Keys to the 49ers Avoiding a Letdown Versus the Raiders in Week 14

Heading into Week 14 of the NFL season, the San Francisco 49ers' playoff hopes hang by an increasingly small thread following their embarrassing 19-3 home loss to the archrival Seattle Seahawks.

A game back in the race for a wild-card spot in the NFC at 7-5, the Niners can afford at most one slip-up in their final four regular-season games but will hope to go 4-0 down the stretch to give themselves the best chance of claiming a postseason berth for the fourth straight year.

On paper, the 49ers have the perfect chance to get back on track as they visit the cross-bay rival Oakland Raiders, a team that stands at 1-11 and was crushed, 52-0, by the St. Louis Rams last weekend.

Form suggests that this will be a lopsided encounter, yet this is a rivalry game that poses plenty of intrigue, especially since the emergence of a report by Adam Schefter indicating that the Raiders could be front-runners to trade for Jim Harbaugh should the 49ers do what most expect them to and part company with their head coach in the offseason.

The reports of discord in the 49ers organization refuse to go away and will surely only intensify if San Francisco misses the playoffs. However, while there remains a chance that the Niners can reach the postseason, this team will be totally focused on that goal and can do their prospects the world of good with a victory at O.Co Coliseum.

Despite the Raiders' woeful showing against St. Louis, that will be no easy task for the Niners versus an Oakland team that will surely be determined to win the bragging rights and all but end San Francisco's season in front of a home crowd that will be baying for the same result.

Harbaugh's men do not have the breathing room to produce another sloppy performance in Week 14 and here I look at how they can avoid a let down in Oakland.

Keep Derek Carr Under Pressure

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The Raiders may have endured a terrible season, however, rookie quarterback Derek Carr has certainly not been to blame for their struggles in 2014.

For a first-year signal-caller with a distinct lack of talent around him, the former Fresno State Bulldog has displayed impressive poise and put up decent numbers, completing 59.3 percent of his passes for 14 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.

Yet one of the reasons why Carr has been able to perform to a relatively good standard in his maiden season in the league is that he has largely been afforded plenty of time by an offensive line that has played surprisingly well this campaign.

The men in the trenches have done an excellent job of keeping Carr upright and are ranked as the No. 5 pass protection unit in the NFL by Football Outsiders. Carr, per Pro Football Focus (subscription required) has been pressured on 33 percent of his dropbacks and sacked a mere 14 times. Contrast that to Niners quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who has been taken down 37 times.

When he has been pressured, though, Carr has understandably struggled and has completed only 45.2 percent of his passes. Indeed, in their demolition of the Raiders, the Rams made the Bakersfield native look like a rookie, sacking him three times and racking up 20 hurries of Carr and backup Matt Schaub, who came into the game in the fourth quarter.

Performing poorly under duress, Carr recorded only 173 yards passing and tossed two interceptions prior to being pulled.

And after coming up against the Rams' fierce defensive front, the task does not get much easier for Carr as he now faces a 49ers pass rush that looks rejuvenated following the return of Aldon Smith, who has formed an exciting tandem with rookie Aaron Lynch.

Since Smith's comeback in Week 11, the 49ers have put up 11 sacks, and although the secondary has performed well, they will likely need to keep up that form in order to ensure that Carr is not able to pick them apart and restore some local pride for the Raiders. 

Take the Crowd out of It

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The Raiders may have been dreadful on the field for the most part of 2014, however, their fans remain some of the most raucous and dedicated in the NFL.

There can be no doubt that the Oakland supporters will be desperate to see their team record a second win of the season and will take great pleasure in potentially bringing the 49ers season to an end that would be viewed by many as premature.

In their sole win of the season against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 12, the Raiders got out to an early lead, giving the crowd reason to get behind them and create an intimidating atmosphere for a Chiefs team that was unable to get anything going until late in the third quarter.

Oakland may be the worst team in the NFL, but the Niners cannot afford to give the Raiders fans the opportunity to become actively involved in the encounter and disrupt a San Francisco offense that has had difficulties with clock management and is working with a rookie center in Marcus Martin on the offensive line.

Thankfully for the 49ers offense, one of the areas in which it has excelled is in scoring on the opening drive, something that San Francisco has done regularly throughout the year.

That quality was evident as recently as the Week 12 victory over the Washington Redskins, when Kaepernick hit Anquan Boldin for a 30-yard score on the Niners' opening drive. However, the problem is that the San Francisco offense has been unable to sustain the momentum from those opening drives throughout the game and often not even beyond the first quarter.

The Niners need to sustain offensive production for entire games if they are to make the playoffs. Facing a Raiders defense that was completely eviscerated by a decent Rams team, San Francisco has the perfect opportunity to do just that.

If the 49ers cannot do that and the game remains close, then expect the Raiders' home support to become more animated and increase the chances of this becoming a trap game for Harbaugh's club.

Get Colin Kaepernick Involved in the Run Game

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The most exciting aspect of Colin Kaepernick's play is his ability to change the game with his legs. However, the 49ers quarterback has been conspicuous by his absence from the run game in 2014.

In recent weeks, the Niners have focused more on running the ball following questions over their offensive identity, yet Kaepernick has not been a part of that. Indeed, through 12 games, Kaepernick has 353 yards on the ground with zero touchdowns, a number that is incomprehensible given that he rushed for nine scores in the previous two seasons. 

Simply put, quarterback runs have not been a part of the 49ers' play-calling this campaign, with much of Kaepernick's rushing yards coming on broken plays due to the apparent desire to turn the former Nevada star into a pure pocket passer.

But to restrict Kaepernick to operating within the pocket is to waste his athleticism, which remains his greatest strength and was what made him such an attractive prospect coming out of college. In order for the 49ers to be successful both in the short and long term, they need to play to their signal-caller's assets.

Despite not being given a regular opportunity to make a difference with his legs, Kaepernick is still averaging 4.5 yards per carry and is coming up against the ideal opponent in which to pad those statistics in an Oakland team that is allowing 130.5 yards per game on the ground.

Versus a vulnerable foe, tailbacks Frank Gore and Carlos Hyde should be able to enjoy an extremely profitable day in the East Bay, and given Oakland's clear fallibility in defending the run, it would be foolish on the part of the 49ers not to inject some creativity and make use of Kaepernick's significant skills as a runner.

Get Vernon Davis Going

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There are many concerns with the 49ers offense, but one question has been a constant throughout the season: What is wrong with tight end Vernon Davis?

And it appears, per Eric Branch of The San Francisco Chronicle, that not even Kaepernick has any idea why Davis has gone from a player who had 13 touchdowns in 2013 to one who has not mustered any since snagging two in the season opener and has a paltry 210 yards this term.

Davis has battled injury problems for much of the season, and there is evidence to suggest that those issues may still be lingering when you consider that the 30-year-old has displayed a distinct lack of explosion as a receiver in 2014.

On the face of things, this appears to be far from an ideal matchup for Davis to turn things around, with the Raiders ranked at No. 8 at defending tight ends by Football Outsiders. However, the former Maryland man has the experience and the skill set to take advantage of this young Oakland defense.

While rookie outside linebacker Khalil Mack has impressed this season, the numbers suggest that both he and Benson Mayowa could have problems keeping Davis quiet given that they are rated at No. 42 and No. 39, respectively, in coverage among all 3-4 outside backers by PFF.

The Niners have been used to consistent production from the tight end position but have had little help from that spot this season. Oakland has excelled in keeping tight ends at bay, yet for the confidence of this unit down the stretch, it would be a huge help if Davis could change that and deliver the type of performance he has proven to be capable of throughout his career in Week 14.

Test the Raiders Secondary Deep

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It is widely accepted that the 49ers aced the 2014 NFL draft, however, one concern that they did not fix was a lack of a deep threat from the receiver position.

Davis' disappointing production has effectively taken away the Niners' primary deep option, while Brandon Lloyd—despite showing flashes—has not received a consistent number of targets and has rarely looked like possessing the ability to take the top off a defense.

With nobody able to really stretch the field, the 49ers have just four completions of 40 yards or more, a pitiful number when you consider that 13 players, according to Branch, have four catches of at least 40 yards in 2014.

In Week 13, Seattle clearly never respected the San Francisco passing game and was not worried by the possibility of being burnt deep. The 49ers were restricted to underneath throws that did little damage, averaging a meager 4.2 yards per pass play in that terrible defeat.

Oakland's defense may not be as vaunted as that of the Seahawks, however, it has been particularly impressive against the pass, ranking at No. 9 in the league in that category, allowing 228.9 yards per game and giving up only three plays of 40 yards.

Therefore the Raiders have plenty of reason to be confident of shutting down the Niners passing attack in the same way that Seattle did.

Although stopping the pass has been a strength of this defense, the Raiders possess two starting cornerbacks who can be exploited by a talented, but underachieving, San Francisco receiving core. DJ Hayden is ranked at No. 51 in the league by PFF, while former 49er Tarell Brown is at No. 81.

San Francisco has a running game that can attract significant attention and open things up for the passing offense, and in Lloyd, Davis and rookie Bruce Ellington—who is set to make his return after missing the last three games due to injury—the Niners do have wideouts capable of beating defenses deep.

In a must-win game versus a local rival, it would serve the 49ers well to make better use of their depth at receiver in order to find more success with the long ball.

All statistics courtesy of NFL.com unless otherwise stated.

Nicholas McGee is a San Francisco 49ers Featured Columnist based in Leeds, England. Follow him on Twitter @nicholasmcgee24.