Like the rest of the NFL world, the 49ers' defense was taken aback by Jarrett Stidham’s performance in his first career start Sunday.
After the 49ers’ wild overtime win over the Las Vegas Raiders, defensive end Nick Bosa admitted the 49ers might have underestimated Stidham’s game. And while the 26-year-old Raiders QB was impressive, Bosa knows his unit gave up too many open lanes.
Bosa even tossed in Tom Brady’s name to get his point across.
“The lanes we gave him, anybody could’ve ran through -- Tom Brady could have ran through those,” Bosa told reporters postgame. “That’s one of the things that as a D-line, even a dominant D-line, we can’t have it. Good quarterbacks are going to get out of the pocket and create downfield, and that puts our backend at a huge disadvantage.”
There’s no denying what Brady can do on the field with the football in his hands, but his running ability is a slightly different story, as the 49ers saw in their Week 14 home win over his Buccaneers. Bosa's slight shade at the GOAT was valid, however, given how bad San Francisco's defense looked at times Sunday.
"I mean pocket presence, we gave him way too many open lanes in the pass rush," Bosa said. "We need to clean that up, for sure. But he was poised, he took hits, hit him a good amount of times, we all did, and he completed the ball on most of them, so he’s a tough player and smart."
The Raiders gave the NFL's top-ranked defense a run for its money Sunday.
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San Francisco entered Sunday’s game allowing 100 or more rushing yards just three times this season. The Raiders had 101 yards on 20 carries ... at halftime.
And Stidham completed 22 of 34 passes for 365 yards and three touchdowns with two interceptions.
In what was expected to be a mismatch after Las Vegas benched veteran Derek Carr for Stidham, the 49ers barely pulled off their ninth consecutive win.
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"I think, yeah, a little bit," Bosa said when asked if the 49ers underestimated Stidham. "But we don’t underestimate any team. We come in and we play the best that we can. He played well, so definitely won’t underestimate anybody like that again."
Bosa's coach said he "didn't sense any letdown," however.
"No, I don't think so," Kyle Shanahan said. "I think we talked about it all week. ... I just thought they played pretty well. I won't take anything away from them. But when a team plays well, [and] you have some of the weapons that they do, especially at the tight end and receivers. And Stidham can throw -- I mean, he's got a big arm, can make all those throws.
"I thought we let them get a little too comfortable there, in the first half especially, didn't hit him very much, and let them move the chains with his legs. And that kind of got them in a pretty good rhythm."
We'll see how the 49ers' defense approaches next week's regular-season finale against the Arizona Cardinals. who also have juggled quarterbacks all season. Colt McCoy, who'd filled in for Kyler Murray after he suffered a season-ending ACL injury, was ruled out of Sunday's Week 17 game against the Atlanta Falcons after experiencing concussion symptoms. Whoever's under center for the Cardinals, though, the 49ers should be ready for them.