The
San Francisco 49ers (4-1) hosted the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-2) in what most people would deem a pretty even matchup. The 49ers quickly dispelled that as they jumped on the Bucs quick to get another impressive win under their new coach
Jim Harbaugh and refreshed quarterback
Alex Smith. The Bucs on the other hand are coming off of a impressive win over the
Indianapolis Colts, but seemed to have no answer today for the 49ers as a whole.
Tampa Bay started with the ball and went three and out and was forced to punt the ball to San Francisco. Smith (11/19, 170 yards, 3 TD’s) got the game going with his arm as he hit
Frank Gore (2 receptions, 18 yards) with a 6-yard pass. Smith then connected with Gore again on a 12-yard pass to keep the drive moving. Smith dropped back and connected with
Delanie Walker (2 receptions, 37 yards, 1 TD) for a 26-yard touchdown to make it 7-0 lead.
The Buccaneers started their next drive and
Josh Freeman (17/33, 187 yards, 2 Int’s) started the drive by hitting
Arrelious Benn (3 reception, 46 yards) with a 33-yard pass. Freeman then hit Preston Parker with his only catch of the game for 13-yards. The drive stalled and Connor Barth came on to kick a 24-yard field-goal to make it a 7-3 game.
The 49ers got the ball back and tried to get their offense moving again as they moved the ball 63-yards on this drive. Smith hit
Michael Crabtree (2 receptions, 36 yards) 21-yard pass as they moved the ball down the field. They then gave the ball to Gore (20 carries, 125 yards, 1 TD) who fumbled and
Mason Foster recovered the ball.
LeGarrette Blount (10 carries, 34 yards) opened the drive with a 2-yard run, but Freeman threw an interception on the next play that went back for a touchdown. Freeman tried to hit
Kellen Winslow and the ball was picked off by
Carlos Rogers who returned it 31-yards to give the 49ers a 14-3 lead.
The Bucs got the ball back after the turnover and touchdown and Freeman got the offense moving. Tampa Bay moved the ball 62-yards on this drive he connected with Winslow (5 receptions, 54 yards) and Benn for big gains. Freeman then threw another pass that was intercepted by the 49ers.
Chris Culliver picked off the Freeman pass and returned it 23-yards before being tackled.
San Fran took advantage of the turnover and good field position as they moved the ball 57-yards to score a touchdown. Gore did most of the damage on this drive as he had two big runs. He also finished the drive with a 2-yard run to give the 49ers a 21-3 lead with 10:29 left in the half.
Tampa struggled on their next drive as they went three and out, and was forced to punt the ball away to the 49ers. Gore opened the drive with a 6 and 21-yard run to get the 49ers in Tampa territory. The drive then stalled as Gore was pushed out of bounds before getting to the first down mark on a 6-yard run.
David Akers came in and made a 37-yard field-goal to make a 24-3 lead.
San Francisco got the ball to start the second half and Smith did most of the damage with his arm to move them down the field. Gore had a 14-yard run to open the drive, but Smith did the rest. Smith hit Crabtree with a 15-yard pass and later conneted with
Josh Morgan (5 receptions, 75 yards) with a 24-yard pass.
Vernon Davis (3 receptions, 39 yards, 2 TD’s) scored the touchdown to seal the deal as Smith hit him with a 23-yard pass over the middle.
The 49ers got the ball back with 7:02 left in the third and moved the ball 57-yards to set them up for a field-goal. Gore had a 19-yard run, and an 18-yard run to keep the drive going early. The 49ers then brought in
Kendall Hunter (9 carries, 65 yards) had a 14-yard gain. The drive then stalled and Akers came on to kick a 27- yard field-goal to make it a 34-3 lead.
Tampa’s next possession was a horrible as they fumbled the ball away after
Mike Williams (4 receptions, 28 yards) caught a pass and then fumbled.
Patrick Willis recovered the ball giving the 49ers another chance to score. The play was reviewed, but the call was upheld and once again the Bucs had another turnover.
Frisco had the ball and almost could do nothing with the turnover as they were only able to get 8-yards before attempting a field-goal. The Bucs got hit with a penalty to keep the drive going for the 49ers. On the next play Smith connected with Davis again for another touchdown, but this time it was just 14-yards. The score gave the 49ers a 41-3 lead to begin the fourth quarter.
Tampa had no answer as they could not get anything going the whole game. The 49ers got the ball back and brought in
Colin Kaepernick (3/3, 35 yards) to take over the offense. He passed the ball a couple of times to get first downs, but they relied on Hunter and
Anthony Dixon (2 carries, 4 yards, 1 TD) to run the clock out. Dixon finished the 90-yard, 11 play drive with a 1-yard run to make it a 48-3 lead with 3:48 left in the game.
The Bucs brought in their back-up
Josh Johnson who went 1 for 2 with 7-yards. The drive only went 14-yards before they punted the ball back the 49ers to end the game.
