{"id":6802,"date":"2024-11-10T22:32:43","date_gmt":"2024-11-10T22:32:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=6802"},"modified":"2024-11-10T22:32:43","modified_gmt":"2024-11-10T22:32:43","slug":"instant-analysis-of-49ers-23-20-win-over-tampa-bay-in-mccaffreys-debut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=6802","title":{"rendered":"Instant analysis of 49ers\u2019 23-20 win over Tampa Bay in McCaffrey\u2019s debut"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

TAMPA, Fla. \u2014 Christian McCaffrey\u2019s season debut was a mere afterthought once the 49ers finished up a 23-20 victory Sunday over the Tampa Bay Bucs.<\/p>\n

Brock Purdy engineered a last-minute drive that left it up to Jake Moody, who made a 44-yard field goal as time expired to atone for three earlier misses.<\/p>\n

Mobbed by teammates as the 49ers improved to 5-4 on the season<\/p>\n

Walking by without immediately congratulating him, however, was Deebo Samuel. After Moody\u2019s third missed field goal of the day, Samuel confronted him near the 49ers sideline, long snapper Taybor Pepper intervened, Samuel\u2019s left hand took a swipe into Pepper\u2019s throat, and coaching assistants intervened to separate them.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an emotional game. Stuff like that happens all the time,\u201d Moody said. \u201cYou just move past it. We won, so that\u2019s all that matters.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moody missed the previous three games with a high-ankle sprain to his right (kicking) leg. He attributed Sunday\u2019s three missed kicks \u2014 from 49, 50 and 44 yards \u2014 more so to changing winds before he made an adjustment for the game winner.<\/p>\n

As for whether Samuel, a team captain, adjusted his attitude and offered an apology to he or Pepper, Moody replied: \u201cThere doesn\u2019t need to be. It\u2019s heat of the moment. It happens. I do have to make those kicks at the end of the day. That\u2019s all I\u2019m focused on, not anything like (an apology).\u201d<\/p>\n

Coach Kyle Shanahan did his best to downplay the rare yet explosive confrontation, simply suggesting that \u201cbrothers scuffle\u201d and that any hard feelings would be fixed by the time their flight lands in the Bay Area.<\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t have to be such a close game, only it was as the 49ers defense failed to hold a fourth-quarter lead and earlier special teams miscues opened the comeback door for Tampa Bay (5-5).<\/p>\n

Purdy completed all four of his passes on the winning drive, two apiece to Jauan Jennings and Ricky Pearsall.<\/p>\n

Earlier in the fourth quarter, Purdy threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to George Kittle\u00a0in the back left corner of the end zone to give the 49ers a 20-17 lead midway through the fourth quarter against the undermanned but gritty Bucs. Purdy scrambled around this Florida swampland before eventually throwing to a familiar spot, where Kittle also made a remarkable touchdown grab in the 49ers\u2019 Sept. 29 win over New England.<\/p>\n

The 49ers let another fourth-quarter lead slip away this season, however, as the Bucs pulled even at 20 on a last-minute, 26-yard field goal from Chase McLaughlin. Keying that drive was a dumbfounding barrage of defensive penalties, on Rock Ya-Sin (holding), Fred Warner (facemask), Maliek Collins (roughing the passer), and Evan Anderson (illegal hands to the face).<\/p>\n

McCaffrey\u2019s season debut undoubtedly enhanced the 49ers\u2019 offense, as he totaled 68 receiving yards (six catches) and just 39 rushing yards (13 carries). Purdy passed for 353 yards and two touchdowns with no turnovers, while Baker Mayfield had just 116 yards for the Bucs.<\/p>\n

The Bucs had their own say, primarily with their running backs leading their undermanned offense. Bucky Irving opened the fourth quarter with a 14-yard run on third-and-2, then followed that with a 12-yard touchdown dash past six defenders for the Bucs\u2019 first lead of the game, 17-13.<\/p>\n

The home crowd chanted \u201cBuck-eee!\u201d as the rookie rusher had 75 yards to that point. Fellow Bucs running back Raachad White scored Tampa\u2019s first touchdown in the preceding quarter on a 9-yard catch-and-run.<\/p>\n

Pearsall\u2019s first career touchdown put the 49ers ahead 7-0, once a replay confirmed Pearsall\u2019s 46-yard catch-and-run. Pearsall caught Purdy\u2019s pass in stride over the middle at the Bucs\u2019 30, then beat safety Antoine Winfield Jr. to the left pylon.<\/p>\n

Pearsall celebrated with Jauan Jennings in a choreographed dance, then was handed back the souvenir football from fullback Kyle Juszczyk as more teammates happily mobbed him.<\/p>\n

That initial scoring drive was kept alive by a third-down holding penalty on the Bucs. McCaffrey followed with a 5-yard run and 7-yard catch before taking himself out for a water break, where he watched the next two plays unfold with Jordan Mason in the backfield.<\/p>\n

Pearsall, starting his second straight game and playing in his third overall since having his rookie season delayed by an Aug. 31 gunshot wound through his chest from an attempted robbery in San Francisco. On the 49ers\u2019 first series Sunday, Purdy overthrew Pearsall on third down, after Pearsall wasn\u2019t spotted breaking open the previous snap.<\/p>\n

The 49ers\u2019 first red-zone opportunity with McCaffrey this season yielded only one touch for him (1-yard run). Purdy followed with consecutive incompletions (to Pearsall and Kittle), setting up a Moody field goal and a 10-0 lead 8:53 before halftime.<\/p>\n

Tampa Bay responded with a field-goal drive just before halftime, and, in the process, they lost star left tackle Tristan Wirfs to a left knee injury. De\u2019Vondre Campbell forced that 30-yard field goal with arguably his best play of the season, tackling Irving for a 3-yard loss on third down from the 49ers\u2019 9-yard line.<\/p>\n

The 49ers\u2019 next red zone series saw McCaffrey produce a 7-yard, third-down conversion catch to the Bucs\u2019 9-yard line, but then he came out for the next two plays. Running backs coach Bobby Turner appeared to hold him back from returning after a one-play break, and instead it was Isaac Guerendo failing to slow a Bucs\u2019 pass rusher on a second-down sack.<\/p>\n

The 49ers produced yet another special teams blunder in a season filled with them. Darrell Luter Jr., who had a punt ricochet off his foot in the Super Bowl, was pushed into Jacob Cowing by the Bucs\u2019 Tavierre Thomas, resulting in a muffed punt and a turnover at the 49ers\u2019 21.<\/p>\n

The Bucs converted that gaffe into a touchdown, with Mayfield completing a 9-yard scoring toss to White and tying the score at 10-10 only 3:02 after halftime.<\/p>\n

Last season\u2019s AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year, McCaffrey was a game-day scratch before the 49ers\u2019 season-opening win over the New York Jets. He then went on injured reserve while recovering from Achilles tendinitis, a painful condition that led him to seek unspecified treatment or advice in Germany. He officially resumed practicing this past week, reported no setbacks, and came off IR on Saturday.<\/p>\n

This being McCaffrey\u2019s debut, it was his first full-speed, full-contact action since the Super Bowl, after which he scathed himself for a first-series fumble in the eventual overtime defeat to Kansas City.<\/p>\n

Originally Published:

The 49ers won on Jake Moody\u2019s walk-off field goal in Christian McCaffrey\u2019s season debut Sunday at the Tampa Bay Bucs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":6803,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6802","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"\nInstant analysis of 49ers\u2019 23-20 win over Tampa Bay in McCaffrey\u2019s debut - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=6802\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Instant analysis of 49ers\u2019 23-20 win over Tampa Bay in McCaffrey\u2019s debut - 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