The 49ers have experienced delightful times in the second halves of their past three seasons, and they will need more of the same this year if they are going to return to the NFL playoffs.
It all starts on Sunday, as the 49ers take their 4-4 record on the road to face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium.
The 49ers have compiled a combined 23-4 record over the final nine games of the previous three seasons.
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They enter the final half of the season a half-game behind the Arizona Cardinals (5-4) in the NFC West standings.
We summoned a blue-ribbon committee to come up with five 49ers to watch in this matchup against the Buccaneers, and here is the consensus:
Center Jake Brendel
The interior of the 49ers’ offensive line will face a major challenge on Sunday.
San Francisco 49ers
And Brendel will be in the middle of the action all day long when it comes to the team’s plan for coping with Buccaneers defensive tackle Vita Vea, an athletic and skilled 347-pounder.
“Vita Vea is one of a kind,” 49ers offensive line coach Chris Foerster said.
Brock knows he and the 49ers' offense will have their hands full with Vita Vea on Sunday 😬 pic.twitter.com/S7LsgwFu7k
— 49ers on NBCS (@NBCS49ers) November 7, 2024
Vea registered 30 tackles, five sacks and eight tackles behind the line of scrimmage in eight games this season.
Brendel will help guards Aaron Banks and Dominick Puni deal with Vea, and he must also have the 49ers’ O-line on the same page in order to deal with the variety of blitzes that the Buccaneers will dial up under coach Todd Bowles.
Safety Ji’Ayir Brown
Rookie safety Malik Mustapha sustained a calf injury in practice late in the week, creating a little uncertainty for the 49ers’ defensive backfield heading into this game.
Brown serves as the last line of defense for the 49ers, who cannot afford the kind of breakdowns they experienced late in their Week 8 game against the Dallas Cowboys.
Tampa Bay quarterback Baker Mayfield leads the NFL with 23 touchdown passes, but he also will give the defense some opportunities to make plays. He has nine interceptions in nine games.
Brown will be responsible for keeping everybody on the same page, while also looking to provide a takeaway in this game.
Defensive end Nick Bosa
The 49ers like to move Bosa around wherever they believe he can exploit a particular matchup.
Bosa might end up on the defense’s left side a lot more than usual in this game because of the challenge of going up against one of the NFL's top offensive tackles.
Tampa Bay left tackle Tristan Wirfs has not surrendered a sack or a quarterback pressure this season. He had success against Bosa last season.
If Bosa is not succeeding against Wirfs, he could see more action against right tackle Luke Goedeke. And if he lines up against Goedeke, Bosa likely will see a lot of double teams.
Bosa leads the 49ers with 4.5 sacks in eight games, and they need him to get after Mayfield in this game and force some mistakes through his pressure.
Quarterback Brock Purdy
Quarterback Brock Purdy knows this Buccaneers defense well. After all, he made his first career NFL start against Tampa Bay two years ago.
And while the players have changed, the scheme has not. Purdy said he knows he will face a wide variety of blitz packages and defensive coverages, so he has to be sharp with his execution on Sunday against Bowles’ defense.
“His defense is going to bring it and we’ve just got to be on top of our stuff and play our standard and compete for four quarters," Purdy said.
Brock on how Sunday's matchup with the Bucs will be different from his first career start against Tampa Bay two years ago pic.twitter.com/juOs9ls8Xl
— 49ers on NBCS (@NBCS49ers) November 7, 2024
Purdy can benefit from a couple of the team’s top offensive players returning to action, including wide receiver Jauan Jennings . . . and one running back in particular.
Running back Christian McCaffrey
This game marks the return of last year’s NFL Offensive Player of the Year.
McCaffrey returned to practice this week after missing the first eight games of the season due to bilateral Achilles tendinitis. He is on pace to step back into the action on Sunday.
CMC lookin’ spry 👏 pic.twitter.com/rX8Oy4fXW6
— 49ers on NBCS (@NBCS49ers) November 6, 2024
The 49ers have not suffered on the ground without McCaffrey. Jordan Mason and Isaac Guerendo have done a fine job on first and second downs.
But McCaffrey is a unique talent who has the ability in the passing game to beat man coverage with his well-refined route-running.
The 49ers’ problems in the red zone can easily be traced to McCaffrey’s absence up to this point in the season. The 49ers rank 28th in the NFL, scoring touchdowns on just 48.6 percent of their trips inside the opponents’ 20-yard line.
Last year, with McCaffrey, the 49ers led the league at 68 percent with McCaffrey scoring 18 touchdowns in the red zone.
It's no surprise that Brock's excited to have CMC back 🤝 pic.twitter.com/u9bHNwB5S0
— 49ers on NBCS (@NBCS49ers) November 7, 2024
All eyes will be on McCaffrey, as everyone waits to see how much coach Kyle Shanahan opts to feature him in his season debut.