San Francisco 49ers

The 49ers ran Las Vegas out of its plan before they took the ball away

San Francisco beat Las Vegas 38-17 on Sunday and is 7-1. The five second-half takeaways will be remembered, but the game was settled earlier. The 49ers' first three drives went 37 plays and 242 yards, took 19 minutes and 23 seconds and ended in touchdowns, and San Francisco ran 25 times for 125 yards before halftime. Las Vegas had the ball for 71 seconds in the first 13 minutes. Trailing by 11 at the half, the Raiders ran six times and threw 24 times after it, and Klint Kubiak said that being in position to throw on every down produces interceptions. The pass rush did not cause the turnovers: Cousins was hit twice on eight first-half throws and four times on 24 second-half throws. Two takeaways were punched out of receivers' hands, and one came off a fumbled exchange. The second half also showed a cost. San Francisco threw an interception, was stopped on fourth-and-1 at its own 40, and allowed 222 kickoff-return yards, and Las Vegas started three drives in 49ers territory. The game moved San Francisco's season turnover margin from minus-3 to plus-1. Las Vegas has now allowed 30 or more points six weeks running, so Dallas on Sunday is the first test of whether the formula holds.