SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Brock Purdy gave the 49ers control early. When the Raiders threatened to take some of it back, San Francisco’s defense repeatedly took the ball away, turning scoring opportunities for Las Vegas into another afternoon of separation on the scoreboard.
Purdy threw two touchdown passes and ran for another in Sunday’s 38-17 victory at Levi’s Stadium. The 49ers scored on their first three possessions, then forced five second-half turnovers to improve to 7-1. Las Vegas dropped to 4-5.
The most revealing swing came late in the third quarter. Michael Mayer lost the ball just short of the goal line, denying the Raiders a chance to cut into a 28-17 deficit. San Francisco recovered in the end zone, and Purdy answered with a 37-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Watkins before the quarter ended.
According to the 49ers’ official postgame report, cornerback Upton Stout punched the ball away from Mayer and Fred Warner recovered for a touchback. Watkins’ first career touchdown reception then made it 35-17. A possible one-score contest had become an 18-point game.
That sequence explains why the final margin should not obscure the defense’s work. San Francisco had built its advantage methodically, but Las Vegas continued reaching positions from which it could score. The difference was what happened when those possessions reached their most valuable territory.
Purdy finished 17 of 25 for 232 yards and two passing touchdowns, adding 40 rushing yards and a score. His production included a career landmark: a 12-yard touchdown pass to Christian McCaffrey in the second quarter was the 100th passing touchdown of his regular-season career, achieved in his 57th game.
The landmark throw gave San Francisco a 21-7 lead. It was also McCaffrey’s second touchdown of the afternoon, following the one-yard rushing score that capped the opening possession. The running back provided both a finish near the goal line and a receiving outlet when Purdy found him open to the left.
Purdy’s legs mattered before the passing milestone arrived. On the second touchdown drive, he scrambled for a first down on third-and-15, helping sustain an 89-yard possession. A 37-yard completion to George Kittle also moved the offense, and Purdy finished the drive himself with a one-yard touchdown run.
San Francisco’s opening possession had covered 69 yards. The next two drives ended with Purdy’s rushing touchdown and the McCaffrey catch, leaving the Raiders to chase from behind. Las Vegas reduced the deficit to 21-10 by halftime but could not begin the second half cleanly.
Rookie linebacker Jaden Dugger intercepted Kirk Cousins on the first offensive play after the break and returned it 35 yards for a touchdown. The play delivered both Dugger’s first NFL interception and his first touchdown, just 17 seconds into the third quarter. San Francisco’s advantage grew to 28-10 before its offense needed another snap.
The remaining takeaways came from several parts of the defense. Warner forced a Brock Bowers fumble that Dre Greenlaw recovered. Stout’s strip of Mayer produced the goal-line escape, and the secondary added two interceptions in the fourth quarter.
Renardo Green picked off Cousins in the end zone to stop another scoring opportunity. Malik Mustapha intercepted Las Vegas’ final possession. The combination of three interceptions and two recovered fumbles gave San Francisco five second-half takeaways, with the goal-line stops preventing the Raiders from making sustained pressure count.
Watkins supplied the receiving production that converted one of those stops into a decisive offensive answer. He finished with four catches for 86 yards, leading the 49ers in receiving yardage. His earlier 24-yard reception helped on the third touchdown drive; the later 37-yard score gave him the finish he had narrowly missed against Atlanta before the bye, when a potential touchdown was overturned.
Kaelon Black led San Francisco’s rushing attack with 70 yards. The team finished with 190 on the ground, supplementing Purdy’s passing without depending on a single runner. The early balance forced Las Vegas to defend sustained drives, while the second-half turnovers made a comeback increasingly difficult.
There were familiar faces back in the defensive rotation. Nick Bosa returned after missing five games, and Stout returned after sitting out the Atlanta matchup. DeForest Buckner also made his first appearance for San Francisco since the 2019 season following his trade from Indianapolis.
Buckner said afterward that it felt like they had “never skipped a beat,” according to the team report. His return formed part of a broader reinforcement after the week off, rather than the sole explanation for a defense whose takeaways involved linebackers, cornerbacks and safeties.
San Francisco now heads to Dallas, where the Cowboys are coming off their own late comeback victory over Indianapolis. Sunday’s result restored the 49ers’ winning course after their first defeat before the bye. The clearest evidence was not just Purdy’s milestone, but the Raiders’ two possessions that reached the goal line and still ended with San Francisco holding the ball.
