Niners Nation
The 49ers are getting their best weapon back for a much-needed win on Sunday.
Fresh off a much-needed bye week, the San Francisco 49ers head on the road Saturday for a contest with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, looking to start the second half of the season strong against a feisty opponent.
The 49ers return Christian McCaffrey and face a Bucs team without top receivers Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, but this one could very well be a battle, as Tampa Bay has played in two one-score games since losing their star receivers.
Heading into the game, the 49ers are seen as 6.5-point favorites, according to FanDuel Sportsbook, with the over/under placed at 49.5 points.
Here’s what you need to know about the 49ers’ opponent on Sunday.
The Buccaneers have been competitive, both with and without their top receivers, but they’ve now lost three straight and face a crucial game on Sunday against the 49ers standing at 4-5.
Now two games back in the NFC South, the Buccaneers likely will need to win their division to earn a playoff spot, but that’ll be tough after already losing both regular season games to the first-place Atlanta Falcons.
While some easier matchups come up ahead, Tampa Bay will be looking to come out firing behind quarterback Baker Mayfield as they hope to reach .500 once again before their bye week in Week 11.
Neutralize the run: The Buccaneers have enjoyed a breakout-esque season from fourth-round rookie Bucky Irving, who has slowly captured the starting running back role from Rachaad White, going for 419 yards and three touchdowns on the ground thus far this year.
More importantly, Irving has averaged five yards per carry, but he hasn’t gotten the consistent volume of a lead back, instead splitting touches with both White and second-year-pro Sean Tucker.
The 49ers need to find a way to make it hard on Baker Mayfield, which comes with stopping the run first. The Buccaneers have run the ball at one of the lowest rates in the NFL (40. 1 percent, 26th in NFL), and that has dropped even more without Mike Evans and Chris Godwin (35.15 percent over last three games).
But, if they allow Irving and White to get a groove on the ground, that could prove to be trouble in defending the aerial attack. San Francisco’s run defense has been suspect at times, and it’ll be important to contain both the interior and the edges on Sunday.
Tackling: The 49ers have had a tackling issue defensively this year. 10 players who have seen at least four games of action have a missed tackle rate of over 10 percent.
From Weeks 4-6, San Francisco missed at least 12 tackles, while missing another nine in Week 7 against the Kansas City Chiefs. That number improved in Week 8 against the Dallas Cowboys, where the 49ers missed four in a 30-24 win, but the issue still has persisted for much of the season....
