Purdy Hits 100 TDs as 49ers Beat Raiders 38-17

Brock Purdy came out of the bye week throwing. He led touchdown drives on each of the 49ers’ first three possessions, including a 1-yard run of his own and a 12-yard scoring pass to Christian McCaffrey, and the San Francisco 49ers beat the Las Vegas Raiders 38-17 at Levi’s Stadium, NBC Sports Bay Area reported. The defense did the rest with five takeaways after halftime.

San Francisco is 7-1, 5-0 at home and owns the best record in the NFC. The Raiders fall to 4-5. Seattle and the Rams are both 5-4, so the 49ers lead the NFC West by two and a half games heading to Dallas next Sunday.

Purdy Did It Without His Top Receivers

Purdy completed 17 of 25 passes for 232 yards, two touchdowns and an interception, and one of those scores was the 100th touchdown pass of his regular-season career. He did it with Mike Evans and Deebo Samuel out again. Jordan Watkins filled the gap, and his contested, leaping 37-yard catch late in the third quarter was the first touchdown of his career.

McCaffrey looked fine after the hamstring strain that worried everyone before the bye. He ran 18 times for 68 yards and a touchdown and caught two passes for 19 yards. The 12-yard touchdown catch was the 36th of his career, passing Marshall Faulk for the most by a running back in the Super Bowl era.

Five Takeaways in One Half

Rookie linebacker Jaden Dugger set the tone 17 seconds into the second half. Kirk Cousins bobbled a play-fake, then threw toward Tre Tucker on the right sideline, and the 6-foot-5 Dugger leaped to pick it off and ran it back for his first career touchdown and a 28-10 lead.

Fred Warner forced a fumble from Brock Bowers, Upton Stout punched the ball away from Michael Mayer at the 1, Renardo Green picked off Cousins in the end zone and Malik Mustapha added a late interception. San Francisco came into the game with seven takeaways in seven games. The cost was rookie defensive tackle Gracen Halton, who was carted off with a leg injury in the fourth quarter.

Smacktok pick lean: Lean higher on Christian McCaffrey total touchdowns at Dallas. He scored as a runner and a receiver here and handled 20 touches in his first game back from the hamstring. If Evans and Samuel stay out again, keep a lean on Jordan Watkins receiving yards too, since Purdy trusted him on the biggest throw of the day.

The 49ers are 7-1 with two starting receivers in street clothes. That should scare the rest of the NFC.