The San Francisco 49ers fell in a tough 30-19 game to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on the road on Sunday, falling to 4-2 in the division.
It was a tough environment for the 49ers without quarterback Brock Purdy and wide receiver Ricky Pearsall, and things only got worse with a season-ending injury for Fred Warner in the first half. Tampa Bay was dealing with its own injuries at wide receiver, but it never trailed and was able to keep control of the game for the most part.
Offensively, Mac Jones had two
costly interceptions, both of which resulted in scoring drives for the Buccaneers. There were also drops and missed chances for touchdowns, while Tampa Bay capitalized, converting both of its red zone drives for touchdowns.
Here are three quick takeaways from the 49ers’ 30-19 loss to the Buccaneers on Sunday.
Defense has communication issues without Warner
The 49ers gave up 30 points for the first time this season, as their defense allowed four touchdowns and a field goal. Now, as mentioned above, the defense wasn’t responsible for some of those mistakes, as the Buccaneers had to go only two plays and 12 yards for a touchdown following Mac Jones’s first interception.
But Tampa Bay’s offense was rolling from the second quarter onwards after Fred Warner was carted off the field midway through the first quarter.
Here’s how Tampa Bay’s day went for the final three quarters:
Touchdown
Touchdown
End of Half
Touchdown
Missed Field Goal (49 yards)
Field Goal (45 yards)
End of Game
They were downright dominant, having the necessary answers to the 49ers’ offense, who helped them out with several coverage busts.
After San Francisco got things to 14-13 with a field goal, the Buccaneers were driving downfield and got a 34-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Kam Johnson, who had motioned across the formation and was left unguarded on a miscommunication.
Later, they gave up a 45-yard touchdown catch, which was the longest play the defense had given up all season, to Tez Johnson to give Tampa Bay a 27-19 lead on their opening drive in the third quarter. On the play, Renardo Green didn’t seem deep enough in his zone, while Marques Sigle was late to the receiver as the deep safety.
San Francisco will have to adjust to life without Warner, but those two coverage busts resulted in the biggest plays the defense had given up this season. With a young group, those mistakes are bound to happen. But the communication will need to improve heading into Week 7.
Eddy Dinero
It’s not the best thing when your team is kicking four field goals in a game, showing an inability to find the end zone. But, Eddy Piniero continued to be good ol’ reliable, hitting all four of his field goals to start the season a perfect 15/15.
That includes four makes from 50+, with Piniero hitting from 52, 54, 42, and 29 on Sunday. That’s a much different tone than what the team was accustomed to with Jake Moody, and puts into question exactly why Piniero was available heading into the season.
Piniero has already come up clutch for the 49ers and also banged a 59-yarder against the Rams, which was a big lift in that game. He’s now hit four field goals in back-to-back games and provides Kyle Shanahan with the safety blanket he’s been looking for at kicker.
Let’s just make sure he doesn’t step on any lineman’s feet anymore.
Big Picture
With the loss, the 49ers fell to 4-2 in the division, which is tied with the Seattle Seahawks and Los Angeles Rams, who both won on Sunday.
But, San Francisco does have the tiebreaker over both teams with their 3-0 start in the division, so there is some leeway there heading into Week 7.
Overall, the 49ers have been through quite a bit to start the season with injuries. Fred Warner’s season-ending ankle injury only underlines that. So, to deal with all of that and start 4-2, including 3-1 with a backup quarterback, is a start that head coach Kyle Shanahan has to take.
Most importantly, the 49ers won the two division games behind Mac Jones, who has been battling through injuries of his own. Those will come in handy as the season goes on, and still give San Francisco a good shot to reach the playoffs and win the division.
Now, heading into Week 7, the 49ers will hope that they can get healthy with Purdy and Pearsall back as they return home to face the Atlanta Falcons.
But, so far, they’ve faced a 5-1 team, three 4-2 teams, a 2-4 team, and a 1-5 team. They took care of business against the latter two, and to go 2-2 against the former two groups is a result you’ll take.
