The San Francisco 49ers faced off against the Las Vegas Raiders in the third and last preseason game for each team. The game was held at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California. The last time these two teams played was in a regular season game on All Saints Day in 2018 when the Niners won 34-3 behind an outstanding 3 TD performance from now free agent QB Nick Mullens. The Raiders had gone 2-0 in their first two preseason, and were trying to tie the Chiefs, Ravens, Colts, Bills, and Broncos for the best preseason record in the AFC. The Raiders beat the Seahawks and Rams in their first two while the Niners had gone 1-1 in their first two preseason games with a loss to the Chiefs and a comeback win against the Chargers. The Niners were looking to win the Preseason NFC West Title.
The Raiders opened the game up with a three and out that the Niners turned it into a 10 play, 68 yard, 5 minute drive, which ended on a Jimmy Garoppolo rush for a TD. After another Raider punt, the Niners took their time and put together a 7 minute drive that was centered around Trey Sermon and passing plays. The Niners either threw the ball with Garoppolo or Lance or rushed with rookie running back Trey Sermon. The drive ended with Trey Lance running up the middle and into the endzone for a touchdown. The Raiders had journeyman Nathan Peterman in at QB for the whole game. Raiders Coach Jon Gruden has been really hopeful about Peterman yet Nathan hasn't been able to show his true potential. Though, Nate Sudfeld, the Niners third stringer, and Nathan Peterman both are at the top of the NFL's top third stringers list. They both are good to have as a last resort.
The Raiders kicked a field goal after a 11 play, 50 yard drive, that relied on passing plays that developed well with Peterman's speed and arm. Daniel Carlson completed the drive with a 51 yard field goal that shortened the Niners' lead to 11. The Niners punted and the Raiders followed with the same type of drive, a three and out followed with a punt. The Niners put together a great drive behind Trey Lance, but they couldn't get into the endzone due to the Raiders defense making an incredible stand, so they completed the drive with a 21 yard field goal from veteran kicker Robbie Gould. The Niners defense dominated the Raiders and caused another 3 and out which the Niners took and produced a 19 yard field goal from Robbie Gould as 1st Half time ran out. At half, the Niners led by 17, 20-3.
The first score of the second half came after a 10 play 80 yard drive that ended with a clutch 16 yard TD pass from Nathan Peterman to Nick Bowers to shorten the Niners' lead to 10. The Niners responded with a 3 play drive that ended in a beautifully crafted 35 yard TD rush from the Niners' speedy running back JaMycal Hasty. JaMycal stepped up as a rookie last year and is now competing to be RB2 on the Niners. On the next drive, Nathan Peterman threw a pass that was way off target and got picked off by Niners' Free Agent pickup Pro Bowl Free Safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix. Ha Ha ran it back to the Raiders' 11 yard line and set up a 3 yard TD run for JaMycal Hasty to stretch the lead to 24. Both teams traded off possessions and the Raiders' defense made a red zone stop. The Raiders then kneeled it out to end the game. The Niners had gone 2-1 in the preseason and had won 34-10.
Nathan Peterman went 18 for 29 and had 175 yards with a TD and an interception. JaMycal finished the game with 2 TDs and had 55 yards on 6 carries. The Niners had 26 1st downs while the Raiders had 12. The Niners had 375 total yards while the Raiders had only 212. 60,873 people were at the game. Expect some players to get cut soon as the regular season will be starting for the Niners on September 12 against the Lions in Detroit. The Raiders will start their season on September 13 in Vegas against the Baltimore Ravens.