Raiders at 49ers on Sunday: a Rested 6-1 Team, a Beat-Up Receiver Room, and the Game That Decides Whether the Jets Win Meant Anything
Las Vegas' reward for ending its skid in New York is a trip to Santa Clara to face a 6-1 San Francisco team coming off its bye — with Nick Bosa, Deebo Samuel and Mike Evans all holding a chance to return, and a Monday practice-squad signing that says the 49ers are patching as fast as they can.
The Raiders visit the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, November 8, at Levi's Stadium — kickoff 1:25 p.m. Pacific on FOX — with a chance to move above .500 against one of the NFC's strongest teams, according to the Week 9 preview read in full by the desk. Las Vegas enters 4-4 after the 38-33 win at the Jets; San Francisco returns from its bye at 6-1, its only loss a 29-20 defeat at Atlanta in which Brock Purdy threw for 288 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions and the 49ers turned the ball over four times.
What Las Vegas brings is the formula that worked in New York. Kirk Cousins completed 19 of 26 passes for 247 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions against the Jets, adding a rushing touchdown; Brock Bowers caught seven passes for 92 yards and two scores, Michael Mayer added five for 53, Mike Washington Jr. carried 25 times for 83 yards and Ashton Jeanty produced 64 receiving yards. The preview's caution is the mirror image: the Raiders cannot count on a special-teams touchdown and a late takeaway to rescue a defense that gave up ground all afternoon.
Monday's news ran through the 49ers' training room. San Francisco signed wide receiver KhaDarel Hodge to its practice squad, per ESPN reports read by the desk — depth for a receiver group that has been thinned all season — while the team's post-bye picture stays open: the club's October 26 update listed Nick Bosa, Mike Evans and Deebo Samuel Sr. among players with a chance to return against Las Vegas, none of them guaranteed, and Christian McCaffrey's mild hamstring strain was described by Kyle Shanahan with optimism after the bye rather than clearance. George Kittle, who caught eight passes for 88 yards at Atlanta, is the certain problem. The week's practice reports will grade the rest.
