The “We want [David] Carr” chants returned in San Francisco.
So did a 49ers defense that has been missing for much of this season.
San Francisco outlasted the Raiders 17-9 in an ugly game filled with penalties, mental mistakes, and good defensive play. Just like last week, Alex Smith shook off an ugly first half performance that inspired boos with a nice second half effort.
Smith finished 16-of-33 for 196 yards and a touchdown. After being shut down in the first half, Michael Crabtree broke out with four catches, including a 32-yard touchdown. Frank Gore continued his monster season with 149 yards on the ground.
The Raiders could have blown the game open in the first half, but their offense was inept. Jason Campbell completed 8-of-21 passes for 83 yards and two interceptions. Wide receiver Jacoby Ford dropped a pass that hit him the chest on Oakland’s final drive which was picked off. That play wasn’t Campbell’s fault, but the former Redskin showed poor touch on many short passes. The Raiders had only 179 yards of offense.
Oakland missed a golden chance to be .500 this late in the season for the first time since 2002. They are 2-4 with an AFC West “loser is screwed” game against Denver next week.
San Francisco is 1-5, but they don’t seem much closer to Jed York’s promised division title after this one. No NFC West team lost on Sunday.