Bucks vs. 49ers
when: Sunday, November 10, 2024 | where: Raymond James Stadium – (Tampa, Florida) | Expedia kick off: 1:00 PM ET | tv set: fox
Play by play: Kevin Burkhardt Analyst: Tom Brady | Side job: Erin Andrews & Tom Rinaldi
wireless: 98 Rock 97.9FM | Play by play: Gene Deckerhoff Analyst: Dave Moore | Side job: TJ Rives
As game day approaches, it’s time for the Pewter Report staff to make their weekly game predictions and provide game previews for this week’s matchups. Let us know what you think in the comment section of the article. Please also add your predictions.
Scott Reynolds: Kyle Shanahan outs Coach Todd Bowles
Bucks HC Todd Bowles and 49ers HC Kyle Shanahan – Photo courtesy of USA Today
Todd Bowles certainly started the season by beating some well-coached teams, picking up wins against Dan Quinn’s Washington Commanders and Dan Campbell’s Detroit Lions. But those wins and the team’s 2-0 start seem light-years away from the current 4-5 Bucks, right? Since then, Bowles has gone on to become one of Denver’s Sean Payton, Baltimore’s He has been coached by John Harbaugh, offensive coordinator Todd Monken and, most recently, Andy Reid in Kansas City. Even Atlanta’s Raheem Morris and rookie play-caller Zach Robinson beat Bowles and the Bucs.
Kyle Shanahan is 2-0 in bowl games, and San Francisco has outscored Tampa Bay 62-21 over the past two years. I think that trend will continue. The Bucks have given up 30 or more points in each of their past four losses. In all four of the 49ers’ wins, the team has scored 30 or more points. This trend certainly seems to favor San Francisco.
The Bucks certainly have a chance. But it wasn’t enough for Kansas City to have a plus-one turnover margin, so they have to play perfectly on offense and win with a turnover margin of two. Unfortunately, Tampa Bay falls to 4-6 heading into the bye week and I think the team’s losing streak will extend to four games as Bowles doesn’t have the right answers to solve the team’s problems defensively.
Reynolds game prediction: 49ers 30, Bucs 23
Reynolds season record: 5 wins, 4 losses.
Matt Matera: Bucks find a way to surprise everyone and win
Bucks TE Cade Otton – Photo courtesy of USA Today
The Bucks’ offense has played well enough that Mike Evans and Chris Godwin wouldn’t benefit from at least one win in a difficult matchup. There are reasons for the 49ers’ lack of consistency, and most of it is on defense due to player injuries. Tampa Bay has been dealing with injuries of its own, but has found a way to score. Every week they have to rely on their running game and this time is no exception. Bucky Irving, Rathard White and Sean Tucker will have even more success this time around than they did last week.
Perhaps the biggest question for the Bucs is how they will fare in the passing game outside of tight end Cade Otton. It would be great if they could get another big game from him, but I can’t say with confidence that he will, as San Francisco linebacker Fred Warner will likely be guarding him. Sterling Shepard came alive on the final push. He’s going to have to find a way to utilize that throughout the game.
There’s a good chance the Bucks will get a lot of stops on defense. I think it was an advantage to line up with our own offense during training camp, and it has some similarities to the 49ers’ offense. For now, we have to hope and pray they can stop George Kittle and Deebo Samuel. Oh, and by the way, Christian McCaffrey returns at running back. The name of the game is stopping in the red zone. Maybe edge rusher comes back to life, Yaya Diaby gets sacked, or Vita Vea and Kaliyah Kanci continue to dominate. This game will depend heavily on the Bucs’ offense, but their defense may make a play that contributes to victory.
Matera Game Prediction: Bucks 30, 49ers 28
Matera’s season record: 5 wins, 4 losses
Bailey Adams: Bucks lose 4 straight heading into bye week
49ers QB Brock Purdy – Photo Credit: USA Today
This Bucks defense can’t be hung right now. Tampa Bay has allowed 36, 27, 41, 31 and 30 points in its last five games and is 1-4 in that stretch. The schedule will be lighter after the Week 11 bye, but the team must first face the defending NFC champion 49ers. And I don’t think this is a matchup that favors the Bucks in any way. Todd Bowles has been thoroughly coached by Kyle Shanahan in the past, and I doubt that will change come Sunday.
Even before I heard the news that running back Christian McCaffrey would be making his season debut on Sunday, I was already going to pick San Francisco to win this game. I’m not sure McCaffrey is quite like himself considering he hasn’t played all year yet, but he’s still another piece of this 49er offense and Tampa Bay has the answer. I don’t think so. I expect George Kittle to continue his trend of using this defense against tight ends, and I think Brock Purdy will maintain Bowles’ advantage over the Bucs.
Once again, I don’t think the Buccaneers’ offense will lose this time. Liam Cohen’s team scored 24 points in back-to-back games without its top weapons in Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, with Evans expected to return after a bye. I think Baker Mayfield, Cade Otton, and Tampa Bay’s run game will be enough to keep the team in this game, but I don’t think this game will be a stepping stone for the Bucks toward a bye. In fact, I think this will serve as a springboard for the 49ers to go 5-4 and go straight down the stretch.
Adams game prediction: 49ers 33, Bucs 24
Adams’ season record: 5 wins, 4 losses.
Josh Quaipo: Bucks bloodshed continues with 4-game losing streak
Bucks ILB Devin White and 49ers RB Christian McCaffrey – Photo courtesy of USA Today
I tried Bucks fans. I tried to lead this team to a win last week in Kansas City. But it was no use. There were some good points on defense. Linebacker JJ Russell looked like a legitimate upgrade over KJ Britt when it comes to passing downs. However, the Bucs continue to struggle to find a suitable replacement for Zion McCollum’s counterpart, Jamel Dean. And the 49ers’ offense, with Kyle Shanahan and the returning Christian McCaffrey, will continue to find ways to utilize Tampa Bay’s defense.
If the Bucs have their top two receivers, I might be led to believe they can win a shootout against a 49ers defense that hasn’t been as dominant as they have been in years past. But Chris Godwin and Mike Evans aren’t there to help this week.
And despite the best efforts of Tampa Bay offensive coordinator Liam Cohen and the valiant efforts of the offensive line and Baker Mayfield, head coach Todd Bowles repeatedly refuses to lean into the offense. I’ve done it. Exhibit A was a failed two-point conversion last week against Kansas City. I doubt that will change this week.
Quipo’s game prediction: 49ers 27, Bucs 24
Quaipo season record: 4-5
Adam Slivon: Bucks’ slide continues with loss to 49ers and bye week
Bucs QB Baker Mayfield and 49ers QB Brock Purdy – Photo courtesy of USA Today
Let me preface my predictions by saying there is a path for the Bucks to win on Sunday. As Matt Matera and I outlined on Thursday’s Pewter Report Podcast. Boasting a top-5 offense, what the defense must do not allowed They have earned 30 points in four of their last five games. That would improve the outlook for a team that enters the bye week at 5-5 with the league’s easiest schedule. But judging by the way Tampa Bay is playing, it’s not enough to suggest they can upset a still-dangerous 49ers team. San Francisco has had Todd Bowles’ jersey number in the last two matchups, in 2022 and 2023. For the first time ever, Brock Purdy had a blitz game in his first career NFL start. Last year, the Bucks hung on until the 49ers pulled away and won 27-14.
Purdy’s squad remains a well-rounded machine, with hopes that their best offensive player will return in Christian McCaffrey, who has yet to play a game this year. Kyle Shanahan has run an elite rushing offense with Jordan Mason and Isaac Guerendo, but a healthy McCaffrey is on another level and another weapon the defense should have. Deebo Samuel remains a versatile threat, while George Kittle had another elite season. The Bucks held two walk-through practices this week to get some rest after a tough Monday night game. This is a double-edged sword, as he can’t respond to his opponent’s physicality and can look slow in the early going.
Baker Mayfield will have a tough matchup against a defense that features Nick Bosa and Fred Warner. Moving the ball won’t be easy, and Warner’s elite coverage skills could limit Cade Otton’s success in the midfield. The run game will have to be a more important factor than it was last week, while the wide receiver corps will have to stay in the lineup for one more game before Mike Evans’ likely return. The offense has shown the ability to produce a lot of points, but it wasn’t enough to win this game.
Slivon’s game prediction: 49ers 31, Bucs 24
Srivon’s season record: 5 wins, 4 losses
