In this showdown between two of the NFL’s best, fans were treated to an edge-of-your-seat joyride between two of the league's best movers of the ball.
Yes, Oakland’s Shane Lechler (+3.0) and San Francisco’s Andy Lee (-0.3) each produced over 300 yards worth of football-booting glory. With Lechler averaging more than 53 yards per kick and Lee sticking four punts inside the Raider 20 yard line, aspiring punters around the globe were reminded of the true beauty that their chosen profession could offer.
Yeah it’s a stretch, but that’s all I’ve got. In truth, the only thing worse than watching this game was watching it over again … and again … slowly … play by poorly executed play.
Raiders: Three performances of note
Normally, being mentioned in the same breath as Brett Favre would be a honor for an NFL quarterback, but in this case it’s not something that Jason Campbell (-0.9) will love to hear. Campbell joins Favre (along with Derek Anderson and the Carolina kids, Moore and Clausen) in PFF’s bottom-five rated QB’s after six weeks. Though he flashed moments of resourcefulness in this game, Campbell was ultimately horrible. He was indecisive, inaccurate and generally looked uncomfortable. I realize that is all pretty subjective stuff, but his embarrassingly low passer rating (10.7) and negative PFF game grade will help put his performance in perspective. He seems as ready as Raider fans are for Kyle Boller to replace him.
Do you work with that guy that punches in every day but never gets anything done? Oakland RG Cooper Carlisle (-4.2) has played every snap for the Raider offense this season and has graded solidly in the red in five of six games. He owns the worst season grade – by a margin – of any of the regulars playing guard for NFL teams and it isn’t one part of his game that drags his score down. He’s equally bad in run blocking and pass protection, slotting in amongst the worst five guards in each category. Rookie fourth rounder Bruce Campbell looked especially raw as a transitioning back-up RG in the preseason, but his improvement has been noted recently by head coach Tom Cable and it wouldn’t be a shock to see him get some sprinkled-in game action in the near future.
Rookie WR Jacoby Ford (-1.3) is eating into Johnnie Lee Higgins’ (-0.3) playing time at the third WR spot more and more, nearly drawing even with him in the total snaps column this week. Unfortunately for Ford, his plan to show off his receiving skills by catching a pass with nothing but his chest plate backfired, resulting in a late-game interception that sealed the San Francisco win. Ford did have an impressive 47-yard kickoff return, but it was negated by penalty.
49ers: Three performances of note
QB Alex Smith’s (-1.9) worst moments in this game were painful to watch – fluttering passes that sailed high, or wide, or both. His best moments were in taking advantage of Raider CB Chris Johnson – not exactly a top-of-the-resumé point either. It’s hard to watch Smith without being reminded of the coach’s son on your Pop Warner team, you know, the kid that starts at quarterback every week because the coach says so, not because he has any particular talent for the position. He does lead the league in one category … passes thrown away (18.)
Being shadowed by Nnamdi Asomugha (+2.6) often leads to a slow day for a WR, and that was the case this week for Michael Crabtree (-1.2). Despite usually being willing to force the ball to his young pass-catcher (Crabtree is tied at the top for intended targets on intercepted passes), Smith stayed away when the high-priced Oakland CB was in the area — while going against Asomugha, Crabtree was only targeted twice and earned just seven yards on the one catch he did make. When facing the Raider zone defense however, Crabtree brought in another three passes, including his 32-yard touchdown catch that shifted the lead in the game.
With so much negativity in this game (and in this article), it’s worth mentioning how much green there was on the Niner defensive page. All eleven defensive starters finished with positive grades and some enjoyed significantly successful days (RE Justin Smith +5.3, LILB Takeo Spikes +4.1, ROLB Parys Harralson +3.8, RILB Patrick Willis +3.4.) Smith’s game was by far his best of 2010, spending most of the afternoon barely bothered by the left side of Oakland’s offensive line while racking up six total tackles and three QB pressures.
Rookie report
LT Jared Veldheer got a third of the snaps at LT and filled in for Samson Satele at center for one series as well. … DE Lamarr Houston fared better rushing the passer than chasing down runners, but overall had a wash of a day. … LB Rolando McClain’s early season swings from week to week have settled and he’s been much less noticeable (in a good way or bad way) in the last two games. … WR Jacoby Ford was mentioned above.
LG Mike Iupati (+2.1) played a large role in limiting Richard Seymour to his first negative game grade this season. … Iupati’s fellow rookie starters RT Anthony Davis and FS Taylor Mays had nondescript days. … LB Navorro Bowman got in for a few plays in nickel situations. … TE Nate Bynum served as the 2nd TE in 2-TE sets. … HB Anthony Dixon had two carries, one of which was a 16-yard touchdown run that was called back.
Random note
The Raiders have employed an unbalanced offensive line often this season, but never as often as they did in this game. They added a tackle to one end or the other on a third of their offensive plays (32%, 18 of 56 snaps.)
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