Another week, another heartbreaking loss for the Buccaneers. While the defense played mostly well for the second straight week, they couldn’t come up with the stop when it was needed the most. The Bucs fell to the 49ers on a last second field goal by Jake Moody, who had missed three field goal attempts in the game, lifting the Niners to a 23-20 win.
Baker Mayfield had one of his least inspired games, finishing with just 116 yards on 18-for-29 passing, but he willed the team on a late drive by stiff arming Nick Bosa on 4th-and-7 to find Rachaad White for a first down. With the help of some bad penalties from the Niners’ defense, the Bucs got inside the 10-yard line. A three yard run by Rachaad White, followed by a run for a loss of three, then an incomplete pass to Rakim Jarrett forced the Bucs to kick a field goal to tie the game at 20-20 with 41-seconds left.
Brock Purdy was able to orchestrate a drive to get the Niners in field goal range and a shot at redemption for Moody, who came through.
The biggest story, unfortunately, were the injuries to key players the Bucs once again suffered. Tristan Wirfs suffered a knee injury in the first half tha forced him to miss the rest of the game. Early reports are a sprained MCL but Wirfs will undergo an MRI to determine the extent of the injury. That meant Justin Skule went on the field and that all but eliminated Cade Otton from the game plan. Otton was helping against Bosa most of the game after that moment, taking away Mayfield’s top target.
Later in the second half, the Bucs lost cornerback Zyon McCollum to a hamstring injury and Chris Braswell to a shoulder injury. Braswell had played well, with some key pressures and two tackles for loss up to that point.
The Bucs are now reeling from injury as well as a four game losing streak, dropping to 4-6 after a 4-2 start to the season. With playoff hopes still in play thanks to Mike Evans returning soon, those hopes are looking bleak if they don’t have Wirfs down the stretch. The Bucs’ schedule features one team with a record of .500 or better - but even with Evans’ return, the losses of Wirfs and McCollum the Bucs may not be able to overcome all the adversity and reach the postseason for the fifth straight season.
Rachaad and Bucky Irving combined for 157 of the Bucs’ 215 total yards as well as both Bucs touchdowns. The receivers for the Bucs combined for just 28 yards receiving in this one, showing how much that group is struggling without their top two players. The Niners’ pass rush and coverage took a lot of plays away from the Bucs’ offense - in addition to some self-inflicted wounds. Liam Coen seemed to get away from things that were working in order to try and run some misdirection and surprise plays that failed and stalled drives.
Defensively, costly penalties led to scoring opportunities for San Francisco and in the end it was just too much to overcome.
The Bucs head into the bye week at 4-6 and in desperate need of getting healthy with injuries to so many key players. Hopefully there is good news surrounding Wirfs, but the Bucs at least hope to get Evans back and open the 21-day practice window for Jamel Dean.
Another week, another heartbreaking loss for the Buccaneers. While the defense played mostly well for the second straight week, they couldn’t come up with the stop when it was needed the most. The Bucs fell to the 49ers on a last second field goal by Jake Moody, who had missed three field goal attempts in the game, lifting the Niners to a 23-20 win.
Baker Mayfield had one of his least inspired games, finishing with just 116 yards on 18-for-29 passing, but he willed the team on a late drive by stiff arming Nick Bosa on 4th-and-7 to find Rachaad White for a first down. With the help of some bad penalties from the Niners’ defense, the Bucs got inside the 10-yard line. A three yard run by Rachaad White, followed by a run for a loss of three, then an incomplete pass to Rakim Jarrett forced the Bucs to kick a field goal to tie the game at 20-20 with 41-seconds left.
Brock Purdy was able to orchestrate a drive to get the Niners in field goal range and a shot at redemption for Moody, who came through.
The biggest story, unfortunately, were the injuries to key players the Bucs once again suffered. Tristan Wirfs suffered a knee injury in the first half tha forced him to miss the rest of the game. Early reports are a sprained MCL but Wirfs will undergo an MRI to determine the extent of the injury. That meant Justin Skule went on the field and that all but eliminated Cade Otton from the game plan. Otton was helping against Bosa most of the game after that moment, taking away Mayfield’s top target.
Later in the second half, the Bucs lost cornerback Zyon McCollum to a hamstring injury and Chris Braswell to a shoulder injury. Braswell had played well, with some key pressures and two tackles for loss up to that point.
The Bucs are now reeling from injury as well as a four game losing streak, dropping to 4-6 after a 4-2 start to the season. With playoff hopes still in play thanks to Mike Evans returning soon, those hopes are looking bleak if they don’t have Wirfs down the stretch. The Bucs’ schedule features one team with a record of .500 or better - but even with Evans’ return, the losses of Wirfs and McCollum the Bucs may not be able to overcome all the adversity and reach the postseason for the fifth straight season.
Rachaad and Bucky Irving combined for 157 of the Bucs’ 215 total yards as well as both Bucs touchdowns. The receivers for the Bucs combined for just 28 yards receiving in this one, showing how much that group is struggling without their top two players. The Niners’ pass rush and coverage took a lot of plays away from the Bucs’ offense - in addition to some self-inflicted wounds. Liam Coen seemed to get away from things that were working in order to try and run some misdirection and surprise plays that failed and stalled drives.
Defensively, costly penalties led to scoring opportunities for San Francisco and in the end it was just too much to overcome.
The Bucs head into the bye week at 4-6 and in desperate need of getting healthy with injuries to so many key players. Hopefully there is good news surrounding Wirfs, but the Bucs at least hope to get Evans back and open the 21-day practice window for Jamel Dean.
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