This week, the San Francisco 49ers will face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The 49ers got back to winning in week ten against the Jacksonville Jaguars and will look to continue to win as they head home this week to play the Buccs. San Francisco is now 6-3 while Tampa Bay is 4-5, still fighting in the NFC South. Here is what to watch for this week regarding the San Francisco 49ers.
Offensive Line Health Status
Something to watch this weekend is the offensive line for San Francisco. Trent Williams is good to go after a successful week ten game. This week, right tackle Colton McKivitz has been on the injury report. It is more than likely that he will be out this weekend, and if he does not play, Jaylon Moore will be taking over. Behind him, with some depth pieces also out with injury, Matt Pryor will also be the option to play in place of McKivitz.
Guard Aaron Banks is still out with Turf Toe this week as well. Starting next week, people can start monitoring when he will be back, but he has not yet participated in practice. Jon Felciano is playing in his place, just as he did last weekend against Jacksonville. Williams being back for the second weekend in a row is a big help to this offense. It was a huge difference-maker last weekend, as the 49ers were back to scoring over 30 points. He will be a big help this week again.
San Francisco 49ers T Trent Williams – Terrell Lloyd/San Francisco 49ers
Offense Fighting Through Buccs Defense
The Tampa Bay defense has had their moments this season, but the San Francisco offense, now healthier, should be okay. There are two players to watch for on Tampa Bay’s defense and that is Vita Vea and Shaquil Barrett. The offensive line could do well stopping Vea, the defense’s biggest threat, but it is more important to acknowledge that the Buccs have the second-highest blitz rate in the league this year.
Brock Purdy may have had a slow couple of games but he has not done too badly against the blitz this year. According to David Lombardi on X, Purdy has passed for 892 yards and eight touchdowns when blitzed. Just one interception this season has been due to blitzing.
With Deebo Samuel back, the offense is opening back up, making it hard for opponents to defend. While it is a shame that Christian McCaffrey could not get his touchdown last weekend, at the end of the day there are a lot of players on the 49ers to score. This team’s focus is on winning, but it would be nice for McCaffrey to score again this week.
San Francisco 49ers QB Brock Purdy – Terrell Lloyd/San Francisco 49ers
49ers Defense Back on Track?
Last weekend against the Jacksonville Jaguars, the San Francisco defense was able to get back on track. The team had their bye week, a chance to get rested, and the addition of Chase Young was very effective. Having Young on the other end of Nick Bosa brought on a new kind of energy. It really did seem as though the two were racing to see who could get to the quarterback first. It also made it harder for the opposing team’s offense to stop them. If they stopped one, the other defender was on the other end. That does not even include the rest of the defensive line in the middle.
Last weekend, defensive coordinator Steve Wilks was on the sideline instead of the booth. While this is not the sole reason the defense played well, multiple players did state that they liked being able to communicate with him after plays. Wilks also stated he enjoyed certain aspects of being on the sideline. He liked to look the players in the eyes and talk about the plays. His full statement could be watched from here on X. The 49ers’ defense has had their coordinator on the sideline for years, this is something that they are used to, which is proving to benefit them.
San Francisco 49ers defense vs Jaguars – Kym Fortino/San Francisco 49ers
The game will take place this Sunday at Levi’s Stadium. There are no guaranteed wins in the league, but the San Francisco 49ers are the favorite in this matchup. They need to use the momentum from last weekend and use it against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
