Niners Nation
Don’t rely on your kicker
During the broadcast, Tom Brady called Jauan Jennings the best third-down option for the offense. That’s probably coming from the coaching staff during pre-production meetings. Jennings converted back-to-back third downs right after Brady said that.
The 49ers red zone issues resurfaced. After a run for one yard, two incomplete passes forced a 28-yard field goal from Jake Moody. His kick was good to make it 10-0. Still, a first-down run and no passes to McCaffrey were surprising.
The Buccaneers put together a 13-play, 58-yard play drive that took over seven minutes off the clock. Baker Mayfield was never going down without a fight. Tampa Bay converted a pair of third downs before De’Vondre Campbell made a tackle for loss.
However, there was an egregious clock mismanagement. Kyle Shanahan could have called a timeout at 1:48. Instead, the Buccaneers ran the clock down to 1:14 before kicking a field goal to trim the lead to 10-3.
Jennings caught a 30-yard pass on first down, which put the offense inside Buccaneers territory. Purdy was off-target on the next two throws, making it 3rd &10. A Pearsall reception put the offense in Moody’s range. Moody’s kick was wide from 49 yards.
Mayfield had 25 seconds left and three timeouts from the 39-yard line to make something happen. Tristan Wirfs was out, which meant old friend Justin Skule would be the left tackle for the rest of the game.
Cade Otton dropped a critical pass, which helped the defense get off the field, and that took us to halftime. San Francisco outgained Tampa Bay by nearly 100 yards in the first half. But a missed field goal kept this game one possession.
