The Raiders’ win over the Jets came with a warning attached: they needed a comeback after allowing scores on New York’s first six possessions. Kirk Cousins and his receivers supplied enough answers that afternoon, but keeping up with San Francisco presents another test. Las Vegas has been more competitive against the spread than its record suggests; whether that continues depends on how often its defense forces Brock Purdy to give the ball back.
The Raiders can answer scores, but keep conceding them
The DraftKings spread makes San Francisco a 10-point favorite. The 49ers are 6–1 coming out of their bye, while Las Vegas is 4–4 after ending a four-game losing streak. Yet the Raiders have covered six of their eight games this season. Their losses to Kansas City and Buffalo were each by three points, showing how an offense can keep a team competitive even when it doesn’t win.
That resilience has limits. Las Vegas has allowed at least 27 points in each of its last six games, and two of those defeats came by double digits. Cousins’ comeback offers a reason to take the Raiders’ ability to respond seriously, but it doesn’t solve the repeated need to chase points.
In AP’s account of the 38–33 win over New York, Cousins completed 19 of 26 passes for 247 yards and three touchdowns. Brock Bowers caught two of those scores. Ashton Jeanty added a 45-yard screen reception on the drive that put Las Vegas ahead. Those are useful ways to create offense without needing every possession to become a downfield passing contest.
The running-back workload is worth separating from those receiving contributions. Mike Washington Jr. had 25 carries for 83 yards against the Jets; Jeanty had only two carries but caught three passes for 64 yards. The Raiders' running-back depth chart still lists Jeanty first and Washington second. Both contributed against the Jets, but their listed order doesn’t settle how the carries will be divided Sunday.
San Francisco’s reset starts with protecting possessions
The 49ers’ first loss, 29–20 at Atlanta before the bye, turned on mistakes. AP reported four San Francisco turnovers, which Atlanta turned into 13 points. Purdy threw two interceptions, and fumbles by Kaelon Black and George Kittle added to the damage. San Francisco had committed only six turnovers across its first six games.
That makes ball security a more useful question than treating the loss as proof the offense has stopped working. Purdy still threw for 288 yards in Atlanta. Against a defense that has struggled to end drives, avoiding wasted possessions would give San Francisco a clearer route to building a lead. Repeating the giveaways would help the Raiders stay involved without requiring them to stop every drive.
The Thursday practice updates leave questions around Purdy’s supporting cast. ESPN’s Nick Wagoner reported that Christian McCaffrey, dealing with a hamstring issue, was present for the open portion of practice, while Mike Evans and Deebo Samuel didn’t participate in the portion open to reporters. Those observations don’t establish final game status or McCaffrey’s workload. Their availability matters to San Francisco’s chances of turning completions into bigger gains.
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Six straight Overs meet a different threshold
The total is 51.5. Each of the Raiders’ last six games has gone Over its stored game total, with both offensive production and defensive concessions contributing to that run. The Jets game also included Dylan Laube’s 95-yard kickoff-return touchdown, another reminder that its 71 combined points weren’t all generated by sustained offense.
San Francisco offers a counterweight: its last two games finished with 40 and 49 combined points. In Atlanta, four giveaways kept otherwise useful yardage from turning into more points, with McCaffrey limited during the game and Evans and Samuel inactive that day. A cleaner performance against the Raiders’ struggling defense could raise the scoring pace, but the total also asks Las Vegas to keep contributing. Cousins, Bowers and the backs need to sustain offense beyond the occasional big play or return.
The Raiders don’t need to shut San Francisco down to make this competitive, but they need more stops than they managed early against the Jets. Otherwise, even another productive day from Cousins could leave them chasing a widening gap. For San Francisco, protecting possessions is the clearest way to make Las Vegas’ defensive weakness count; the 6–1 record alone doesn’t establish that it can create the separation this spread demands.
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