In another rough afternoon for the Las Vegas Raiders’ defense, Rob Leonard’s group again came up short against the San Francisco 49ers and walked away with another D-.
That makes it Leonard’s third D- in the last four weeks and his fifth in the last six games. For a young staff trying to guide a young roster through a rebuild, some turbulence is expected.
But this has gone beyond turbulence. The defense hasn’t just stumbled - it has slid backward almost every week, and it’s now hard to find much of an identity at all.
The numbers from Sunday tell the story. Las Vegas allowed 31 points to a 49ers offense that had been averaging 28.1 points per game entering the matchup, and San Francisco did it without its top three receivers. That should have pointed the Raiders toward a clear plan: brace for the run, account for George Kittle, and stay alert for the occasional shot downfield from a fast but not especially polished receiver group.
Instead, the 49ers hit them exactly where they wanted.
San Francisco piled up 94 rushing yards in the first quarter alone and finished with 190 on the ground. The Raiders missed nine tackles, but the problems went deeper than that. Too often, defenders were out of position or getting pushed around before contact even happened.
Kittle was a steady problem, including another big catch that was wiped out. Brock Purdy also connected with Jordan Watkins on a deep touchdown, and Leonard’s decision to drop defensive tackle Tonka Hemingway into coverage on Christian McCaffrey didn’t pay off at all. McCaffrey scored with ease.
The Raiders didn’t surrender a ton of explosive plays, but that almost made the damage feel worse. They were bled out possession by possession, with Kyle Shanahan’s offense opening the game with touchdown drives of 12, 13 and 12 plays. That kind of march does more than put points on the board; it takes the air out of everything around it.
Leonard’s defense couldn’t stop the run, couldn’t tackle cleanly, couldn’t cover with consistency and couldn’t generate enough pressure. Even against one of the league’s best offenses and one of its sharpest play-callers, that’s a rough combination.
There was at least some life after halftime. Treydan Stukes picked off a pass to end one 49ers drive, and after the Raiders’ offense gave the ball away again, the defense responded with another strong stop at midfield. The group tightened things up after the break.
Still, the damage had already been done. After the offense’s second straight turnover, the defense gave up a touchdown, and after the third, it allowed another field goal. The Raiders’ offense didn’t exactly help by putting the defense in tough spots, so the second-half issues weren’t all on Leonard’s unit.
Even so, the early hole was too deep, and the pattern is becoming impossible to ignore. Leonard’s defense has a bad habit of putting the entire team behind the eight ball, and it happened again on Sunday. The second half was better, but not enough to erase the first-half collapse or keep Leonard from another D-.
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Kubiaks comments fit the broader reality in Las Vegas, where every new game seems to bring a fresh layer of urgency to the roster conversation. The Raiders are trying to sort out what they have, what they need and how aggressively they should act, all while the quarterback situation and the defensive issues remain front and center. For a team already searching for stability, the next move may be just as important as the last one. [Read more 🡒]