Takeaways: Raiders forced to play catch-up in loss to 49ers

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — It won’t matter where, it won’t matter who, it won’t matter how the Las Vegas Raiders play so long as they give the football away.

Five times in a half of an NFL game.

“Not going to win, ever,” per coach Klint Kubiak — and definitely not Sunday at Levi’s Stadium.

With silver and black and red and gold scattered throughout the seats for their return to the Bay Area for the first time in the regular season since they relocated to Las Vegas, the Raiders fell behind 14-0 and gave the football away five times in the second half of an old-fashioned beatdown: 38-17, administered by the rival San Francisco 49ers.

In losing five of their last six games, quarterback Kirk Cousins threw three interceptions on passes all intended for Tre Tucker: a pick-6 but lollipopped to linebacker Jaden Dugger on the first play of the second half after fumbling a play-fake; an interception in the back right corner of the end zone thrown to Renardo Green atop the fourth quarter; and an underthrown fourth-down bomb late in the fourth.

Cousins, who sneaked in for a 1-yard score, completed 22 of 32 passes for 216 yards and a third-quarter touchdown to tight end Brock Bowers, who lost a third-quarter fumble by midfield amid an 11-point deficit. Tight end Michael Mayer lost a fumble on the ensuing possession while stretching to cross the goal line.

San Francisco quarterback Brock Purdy responded with a 37-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Jordan Watkins, completing 17 of 25 passes for 232 yards, a score to running back Christian McCaffrey and pick to safety Treydan Stukes. Purdy also ran for a 1-yard touchdown as the 49ers rushed for 190 yards.

“Sometimes, when you get behind, you try to get it all back in one play and it’s hard to be patient,” Cousins said. “I just probably needed to stay a little bit more patient and be OK with not getting it all back at one time, which you know is always kind of hard to do when you want to get your team back in the game quick.”

Here’s why the Raiders (4-5) lost to the 49ers (7-1):

A sluggish start

Las Vegas ran three plays from scrimmage by the time they trailed 14-0, sandwiching their three-and-out between long, meticulous San Francisco drives. As Kubiak said: “You’ve got to start the game off a lot of faster. You’ve got to go toe to toe in the first half so the second half isn’t a throwing fest.”

The 49ers blended passes with runs on the first two drives to keep the Raiders on tilt, using 12 plays to score their first touchdown and 13 plays to score their second. Cousins threw incomplete to running back Ashton Jeanty, who gained seven yards on second-down carry, before throwing incomplete to Bowers.

The first Raiders possession of the second quarter was capped by the scoring run from Cousins, but the 49ers answered with a 12-play drive that Purdy and McCaffrey punctuated. Las Vegas trailed by two scores from that point forward, playing catch up for the rest of the game.

“Certainly we want to be balanced,” Cousins said. “But if you get behind — we were having success throwing the football, I felt. We just weren’t able to finish drives. Certainly, turnovers were a big part of that.”

Gashed on the ground

The Raiders have surrendered 160-plus rushing yards in five of their past six games with San Francisco the latest opponent to treat them like an outdoor track. With 43 rushes versus 25 passes, the 49ers controlled tempo and pace and the football for 38 minutes, 18 seconds.

Bottled up in the second half, McCaffrey rushed for 68 yards on 18 carries but fellow running back Kaelon Black added 70 yards on 11 attempts. Purdy’s legs were key for San Francisco’s extended drives with his pirouettes away from pressure totaling 40 yards on seven attempts.

“There’s several things that tie in to stopping the run,” defensive end Maxx Crosby said. “It’s not just one player. It’s got to be all 11, all hands on deck. Something we’re going to have to continue improving on and I think we will.”

Las Vegas conversely with the score what it was could not commit to its rushing offense. Not that it was effective anyway with 24 yards on 15 attempts.

Not enough talent, plain and simple

The Raiders are 4-0 against losing teams and 0-5 against winning teams. They’re still rebuilding and the sample size shows they’re not good enough to beat top competition. Nothing wrong with that considering they fielded the No. 1 pick this year, but every matchup against a contender reveals they’re not good enough yet.

“This time of year, we’re focused on winning games,” Kubiak said. “I really like our team. I don’t like losing games like this.

“You’ve got to have a lot more resilience when you’re playing a really good team (like the one) that we played today. And when you start that slow, you don’t put yourself into a position. But I’m proud to coach the guys I coach.”

Contact Sam Gordon at [email protected]. Follow @BySamGordon on X.