Buccaneers vs. 49ers: Live Week 7 In-Game Thread and Comment Post for San Francisco

The San Francisco 49ers host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 7 at Levi’s Stadium. Niner Noise has your Week 7 thread and message board for the red and gold as they look to end a five-game losing streak.

The San Francisco 49ers host the 2-3 Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a Week 7 showdown at Levi’s Stadium.

San Francisco entered the contest riding a five-game losing streak, and last week’s 45-16 embarrassment at the hands of the Buffalo Bills shows all what is wrong with the Niners this season.

The 49ers’ run defense has been putrid, although Tampa Bay will be without its No. 1 running back Doug Martin, who is out with a hamstring injury.

On the flip side, San Francisco entered the contest without its own top tailback, Carlos Hyde, who is dealing with a shoulder issue. The Niners would platoon backup ball-carriers Shaun Draughn, Mike Davis, and DuJuan Harris, who was signed from the practice squad earlier this week.

At the center of much attention was quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Week 7 would mark his second-consecutive start, and he’d look to build on a handful of positives from a week ago.

Most importantly, could the Niners turn thing around at home this week?

Niner Noise has all your breakdowns and in-game updates for you. And please scroll down to the comments section to continue the discussion and engage in the participation.

First Quarter

San Francisco opened up on offense after a Tampa Bay deferment. And Kaepernick moved into the red-zone after back-to-back completions to tight end Vance McDonald and wide receiver Torrey Smith.

And the Niners found the end zone after a four-yard run by Davis.

How would the Niners’ problematic run defense respond to a Bucs team sans Martin?

Tampa Bay running back Jacquizz Rodgers managed to pick up substantial gains on his team’s opening drive. Not exactly surprising.

A key 4th-and-1 stop by San Francisco’s defense managed to keep the Buccaneers from moving into Niners territory, and Kaepernick took back over but the subsequent drive ended with a 3-and-out.

The Buccaneers took over at their own 11-yard line, and quarterback Jameis Winston had yet to throw a pass. And on his first attempt, second-year defensive end Arik Armstead took the quarterback down for a sack.

But a gaffe in coverage — thank you, defensive coordinator Jim O’Neil — led to a Mike Evans first-down reception for Tampa Bay. Although the Niners managed to hold and force a punt.

Harris was a main factor for San Francisco’s third offensive possession. And he helped move the ball towards midfield. And yet the 49ers’ drive stalled before it could reach into Tampa Bay territory, and Kaepernick was brought down for his first sack of the game.

Facing third down, Winston tried to force a pass into the defense. But linebacker Gerald Hodges managed to pick off a deflected pass for a Niners turnover, which set up San Francisco’s offense nicely within the red zone.

And Kaepernick managed to find Draughn on a broken play for a 49ers touchdown just before the first quarter came to a close.

Second Quarter

San Francisco’s defense tried to respond to open up the second half.

Rodgers managed to be a continuing theme for the Buccaneers offense. And yet the Niners showed why they’ve been able to play better at home over the past two seasons.

Still, overaggressive play-calling from O’Neil left plenty of holes within the 49ers secondary, and this put San Francisco’s red-zone defense into effect for the first time on the day.

And this led to a four-yard touchdown pass to Bucs wideout Mike Evans to make things 14-7 in favor of the Niners.

McDonald dropped a pass, common from Kaepernick, but the Niners quarterback managed to scramble for a key third-down pickup. A subsequent pass to rookie wideout Aaron Burbridge moved the 49ers offense into Tampa Bay territory.

But Kap ended up being picked off by defensive back Bradley McDougal, which was only the fourth interception Tampa Bay has had on the year. It was also Kaepernick’s first pick on the season.

Guess what, the 49ers run defense couldn’t hold as the Buccaneers rode their running game into the Niners 10-yard line.

Thankfully, a unsportsmanlike penalty pushed Tampa Bay back, and the Bucs settled for a field goal from rookie kicker Roberto Aguayo.

Kaepernick couldn’t connect with wide receiver Rod Streater, and Kap nearly tossed his second interception on as many drives. San Francisco was forced to punt for the third time so far.

Winston tried to drive Tampa Bay’s offense with two minutes left in the first half.

And Winston found wide receiver Russell Shepard for a go-ahead Buccaneers touchdown just before halftime.

Third Quarter

Tampa Bay started on offense to open up the second half. But a sack by linebacker Aaron Lynch on third down forced a punt, but a muffed return by Jeremy Kerley turned the ball right over to the Buccaneers.

Go figure.

So the Niners defense was right back to trying to hold the red zone and stop Rodgers and Tampa Bay’s dominant running game.

Fortunately, the Bucs had to settle for a mere 37-yard field goal from Aguayo.

San Francisco still only trailed by one score after what certainly seemed like a disaster at the time. But, as has been the trend for most of this season, third quarters were not particularly kind to the Niners.

So is it surprising another Kaepernick sack resulted in a fumble recovered by Tampa Bay’s defense?

Well, it did.

The 49ers’ third turnover led to the Buccaneers pushing into the red zone once more against an inept Niners run defense. And the lack of any San Francisco pass rush opened up the door for Winston to find Evans again for another Tampa Bay touchdown.

And despite taking up a bit more of the clock, the subsequent 49ers drive ended in yet another punt.

Keep this in mind — San Francisco has scored just 10 points in third quarters all season so far.

Then injuries started piling up for the 49ers. Armstead suffered a shoulder injury, linebacker Gerald Hodges went out, cornerback Rashard Robinson suffered an ankle injury and Aaron Lynch also came out with a painful-looking injury.

But if you wanted some more drama, at least Aguayo missed another field goal.

Fourth Quarter

The 49ers started off the fourth quarter with a near-lost fumble on a first-down conversion by tight end Garrett Celek, who lost the ball shortly after the catch.

At least Kaepernick was able to move the offense into the red zone to keep things competitive for San Francisco.

All that for a 28-yard field goal from kicker Phil Dawson.

Answered by a 44-yard rushing touchdown by running back Peyton Barber.

At this point, it’s almost just worth breaking down what’s being seen. Joshua Garnett gave up pressure, again, and Kaepernick fumbled and recovered. But San Francisco’s offense continued to sputter.

Tampa Bay merely had to run out the clock. The Bucs did, the 49ers fell to 1-6 and are easily the worst team in the NFL heading into Week 8.

Next: 5 49ers Matchups to Watch vs. Buccaneers

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