49ers-Raiders live updates: Niners pull out win in OT over Raiders

Brock Purdy and the San Francisco 49ers improved their playoff position, but it was anything but easy as the Raiders put up a tremendous fight, dented the reputation of the Niners’ defense, and only came up losing in overtime.

Robbie Gould comes through in OT

Second time’s the charm? Given another shot, this time from 23 yards out, Robbie Gould made the game-winner. The 49ers’ win streak is at nine, and they remain unbeaten in Brock Purdy’s string of starts. 49ers 37, Raiders 34.

Gould misses field goal to end fourth quarter

Brock Purdy brought the 49ers down field with a couple of key completions to Brandon Aiyuk, setting up a potential game-winning field goal by Robbie Gould. Unfortunately, Gould missed the 41-yard attempt, so the game heads into overtime. 49ers 34, Raiders 34.

Big play from Davante Adams sets up re-tied game

A 45-yard completion to Davante Adams set up the Raiders tying the game back up again with 1:11 to go. Was it a catch? Review didn’t overturn the refs on the field. 49ers 34, Raiders 34.

49ers’ run game reclaims lead

The combination of a 38-yard romp by Christian McCaffrey on a short reception and then rookie Jordan Mason’s 14-yard run into the end zone capped a Niners drive to take a late lead. 49ers 34, Raiders 27.

Raiders tie it back up

A 57-yard field goal by strong-legged Daniel Carlson knotted things back up again, presenting Brock Purdy & Co. with a late-game challenge to pull out a win in a much tougher contest than expected. Raiders 27, 49ers 27.

49ers take the lead

Keyed by a Ray-Ray McCloud 42-yard run, the 49ers couldn’t get the ball into the endzone, but regained the lead with a 24-yard field goal.

Deflection for an INT sets up tie game

Kerry Hyder’s deflection of a Jarrett Stidham pass set up Drake Jackson’s interception — and a 49ers drive for a game-tying field goal.

CMC finds the endzone

The 49ers answered the Raiders’ touchdown with a five-minute drive completed by Christian McCaffrey’s 14-yard rumble into the endzone while also bringing McCaffrey north of 100 yards rushing. Raiders 24, 49ers 21.

Davante Adams scores again for Raiders

After the Raiders forced another 49ers punt to open the half, Jarrett Stidham hit wideout Davante Adams on a 60-yard touchdown pass to expand Las Vegas’ lead. If Niners fans weren’t worried already, the team’s win streak is definitely in danger of ending at eight. Raiders 24, 49ers 14.

Thoughts at the half

Ann Killion: There’s no hiding the surprise on the 49ers’ faces: they are getting an unexpected battle from the beleaguered Raiders whose 2022 season has been noteworthy primarily for weirdly embarrassing situations. Yet the Raiders have a 17-14 lead at halftime and the Jarrett Stidham-led offense has done things to the 49ers’ vaunted defense that only the Kansas City Chiefs have done this year.

Did the 49ers take the Raiders lightly? Or are they getting outschemed by Josh McDaniels? One thing is for certain: the 49ers need to wake up in the second half. With the Vikings currently losing to the Packers and the Eagles having lost earlier in the day, the 49ers have an opportunity to move up in the playoff seedings. Unless, of course,  they get beaten by Stidham.

Michael Silver: Brock Purdy is balling. Jarrett Stidham is balling. Those aren’t sentences I thought I’d be writing — or that you’d be reading — at any point during 2022… but, on the first day of 2023, here we are. Stidham, starting for Derek Carr, punctuated a strong first half with a gorgeous fade to Davante Adams that the star receiver somehow caught — despite great coverage by Niners corner Charvarius (Mooney) Ward — for a four-yard touchdown, with 10 seconds left in the half, giving the Raiders a 17-14 lead.

The Niners will get the ball first to start the second half, and need Purdy (who has TD throws to Brandon Aiyuk and George Kittle) and the offense to keep pace. Then again, the Raiders have been choking second-half leads all season. And the Niners’ defense did have a huge stop in the second quarter when linebacker Dre Greenlaw (who else?) stuffed NFL rushing leader Josh Jacobs on fourth-and-1 from the San Francisco 2 with 4:29 to go. Like so many others (to borrow from my story in Sunday’s Chronicle), Jacobs fought Greenlaw and Greenlaw won.

For the Niners to win, they’ll need to find a way to slow down Stidham. Yes, that’s a sentence that I wrote (and you’re reading) in 2023.

Raiders regain lead before halftime

Jarrett Stidham got his second passing TD of the game, getting the ball to Davante Adams with 10 second left in the half to put Las Vegas ahead again. Raiders 17, 49ers 14.

49ers make big defensive stand

The 49ers defense finally ended the scoring streak, holding the Raiders shy of a first down on a 4th-and-inches run at the 2-yard line after Las Vegas passed on settling for a field-goal attempt; credit T.Y. McGill and Arik Armstead with the stop. Inheriting the ball with that kind of field position didn’t help the 49ers keep their streak of reaching the end zone on every posssession going, however, leading to a Mitch Wishnowsky punt after a 3-and-out possession. Is the first-half scoring deluge over?

Brock Purdy’s multi-TD streak continues

Four possessions into the game and both teams have scored on both drives, this time as Brock Purdy hit George Kittle in the back of the endzone. Purdy has now thrown for two touchdowns in five straight games, four of them starts. Which team’s defense will force a a punt? With 9:38 left in the second quarter, it hasn’t happened yet. 49ers 14, Raiders 10.

Raiders regain lead

Jarrett Stidham generated another Raiders score in his second possession, marching 74 yards on a 10-play drive culminating in a 20-yard Daniel Carlson field goal. Raiders 10, 49ers 7.

49ers respond quickly

Brock Purdy & Co. answered with their own first-possession touchdown, with Christian McCaffrey almost scoring, getting tackled on the 1-yard line after a 37-yard rumble downfield, with Purdy hitting Brandon Aiyuk for a two-yard TD pass. 49ers 7, Raiders 7.

First possession, first score

In Jarrett Stidham’s first possession in his first start, the Raiders QB marched his team down the field and got Las Vegas out to a quick 7-0 lead on a 24-yard touchdown pass. Clearly not the way the 49ers’ defense wanted to start the game. Raiders 7, 49ers 0.

Predictions

Ann Killion: 49ers 28, Raiders 12. Pride and poise have been in short supply for the Raiders this year. Though the team still has a slim playoff chance they aren’t acting like it, benching and banning Derek Carr to make sure they don’t have to give him an injury payout. Kyle Shanahan, on the other hand, knows you can’t turn intensity on and off and wants his team to continue to play at a high level. Expect the 49ers and their top-ranked defense to continue the Raiders’ embarrassing week.

Michael Silver: 49ers 30, Raiders 16. The Raiders want to “evaluate” Jarrett Stidham (nod nod… wink wink). The Niners want to continue their tour of terror through the second half of the NFL season and stay in the hunt for a higher playoff seed. Both teams will accomplish their goals, but the Raiders may not like what they see when it comes to Stidham and the league’s top defense. This should be a stat-padding day for presumptive NFL defensive player of the year Nick Bosa.

Eric Branch: 49ers 34, Raiders 9. The 49ers have won eight straight games against teams that were trying to win. And now they face the Raiders. Las Vegas, despite not being mathematically eliminated from playoff contention, threw in the towel days before kickoff when they decided to throw never-started-an-NFL-game QB Jarrett Stidham to the wolves. The NFL’s top-ranked defense should devour him. And the game’s other inexperienced starting QB, rookie Brock Purdy, will keep his fever dream going with two more TD passes.

Inactives Are 49ers getting all-time greatness from Greenlaw and Warner?

The 49ers’ preeminent linebacking duo is the combination of Patrick Willis and NaVorro Bowman, who conspired to terrorize opposing offenses from 2011 through ’13 and were two of the NFL’s best players during their overlapping careers.

Comparing anyone to that sublime San Francisco 49ers linebacker tandem might be sacrilege to some, but after watching Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw spearhead the NFL’s top defense during the first four months of the 2022 season, I’m ready to put it out there: The Niners’ current combo isn’t as accomplished as the Willis-Bowman tandem — yet — but we could be witnessing the second coming. 

— Michael Silver, NFL columnist

What 49ers saw in Purdy before the draft

Brian Griese the son of a Hall of Fame quarterback, Bob; he played the position for 11 seasons in the NFL, then spent 12 years studying the game as an ESPN analyst.

So Griese knows football. That doesn’t mean the 49ers’ first-year quarterbacks coach could have predicted every step of Purdy’s ascent since he was the final pick of last spring’s draft. But he speaks for many in the organization when he says there were signs that the undersize Purdy could be a productive pro well before this season.

“Yeah, what he’s doing is not normal,” Griese said.

— Eric Branch, 49ers beat writer

Charvarius Ward: From anxious kid to 49ers’ lockdown CB

Long before Charvarius “Mooney” Ward landed a $40 million contract, before he became the top cornerback on the NFL’s best defense and tangled with DK Metcalf on national television, Ward barely even dreamed of playing professional football.

He wanted to become an engineer, or pursue a career in computer science. 

Ward figured a non-sports path was his best way out of McComb, Miss. He didn’t play high school football until his senior year, partly because a childhood surgery left him shy and anxious around other kids. So he usually stayed home in his free time, reading books or hanging out with his mom, Tanya.

He spent two years at a community college, two years at a below-the-radar Division I program (Middle Tennessee State) and didn’t hear his name called in the 2018 NFL draft. Now, less than five years later, Ward counts as a big reason the 49ers roll into the new year with an eight-game winning streak and Super Bowl ambitions.

— Ron Kroichick, staff writer