The San Francisco 49ers just spent a week away from the football field. Now they go to the warm beaches of Tampa Bay for business.
The 49ers will face the Buccaneers in the regular season for the third year in a row. The first iteration was Brock Purdy’s coming out party. San Francisco upset Tom Brady 35-7 in that game as the legend of Purdy was born.
Last year’s game was less dramatic and more of a full-circle moment for the Niners’ signal-caller, who once again defeated the Bucs. That was a 27-14 victory, with Purdy throwing for three scores and the defense holding the Bucs to 66 rushing yards.
Purdy and company will look for a third straight win against Tampa on Sunday. This year they have the residual advantage for once. While on their bye week, the Bucs were in Kansas City taking the Chiefs to overtime on Monday Night Football.
The NFC West is completely up for grabs, so stealing a game from a group of Pirates is paramount. Here are three big things I’m looking forward to in week 10.
The return of Christian McCaffrey
The 49ers were relatively quiet this past week at the NFL Trade Deadline compared to previous years under John Lynch. Maybe that’s because the addition of McCaffrey is the best deal in the NFL this November. The 49ers will officially activate CMC from injured reserve on Saturday and he is officially listed as questionable, but all signs point to him making his season debut in Tampa.
The reigning offensive player of the year has been struggling with bilateral Achilles tendonitis since training camp. Jordan Mason and rookie Isaac Guerendo have kept the backfield in check in his absence, but this offense is about to get a big jolt with their best player returning. The whole team is excited to get him back.
“It’s great. That’s 2-3 like [Michael] Jordan,” Fred Warner said. ‘He’s the man. Reigning Offensive Player of the Year. One of the best players and people I have ever experienced.
The biggest improvement that will result from CMC’s returns is in the red zone. The 49ers have a 48.57 touchdown percentage inside the 20, ranking 28th in the NFL. CMC powered this 49ers offense with 21 all-purpose touchdowns in 2023.
2) Relax
Kyle Shanahan teams have a history of dominating after some rest. In their last five seasons, the 49ers are 36-13 after the bye week. This season started slower than this team would have liked. They lost ugly games to the Vikings, Rams, Cardinals and Chiefs.
Warner has been in this situation before with San Francisco. He knows the team is capable of a big run.
“I hope we win more before the bye too,” he said. “For some reason we like to make things difficult for ourselves, you know. There’s something about playing desperately that makes you play a little bit better, I think.”
The schedule is not easy for the rest. Six of their eight remaining games are against teams that are .500 or better. They will have three more division games to try to differentiate themselves from the rest of the West. Hopefully they have had their holiday, because this team does not hope to make another trip for Leisure until mid-February.
3) Cursing
It’s only fitting to cast a curse as you journey to the land of pirates and sunken loot. The Niners have felt the “Madden Curse” applied to Christian McCaffrey gracing the cover of the video game Madden 25. The curse refers to several Madden cover athletes who become injured, left in the lurch for years or, in the case of Barry Sanders, unexpectedly retire.
While San Francisco fans are hopeful they can undermine that myth, the curse of Tom Brady could be very real. As Cam Inman of the Bay Area News Group noted on social media, the 49ers are 0-2 when the former quarterback is on the air this season.
Brady was in the box for the losses to the Cardinals and Chiefs. Does the ‘Brady curse’ really exist? He will play this game in a stadium where he won a Super Bowl with the Buccaneers and is revered by fans.
Statistic of the week
13 of 14.
That was Jake Moody’s record before the 49ers’ starting kicker was sidelined with an ankle sprain in a Week 5 loss to the Cardinals.
Moody returns to the field on Sunday after the Niners passed on two other kickers. Getting a reliable foot back on field goal units and special teams should be a huge boost.
Quote of the week
“He’s good to go unless something crazy happens on the plane ride.”
Kyle Shanahan said that of Christian McCaffrey. Tip to CMC, don’t eat the food. Wait for the Publix submarine upon arrival in Florida.
