After a wild road win in Seattle in Week Five, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers return home in Week Six for their third consecutive game against a fellow divisional leader. In this case, it's the San Francisco 49ers, who like the Buccaneers are tied for the NFL's best record at 4-1. After the NFL flexed the matchup to the late afternoon time slot to give it a larger audience, the Bucs and Niners will kick off at 4:25 p.m. ET on Sunday, October 12 at Raymond James Stadium.
The Buccaneers got to 4-1 on a walk-off 39-yard field goal by Chase McLaughlin in a 38-35 shootout that saw seven second-half touchdowns and three separate tied scores after halftime. Tampa Bay became the first team ever to win four games by three or fewer points in the first five weeks of a season, and each of the four wins has been secured by a score in the final minute of regulation. Baker Mayfield threw for 379 yards and two touchdowns while completing a remarkable 29 of 33 passes, and rookie wideout Emeka Egbuka continued his rapid rise to stardom with seven catches for 163 yards. Mayfield has guided the Buccaneers' offense through a maze of injuries and has a 10-1 touchdown-interception ratio and a 104.4 passer rating.
The 49ers, who have defeated the Buccaneers in each of the last three seasons, will counter with a defense that is tied for eighth in points allowed, at 19.6 per game and is led by one of the NFL's premier linebackers in Fred Wagner, who already has 50 tackles, three passes defensed, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery. San Francisco did lose its top edge rusher, Nick Bosa, to a torn ACL in Week Three, but late trade acquisition Bryce Huff has come on strong with 3.0 sacks. Quarterback Brock Purdy, who has thrown seven touchdown passes and no interceptions in three career starts against the Bucs, has missed three of the team's last four games due to a toe injury but former first-round pick Mac Jones has kept the 49ers' fifth-ranked defense humming and has won each of his three starts. Of course, he gets a lot of help from running back Christian McCaffrey, who has not only run for 282 yards but has caught 39 passes for 387 yards and three touchdowns.
The Bucs and 49ers are two of the four 4-1 teams in the NFC, and both are all alone in first place in their divisions after their Week Five victories. San Francisco is coming off a down-to-the-wire 26-23 win over the L.A. Rams and, like Tampa Bay's last opponent, will be working on extra rest after playing on Thursday night in Week Five. For the Buccaneers, the gauntlet of first-place battles continues after consecutive games against Philadelphia and Seattle, with a trip to Detroit also looming in Week Seven.
