The San Francisco 49ers are taking on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, with kickoff slated for 1:25 p.m. on the road.
San Francisco has extra rest coming off a thriller 26-23 victory over the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday Night Football, where they managed to pull off the upset despite being significantly undermanned.
Not much is changing for San Francisco this weekend, as they’ll be down Brock Purdy and Ricky Pearsall, meaning Mac Jones, who is questionable himself, is expected to make his fourth start.
Tampa Bay has also started the season 4-1, but they have done so with several come-from-behind victories. That continued last weekend, when the Buccaneers had a game-winning field goal after a clutch interception.
This could be San Francisco’s toughest test to date, being undermanned on the road. Here are three keys to a 49ers win over the Buccaneers on Sunday.
Third downs
The Buccaneers had been in a rut on third downs in big games, which hurt them as they fell behind, needing comebacks to win.
In Week 3 against the New York Jets, Tampa Bay had several opportunities to close that one out, but they were just 4/13 on third down in that one. The week after against Philadelphia? 3/13 on third down, including some big misses in the fourth quarter.
Last weekend against Seattle, they were on fire on third downs, going 7/11 and scoring 38 points in the win. That included conversions on 3rd & 7, 3rd & 13, 3rd & 15, and 3rd & 14.
San Francisco will need to find a way to limit the Buccaneers on third downs, and their defense has been equipped for it, ranking fifth in the NFL in opponent third-down conversion percentage.
The big way is to limit success rate on early downs and force those third & longs, and Tampa Bay will be without running back Bucky Irving.
The 49ers have also been elite on third downs, ranking fifth with a 45.7 percent conversion rate. Mac Jones has been great in those situations, and the team will continue needing to rely on him as they look to move the chains.
Special teams
Special teams haven’t been kind to the 49ers, but they did win the battle against the Los Angeles Rams last week.
Now, they face a Tampa Bay team that has made several special teams blunders so far this season. Against the Eagles, they had a blocked punt one week after a blocked field goal against the Jets that was returned for a touchdown.
Against Houston, they had both a blocked punt and a missed field goal. So far, kicker Chase McLaughlin has been 12/15 while also missing an extra point, with those four misses coming in the first three weeks of the season.
San Francisco cannot lose the special teams battle against a team that has frequently made mistakes this season.
Come up in the clutch
Every one of San Francisco’s games has been a one-score game that came down to the end. Every one of Tampa Bay’s games has been a one-score game that came down to the end. Both teams have played well in the clutch for the most part and are 4-1.
So, it could very well be a similar situation on Sunday where the final possessions could determine the outcome of the game. San Francisco is facing arguably the clutchest quarterback in the NFL in Baker Mayfield, who has delivered four game-winning drives already this season.
They’ll need to find a way to come up the clutch, whether they’re ahead or behind on Sunday afternoon.
About the Author: Insidethe49
