2022.

The 49ers got pushed to the limit in their 37-34 overtime win against the Raiders. No one could have foresaw this game being this close nor how it would've played out.

For the first time since facing the Chiefs, the 49ers defense looked like a weak side. This is a game where the defense should've been dominant. Las Vegas was starting backup quarterback Jarrett Stidham, his first career start, over nine-year starter Derek Carr. San Francisco's defense was poised to make Stidham uncomfortable all day long and send him into the "Black Hole" at Allegiant Stadium. The Raiders have been a mediocre offensive unit in the last several weeks. Everything was there for the 49ers to cakewalk in this game.

Instead, they arrived at Allegiant Stadium playing like they were hungover from a New Year's Eve celebration at Drai's nightclub.

Stidham and the Raiders offense showed up to this game unafraid. Stidham carved up the elite 49ers defense on 23-of-34 pass attempts for 365 yards and three touchdowns with two picks. He is only the second quarterback to toss three touchdowns on the 49ers along with Patrick Mahomes. The Raiders looked like a confident side that knew what they were capable of. That all can be attributed to their quarterback change. Stidham made the Raiders better. Kind of like what Brock Purdy did for the 49ers. Tip of the cap to the Raiders for not folding and giving the 49ers their greatest battle in a while.

Adversity is something the 49ers haven't really seen this year. They definitely haven't faced it with Purdy as the starter yet, so this game actually proved to be beneficial for the 49ers. With the playoffs just a couple weeks out, the 49ers needed a good stress test like today. Great teams can come back from down 10-points and do not waver when they are trailing. The 49ers did nothing of the sort. Defensively they may still have been inept, but the offense and Purdy stared down the barrel of adversity and spun it into success. In retrospect, the 49ers should be thanking the Raiders for this test.

Las Vegas also brought to attention that the greatest weakness the 49ers have is defending passes beyond 10-yards. It doesn't matter if a team has a good quarterback or not. All an offense has to do is challenge them to put them on their heels into a panic. There were moments against the Commanders last week where that weakness reared its head again. Offenses are going to key in on that, especially after seeing the Raiders do it. Right now, the 49ers defense is leaking oil and needs to get that tightened up or masked.

As for the offense, they did their thing. Purdy looked solid yet again completing 22-of-35 passes for 284 yards, two touchdowns, and a pick. He did have several moments in the game where he looked atrocious, but the 49ers were still able to put up 37 points despite that. The offense, for once, was able to carry the brunt of the pressure to lead the team to victory. Everything works out at a high efficiency for them so long as they spread the ball around. Christian McCaffrey should not be getting the vast majority of the play calls. The 49ers offense is too good to dwindle down to one player.

Only one game left to go for the 49ers in the regular season. The season finale at home against the Cardinals will carry serious weight as the No. 1 seed with a Bye week in the playoffs is on the line.