Oakland Raiders 9 - San Francisco 49ers 17: Post-Game Thoughts

The San Francisco 49ers have taken the steam out of next week's matchup against the Carolina Panthers.  A matchup that was going to be a battle of two teams without a win.  Instead, they bring their 1-5 record to Carolina to face the Panthers, a former division rival.

The 49ers got their first win, a 17-9 victory over the Oakland Raiders, and have guaranteed themselves to not join the 2008 Detroit Lions in the winless club.  

Although getting a win is nice, it's hard to be excited about today if you are a 49ers fan.  Coming into the game they had an 0-5 record and yet were still a 7 point favorite.  That tells you all you need to know about Vegas' opinion of the Oakland Raiders.  

The 49ers won today by playing great defense and not turning the ball over.  The defense kept them in the game and allowed them to hang around for three quarters before finally scoring some touchdowns.  Ironically, the 49ers won because they out-coached the other team and were able to make defensive adjustments during the game that thwarted the Raiders offense.  It's amazing what happens when you out-coach the other team. 

Nice game out of Frank Gore today who ran for 149 yards on 25 carries.  The success there was related to the coaching again.  Great job, by changing up the runs more by offensive coordinator Mike Johnson by not having Frank Gore run directly into the line and allowing him to get outside a couple of times.

 

On the Oakland Raiders side, well this was expected.  Jason Campbell is not a starting quarterback and the offensive line is not good.  I would of liked to see Bruce Gradkowksi play against the 49ers and see what he could have done.  I bet there would been a different outcome to the game.

On the other hand, I am impressed with the defense for the most part.  The biggest issue for them on the defensive side of the ball is the safeties, which Rich Gannon talked about in the game.  They cannot cover, at all.  I am actually still shocked that Michael Huff still gets playing time from the Raiders.  He just kills them in coverage.

The Raiders remind me of the 49ers a few years ago in the aspect that they had no quarterback, and still don't, and that their defense spends a lot of time on the field.  With the offense constantly getting 3 and outs it's hard for the defense to get a breather and hence the reason that teams are able to come back towards the end of the game and win.  The Raiders had beat the 49ers for about three quarters until Michael Crabtree got open in the end zone.  After that, it was over.