The 4-5 Tampa Bay Buccaneers face the 4-4 San Francisco 49ers on Sunday at Raymond James Stadium, looking to snap a three-game skid and re-establish themselves as bona fide contenders in the playoff hunt of the conference. They hope to head into Week 11 with something positive to fuel them for the run ahead.

The Buccaneers won’t lock themselves into a playoff spot with a win, nor will they be eliminated from contention with a loss. However, they are not trying to downplay the importance of this battle with the defending NFC champions.

“We’ve been in all these games, that’s the thing,” quarterback Baker Mayfield said of the Bucs’ recent losses. “We’ve been in all these ballgames, now it’s just about execution. I think we know – it doesn’t put pressure on this team, but we need it. NFC opponent at home right before the bye week, to change that, change the momentum, turn it around, that’s a huge one for us, so the most important thing is to continue to emphasize the details and do your job.

The Buccaneers returned home after a thrilling but ultimately painful overtime loss Monday night at Kansas City. As they look to bounce back from that physical contest and turn things around for the 49ers — the team will only hold practices instead of full-speed drills until Friday — the 49ers are coming off a bye week that offered a little extra time. to train and heal some key players. All-Pro standout quarterback Christian McCaffrey could make his 2024 debut Sunday in Tampa. A San Francisco offense that already ranks second in the NFL in yards and sixth in scoring could get a big boost with McCaffrey getting back to the likes of George Kittle, Deebo Samuel, Ricky Pearsall and Mason Jordan. Underrated Jauan Jennings could return to action after missing two games, giving him even more work to do with quarterback Brock Purdy.

“He’s just another weapon to worry about, along with him, Deebo, George, Purdy as well. You have to worry about five different guys, you can’t just worry about McCaffrey. be healthy, defensively, and everyone has to do their job because they are talented all over the field.

“Like I said, they’ve got a lot of weapons. They can run the ball, too. They’ve got a really good offensive line. He can just throw to the open guy. They’ve got five talented guys that can catch the football. We’ve got to be healthy and we’ve got to we can put pressure on them”.

San Francisco’s defense is also 10th in the NFL, sixth against the run and second with 10 interceptions. Mayfield pointed out that the 49ers have impact players at all three levels, from Nick Bosa (4.5 sacks) and Leonard Floyd coming off the edge, Fred Warner patrolling the middle of the field and Charvarius Ward in the secondary.

“The way they rush the passer, they go downfield, that’s their system — they teach these guys to rush right downfield, and so (we) have to know that, we’ve got to be able to protect up front and we take the ball outside,” Mayfield said. “Obviously Fred Warner is a second-level guy — incredible player, fly, really makes a defense go, hard to stop in the run game because he recognizes the play so quickly.”

Mayfield, who leads the NFL with 23 touchdown passes and has thrown at least two in each of his last six games, will key this defense. Tampa Bay’s offense continued to hum after the devastating losses of Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, posting 707 yards and 50 points over the past two weeks, a testament to offensive coordinator Liam Coen’s creative playmaking and Mayfield’s pinpoint passing. Tight end Cade Otton has stepped up in a big way, catching 25 passes for 258 yards and three touchdowns over the past three weeks.

If the playoffs started this weekend, neither the 49ers nor the Buccaneers would be on the field. However, this could end up being a key contest between two teams that are expected to make a lot of noise going forward. It’s a big one for the Bucs and they know it.

GAME AND SHOW DETAILS

San Francisco 49ers (4-4) at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-5)

Sunday, November 10, 1:00 PM ET

Raymond James Stadium (capacity: 65,844)

TV broadcast crew: Kevin Burkhardt (play-by-play), Tom Brady (analyst), Erin Andrews (reporter), Tom Rinaldi (reporter)

Radio: 98Rock (WXTB, 97.9 FM), flagship station

Broadcast Crew: Gene Deckerhoff (play-by-play), Dave Moore (analyst), TJ Rives (reporter)

Spanish Radio: 96.1 Caliente

Spanish Broadcasting Team: Carlos Bohorquez (play-by-play), Martin Gramática (analyst), Santiago Gramática (reporter)

HEAD TO HEAD ALL-TIME SERIES

The Buccaneers and 49ers have played 27 times, including the postseason, but the history neatly divides into two very different series right near the middle.

San Francisco leads the overall regular-season series by an overwhelming margin, 20-6, but as much as the ’97 season is the dividing line between a long-stalled team and a successful franchise in Tampa, it also marks the point at which this head-to-head match became competitive. The Buccaneers and 49ers met 13 times between 1977 and 1994, and San Francisco had won 12 of them, often by wide margins. San Francisco’s last four wins before 1997 were by a combined score of 138-58.

Then the Buccaneers shocked the league by defeating Steve Young, Jerry Rice and the 49ers (who would go all the way to the NFC Championship Game that season) 13-6 in Week One of 1997. This was the first of five consecutive wins. to start the ’97 season for Tampa Bay after they ended a 15-year playoff drought. Including that win, the Bucs are 6-8 in the series since 1997, including Tampa Bay’s 31-6 drubbing of the 49ers in the divisional round of the 2002 playoffs.

However, San Francisco has retaken control of the series recently, winning each of the last three meetings between the two teams, starting with a 31-17 decision at Raymond James Stadium in 2019 that included three interceptions by the 49ers defense. The last of those picks allowed the visitors to pull away late as the Buccaneers pulled to within 20-17 in the fourth quarter before a Robbie Gould field goal and Ahkello Witherspoon’s 25-yarder by Jameis Winston. The Bucs and 49ers had a rematch in San Francisco in 2022, but it went even worse for Tampa Bay as future fan favorite Brock Purdy was a revelation in his first start, completing 16 of 21 passes for 185 yards . two touchdowns and no interceptions. Running back Christian McCaffrey scored once on the ground and once through the air in a 35-7 blowout.

The Buccaneers most recently returned to San Francisco once again last year, and while the game was a bit more competitive than the 2022 contest, it was a 27-14 victory for the home team in the end. Purdy threw three touchdown passes, including a 76-yarder to Brandon Aiyuk, and was not intercepted.

Tampa Bay won the previous two games in the series before three, 34-17 at California in 2016 and 27-9 at Florida in 2018. The first included a 249-yard rushing performance by the Buccaneers, led by Jacquizz’s 154 Rodgers. on 26 ports. In the latter, the Bucs defense sacked Nick Mullens four times and intercepted him twice, while Winston threw touchdown passes to Cam Brate and Adam Humphries.

The aforementioned 2002 divisional round win for the Bucs is the team’s only postseason contest against San Francisco. Mike Alstott scored on a pair of 2-yard runs, Brad Johnson threw two touchdown passes and the Bucs kept Jeff Garcia and the 49ers offense at bay with picks by Rondé Barber, Derrick Brooks and Dwight Smith.

As for that 1997 turnaround contest, it famously featured Warren Sapp knocking out Young and Rice with early injuries. San Francisco was still able to take a 6-0 halftime lead as the Bucs offense had time to get going, but the defense picked up steam in the second half, allowing just 45 yards. The Bucs took their first lead five minutes into the fourth on a Trent Dilfer touchdown pass from tight end Dave Moore. Much of the rest of the offense was provided by fullback Mike Alstott, who finished the game with 119 yards from scrimmage, including 46 of the 53 yards on the game’s only touchdown drive. Young returned to the game to start the fourth quarter, but was quickly sacked by Hardy Nickerson and intercepted by Tyrone Legette on back-to-back plays, setting up Michael Husted for his second field goal, a 34-yarder, and the final points of the the game.