SANTA CLARA — When we last left the 49ers before their bye week, they were unsuccessfully attempting to cover the best receiver on the other team.
CeeDee Lamb kept getting wide open and the Dallas Cowboys, trailing 27-10 entering the fourth quarter and 30-17 with 4:25 to play, somehow climbed into the game before falling 30-24.
The 49ers (4-4) won’t have the same problem Sunday when they visit the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-5). The Bucs don’t have either of their go-to targets for quarterback Baker Mayfield with Mike Evans sidelined with a hamstring strain and Chris Godwin out for the season with a dislocated ankle.
None of which prevented Mayfield from taking Tampa Bay downfield Monday night to tie the game 24-24 against the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium — the same Chiefs who had their way with the 49ers at Levi’s Stadium on Oct. 20.
The Bucs lost the coin toss, gave Patrick Mahomes the ball and, not surprisingly, lost 30-24. Tampa Bay has lost four of its last five, but all of the losses have been competitive.
“We’ve been in all these games,” Mayfield told reporters this week. “It’s not adding pressure to this team, but we need this one. NFC opponent at home, right before the bye week, to change this thing, change the momentum, turn it around. This is a huge one for us.”
The 49ers will likely be without Charvarius Ward, who is in Dallas with his family following the death of his daughter Amani, who would have turned 2 on Nov. 17. Ward, understandably, is on his own timetable to grieve. Assuming Ward does not play, the 49ers intend to carry on in a manner that honors him and his daughter’s memory.
“We’re praying for him. He’s going through a lot,” cornerback Isaac Yiadom said. “We’re going to try to make him proud and play like he would Sunday. We’ll play for him and his family.”
If Ward doesn’t play, Renardo Green or Yiadom would step in as the starter along with Deommodore Lenoir, and those two would play outside corner in the nickel with Lenoir going inside.
Even without Evans and Godwin, Mayfield’s competitive nature and skill as an anticipatory passer make the Bucs a challenge with Sterling Shephard, Trey Palmer and Ryan Miller.
Fred Warner (54) bats down a Baker Mayfield (6) pass in the 49ers’ 27-14 win over Tampa Bay last season. Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group
Mayfield, on his fourth team after being the first pick of the 2018 NFL Draft, has completed 71.4 percent of his passes (225-for-315), leads the NFL with 24 touchdown passes and is second in yardage with 2,389 yards. He has faced the 49ers in each of the last two seasons, with Carolina in 2022 and with Tampa Bay last season, and lost both times.
Although Mayfield has been prolific, he’s also thrown nine interceptions — the second most in the NFL.
“You look at the games, the ones we lost, there’s been turnover problems,” Mayfield said. “For me, the most important thing is winning. I’d rather have below-average stats and a lot of wins than what I’ve got right now.”
He’s seen enough of the 49ers the past two seasons to know what to expect Sunday.
“It starts up front,” Mayfield said. “(Nick) Bosa is an unbelievable player. Got to know where he’s at. They brought in Leonard Floyd. The way they rush the passer, they’re jetting upfield, that’s their system. Got to be able too protect and get the ball out.”
Mayfield, who missed practice Wednesday with a sore toe but expects to play, also talked up middle linebacker Fred Warner and the secondary as well.
In truth, the 49ers’ pass rush has could use some more juice. Their 20 sacks are 18th, and according to Pro Football Focus, their 68 pressures are ranked 22nd. Whether trade acquisition Khalil Davis can contribute at defensive tackle or if defensive end/tackle Yetur Gross-Matos is ready to be activated from injured reserve remains to be seen.
Bosa believes he is seeing progress.
“I think we’ve been ascending as a D-line and we hope to keep going,” Bosa said.
A relatively pressure-free environment puts pressure on the secondary, the corners in particular, to deal with Mayfield’s passing skill.
“He’s a competitor, and I like that,” Yiadom said. “I like his game. We have to win early on, because they’re at home and will have the crowd with them and they’ll have a desperate mentality.”
Of the 49ers’ 10 interceptions, only three are by corners — two by Lenoir and one by Green.
It would be Green’s first start, and the rookie third-round pick from Florida State said he expects to have supporters in the stands.
The highest graded rookie by Pro Football Focus in Week 8, Green has gradually received more playing time and had a key interception in the 49ers’ win over Seattle when Ward was out injured.
“I’m just playing football, doing what I’ve been doing or 20 years,” Green said. “I just knew I’d be out there somehow, some way and I prepared for that moment.”
Nick Sorensen, the the 49ers defensive coordinator, said Green “is consistently staying on guys and being sticky.”