Sunday was the final dress rehearsal for the Raiders. And for many players, it was their last chance to make a strong impression in their push to earn a spot on the roster.
There wasn’t much in the way of great impressions in this one. The Raiders were handled from start to finish by the 49ers and lost 34-10. It must be noted that the 49ers had their actual starters in the game early on and kept potential starting QB Trey Lance in the game into the third quarter. But if the Raiders want to prove they have depth, they need to be able to hang with those guys and they simply didn’t.
That being said, there were some diamonds in the rough, so we’ll start there as per usual.
Ballers
S Karl Joseph
The former top pick by the Raiders returns after a year away in Cleveland. He is in line to be the next man up at either safety spot and could be shooting to prove to his coaches that he deserves a chance to start at some point. His performance in this game should help those efforts greatly.
On the first drive, the 49er’s first-team offense cut through the Raiders fringe roster lineup like a hot knife through butter. There were only two plays on the drive that were stopped for less than four yards and one of them was Joseph making the tackle on first and goal from the five to stop a run at two yards.
It was a similar story on the second drive, with Joseph making two more run stops including one for two yards. And again, on the 49er’s third scoring drive, they were in first and goal at the five and Joseph made a tackle for a loss on a broken play.
That drive ended in a field goal. So too did the 49er’s final drive of the first half, thanks to Joseph knocking down a pass for the end zone with a few seconds left on the clock. And just to round things off, Joseph also had a tackle on special teams too. Welcome back, Karl.
CB Damon Arnette
Remember how I said on the first two drives, there were only a couple of plays that were stopped for a short gain or no gain? Well, the other two stops were Arnette defending passes. That’s a strong day considering he only played 26 snaps, which was the first three drives and he was taken out by midway through the second quarter.
CB Amik Robertson
Twice on the 49er’s second drive, Robertson made a play that put them in third down. The first time he ran his receiver’s route for him on a deep and cut him off so it fell incomplete. The second time was a play in which Robertson chased down a run out right to stop it for two yards.
He was part of two more stops on the 49er’s final drive of the first half to help hold them to a field goal. Robertson also had an outstanding gunner tackle on a punt return to stop them at the 16-yard-line. A facemask on the 49ers would start their drive at the 8-yard-line. He led the team with two special teams tackles.
WR Dillon Stoner
The Raiders scored twice in this game. Both drives featured long catches by Stoner. He had a 27-yard catch on their field goal drive early in the second quarter and a 32-yard catch on third and 15 on their touchdown drive in the third quarter. He would lead all receivers in the game with three catches for 69 yards.
Busters
OT Devery Hamilton
Just re-signed this week after missing all of camp on the non-football illness list. And with the way Patrick Omameh and Jaryd Jones-Smith played in the first two preseason games, it seemed Hamilton could come in and have a great chance to fight his way into the mix. That didn’t happen. In fact, it was more like his turn to get throttled at tackle just as the other two did.
Hamilton entered the game in the second quarter. On his first drive, he was bull-rushed into Nate Peterman as he threw incomplete. The next possession ended in a three-and-out in part due to Hamilton again giving up a pressure that forced an incompletion.
On three straight drives in the second half, Hamilton gave up a sack, a hit on Peterman that helped lead to him throwing an interception, and another hit on Peterman leading to an awkward dump to the full-back that was stopped short on third down.
LB Divine Deablo
Another player who is making his first preseason appearance after missing most of training camp with an injury. And it was a rough first outing for the rookie linebacker.
On his second play of the game, he bit on a fake, leaving his man wide open for a 15-yard catch. A few plays later, he was blocked on a 16-yard run.
The next drive saw Deablo give up a 17-yard catch on third and 13. That drive would end either Deablo biting on a fake handoff while Lance kept it and scooted in for the touchdown.
He later gave up a 22-yard catch on the drive that would lead to the 49ers’ third touchdown of the day.
DE Malcolm Koonce
The team’s other third-round rookie, Koonce didn’t have a great day either. He had just two tackles in the game and wasn’t a threat off the edge either. He had a chance on the first drive but froze on the read-option to give up a 17-yard run.
In the final drive of the first half, he couldn’t secure the edge on fourth down to allow Lance to scramble for the first down. Two plays later they were in first and goal. He had the 49er’s final TD run right through his position. Then on the final drive, he gave up consecutive runs to put the 49ers in first and goal.
QB Nate Peterman
Just apply pressure. And everything falls apart. Throws get ugly. Ill-advised throws are made. And to be honest, even when things are together, it’s pretty obvious that they are only together because the defense is stocked with backups and practice squad players.
A couple of drives ended quickly with bad throws by Peterman. Then when he finally managed to drive the Raiders for a touchdown late in the third quarter, he started the next series with two overthrows, the second one getting picked off. He finished with 18 completions for 175 yards with a TD and an interception.
NT Niles Scott
For the guy who’s supposed to clog the middle, there wasn’t much getting stopped inside when he was there. At least once he was driven five yards up the field by the 49ers’ reserve center. That’s never supposed to happen to a nose tackle. He had one tackle for loss in the game. The rest of the time, he was only noticeable for getting handled on the block.
WR John Brown
Paging John Brown. Can you please pick up the white courtesy phone? John Brown. Hello? After missing the second preseason game, Brown got the start while several of his fellow receivers expected to make the squad didn’t play. And he had one catch for two yards. Uninspiring for the guy expected to replace Nelson Agholor.
