The Bucs head into Sunday afternoon looking to end their three-game losing streak and make a playoff push. There is still a plausible path for Tampa Bay to get to 10 wins and clinch an NFC Wild-Card spot.

It would get a big boost with a win against the 49ers.

What has held the team back throughout the season, especially during its mid-season losing streak, is the defense’s ability to limit the amount of points allowed. There have been plenty of surprises with this season’s squad, but the biggest is that offensive coordinator Liam Coen has coached a top-five offense and head coach Todd Bowles has coached a bottom-five defense.

Will Bowles and his defensive staff get back on track against San Francisco? It would surely be a statement heading into the bye week, but that means turning things around in a big way and limiting head coach Kyle Shanahan’s extensive set of playmakers he gets the most out of.

QB Brock Purdy Knows How To Execute 49ers’ System “From Top To Bottom”

Since entering the NFL as “Mr. Irrelevant” in 2022, Brock Purdy has been one of the most efficient quarterbacks in the league playing in head coach Kyle Shanahan’s offense. While that has factored greatly into Purdy’s success, he still is a talented signal-caller in his own right. He had an MVP-caliber season last season, and while he has not been quite on that level this year, he has still spearheaded a top-10 scoring offense.

Playing against the Bucs on Sunday may only help boost his numbers and get back on track, as two of Purdy’s best games have come when facing head coach Todd Bowles’ defense.

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield and 49ers QB Brock Purdy – Photo by: USA Today

In his first career start in 2022, he completed 16 of 21 passes for 185 passing yards and three touchdowns (two passing and one rushing) while routing Tom Brady and Co. 35-7. In 2023, he completed 21 of 25 passes for 333 passing yards and three passing touchdowns, finishing the game with a perfect 158.3 passer rating while beating Tampa Bay 27-14.

When asked this week about the threat Purdy poses, Bowles mentioned that they have to be sound and limit the offensive playmakers around him.

“They’ve got a lot of weapons,” Bowles said. “They can run the ball, as well. They’ve got a very good offensive line. He can just throw to the open guy. They have five talented guys that can catch the football. We’ve got to be sound, and we’ve got to be able to get pressure on them.”

Playing sound and getting pressure will be critical in avoiding another defeat at the hands of Purdy. His calling-card is efficiency and managing the offense.

“When you look at it, one, he really executes their system from top to bottom,” co-defensive coordinator Kacy Rodgers said. “He’s in total control of it, that’s the thing. When we saw him as a rookie, he had total grasp of the offense. The difference now, you see him involved, he is wanting and looking to make the play. In the past, he was taking the plays that were there, now he’s looking to make the big plays because he’s growing in the system more comfortable and he has weapons around him, has a good offensive line, a running game, he has everything. Now hes’ trying to make the more big plays.”

49ers RBs Are “Really Tough”

49ers RB Jordan Mason – Photo by: USA Today

What aids Brock Purdy’s ability to play comfortable and not be afraid of taking big shots is the running game that supports him. Much has been made of the Bucs’ three-headed monster at running back, but with the addition of Christian McCaffrey, the 49ers are soon to have the best trio of backs in the league.

McCaffrey is coming off a season where he won the rushing crown with 1,459 rushing yards and had 14 rushing touchdowns. As a receiver, he added 67 receptions for 564 receiving yards and seven touchdowns.

He is a bona-fide playmaker, but not the only one in their backfield.

Jordan Mason has filled his spot admirably this season and is fourth in the league with 685 rushing yards in eight games. When Mason has dealt with injuries of his own, fourth-round rookie Isaac Guerendo has provided a spark, averaging 6.1 yards-per carry on 37 rushing attempts.

Liam Coen has admired Kyle Shanahan’s system from afar and hopes to emulate the success that he has getting the most out of any offensive player, specifically at running back.

“Oh man, yeah, he’s the best,” Coen said. “He’s the best out there doing it in terms of the run game, the play-action, the keepers. The way those guys come off the rock, they just do it all right, you know? I mean, I just have a ton of respect for him. I don’t even really know him that well – at all, actually – but have a ton of respect for so much of the things I’ve seen over the years them do, what I’ve been taught from the guy that I learned from.

49ers RB Christian McCaffrey – Photo by: USA Today

“So much of it comes from not just Kyle, but Coach Mike Shanahan. And so that falls down – that trickle effect comes through. When you turn on the tape, you can see if somebody’s tough. They’re really tough. You turn on that tape, you see real toughness, and that’s what, you know, I’d like to be able to emulate in some ways.”

While San Francisco have been successful turning unheralded players into above-average players, McCaffrey is in a class of his own.

“He’s a different cat, just because the way they’re a talented team but they’re so interchangeable,” Kacy Rodgers said. “You can have Deebo [Samuel Sr.] at back and McCaffrey out at wide out, then switch those two then put him in motion. It’s just a headache having him back as another explosive player that can be anywhere, so call-wise you want to try to stay out of a bad matchup so it puts a lot of pressure on the play caller game planning because just because he’s in the huddle doesn’t mean he’s going to line up at the dot back.

“It’s just having to deal with their formations, the way they utilize personnel, their motions, their shifts, you can end up in a bad matchup. That’s what he brings to the table. He’s a quality, quality player and then the way they utilize him just makes him more dangerous.”

Facing TE George Kittle Has Meant More “Sleepless Nights” For Bucs’ Defense

49ers TE George Kittle – Photo by: USA Today

Kacy Rodgers has headaches thinking about the creativity of the 49ers’ offense and the way they deploy their weapons, but there are plenty of sleepless nights playing against George Kittle.

Kittle continues a tough stretch of tight ends the Bucs have had to play. It started when facing Kyle Pitts twice, but trying to stop Mark Andrews and Travis Kelce proved to be difficult as well.

“It just makes for some sleepless nights [laughs],” Rodgers said. “It really is – it’s just a tough league. It comes with the [territory], you play all the top dogs and those tight ends we’ve been seeing are truly, truly elite.”

If McCaffrey is a “different cat” at running back, Kittle is “a dawg” at tight end. He has been this generation’s best tight end outside of Kelce, and someone who is coming off a six-catch, 128-yard, and one touchdown game in a 30-24 win over the Cowboys.

“I think people don’t give him enough credit for how tough he is,” Rodgers added. “He does an excellent job in the pass game but I’m saying the stuff you don’t really write about – what he’s doing in the running game, when he jets across and blows up this outside linebacker or gets up on the second level, he kind of makes their running game go then he slips out on the bootleg game. That’s hard because now you’re getting downhill, now, ‘Oh, by the way you need to cover him on this boot back here.’ It’s problematic.”

The Bucs’ defense has had their share of problems, and facing the 49ers is a tough ask when looking to solve them. All across the board they have offensive talent, and paired with a talented offensive play-caller, it could be another rough game for a unit in dire need of a turnaround heading into the bye week.