The Tampa Bay Buccaneers led by quarterback Baker Mayfield, went into Sunday’s game home underdogs. The Buccaneers had been losers of four straight games despite Mayfield putting up MVP like numbers. This week the San Fransisco 49ers traveled to Tampa coming off their bye, and the return of Christian McCaffrey was the talk of the town.
Mayfield came into this game missing his top two weapons and dealing with a toe injury that kept him out of practice all week. In typical Mayfield style, he would downplay the injury and fight on for his team. It was seen on the sideline that Mayfield would take off his shoe and walk around without it trying to relieve the pressure on his injured toe during the game.
The Buccaneers Fight and Claw into This Game
The Buccaneers offensive line took a major blow, losing Pro Bowler Tristan Wirfs to a knee injury before halftime. Wirfs would be unable to return leaving the Buccaneers offensive line with a glaring hole, and Nick Bosa on the other side. Mayfield would be under pressure throughout the game, having to get the ball away quickly just to avoid getting sacked. The problem, none of Mayfield’s receivers could create separation. Ryan Miller had the most yards of any wide receiver with 11 yards on one catch. Running back Rachaad White and tight end Cade Otton became the go to pass catchers for Mayfield all game long.
The 49ers would help the Buccaneers stay in this game with kicker Jake Moody missing three field goals and rookie Jacob Cowing muffing a punt that would be recovered by the Bucs in 49ers territory. The Buccaneers would have one rushing touchdown from rookie Bucky Irving, and one touchdown pass from Mayfield to Rachaad White. Though, Mayfield’s numbers may look pedestrian at best, the box score doesn’t always tell the full story.
Baker Mayfield Leads Heroic Last Drive
Baker Mayfield had the chance to lead his team down the field one last time, down by three. Mayfield would fight and give everything he had for this drive to be a success. One of the key plays of the drive was when 49ers’ defensive end Nick Bosa got a hold of Mayfield in the backfield, and the game appeared to be over. It looked like Bosa would take Mayfield down for a game sealing sack on fourth down. Instead, Mayfield stiff-armed Bosa and kept his eyes downfield, before delivering a strike to White for the first down.
A matter of moments later, Mayfield would have to spin away from 49ers defenders before getting his pass away. Mayfield was pulling out all the moves you’d see from a quarterback in some dramatic football movie. The drive was assisted with multiple 49ers penalties, and before you knew what happened the Buccaneers were inside the 49ers 10-yard line with less than a minute to go.
The Buccaneers would have to settle for a game tying field goal, and it appeared Tampa Bay would be heading for overtime for the second consecutive week. The 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy had other plans, as he quickly diced up the Buccaneers’ vulnerable secondary. Purdy pushed the 49ers down the field with relative ease getting them into field goal range for their struggling kicker. Except this time, he wouldn’t miss. Moody would hit the game winning 44-yard field goal as time expired, and Baker Mayfield would yet again feel the heartbreaking defeat while standing on the sidelines.
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