The final preseason week usually strips away the star power and leaves you with something closer to a long audition, and that’s the setup for Thursday night’s 49ers-Raiders matchup. The old Battle of the Bay label doesn’t fit anymore now that the Raiders are in Las Vegas, but this still gives both teams one last tune-up before the regular season.
What makes this one worth watching is less about who sits and more about who gets another chance to make a case. Neither side is expected to put many, if any, starters on the field, which is standard for preseason Week 3. Even so, there’s still a betting angle to work with in this interconference game.
Fernando Mendoza, the No. 1 overall pick from the 2026 NFL Draft, has already had two very different preseason outings. He opened strong in Week 1, going 10-of-16 for 97 yards and a touchdown.
Week 2 told a different story, with Mendoza finishing 8-of-15 for 86 yards and an interception. He’ll get one more shot in the preseason, and then the question becomes whether he shows up in the regular season or whether fans have to wait until 2027.
The 49ers’ preseason has also been shaped by injury issues, and that makes it easy to see Kyle Shanahan taking a careful approach with his players in this game. On the other side, the Raiders have a younger roster, and Klint Kubiak will want to squeeze as many reps out of Thursday night as possible before the preseason wraps up.
With Las Vegas at home, the pick is to lay the points with the favorites.
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What stood out most, though, was how the game fed into a bigger roster conversation still hanging over the final cutdown period. San Franciscos coaching staff and front office are weighing how to handle the quarterback room, and the choice of whether to carry three quarterbacks has only become more pointed after a night when the backup and developmental spots were on display as much as the scoreless stretches. [Read more 🡒]