In what will be a glorious return home to the Bay Area, the Las Vegas Raiders face the San Francisco 49ers in Week 9. Klint Kubiak's team regained some momentum after their four-game skid with a win over the New York Jets in Week 8, but Kyle Shanahan's team is fresh off their first loss of the year.
And they had their entire bye week to mull over the unexpected loss to the Atlanta Falcons, so they should come out firing at home against their former geographic rival. The Raiders are, to put it bluntly, rather outmatched in this game. The 49ers are a Super Bowl favorite and years ahead in the process.
But as they say, there's a reason they play the games, and anything can happen on any given Sunday. But if Las Vegas wants to emerge as the unlikely winner of this one, they'll have to topple a quite lethal 49ers run defense with a rushing attack that has barely gotten off the ground this year.
Last week was a step in the right direction, but the Raiders need to make leaps and bounds in the lead-up to this one.
49ers' run defense will challenge Raiders immensely in Week 9
Even through the fog of many key injuries, the 49ers' defense has been incredible this year under the tutelage of new defensive coordinator Raheem Morris. With immense talent and their résumé against the run in 2026, the Silver and Black have a daunting challenge ahead of them.
After a two-week acclimation period at the beginning of the season in which San Francisco gave up 122 and 102 yards on the ground, the 49ers' opponents haven't gotten over the century mark since Week 2. Teams have totaled 93, 82, 89, 53 and 82 rushing yards in the five games since.
In total, they've relinquished the fifth-fewest yards on the ground in the NFL this year.
To qualify this, though, it is important to understand that San Francisco has already had its bye week, which keeps their total lower. Plus, the 49ers have led in so many contests that the game script may not lean toward their opponents running the ball very much. Teams throw when they play catch-up.
However, Morris' unit is allowing only 3.5 yards per rush, which is the second-best mark in the league. And somehow, despite winning so many games, they've faced the ninth-most carries. This group has been tested on the ground and responded at every turn with great results.
Not to mention, they've been banged up all year. Nick Bosa hasn't played since Week 3, Mykel Williams missed a few weeks, and good defensive backs against the run like Marques Sigle have been sidelined for several games. In Week 9, though, it seems like they'll be fully staffed for the first time.
Fred Warner, joined by Bosa and others, is a scary sight for the Raiders. If Kubiak can't establish the ground game, they can't kill time or score. And keeping the ball out of Brock Purdy's hands so that Shanahan can't pick apart Rob Leonard will be critically important to pulling off the upset.
Las Vegas' ground attack did improve marginally in Week 8, but it is going to take a special effort, one that fans haven't seen before, to even scratch the surface of success at Levi's Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Las Vegas' run game improved, but needs to take another step
The bold switch from Ashton Jeanty to Mike Washington Jr. as the lead back was somewhat fruitful for the Raiders last Sunday against the Jets, as the team ran for its most yards in a game since Week 3. Washington Jr. accounted for 83 of Las Vegas' 95 yards on the ground.
But this was against a battered Jets front that didn't have its best run defender or starting defensive end. The 49ers are loaded with way more talent and appear way healthier on defense heading into the matchup. What the Raiders did in Week 8 won't necessarily work in Week 9.
Perhaps the Jets game was just the shove in the right direction that Las Vegas needed, though, and with that momentum, the Raiders can create something special. Maybe having all their pieces playing together for the first time will throw San Francisco off, and they'll need an adjustment period.
Maybe Kubiak knows how to beat Morris' defense, as the interconnected world of the Shanahan/McVay/Kubiak coaching tree always makes these matchups interesting. They are wars of attrition between two unbelievably familiar opponents.
What makes sense is Las Vegas continuing to rely on outside zone, as the 49ers' edge rushers aren't particularly great, and Nick Bosa should be tested in his first game back. The key will also be getting to the second level and blocking linebackers and defensive backs who are willing and good tacklers.
Jeanty and Washington Jr., whatever split they may have, need to do their jobs and take the lanes that are available to them. But the offensive line also needs to move people and climb the ladder. And Kubiak has to have his best week of scheming the run game against an intimidating foe.
If the Raiders can run the football as well as they did last week, then they'll have a chance to win this one. But if Las Vegas fails to move the ball on the ground, then this game could spiral because of the residual effects of that failure.
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