Starting this recap a bit early so I can get out of the pressbox, but I have stuff to say regarding things that have already happened. For one, it was a pretty entertaining game, even sitting at 3-0 through the first half. The first teams for San Francisco looked strong, both on offense and defense. Offensively, things stalled out in the red zone and Alex Smith had a bad interception, but the red zone offense is one you're not going to reveal a whole lot of in the preseason. They just called basic, simple stuff at this point, which is totally understandable.
The starting defense looked great, with the exception of Tramaine Brock, giving the Raiders are three-and-out on their first possession. NaVorro Bowman had two tackles and a quarterback hit on Jason Campbell on said drive, so it was a good day for him. When Oakland got the ball again, it was ugly, all the way until the red zone and a first and goal on the two-yard line. The starting defense then stopped the Raiders four plays in a row to force a turnover on downs.
So that was nice. The rest of the game was entertaining, with some good stuff from the 49ers running backs and good stuff from their defensive line. Colin Kaepernick looked mostly good. I have a lot of notes to get through, so there will be one or two before the jump an then a few after it.
- Alex Smith with a couple questionable plays, but he looked good on the opening drive. The interception to Matt Shaughnessy was particularly bad. Drives stalling in the red zone is no bueno, but again, he did have some great deep passes and showed a lot of pocket presence. That's got to be the most important thing.
- Kendall Hunter's 53-yard touchdown run was great. The backup running back battle is going to be a good one, as Anthony Dixon also had a good game. I'll have much more expanded thoughts on this tomorrow, but the battle is leaning in Hunter's favor. The only thing swaying it for Dixon is the fact that Dixon did have productive runs against more starters than Hunter has. They both looked good in pass protection.