It was certainly not the cleanest game from the San Francisco 49ers, but they came through when it mattered most. The Niners took down the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on the road, 23-20 to improve to 5-4 on the year. The Buccaneers fell to 4-6 and are on the verge of freefall, having now lost four games in a row. Despite the win, the 49ers have a lot of issues to address following this game.
Both Christian McCaffrey and Jake Moody made an impact on this game in their returns to the field, although not entirely positive in the case of Moody. The offense stalled out on several drives deep into Tampa Bay territory. And the defense was put in numerous bad positions for most of the game. Still, in spite of all their miscues, the San Francisco 49ers were the better team and deserved to win this game.
Brock Purdy and the 49ers Offense
Brock Purdy played his best game of the season so far for the San Francisco 49ers this week. On a day in which the Niners ran for just 3.4 yards per carry against one of the worst run defenses in the NFL, Purdy was forced to make play after play to sustain drives, and he was able to do that. Purdy’s touchdown pass to George Kittle, in particular, was an absolutely beautiful throw. San Francisco relied on the right arm of their young quarterback, and he came through for them.
The Niners proved to have little issue moving the ball through the air against Tampa, with five different players receiving over 55 yards. Jauan Jennings especially had a great game, finishing with seven catches for 93 yards. The San Francisco 49ers also got a key contribution from their rookie, Ricky Pearsall, as he scored his first NFL touchdown this game. However, the Niners, even with all of their success moving the football, only scored 23 points, and that’s for a couple of reasons. The first is that they couldn’t run the ball well.
This should raise some concern, considering Christian McCaffrey came back, and they were playing a bad run defense in Tampa Bay. Vita Vea was a problem for the 49ers all day in the pass-and-run game. Speaking of the trenches, the Niners, for the most part, protected Brock Purdy well this game, with Trent Williams having an exceptional day, surrendering only three pressures on 45 pass-blocking snaps. That is, until they got into Tampa Bay territory. Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles dialed up some exotic blitzes once his defense’s back was against the wall, and it seemed to work in slowing down the Niners’ offense in crucial situations.
Baker vs Bosa
Tristan Wirfs, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers star left tackle, left the game with what appeared to be an MCL sprain, and the Buccaneers felt his loss in this game. Nick Bosa was all in Baker Mayfield’s face for most of the game, especially once Wirfs left. The San Francisco 49ers defense did their job in this game. Baker was limited to 116 passing yards on just four yards per attempt, and San Francisco did a great job getting off the field on third down, limiting Tampa Bay to 5/14 on third down.
Unfortunately for the Niners, this valiant defensive effort was compromised due to them being placed in bad positions all game. 49ers kicker Jake Moody made his return and had a rocky game. He missed three field goals in this game, all of which set Tampa Bay up with a short field. Those missed kicks added up in the end and allowed Tampa Bay to score 20 points despite gaining only 215 yards of offense.
Baker Mayfield also played a commendable game, considering most of his receiving weapons were out with injury. He also made an insane throw on 4th down to keep the game alive for Tampa Bay despite Nick Bosa being draped all over him. Even with that, the San Francisco 49ers defense played more than well enough to win this game-handedly, but miscues in the kicking game screwed them over.
Final Thoughts
The San Francisco 49ers should’ve won this game by at least two touchdowns. They almost doubled the Buccaneers in yardage while only committing one turnover. That being said, a win is a win, no matter how ugly. Jake Moody has to be feeling especially good about how he scored the game-winning field goal after missing three earlier in the game. It goes to show his resiliency and the overall resiliency of this 49ers team. Next week, they take on the Seattle Seahawks at home, and they have a chance to sweep the season series.
