The Bucs are up against it as they return home for a Week 10 matchup with the 49ers at Raymond James Stadium. Even more so, head coach Todd Bowles is up against it. The man who has made a career of dialing up pressure on opposing quarterbacks has to be feeling some pressure himself, as he’s in a tough spot.

Bowles is 21-22 as the Bucs’ head coach heading into this Sunday’s game, and he and his team are in desperate need of a win to stop the bleeding and avoid a four-game losing streak heading into the bye week. What makes this an even tougher spot is the opponent, as San Francisco has proven to be a kryptonite of Bowles’ over the years.

This May Be The Last Opponent Todd Bowles Wants To See Right Now

Bucs ILB Devin White, 49ers QB Brock Purdy and OLB Anthony Nelson – Photo by: USA Today

A win on Sunday would still only get the Bucs to 5-5 heading into their bye, but it would still be a major victory for Todd Bowles and his group considering how much lighter the schedule gets down the stretch. But truth be told, the San Francisco 49ers may be the last team Bowles wants to see on the other sideline this week given his recent history against them.

In his first year as Tampa Bay’s head coach, Bowles watched as his defense was torn apart by Brock Purdy in his first career start in the NFL. Purdy outdueled Tom Brady as the 49ers put a beating on the Bucs, 35-7, at Levi’s Stadium.

Purdy completed 16-of-21 passes that day for 185 yards and two touchdowns, plus he added another score on the ground. San Francisco built a 35-0 lead before a garbage-time touchdown helped Brady and Co. avoid a shutout.

In that game, the 49ers ran up 404 total yards, 209 rushing yards and 24 first downs. Bowles and his defense looked overmatched by San Francisco head coach Kyle Shanahan and his offense.

Bowles and the Bucs got a shot at redemption in 2023, but it didn’t go much better for them in another trip out west. This time around, Tampa Bay was down 27-7 through three quarters before scoring another late touchdown to close the gap to 27-14, making it a 13-point loss. Purdy shined again against Bowles’ defense, completing 21 of his 25 passes for 333 yards and three touchdowns. The 49ers put up 420 yards and 22 first downs as Shanahan once again won the battle.

49ers QB Brock Purdy – Photo by: USA Today

In two games against the Bucs, Purdy has completed 80.4% of his passes for 518 yards and five passing touchdowns to no interceptions, plus he has another touchdown on the ground.

The 49ers are obviously more than Purdy, though, as Tampa Bay’s defense has to contend with the likes of tight end George Kittle, wide receiver Deebo Samuel and running back Christian McCaffrey. Even without wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk, who is out for the season with a torn ACL and MCL, this San Francisco offense is full of talent.

So, considering the talent the 49ers possess on offense and Todd Bowles’ inability to solve Kyle Shanahan’s scheme in recent years, this isn’t a favorable matchup for Tampa Bay’s head coach as he looks to turn things around in an attempt to save his job.

Todd Bowles Is Running Out Of Time To Show Progress In 2024

The Bucs improved from Todd Bowles’ first year in 2022 to his second year in 2023. After going 8-9, winning the NFC South and crashing out in the Wild Card Round in Year 1, the team went 9-8, won the division again and earned a playoff win in Year 2.

Still, through two seasons, Bowles had a 17-17 regular season record as Tampa Bay’s head coach. So, it was reasonable for there to be an expectation of progress in Year 3.

Bucs head coach Todd Bowles – Photo by: Jeffrey Jones/PR

Well, Bowles is running out of time after another frustrating midseason slide – largely brought on by the failures of his defense – has his team needing another late-season turnaround to keep its playoff appearance streak alive. The Bucs did it last year, going from 4-7 to 9-8 and winning the division for a third straight year. Bowles deserves a lot of credit for that. But he also deserves some blame for the fact that the team finds itself in just about the same position this year.

With a loss to the 49ers on Sunday, the Bucs will be 4-6 at their bye week. The schedule softens up after the bye, but they would need to go 6-1 over their final seven games just to reach 10 wins. That would be a one-win improvement over last year, but it might not even be enough to get them in the playoffs this year given the crowded NFC Wild Card picture.

And 10 wins is very unlikely to get them a fourth straight division title, as they need to finish with a better record than the Falcons – who currently lead them by two games – due to the tiebreaker.

A 10-win season would technically be progress over last year’s regular season, but if the team misses the playoff, it doesn’t do much for Bowles. Tampa Bay was a quarter away from the NFC Championship Game last year. Failing to make the postseason – even with a one-win improvement – would have to be seen as a failure.

Circling back to Sunday, there’s another wrinkle to this matchup with the 49ers. This is a team that has represented the NFC in the Super Bowl twice in the last five seasons and has played in the NFC Championship two other times in that span. In other words, San Francisco is the class of the NFC, and Bowles falling to 0-3 against them could very well raise some question marks about his ability to get the Bucs up to the level of the conference’s top contenders.

Todd Bowles Has Exacted Some Revenge Against Other Kryptonites

Bucs HC Todd Bowles – Photo by: USA Today

The good news for Todd Bowles is that he has been in this spot before, and he has had some success in this spot. Over the years – and especially within this calendar year – Bowles has exorcised some demons against other teams he and his Bucs had previously struggled against.

It started early on, as the Bucs reversed the Saints’ previous dominance over them by sweeping them in Bowles’ first year and winning two of the three meetings since then. Overall, Tampa Bay is 4-1 against New Orleans under Bowles after going 0-6 in the regular season series between the two teams under Bruce Arians.

Perhaps the most impressive revenge game for Bowles came in last year’s playoffs. After the Eagles beat the Bucs 25-11 in a Monday Night Football meeting in Tampa during the regular season, Bowles put together a masterful game plan in the NFC Wild Card Round and saw his team win 32-9 to advance to the NFC Divisional Round.

And most recently, Bowles got a huge win over the Lions in Week 2 of this season. After Detroit beat Tampa Bay in both the regular season and playoffs last year, fortunes were reversed in this year’s meeting and the Bucs still remain the Lions’ only loss of the season.

So, Todd Bowles has taken down some kryptonites before. But he’ll need to do it again on Sunday as the 49ers come to town. Otherwise, the pressure will only grow more intense.