O'Connell Leads Raiders Past 49ers, 34-7

Josh McDaniels has craved consistency from his Las Vegas Raiders, and his rookie QB Aidan O'Connell and a swarming defense showed it today in a win.

Jimmy Garoppolo is the Las Vegas Raiders quarterback of the present, but it certainly seems that the Silver and Black have found their quarterback of the future.

Rookie quarterback Aidan O’Connell played three impressive quarters leading Coach Josh McDaniels’ team to a 34-7 victory over the San Francisco 49ers in the 2023 preseason opener at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

O’Connell, who the Raiders selected in the fourth round (No. 135 overall) of the 2023 NFL Draft, completed 15-of-18 passes (83.3 percent) for 141 yards and a nine-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Keelan Cole that gave Las Vegas the lead for good, 14-7, with 34 seconds remaining in the first half.

"You just kind of hope to go out there and do your best and see what happens,” O’Connell said afterward. “I'm not worried about the stats. There’s more things than just the stats, especially responsibility in the run game and stuff like that, that I need to improve on. So I know I have a lot of work to go still.”

But that certainly was not all he did.

O’Connell engineered the Raiders on three touchdowns drives and led them to a 53-yard field goal by Daniel Carlson, as the Silver and Black scored four of the eight times they had the ball with O’Connell at quarterback before Chase Garbers played the fourth quarter.

The Raiders drove 68 yards in 10 plays the first time O’Connell took the field in an NFL game, as he completed the only two passes he threw for 36 and ran four yards on a quarterback sneak to pick up a first down.

Several plays later, running back Zamir White ran one yard for a touchdown to make it 7-0 with 7:22 left in the first quarter.

“I thought (O'Connell) generally handled himself well for the first (playing) opportunity,” Raiders Coach Josh McDaniels said. “He’s going to learn a lot from some of the things we might have been able to do a little bit better that would’ve helped us maybe sustain a few drives. He soaks it all in, and he’ll take every opportunity to improve.”

White, replacing star running back Josh Jacobs, who is holding out, led the Raiders with 43 yards rushing on 13 carries.

After the 49ers tied the game, 7-7, on quarterback Trey Lance’s nine-yard touchdown pass to tight end Lance Dwelley on a deflected ball with 8:29 left in the second quarter, O’Connell drove the Raiders 60 yards in eight plays to the go-ahead scoring pass to Cole.

“Since Day 1, Aidan has been ready to go,” Cole said. “So I’m not surprised at all about the performance.”

After Carlson’s first of two field goals from 53 yards made it 17-7 with 11:09 left in the third quarter, linebacker Curtis Bolton forced a fumble by 49ers quarterback Sam Darnold and rookie cornerback Azizi Hearn recovered for the Raiders at the San Francisco 14-yard line.

O’Connell hit tight end Kristian Wilkerson for six yards and a first down at the three before running back Sincere McCormick ran two yards for the touchdown to make it 24-7 with 1:24 remaining in the third quarter.

Garbers came on in the final quarter, and after Carlson added a 46-yard field goal with 12:05 left in the game, cornerback Sam Webb picked off Darnold’s pass and returned it 43 yards to the San Francisco two-yard line.

On the next play, Garbers, who completed three of five passes for 11 yards, threw a two-yard touchdown pass to McCormick that capped the scoring with 10:27 left in the game.

In addition to his fumble recovery, Hearn led the Raiders with eight tackles, six unassisted. In comparison, cornerback Tyler Hall had five tackles, with Bolton and linebacker Luke Masterson each making four stops.

The Raiders finished with four sacks, one each by rookie linebacker Amari Burney, defensive tackle John Jenkins and defensive tackle Adam Butler, while defensive end Jordan Willis and defensive end Isaac Rochell shared the other.

The 49ers managed only 283 yards, with the Raiders holding them to 69 on the ground.

The Raiders played the preseason opener without perhaps their four best players.

Jacobs, who led the National Football League in rushing last season, has yet to sign a new contract and has missed all of training camp. At the same time, All-Pro wide receiver Dante Adams sustained what has been described as minor leg injury in a joint practice against the 49ers this week.

Garoppolo, who played the last several seasons for the 49ers, didn’t play much in the joint practices, and the Raiders are being careful with him as he returns from ankle surgery. At the same time, defensive end Maxx Crosby might be the hardest worker on the team, and the Silver and Black gave him the day off.

The Raiders, who are 5-0 in preseason games under McDaniels, next play the Angeles Rams next Saturday at 6 p.m. at Sofi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif.

The Silver and Black return to preseason action when they play the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium on Saturday, Aug. 19, at 9 p.m. EDT/6 p.m. PDT.

Please tell us your thoughts when you like our Facebook Page WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE.