The San Francisco 49ers returned from their Week 8 Bye with a 38-17 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday at Levi's® Stadium. San Francisco's defense took control with five second-half takeaways, while the offense delivered several milestone moments as the 49ers improved to 7-1 on the season.
Following the game, head coach Kyle Shanahan and several 49ers players reflected on the defensive performance, celebrated career milestones, and discussed the impact of returning players and emerging playmakers.
Here's what they had to say:
Niners Liners
49ers Head Coach Kyle Shanahan
Shanahan on the defense forcing five second-half turnovers:
"I loved LB Jaden Dugger making that play with the pick-six. Same thing with CB Renardo Green in the corner of the end zone, just being able to go up for it. We've been struggling on turnovers and I don't think I've been a part of a team that's got four drives in a row and then five total in the second half, so that was huge by them."
Shanahan on WR Jordan Watkins' development:
"A huge step forward. He hasn't gotten his opportunities and some guys have been down and he's been working and he's been ready for it. I think he's gotten better each week. I think the first week he came out there and played good right away. The ball went his way more this game and he was ready for those opportunities."
Shanahan on the 49ers rushing for 190 yards:
"I think we had like 24 in the first half, which is a good start. Then when your defense gets all those turnovers, especially when they score on defense, it makes it a lot easier... Doing good on third down, the defense getting the turnovers, us protecting it. I think we had one punt or maybe none. No punts. Yeah, no punts."
Shanahan on QB Brock Purdy throwing his 100th career touchdown pass:
"Yeah, just happy for him. He has done a hell of a job. He keeps getting better each week. I think he's gotten a lot better, and I'm excited for him."
49ers Players
QB Brock Purdy on Watkins' first NFL touchdown:
"Yeah, I think J-Wat's done a good job with the opportunity that he's been given with, if he's got a one-on-one matchup I'm not going to shy it down. I'm going to give him a chance... Obviously in the Atlanta game, I saw he had some chances to go up and make plays and he did. And so yeah, in this one, it was just really the coverage I thought sort of dictated where I was going to throw the ball and once I saw that middle safety out of position, I was like 'alright, this is a great opportunity for J-Wat to go make a play.' And he did, he came down with it."
Purdy on Watkins' development:
"I'm really excited for him. Obviously more opportunities, more targets... But regardless, I think he's always been ready since he's been here. I think something that's cool too is the way he run blocks. He goes in there and he just shows that he's down for the team. He's down for the offense, whatever he needs to do when his number's called. I think he does a great job with creating separation, getting in and out of cuts, coming down with contested catches. So yeah, my trust has definitely grown in him more and more."
Purdy on throwing his 100th career touchdown pass:
"Yeah, I think it's really cool. Sort of in the moment though, with just how the game was going, it's like we're competing and we've got to have the next play mentality... We've got to be ready for this next drive. If they go down and score, we've got to answer."
DL Nick Bosa on his return to the field:
"The body felt really good. I'm really happy with it, came out great. Like always, things to improve upon, but as a D-Line I think we made some big plays in some big moments."
Bosa on DL DeForest Buckner's return and the defense's championship potential:
"Yeah, we have the guys to do it. We're going to keep getting better. It's funny, Buck came in, his head was spinning a little bit this week trying to get everything down, and it's just funny because when I came in the roles were reversed, but it's great to have him back and we have the guys to do it."
Buckner on his first game back with the 49ers:
"It felt great, being able to go out there with the guys and fly around on defense, you could just feel the energy. You got to fly around to the ball to go make plays, and that's the fun part about it. Not only competing with the Raiders, but with your fellow teammates, because everybody's hungry to make plays."
"I definitely had some butterflies today, obviously my first game being back... but I just had to tell myself 'Just go out there and play football. Go out there, do your job, and have fun,' and that's what we did."
Buckner on the crowd reaction he received running out of the tunnel at Levi's® Stadium:
"I definitely felt the love, and in that moment, I was like 'Man, I'm home.' It was a cool moment, cool experience."
TE George Kittle on Watkins' first NFL touchdown:
"Just happy for him. I mean, I've loved Jordan since he's been here. He works really hard. Last year... He had a little calf thing so he missed some time. Then it's hard to get a rhythm when you're the rookie who's just trying to find the field. I think he's done a really good job of taking advantage of his opportunity... Really happy for him and he's only going to get better and better for us."
RB Christian McCaffrey on Dugger's pick-six:
"Oh, it's huge, man. That's huge. When you lose the toss and you don't get the ball back at half, those are huge possessions. To get a pick-six like that in the middle eight was massive. Happy for him."
LB Fred Warner on the defense's five second-half takeaways:
"That was honestly the emphasis going into this week. I think we just had a spur where there was a drought in takeaways, and we know how important that is to winning football games and for our team moving forward. Of course, you wish we would have started faster in the first half, but to come out in the second half and have five of those was unbelievable."
Raiders Head Coach Klint Kubiak
Kubiak on the 49ers defense forcing turnovers:
"Turn the ball over five times, you're not going to win ever. We didn't do a good job stopping the 49ers in the first half. We turned it over five times in the second half. Credit to the 49ers. They played a really good game."
DE Maxx Crosby on the 49ers performance:
"Going into every game, it's different. You have to give credit to them. They had some answers to the things we're doing. And we got to make some plays defensively. We have to take the ball away. We can't wait until late in the game to start taking the ball away."
QB Kirk Cousins on the 49ers defensive pressure:
"Yeah, I think we just kind of said it there. The first one, just got to put it out in the stands. Second one, just got to either put it to the back pylon or check it down. And the third one, if you've going to throw it you've got to throw it far enough that the safety can't get it, but sometimes when you get behind you try to get it all back in one play and it's hard to be patient."