The San Francisco 49ers turned the ball over on their first offensive possession of the game. Kendrick Bourne appeared to be confused by the coverage, and Mac Jones threw an interception after thinking
Bourne would run his route in a specific direction.
With a short field, after punting on their first possession, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers took advantage and scored a touchdown. That was the first touchdown the 49ers’ defense has allowed in the first quarter this season. But that wasn’t on the defense.
Jones and Bourne were on the same page on the ensuing drive. The two connected for a 41-yarder. However, Jones was sacked in the red zone, and the 49ers had to settle for a field goal attempt. Eddy Pinero’s 52-yard field goal was good, as he has always been, and that drew the Niners closer at 7-3.
The 49ers suffered a devastating injury on their next drive. Fred Warner appeared to have dislocated his right ankle. He was carted off and did not return.
Mykel Williams had the first sack of his career. Despite not having Warner, the defense held up early in the game. Of course, they benefited from a couple of missed throws by Baker Mayfield to Jaxon Smith-Njigba, but Saleh’s squad will take anything you give them at this point.
Skyy Moore fielded two punts inside his five-yard line. The second one did not hurt the team, as Mac Jones led a 10-play, 84-yard drive that ended in a touchdown. Yet another big reception by Bourne aided the drive. This one was good for 56 yards. The drive was capped off by Christian McCaffrey scoring a rushing, yes, a rushing touchdown. San Francisco took a 10-7 lead.
Malik Mustapha entered the game on the ensuing drive for the defense. He took the place of rookie Marques Sigle. Ji’Ayir Brown remained on the field after starting.
However, receptions of 17 and 23 yards had Tampa Bay in San Francisco’s territory within a few plays. The Bucs ended up scoring on eight plays to take a 14-10 lead.
Mac Jones made an unbelievable throw on third down ahead of the two-minute warning to keep the offense on the field. After that throw, Jones had completed nine straight. On 3rd & 6, Jones put the ball where only Marques Valdes-Scantling could catch it. Unfortunately, MVS couldn’t hold on.
Eddy Pineiro’s kick was good once again, this time, from 54 yards. That gave San Francisco a 14-13 lead. It also gave Tampa Bay 1:58 remaining, with all three timeouts, to add points before halftime. By the time there was a minute remaining, the Bucs were already in field goal range.
On the next play, Baker Mayfield found a wide-open receiver streaking down the field. Upton Stout was flagged for a roughing the passer penalty. Tampa Bay went for two and failed. It looked like it was Deommodore Lenoir at fault on the play. Dee Winters and Tatum Bethune were covering the tight end and the running back, but Lenoir didn’t see the late motion, and the communication cost the Niners a touchdown.
Jones found Demarcus Robinson for 31 yards with 34 seconds remaining. He then found Robinson again for a gain of 13 yards. That meant San Francisco was well within Pineiro’s range at 42 yards. His kick was good, and the 49ers trailed 20-16 heading into halftime.
Getting three points there was impressive before the half. The 49ers would begin the third quarter with the ball and a chance to take control of the game once again. Both teams averaged over six yards per play in the first half. There was also nearly 400 yards of offense. It felt like whichever team got to 40 first would win.
Bourne went over 100 receiving yards on the first drive of the third quarter. After Jones picked up a first down on a quarterback sneak, the 49ers were once again in business. McCaffrey had an 11-yard gain to put the offense inside the red zone, but Jauan Jennings was flagged for a pass interference, his second penalty of the drive.
That meant the offense would need to convert a 2nd-and-20, and it didn’t. The good news is Pinero made a 29-yarder, and the drive took half the quarter. San Francisco trimmed the lead to one to make it 20-19.
The 49ers wouldn’t have to face Emeka Egbuka, who was doubtful to return to the game after halftime with a hamstring injury. That meant Mayfield would be without his top three wide receivers. That did not prevent the Bucs from scoring.
On 3rd & 14, Mayfield defied all odds with a 15-yard rush:
Mayfield found Tez Johnson for a 45-yard bomb on the next play, giving the Bucs a 27-19 lead.
There were 46 points and 584 yards of offense through three quarters. Defense was non-existent. Would that change in the fourth quarter? Penalties were the only thing preventing these teams from scoring.
Lavonte David’s strip-sack to begin the fourth quarter was a backbreaker. Thankfully, Jones’s shin was down, so the Niners retained possession. More importantly, Tampa Bay didn’t take over with a short field to work with. It saved roughly 40-50 yards of field position.
Saleh, willing to try anything at this point, put Mustapha back in for Sigle. That didn’t matter much, as Tampa Bay continued to attack the middle of the field. Sterling Shepard had a 36-yard reception on 2nd & 9, running freely across the middle.
The Bucs couldn’t generate any offense from there, Chase McLaughlin missed a 49-yarder, and the Niners still had hope with just under nine minutes to play.
Mac Jones took a seven-yard sack on a failed play-action pass. An incomplete pass to Jennings on third down would force a punt. However, the Bucs roughed the punter, giving the Niners yet another life. The Niners had a 4th-and-1, but Dominick Puni committed a false start.
That meant Bowles could get into an exotic look on 4th-and-6. That look fooled Jones into a costly mistake. Trent Williams had a personal foul after the play, giving the Bucs even better field position. The game would come down to another field goal attempt by McLaughlin.
The 49ers had already used all of their nine lives to stay in this game. McLaughlin’s 45-yarder split the uprights to give Tampa Bay a convincing 30-19 lead, putting the game out of reach.
It’s a brutal blow to lose Fred Warner. There’s no replacing him. Still, the Niners went 3-1 with Mac Jones. That doesn’t happen in any other year when San Francisco had a backup quarterback. This is a team that is still in a position to make the playoffs. Of course, the road gets a lot more difficult without 54 in the lineup.
