The Las Vegas Raiders return to the Bay Area for the first time since leaving in 2019, facing the San Francisco 49ers in a battle between two of the NFL's better offenses.

Head coach Klint Kubiak helped his team end a four-game losing skid dating back to the beginning of October. As the Raiders look to right the ship and get back into gear for a potential run down the stretch, the 49ers stand in their way as one of the top teams in the NFL. Something will have to give as we take a look at the key matchups for Sunday at Levi's Stadium.

Raiders Run Defense vs. 49ers RB Christian McCaffrey OR Kaelon Black

The Raiders' run defense has gone down the toilet in the last month and is currently 31st in rushing yards allowed per game (146.4). Defensive end Maxx Crosby is seemingly doing the heavy lifting again for a defensive front that is getting blown off the ball far too often. Someone must step up at defensive tackle or opposite Crosby, or it could be a long day against the 49ers' run game.

Kyle Shanahan is one of the great offensive minds of the last two decades, deploying some of the most explosive offenses throughout his tenure. This year, we're seeing Christian McCaffrey and rookie Kaelon Black split carries and remain highly effective. However, it is unclear if we'll see McCaffrey, who didn't practice on Wednesday with a hamstring injury.

McCaffrey will clearly provide the most headaches for opposing defenses, including the Raiders. However, Black is a great player, too, and fits the wide-zone scheme with proficiency. Leonard must be aggressive against the run this week, utilizing his linebackers downhill consistently. Maybe we'll see more of Tim Keenan III, who helped Las Vegas limit big plays on the ground in the second half against the New York Jets.

Raiders Pass Rush vs. 49ers Pass Protection

Another aspect that falters for the Raiders' defense is their pass rush. Again, it seems Maxx Crosby continues to do the heavy lifting, with 35 pressures and three sacks this season, according to Next Gen Stats. He is due for a monster day, but other aspects of the Raiders' pass rush must step up.

The Raiders rank among the bottom 12 in total pressures and pressure rate, and their time-to-pressure average time to pressure is the fourth-worst in the NFL (2.85 seconds), per NGS. San Francisco's offense has an average time to throw of 3.00 seconds, the fourth-best in the NFL, and has allowed seven sacks all year, by far the fewest in football.

Raiders TE Brock Bowers vs. 49ers Secondary

There's a whole Raiders offense that should be covered here, as they bolster one of the best passing units in the league and face a 49ers defense ranked top-five in yards allowed, sixth in points allowed, and 11th in passing yards allowed per game.

However, the story will be tight end Brock Bowers, one of the great offensive weapons in the sport. The Raiders don't align him as an in-line player often, as Kubiak has done a great job using his skill set as a receiver to dominate opposing defenses. The 49ers are a heavy single-high safety team that loves to deploy Cover 3 and Cover 1, and I expect them to play a little bit more man this week against Bowers, but that may not even matter.

The Raiders have won games without Bowers, but I'm not sure this current version could survive. This is the league's best tight end, and the Raiders must deploy him as such. Look for another productive outing in the Bay Area.

Kyle Shanahan vs. Klint Kubiak

This is a dream game for many X's & O's gurus in the online football communities. Shanahan, as I mentioned, is one of the great offensive minds we have seen and is a big reason we see so many successful and efficient offenses. He runs 21 personnel at a 34.5 percent clip, per SumerSports, but he uses his running backs, fullback, and tight ends as receivers in this regard.

Kubiak comes from the Shanahan tree and is doing similar things in Las Vegas with his backs and tight ends, especially as both teams continue to have consistency or injury issues at wide receiver. Both utilize wide-zone systems and are passing-game savants. However, Kubiak seems to be the one who struggles with how best to deploy his running backs, a conversation I've seen brought up in recent days in the wake of Mike Washington and Ashton Jeanty's usage.

Both coaches will be attempting to out-scheme one another's defenses, and both defensive coordinators, Rob Leonard and Raheem Morris, are likely sweating this game. Basically, this game could come down to who has the better day offensively. Get ready for a lot of points.