This is the live blog for the 49ers 2023 preseason opener against the Las Vegas Raiders at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. I will provide updates and analysis throughout the game.
12:00 Here is what to look for today from the 49ers.
12:50 With the 49ers starting offensive line not expected to play it will be interesting to see how Trey Lance and Sam Darnold handle pressure. Brock Purdy did this very well a year ago and it was one of the reasons he stayed with the team over Nate Sudfeld.
1:05 49ers will open on offense. With Ray-Ray McCloud out due to a fractured wrist, Ronnie Bell returns the kick out to the 25.
1:08 Rough opening for the 49ers offense. Lance holds the ball a couple of times leading to sacks and it’s a quick three and out. Looked like he had Ross Dwelley open, but didn’t pull the trigger for some reason.
1:11 On third and one, rookie Aidan O’Connell with a 15 yard pass. This is followed up by a 9 yard gash up the middle of the 49ers defense. This looks very similar to what we saw during Friday’s practice.
1:15 The middle of the 49ers defense was dominated on that possession. Defensive tackles getting blown off the ball and linebackers not stepping up.
1:21 Ty Davis-Price opens the second possession with a gain of 3 over left guard. Lance with a short completion to Ross Dwelley off a bootleg to his right on second down before throwing incomplete to Charlie Woerner on third down.
Lance doesn’t look comfortable at all so far. Held the ball twice on the first series and the miss on third down. He’s under pressure, but the ball needs to come out
1:25 Kevin Givens gets blown off the ball on second and six leading to a five yard run. He was pushed so far back that the linebacker had no way to get up the field.
1:28 Clelin Ferrell stops the bleeding. The former Raider signed during free agency with a sack of O’Connell on first down. Pressure from Kevin Givens and a drop on second and third down get the ball back for the offense.
Let’s see if Lance can settle down here and lead a drive. He’s been good with this so far during camp.
1:34 Another three and out. Lance had the receiver open over the middle off play action on first down but didn’t pull the trigger, instead choosing to throw the checkdown to Ross Dwelley and the pass sailed high. This is rough.
The offensive line is struggling, but there have been throws to be made.
1:45 Samuel Womack and Ambry Thomas come up with big stops against the run to get the ball back for the 49ers offense. Womack comes up to drop the Raiders running back for no gain on third and one. On the next play the interior of the defense wins at the point of attack forcing the runner to bounce and Thomas drops him for a loss of one on fourth down.
Much better job by the defense on that possession.
1:52 Trey Lance was much more decisive on that possession. Three nice throws from the quarterback with runs from Bell and Davis-Price mixed in gets the ball to the redzone. Lance gets lucky there when his throw over the middle to Chris Conley bounces off the hands of a Raiders defensive back and the ball ricochets right to Ross Dwelley for a touchdown.
2:00 What a play on second down by Alex Barrett and Jalen Graham. Barrett forces the running back to bounce and the rookie linebacker is there to make the tackle.
Samuel Womack was beat deep on third down but Raiders receiver Tre Tucker can’t hold on. Good job by Kyle Shanahan to challenge the ruling on the play.
2:06 Lance has bounced back nicely from the rough start. A couple of nice throws on the fifth offensive possession for the 49ers offense including a 17 yarder over the middle to Chris Conley. However, a drop by Jordan Mason leads to a fourth and short. Instead of trying a long field goal Kyle Shanahan goes for it and Mason is dropped for a loss on a run up the middle on a zone read.
2:18 New 49ers nickelback Isaiah Oliver gets beat by Keelan Cole Sr for a Raiders touchdown. The 49ers defense has struggled against the pass since arriving in Las Vegas. They’ve allowed rookie Aidan O’Connel to go 10-13 for 107 yards and a touchdown in the first half.
2:25 After nearly throwing an interception to open a two-minute drill before halftime, Lance bounces back and leads the 49ers offense into field goal position where rookie Jake Moody misses from 39 yards out on his first NFL try.
Lance followed up the bad throw with a nice completion to Chris Conley up the left seam. On the next play he hit Troy Fumagalli over the middle for a 22 yard pickup.
2:43 Aidan O’Connell keep dicing up the 49ers defense. Raiders receivers are running wide open in the intermediate area over the middle.
Daniel Carlson hits from 53-yards out to give the Raiders a 17-7 lead.
Sam Darnold will take over at quarterback for San Francisco.
2:54 Darnold in rhythm right away. The veteran hits Ronnie Bell on a go route down the right side for 37 on his first throw. He follows that up with completions to rookie Isaiah Winstead and Tay Martin. The drive comes up empty when the offense is stopped for no gain on three consecutive runs up the middle.
2:59 D’Shawn Jamison is a much better returner than Ronnie Bell.
3:02 Cameron Latu has struggled to catch the ball throughout training camp. He catches his first target of the preseason, then drops it when he is hit and Las Vegas recovers the fumble.
3:18 Jake Moody’s attempt from 57 yards out misses so far right that it landed in Henderson.
3:27 Are you ready for Brandon Allen? The 49ers fourth string quarterback has replaced Sam Darnold.
3:28 Allen’s first throw hits Ronnie Bell in the hands but the rookie can’t hold on and it’s intercepted by Raiders defensive back Sam Webb who returns it all the way to the two yard line.
3:56 The 49ers lose their preseason opener 34-7. They can’t get out of Las Vegas fast enough. The Raiders have pushed them all over the field since Thursday.
Watch NFL 49ers vs Raiders Live HD from Anywhere => https://nfltv.us
yikes!
Hope this is our third string.
Trey is always a bit slow to get the ball out
Trey is too inaccurate on his short throws. Purdy is king of the quick short throw.
The back up O-Line is just awful. Lance is getting way too much pressure. Lance needs reps so bad, and he is just going to take longer to process until he gets more reps. Faster processing can come, but that has no chance of happening with this garbage O-Line. No chance to get into a rhythm of any kind. Might help to mix in some runs to make the defense look for something else.
The defense looked unprepared for the first drive. It’s all backups. but have to wonder if the defensive calls by our new DC are bad. Tim Ryan has already called them out for the tackles being completely out of place to make plays. Something to watch .
Trey needs to get something started
Trey looks cool now! Dwelley can still catch!
Putting Trey Lance behind this OLine is criminal. Lance has Zero time to read the defense or do his job. Criticizing Lance for not being decisive when he has less than 1 second before the rush is on him is monumentally ignorant. Totally unfair to judge Lance’s performance behind the atrocious performance by this OLine. I think it’s time to wonder if Chris Foerster is really bad at his job and ShanaLynchs stubbornness in refusing to address the OLine is the sole reason the 49ers will never win a Superbowl under this regime.
When will Trey be in a position to judge his play? How many more years do we have to wait? Seems like Purdy did a pretty good job last year in the preseason under similar conditions.
We’ll be in a position to judge Lance after ShanaLynch & Foerster stop putting him behind a Swiss cheese Oline not able to block the Golden Girls after a 3 day bender.
So its the fault of everyone else? Trey didn’t do himself any favors today. Sacked 4 times. He reminded me of Kaepernick today. Can’t make a decision and not quick enough to escape a sack.
Yes he needs more reps but at some point he needs to play a lot better.
It takes a level of football ignorance I can not comprehend to blame Trey Lance for being indecisive in the face of an unblocked pass rush.
Give Moore a chance to show his leg!
Hey, Gojira! You beat me to the punch. Our backup o-linemen are indeed atrocious. If one of our starters gets injured, we might be in a little trouble. It’s not trey’s fault. WAIT. Jake Moody just missed his first attempt! I don’t care if he is a rookie. He should have made that. No excuses.
When Lance has had the time to setup to pass he’s done OK.
Purdy would have been killed playing behind this Oline, and possibly thrown 3 Int’s.
Time to watch Darnold do his thing.
When he has had time to set up he almost threw 2 picks. Did you notice the decision making and accuracy of the raiders QB?
“Did you notice the decision making and accuracy of the raiders QB?”
Was the raiders QB playing behind the 49ers oline? No.
Apples and oranges. Try a different comparison.
Today’s 49ers Oline was horrible (good thing they are not starters). Perhaps, the real attention should be given to them instead of Lance and Darnold.
Half time grades
Lance D-
O line F
Givens F-
Kinlaw D-
Ferrell B-
Oliver F
A. Thomas A
Womack D+
Moody F
God I hope Moody isn’t one of those head case kickers, great in practice choker in games.
Oh joy! Lets watch the team waste reps on Dam Sarrnold. We know he is awful, nothing in camp has made anyone think he is a different player that the last 5 years have proven. Should just play Lance the whole game, he needs the playing time and reps. They have to see if they can develop him or if it was simply the worst draft move in franchise history.
Professional NFL kicker alert!
I was disappointed in Moody’s FG misses today. Hopefully he makes the necessary adjustments going forward.
First NFL game nerves?
I don’t know, but if it was, he better shake it off quickly.
OC is right..very disappointing and not just this game. The entire LV trip has been a downer.
Ronnie Bells a keeper.
Darnold!
Now to see if Sam Darnold will do any better behind this lousy backup linemen. Here goes. Here we go! They got a stupid penalty to begin the half on kickoff.
Latu is anbd was a bust..should not have been drafted.
He’s a rookie in his first game.
Lot of guys gonna lose jobs tonight.
Glad you were never my boss.
giggle
Latu has been captain dropsy all through camp. His only skill seems to be blocking. Which considering the way the NFC championship game was decided, that is a needed skill. Just don’t throw the ball to him, he is Charlie Woerner all over again in the passing game.
yes!
Is Moody the next Mike-Mayer
A lot of the draft pics are looking pretty useless right now.
BOOOO!! Oh, yeah. It’s just preseason. But still, I want to see them play better. I think they will next week.
Aidan M’Connell looked better than any of the three 49er QBs this week.
agree
We better not release our second kicker..he looks better in practice.
LV has the better kicker..Moore looks too inexperienced..not ready
Such a wasted week for the Niners. They have a lot to work on. They can not afford to sleep at the wheel for the first month and a half like the last couple of seasons. But this preseason game does not inspire any confidence that they will be ready for Pittsburgh.
Time to quit playing and sign Bosa. Then the team needs to start practicing with more urgency. The season is not that far away.
totally agree!
Purdy is the starter..no question now.
Who said we a team that was deep?
Deep sh*t….
LV was up for this game..The niners flat and unprepared. We played just well enough to lose big.
Kinlaw seemed like he was routinely stood up at the line. Funny because he has been talking big this season about keeping below the pads. I think he’s done. After transforming his body to be leaner he’s now losing the strength battle to scrubs. Career backup and total waste of a high pick. And if he can’t perform against the 2’s the rest of preseason it’s not looking good at all.
Kyle Shanahan has officially RUINED Trey Lance. Congratulations Kyle. I can’t say for certain that this was your gameplan coming into this season, but it sure feels that way. Thanks for wasting my time today, KYLE!
It’s now time for Trey and his agent to publicly ask for a breakup, because if I’m Trey, I am officially DONE with Kyle, after the way he treated Trey during joint practices!
Kyle Shanahan does a lot of things well as a HC, unfortunately he’s almost CLUELESS when it comes to the most important position on his team, andf it’s already cost him dearly!
I am out for now! And as for TREY …. best of luck to you kiddo!
And JACK, I sure hope you have some choice words for Kyle! Cheers!
Complete nonsense. Who would want him after todays performance?
I think Lombardi is absolutely on point here.
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David Lombardi
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QB2 is a job that’s more about a high floor than a high ceiling. And right now it’s clear that Sam Darnold had a higher floor than Trey Lance, especially within the context of what Kyle Shanahan runs. Lance is going to have to show much more steadiness next week than he did today.