PTAMPA, Fla. — Here is how the 49ers (5-4) graded in Sunday’s walk-off 23-20 win over the host Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-6):
PASS OFFENSE: A-
Brock Purdy and this unit delivered in the clutch for the first walk-off win of Purdy’s career –and Jake Moody’s. Granted 41 seconds to engineer a winning drive, Purdy completed all four of his passes — two apiece to Jauan Jennings and Ricky Pearsall — to set up Moody’s 44-yard field goal. Purdy acknowledged he struggled to find a rhythm early on like other games this season, but he rallied in the fourth quarter with some phenomenal plays, the highlights coming on a fourth-quarter drive with a 30-yarder to Christian McCaffrey and then an 11-yard, off-schedule touchdown toss to George Kittle. Ricky Pearsall’s first career touchdown — a 46-yard catch-and-run for a 7-0 lead — came with the impressive flair and determination befitting this first-round pick who is only 71 days removed from a death-defying shooting. Jennings’ impact (catching 7-of-11 targets, 93 yards) should not be understated in his return from a hip injury and two-game hiatus. Deebo Samuel had his moments (five catches, 64 yards; three carries, 14 yards) but his on-field confrontation with kicker Moody and long snapper Taybor Pepper wasn’t becoming of a team captain.
RUN OFFENSE: C-
McCaffrey’s season debut saw him dash for 5 yards on the 49ers’ first snap, and he impressively stayed in for 56-of-64 plays. He proved more productive as a receiver (six catches, 68 yards) than as a rusher (13 carries, 39 yards). “There’s a couple of things that maybe I didn’t feel like myself 100% but that’s normal when you haven’t played in a long time,” said McCaffrey, who emerged feeling “pretty good” after two-plus months battling Achilles tendinitis. Jordan Mason initially relieved McCaffrey then vanished after three snaps, presumably from aggravating his Oct. 10 shoulder sprain. Mason had only one carry (5 yards) and so did Isaac Guerendo, who was stopped for no gain and appeared to draw the ire of left tackle Trent Williams for perhaps missing a block on a red-zone sack of Purdy, who scrambled twice on the opening drive but none thereafter.
PASS DEFENSE: B
Baker Mayfield escaped sacks amid a fourth-down conversion but his final throw of the day fell incomplete, forcing the Bucs to settle for a tying field goal in the last minute. The 49ers did not have to face Mike Evans nor Chris Godwin, so Mayfield passed for just 116 yards, but he did toss a 9-yard touchdown to Rachaad White in the third quarter to spark Tampa Bay’s comeback. Nick Bosa visibly battled through a right hip injury from Wednesday’s practice, and he got to Mayfield for a fourth-quarter sack (and nearly another on that fourth-down completion). Charvarius Ward’s absence was felt in the wake of his daughter’s memorial service Friday, as Mayfield targeted Renardo Green before a toe injury forced him out. The 49ers had no interceptions or fumble recoveries.
RUN DEFENSE: F
This unit proved vulnerable once again, especially as the fourth quarter opened with rookie Bucky Irving zipping through for a 12-yard touchdown run. The 49ers allowed 73 yards to Irving (5.6 yards per carry) while White had 31 yards on 10 carries. Bosa, Fred Warner, Maliek Collins and De’Vondre Campbell each had a tackle for a loss. “First half, we stood up and played great defense. In the second half we came up short in some of those areas,” Warner said. “But to hold them at the end to a field goal and give our offense a chance to win, that’s as grimy as it’s going to get.”
SPECIAL TEAMS: D
Moody’s first career walk-off winner (44 yards) notoriously came after three misses, including a 44-yarder on the 49ers’ preceding series to prompt Samuel into a verbal and physical altercation with Moody and long snapper Pepper, who came to the second-year kicker’s defense in what could have been a much more damaging scene had the 49ers lost. The 49ers also liked Jacob Cowing’s mulligan as a punt returner: Darrell Luter was blocked into Cowing on a muffed return that led to the Bucs’ first touchdown in the third quarter, and Cowing responded with a career-long 30-yard return to set up Kittle’s fourth-quarter score. Ronnie Bell appeared to bobble the 49ers’ lone kick return en route to a 23-yard effort.
COACHING: C-
Kyle Shanahan’s locker-room speech, as posted at least in part by the 49ers, confirmed his praise for how they battled and how Moody showed tremendous mental fortitude. But this game was a microcosm of the 49ers’ rocky season with inconsistent production and mistakes from all three phases. When a player (Samuel) confronts a teammate (Moody, then Pepper) with time still on the clock, that can not happen. Shanahan can downplay that rift to reporters but it was the look of a disjointed team, not one that professes to have each other’s back. Players, coaches and team executives exited Raymond James Stadium with looks of both disbelief and relief that they escaped with a win over an undermanned underdog. Now the 49ers head home for a pivotal divisional game against the Seattle Seahawks, who are 4-5 and coming off their bye.
