SANTA CLARA – One-score games are all Alfred Collins and his fellow 49ers rookies know about the NFL, five tense games into their careers.
“I’m just happy we’re winning,” Collins said Tuesday. “We find ways to win, and in my opinion, that’s special.”
Both the 49ers and the Buccaneers enter Sunday’s game in Tampa Bay with 4-1 records, by virtue of one-score games each week to this point.
Collins helped seal Thursday night’s 26-23 win over the Los Angeles Rams by forcing and recovering a fumble at the 1-yard line with a minute left in regulation, then joined the gang tackle on a fourth-down stop that ended overtime.
“That’s something we struggled with last year, but that is what the NFL is: Most games are a one-score game,” fullback Kyle Juszczyk said.
Before last season’s 6-10 freefall, the 49ers were 5-5 with all five defeats within one score. The 49ers were 24-34 under Kyle Shanahan in one-score games until this season’s 4-1 reversal of fortune.
Ironically, their last one-score win last season was 23-20 at Tampa Bay. It came on Jake Moody’s 44-yard field goal as time expired in a Nov. 10 game, known more infamously for Moody’s initial three misses that incited a sideline confrontation between Deebo Samuel, Taybor Pepper and Moody.
The Bucs’ start this season is even more historic. Tampa Bay is the first team in NFL history to secure its first four wins on last-minute scores. Here is a week-by-week review:
WEEK 1
49ers 17, Seahawks 13
Nick Bosa made a last-minute strip-sack and fumble recovery at the 49ers’ 16-yard line to clinch the season-opening win in Seattle, but only after Jake Tonges’ go-ahead touchdown snare of Brock Purdy’s 4-yard Hail Mary with 1:34 left.
Bucs 23, Falcons 20
Baker Mayfield victoriously launched his stellar season when his third touchdown pass hit rookie Emeka Egbuka with 59 seconds remaining in this NFC South battle in Atlanta.
WEEK 2
49ers 26, Saints 21
Mac Jones made his 49ers debut starting in place of Purdy (toe) and delivered touchdown passes to Luke Farrell, Christian McCaffrey and, last but not least, Jauan Jennings. The Niners led throughout but required Bryce Huff’s 2.4-second strip sack on fourth down to halt the host Saints’ comeback bid in the final minute.
Bucs 20, Texans 19
Rachaad White’s two-yard touchdown run with six seconds remaining capped an 80-yard, two-minute drill, which was kept alive by a fourth-and-10 scramble from Mayfield in Houston.
WEEK 3
49ers 16, Cardinals 15
Eddy Piñeiro, in his second game since replacing the embattled Jake Moody, made a 35-yard field goal as time expired for a home-opening celebration. With Jones making an encore start, McCaffrey got targeted 15 times (10 receptions, 88 yards) and also ran for 52 yards.
Bucs 29, Jets 27
Chase McLaughlin’s fifth field goal of the game came from 36 yards as time expired to salvage a home win. The Bucs entered the fourth quarter up 23-6 only to fall behind with 1:49 remaining when the Jets returned a blocked field goal for a touchdown.
WEEK 4
Jaguars 26, 49ers 21
Purdy not only flopped in his return (two interceptions, last-drive fumble) but he aggravated his right big toe on a scramble. Jacksonville won for the first time in three visits, taking a 7-3 lead on Travis Etienne’s 48-yard touchdown run immediately following a Luke Farrell fumble.
Eagles 31, Bucs 25
The reigning Super Bowl champs came into Tampa and led 24-3 before McLaughlin nailed a 65-yard field goal as the first half expired. Mayfield’s third-quarter touchdowns to Emeka Egbuka (77 yards) and Bucky Irving (72 yards), then another McLaughlin boot (58 yards) made it 31-23, but Mayfield threw his lone interception through 172 attempts this season and the Eagles intentionally yielded a safety to end their Tampa tour.
bottom middle right, during the second half of an NFL football game, Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez) A.P. Photo
WEEK 5
49ers 26, Rams 23 (OT)
The 49ers won an overtime game on a fourth-down stop for the first time ever (in 51 overtimes), and that came when Chase Lucas, Marques Sigle, Deommodore Lenoir, Fred Warner and Alfred Collins gang tackled Kyren Williams for no gain at the 49ers’ 11-yard line. Collins also forced and recovered a Williams’ fumble at the 1 with 1:05 left in regulation. The offense was led by Jones (342 yards, two touchdowns, three bananas for cramps), McCaffrey (over 100 total yards for the fifth straight game), and Kendrick Bourne (10 catches, 142 yards).
Bucs 38, Seahawks 35
This shootout in Seattle ended on a 39-yard field goal by McLaughlin, who six years earlier missed an overtime field goal against Seattle to spoil the 49ers’ undefeated (8-0) start. Mayfield (29-of-33, 379 yards, two touchdowns) and Sam Darnold (28-of-34, 341 yards, four touchdowns) became the first quarterbacks in a game to each pass for 325 yards and complete over 80% of their passes.
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OVERTIME HISTORY
Never in 49ers history had they won an overtime game like last Thursday’s: a fourth-down stop by their defense.
Field goals decided most of their previous 50 overtime games, but victories otherwise have a special spot in team lore.
They’ve won on a touchdown run: Garrison Hearst’s 96-yard sprint in the 1998 opener against the Jets.
They’ve twice won on a touchdown catch: Terrell Owens’ 52-yarder from Jeff Garcia in a 2001 visit to Atlanta, and Torry Smith’s 71-yarder from Blaine Gabbert in a 2015 Chicago trip.
They’ve even won with a defensive touchdown: Tully Banta-Cain’s fumble recovery in the end zone on Ron Fields’ strip sack of Kurt Warner in 2007 at Arizona.
Overall, the 49ers are 27-22-2 in overtime games. Opponents have won on six walk-off touchdowns, including on a pick-six of Garcia in Chicago, two runs, and three receptions, the last of which was their Super Bowl LVIII crusher two seasons ago against Kansas City.