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How the Buccaneers will Test the 49ers Defense this Week

What an interesting test.

Grant Cohn

Nov 4, 2024; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield (6) hands off to running back Bucky Irving (7) against the Kansas City Chiefs during the first half at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images
Nov 4, 2024; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield (6) hands off to running back Bucky Irving (7) against the Kansas City Chiefs during the first half at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images / Denny Medley-Imagn Images
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The 49ers are expected to dominate Tampa Bay this Sunday.

They're 5.5-point favorites. They're coming off a bye week while Tampa is coming off a grueling overtime defeat on Monday night. Christian McCaffrey could make his season debut. And the Buccaneers have lost three games in a row.

And yet, this game still could be tough for the 49ers, particularly for their defense.

The Bucs currently have the NFL's fifth-ranked offense. And while they're missing both of their star wide receivers -- Mike Evans and Chris Godwin -- they're still averaging 5.1 yards per carry, which is fourth-best in the NFL.

Meanwhile, run defense is an issue for the 49ers. Their run defense grade on Pro Football Focus ranks 26th out of 32 teams, and their tackling grade ranks 20th.

Just a few weeks ago, we saw the Chiefs beat the 49ers without starting-caliber wide receivers. Patrick Mahomes didn't even play particularly well in that game. And yet, the Chiefs scored 28 points on the 49ers simply by pounding the ball between the tackles with Kareem Hunt, running jet sweeps with wide receivers and throwing screen passes to tight ends. The 49ers don't defend these plays well.

The strength of the 49ers is their coverage. It's difficult to throw over the middle against them because Fred Warner is the greatest coverage linebacker of all time, and it's tough throwing downfield because the 49ers' corners are so good.

So if the Buccaneers try to throw their way to victory, the 49ers probably will intercept Baker Mayfield once or twice and win.

But if the Bucs try to run their way to victory, they just might pull off the upset.

What an interesting test.

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Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

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