How the 49ers defense continues to make progress

The amount of progress is up to you.

The San Francisco 49ers beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 23-20. This was thanks to kicker Jake Moody getting two tries to win it. It was also thanks to Brock Purdy showing you he’s an elite quarterback who has had enough of the team getting in their own way, leading the offense down the field for that anxiety-inducing field goal.

It was also a close game thanks to yet another 49ers’ special teams flub and the defense being unable to get out of their way at the worst time. In other words, it never should have been that close.

During the first half, the 49ers’ defense was solid, elite even. It was the offense having problems. The defense allowed the Buccaneers two conversions of the five third downs attempted—a nice step up for a unit that can’t get off the field.

Except there’s one problem: the Buccaneers’ offense kind of took a step back recently.

Neither wide receivers Mike Evans nor Chris Godwin were active for the game. That’s a devastating blow to Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield. If Purdy has taught us anything, you need your weapons to be, you know, effective.

So Mayfield threw the ball to tight end Cade Otton in the first half for what seemed like a lot. This resulted in one of the two third down conversions in the first half: a third and 7 dart that Otton stuck his hands out across the line to gain to get the yards. Pretty impressive from Mayfield, facepalming for the 49ers’ defense.

The 49ers tightened things up, and Otton only wound up with five receptions on eight targets. Thirty-five of Mayfield’s 116 yards went to this guy.

You read that right; 116 yards is all Mayfield had. For some, the game may not have felt that way. It doesn’t help a quarterback’s stat line when the ball passes through his receivers’ hands, which the Buccaneers seemed to do on more than one occasion.

It also shouldn’t help your quarterback’s stat line when he loses his elite left tackle. Buccaneers left tackle Tristan Wirfs left the game with a knee injury. That meant Nick Bosa could have an afternoon, right?

That afternoon was four tackles, three solo, and one crucial sack later in the game. Considering Bosa was dealing with a hip injury leading into the game and even mentioned it during the post-game, perhaps that’s expected.

And to be fair, the Buccaneers were throwing underneath routes all day and getting the ball out as quickly as possible because of Bosa, but the stat remains. Unfortunately, Bosa’s sack won’t be the play from this game we remember, nor the context behind it. Instead, he’ll be remembered getting stiff-armed by Mayfield AND Mayfield managing to complete the pass to move the chains.

Baker Mayfield has come a long way since his days with the Cleveland Browns:

So, some good and bad from a defense that went up against an offense that has lost effectiveness thanks to the injury bug. We could use those two points and call it a day. But how did the Buccaneers tie things up in the final minutes? If Mayfield only threw over a bill, how was this 23-20?

Oh, penalties. Yes, plural. You thought it was ridiculous in the Arizona game when they committed back-to-back defensive fouls:

Third-and-7 on the 49ers’ 47-yard line: Fasemask on Fred Warner.

First-and-10 on the 49ers’ 32-yard line: Roughing the passer on Maliek Collins.

First-and-10 on the 49ers’ 13-yard line: Illegal use of hands to the face on Evan Anderson.

Much like the Arizona game, these aren’t cherry-picked. Those three penalties happened one after another. The 49ers defense still managed to hold the Buccaneers to a field goal. And really, had the 49ers not committed that initial facemask on 3rd and 7, they could have held them. Maybe.

Now, it’s not fair to ultimately pile on the defense. One touchdown isn’t the fault of the 49ers’ defense. That’s on special teams, and Darrell Luter is not learning from his mistake in the Super Bowl. There will be plenty of discussions on that, so we won’t need to bring it up here.

You all said holding Arizona to 14 points was an awful lot. Well, it really isn’t. Asking a team not to get a touchdown when they get the muffed punt in the red zone is. And what you expected pretty much happened.

So what do we have? After all of that, high blood pressure, groans, eye-rolls, and Purdy saving the day? Progress, I guess.

If you look at Mayfield’s passing yards, the secondary did its job for the most part. Even when Renaldo Green had to leave the game with a toe injury, give them an “S” for satisfactory.

The defense as a whole? Too many mistakes. Too undisciplined. Be thankful they played a hobbled Buccaneers team because if you did this against a good team like the Kansas City Chiefs, you’d— oh wait, we already saw what happened.

Still, while the 49ers tried to give this one away (again, a common theme; remember they have issues finishing), their offense showed up when needed. It also helps when Jake Moody forgets he is Jake Moody for a kick.

The 49ers did their job. Nothing more, nothing less. They continue to make things harder for themselves than they should. The defense was not the main problem on Sunday, but the Buccaneers’ offensive issues do make things a bit underwhelming. It remains an issue that the 49ers will let lesser teams hang around.

The fact remains that we still need to ask just who the 49ers can beat in January if they get that far. The product on Sunday, with self-inflicting wounds and more special teams issues, brings skepticism. But I’m a pessimist.

Let’s see if we can get a cleaner game against the Seattle Seahawks.