It was the same old story for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Sunday in their 27-24 loss to San Francisco. Almost, but not quite good enough.
For the second consecutive game, it came down to the wire for the Buccaneers, and they just came up a play or two short.
The way the game started, it looked like it would be a blowout for the 49ers as they quickly jumped to a 10-0 lead.
The Buccaneers would add a field goal and cut the lead to 10-3 at the half.
Then, the Buccaneers battled back to tie it at 10 before allowing a field goal to San Francisco, giving the 49ers a 13-10 lead.
A 12-yard Bucky Irving touchdown run would give the Buccaneers a 17-13 lead early in the fourth quarter.
With 7:02 in the fourth quarter, Brock Purdy would find George Kittle in the back of the end zone to put the 49ers up 20-17.
A Chase McLaughlin FG would tie the game at 20 with just 42 seconds left.
However, the Buc’s defense could not stop the 49ers as they ran through the Buccaneers’ defense like a hot knife through butter, and a Jake Moody FG would give the 49ers the 23-20 win as the clock ran out.
The Buccaneers’ record drops to 4-6 as they suffer their third walk-off loss of the season.
This was the first game for San Francisco all-purpose back Christian McCaffrey this season, and he looked to be in mid-season form.
McCaffrey did most of his damage through the air, catching six passes for 68 yards and adding 39 yards on the ground, giving him 107 total yards on the afternoon.
Once again, this loss falls on the defense. They cannot get a stop when they need one at a critical point in the game. The problems with this defense lie with the linebackers and the defensive backs.
Too many passes are completed in the middle of the field, and in the secondary, players seem out of position way too often. We are too far along in the season for this to occur this often.
Todd Bowles had this to say after another disappointing defensive effort, “You’ve got to finish ballgames. Guys get a chance to play; they’ve got to come in and execute. You can’t play hard and not play smart at the end. We’ve got to play smarter football. There’s nothing wrong with how hard we’re playing, how tough we’re playing, but we’ve got to finish games.
“We’re making too many mistakes at the end.”
As a result of the Buccaneers defensive collapse at the end of games over the last three weeks, the Buccaneers are 4-6 instead
To make matters worse, the Buccaneers may have lost their best offensive lineman, Tristan Wirfs, for a few games with a leg injury.
Baker Mayfield, who put up a herculean effort, did what he could to motivate the Bucs to win. Mayfield spoke after the game about the focus this team needs to have going into the bye week.
“We’ve got to get healthy. Take the week, get healthy, get your mind ready to make this stretch. We’re going to need everything that we possibly have down the road—one day at a time in practice and then games. We’ve just got to put it together. We keep saying we’re ‘that close,’ but it’s got to be the message. You have to believe in it, and then we’ve just got to execute. We’ve got the group. The fight and what we’re doing at the end of games – the effort is never a question. That’s something that, ‘Alright, we have that,’ now let’s go execute. Just plain and simple, do your job, and we can turn this thing around quickly.”
The Bucs have a bye this week, and it could not come at a better time for this battered team.
In two weeks, the Bucs will travel to New York to play a 2-8 Giants team that has issues on both sides of the ball and has struggled all season.