After a 3-1 start, things have not gone the Bucs’ way in recent weeks. They have dealt with injuries and have not been able to overcome the defense’s poor play. It was another tough test for the team as a whole looking to get back into the win column against a 49ers’ team they are quite familiar with – and not in a positive way.

There were plenty of chances to win the game and the Bucs looked primed to force overtime after tying the game 20-20 late. But the defense couldn’t get a stop and the 49ers drove right down the field to kick a game-winning field goal, walking off as 23-20 winners.

There are plenty of things the team can improve upon over the bye week, and here is what was disappointing from Sunday afternoon.

Bucs’ WR Room

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield and OC Liam Coen – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

You could tell me that the Bucs played Sunday’s game without wide receivers and I might’ve believed you.

Trey Palmer? One target, zero catches.

Sterling Shepard? One catch for seven yards.

Rakim Jarrett? Two catches for 10 yards.

It is not a good sign when Ryan Miller is the leading wide receiver, and he finished the game with one catch for 11 receiving yards.

Facing a 49ers’ secondary without Charvarius Ward, Talanoa Hufanga, and rookie safety Malik Mustapha not at 100%, there was an opportunity for the wide receivers to do more. They almost did enough on Monday night against the Chiefs. That was not the case on Sunday, and while the team will gladly welcome Mike Evans back when he returns from his hamstring injury, the team sorely misses someone who opened the offense like Chris Godwin.

Evans cannot do it all the rest of the way, and Baker Mayfield needs his guys to get open and create more separation so he can get them touches.

CB Josh Hayes

For all of the good that Josh Hayes does as a special teams gunner, the 2023 sixth-round pick should not be getting an extended run at cornerback. Hayes continued to get beat throughout the afternoon against the 49ers.

Bucs HC Todd Bowles – Photo by: USA Today

Early in the game, he was called for a defensive holding call on a third-and-7 play that would have been a stop as Zyon McCollum broke up a pass. Instead, it kept the drive alive and four plays later led to wide receiver Ricky Pearsall scoring his first NFL touchdown.

If that was not enough, Hayes was covering George Kittle on Kittle’s fourth-quarter touchdown grab in the corner of the endzone which gave them a 20-17 lead. Hayes was in position to make a play, but somehow didn’t. Then, with less than a minute left, he was called for an illegal formation penalty on the kickoff. That gave the 49ers a free five yards and meant the drive starting at the 35 instead of the 30 in a tie game.

At this point, Todd Bowles needs to try something else at cornerback if Jamel Dean is not ready when the Bucs play the Giants in Week 12.

First, it was undrafted rookie Tyrek Funderburk who struggled on the outside. With Hayes doing the same, it’s time to make a personnel move. Keenan Isaac is one potential answer, while practice squaders Troy Hill and Dallis Flowers have extended NFL experience and have spent the past couple of weeks learning the defense.

Getting Dean back would be huge, but should he not be ready to go (and if Zyon McCollum’s fourth-quarter hamstring injury turns out to be a problem beyond Sunday), it is evident the team needs better depth at the position. Funderburk nor Hayes are the answer.

ILB J.J. Russell

Well, now it’s not just K.J. Britt who has managed to make this column at inside linebacker.

The 49ers’ first points of the afternoon came on a big play by Ricky Pearsall. Brock Purdy found his first-round target up the middle of the field and Pearsall legged out a 46-yard touchdown.

Covering Pearsall on the play was J.J. Russell. It is never good to have a linebacker on a wide receiver, and Russell was burnt on the play. It could have been avoided had he made a quicker turn on the route and been in position to at least make the tackle. While he did better than Britt throughout the game, this was a big coverage lapse that resulted in points on the board.

OLB Yaya Diaby

Where is Yaya Diaby?

That is starting to become a growing question when considering Diaby’s limited impact during games. As the team’s top pass rusher, he was expected to have a breakout season. After racking up sacks in the second half last year and adding size in the offseason, he looked poised to develop into a double-digit sacker.

It has not happened this season, and it is concerning as the rest of the outside linebackers have also contributed very little. Coming into the year, the room was expected to only go as far as Diaby would take them. That has not been very far, as the combination of Diaby, Chris Braswell, Joe Tryon-Shoyinka, and Anthony Nelson has only produced 6.5 sacks after accounting for Tryon-Shoyinka’s takedown of Brock Purdy in the third quarter.

Regardless if the Bucs have gotten sacks elsewhere, they need to get more from their pass rushers on the outside, starting with Yaya Diaby.