Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-6) – San Francisco 49ers (5-4): 20-23
NFC duel this Sunday between the Buccaneers and the 49ers, two teams hardly spared from injuries and who are looking to rack up victories to secure a place in the play-offs. The match was especially a sign of the return of Christian McCaffrey (13 races, 39 yards, 6 receptions, 68 yards). The star of this match, however, is not CMC but kicker Jake Moody (3 missed field goals), whose fragility of kicks almost caused the loss of an unlosable match.
San Francisco, not friends with the goal
After an exchange of punts to start the match, the Niners were the first to draw in the middle of the first quarter through rookie Ricky Pearsall (4 receptions, 76 yards, 1 touchdown) on a long reception of 46 yards. The first-round pick's first career touchdown, hit during the offseason.
The Californians enter the locals' territory twice again, for a score of three small points, the fault of a disastrous attack in the red zone (28th of the league) and a first field goal of 49 yards missed by Jake Moody. Opposite, the Buccaneers do not benefit from it. Orphan of Godwin and Evans, Baker Mayfield (18/29, 119 yards, 1 touchdown) is without solution. The best pure receiver of the evening on the Florida side was Ryan Miller, with… 11 yards. And it's not the injury to All-Pro left tackle Tristan Wirfs that fixes things. According to initial reports, Wirfs could be suffering from a knee ligament sprain.
10-3 at halftime for San Francisco.
Moody, scuttling!
Returning from the locker room, Tampa Bay returns with better intentions. Helped by a new blunder by San Francisco's special teams (loose punt), the Buccs begin to run on the ground through the duo Bucky Irving – Rachaad White (87 yards and 1 touchdown for Irving, 70 yards and 1 touchdown for White).
At the start of the last quarter, the Buccaneers caught up and even passed the 49ers. Brock Purdy (25/36, 353 yards, 2 touchdowns), impeccable, is working to give his team chances, but Jake Moody has probably decided otherwise. The kicker misses two new field goals, for a total of 9 missed points, which has the effect of triggering a fight between Deebo Samuel (5 receptions, 62 yards) and his long snapper. Atmosphere…
The story of this match is that of two teams who did not want to conclude. In the last minutes (20-17 for San Francisco), the Buccs arrive within 5 yards of the goal. Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles is not a fan of the adage that luck favors the bold, and decides to tie the ball and give the ball back rather than go for the touchdown and end the game. The Buccaneers nevertheless had the baraka, as evidenced by an incredible conversion from Mayfield on the 4th attempt.
BAKER MAYFIELD WHAT?!
📺: #SFvsTB on FOX
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/Mlj7lDybXM— NFL (@NFL) November 10, 2024
With 40 seconds left, Purdy moves up the field to field goal range, helped by his faithful George Kittle (3 receptions, 57 yards, 1 touchdown) and Jauan Jennings (7 receptions, 93 yards). One final time, Shanahan's men put their destiny at the foot of Jake Moody. This time, the coin falls on the right side and the 24-year-old converts from 44 yards. San Francisco snatches the victory, but gets a huge scare.
