49ers close 2026 preseason with 18-12 win over Raiders, then assess the film and the competition

The San Francisco 49ers closed their 2026 preseason schedule with an 18-12 win over the Las Vegas Raiders on Saturday at Allegiant Stadium. The result matters less for the standings than for what preseason football usually produces at this stage of training camp: a clearer picture of who can execute under pressure, and which units still need refinement before the regular season begins.

In the postgame window, the 49ers emphasized the usual themes of evaluation and development. The team highlighted comments from head coach Kyle Shanahan and key offensive voices including quarterbacks Mac Jones and Adrian Martinez. Offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak was also among the group speaking after the game, a sign the staff wanted to continue focusing on timing, reads, and execution patterns as the preseason moved through its final week.

The Raiders’ perspective was also part of the coverage, with veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins and quarterback Fernando Mendoza both included in the postgame comments. Their presence points to the Raiders using the final preseason game to judge quarterback play across different looks, manage the tempo of possessions, and evaluate how the offense responds when the game tightens late.

Preseason Week 3 games are often where teams begin separating “starter reps” from broader competition, especially at quarterback and along the offensive line where communication can be hardest to diagnose in early camp. For a team like San Francisco, closing preseason with a win provides a clean endpoint for some of the work on third downs, red-zone sequences, and situational decisions, even if preseason scoring does not translate directly to regular-season outcomes.

Just as important, the 49ers’ staff viewed this game through the lens of what happens when game plans meet the reality of full speed execution. That means reviewing whether protections held up, whether routes cleared consistently, and whether quarterback decisions matched the defensive stress created by an opponent that is also installing and adjusting for the final week.

What to watch next is how both clubs turn the preseason film into roster decisions. With this game serving as a season-ending marker for the 49ers’ preseason slate, the focus shifts to who has built enough trust for Week 1 preparation, and which roles still require a clearer answer in practice as rosters finalize.