Late in the game, the Bucs did what they could to help the 49ers with a missed field goal and then a roughing-the-kicker penalty. But QB Mac Jones’ second interception of the game — on a 4th-and-5 that had been 4th-and-inches before an offensive line penalty — all but sealed the issue. Jones played well behind an O-line that didn’t: he was 27-for-39 for 347 yards, but was sacked six times. Kendrick Bourne (five catches, 142 yards) atoned for an early misread that resulted in Jones’ first INT, but Christian McCaffrey was kept under control again with only 88 yards of total offense on his first 23 touches (17 rushes, six catches) before a trash-time 23-yard catch and run.
The devastating effect of the loss of Warner to a serious ankle injury in the first quarter can’t be overstated. Still, the 49ers — who already had lost DE Nick Bosa to a season-ending injury — held up for the better part of three quarters before succumbing to Baker Mayfield & Co. Mayfield completed 17 of 23 passes for 256 yards and a pair of TDs. His sack-avoiding 15-yard run on 3rd-and-14 late in the third quarter was crushing: two plays later Mayfield and Tez Johnson connected on a 45-yard TD play. One thing Mayfield didn’t do: throw an interception, as the 49ers have now gone 13 games without a pick. Credit to Tatum Bethune, who replaced Warner and finished with a game-high 10 tackles.
If you’re looking for sunshine from the 49ers’ trip to Florida, here it is. Eddy Piñeiro is still perfect with the 49ers, his four field goals Sunday making him 15-for-15 with S.F. He’s not a chip-shot artist, either: his first two kicks against the Bucs were from 52 and 54 yards, respectively. Skyy Moore and Brian Robinson piled up 161 yards on a combined six kickoff returns and Thomas Morstead averaged 44.5 yards on his two punts.
Kyle Shanahan may well be the best play-caller in the game, but it’s tough to get the desired results when you don’t have the best players executing the offense. The passing workload was impressively spread — eight Niners had at least one catch and four had three or more — but none of them were named Brandon Aiyuk, George Kittle or Ricky Pearsall and that’s a problem. And still, the 49ers might have had a chance to pull out another W had Dominick Puni not committed a false start that preceded Jones’ fourth-quarter INT.
Be honest, given the long list of injuries, a 4-2 start has to be considered surprising. Every week brings new issues. After Sunday, it’s worth pondering whether Jones’ first loss with the 49ers was his last as their starter. Brock Purdy’s return could be the start of a steady stream of regulars getting back in the offensive mix. Even then, will the offense — assuming it gets back to full strength soon — be able to do enough to offset a defense that has lost its two best players?