Same Mistakes Nearly Doom San Francisco 49ers In Win Over ...

Brock Purdy's performance led directly to San Francisco 49ers latest win. (Photo by Mike ... [+] Ehrmann/Getty Images)

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Kyle Shanahan’s expression said it all as Sunday’s game for the San Francisco 49ers against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers came to a conclusion. After Jake Moody nailed a game-winning field goal with time expiring, the 49ers head coach did not have a look that suggested they came out on top.

There’s a reason for this. San Francisco played some ugly football despite coming away with the narrow 23-20 win. Mistakes that represented the first eight games ahead of last week’s bye were prevalent once again.

Moody missed three field goals. A botched punt return led directly to one of two Bucccaneers touchdowns in a game that shouldn’t have been close.

Equally as frustrating as their special teams issues, penalties and mistakes were the name of the game on both sides of the ball. That included two 15-yard penalties on San Francisco’s defense as Tampa Bay marched down the field for a game-tying field goal late in the fourth quarter.

Despite all of this, the 49ers relied on Brock Purdy to do his thing in what was a must-win game for Shanahan’s squad. Here, I look at some takeaways from Sunday’s game.

Deebo Samuel’s Frustration Told Us A Story

Deebo Samuel was clearly frustrated over more special teams issues on Sunday. (Photo by Mike ... [+] Ehrmann/Getty Images)

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With the 49ers up 20-17 in the fourth quarter, Moody missed his third field goal of the game. It was of a 50-yard variety. But it did not even come close to making it between the goal posts.

A good kick would have given San Francisco a six-point lead. Instead, the Bucs were able to tie it up on their next possession with a field goal. All the while, Samuel was absolutely heated on the sideline. He went after both long snapper Taybor Pepper and Moody. It was an ugly scene.

Shanahan attempted to down play it a bit after the game.

“I didn’t see any of it so I don’t know how bad it was,” the head coach told reporters. “It’s something I’m not too worried about. We’ll fix it. If it hasn’t been fixed already, we’ll fix it on the plane and go back to loving each other tomorrow.”

For his part, Samuel indicated after the win that he was “frustrated” and it was in the “heat of the battle.”

It’s one thing to be frustrated. It’s completely other thing to go after a teammate in that manner. It’s not something we’ve seen from the 49ers under Shanahan.

Christian McCaffrey’s Return For the San Francisco 49ers

Christian McCaffrey had over 100 total yards in his return for the San Francisco 49ers. (Photo by ... [+] Kevin Sabitus/Getty Images)

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The reigning NFL Offensive Player of the Year made his season debut after missing the first eight games with an Achilles’ injury. From a pure snap count, he was not limited as all.

As for what we saw from McCaffrey, his involvement came more in the passing game. The running back tallied a mere 39 yards on 13 attempts. His long came via a 13-yard scamper. McCaffrey did record six receptions for 68 yards on seven targets.

It’s no surprise that McCaffrey struggled to an extent on the ground. He had not seen live-game action since February’s Super Bowl. Expect him to be more on his game moving forward. However, the addition to San Francisco’s passing attack proved large in this one.

Special Teams Mistakes For San Francisco 49ers Again

Jake Moody missed three of his six field goal attempts on Sunday. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty ... [+] Images)

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This is the worst special teams unit in the NFL. It’s not necessarily even that close. We’ve seen it throughout the entire season. A lack of containment on kick and punt returns. Turning it over with some dumb mistakes.

Sunday’s game was no different. Making his first appearance since back in Week 5, Jake Moody missed three of his six field goal attempts. The misses came from 49, 50 and 44 yards, respectively.

Sure, Moody did nail the game-winning 44-yard field goal. But leaving nine points on the board just is not acceptable.

Speaking of unacceptable, a muffed punt from rookie Jacob Cowing early in the second half changed the trajectory of the game. San Francisco’s defense had forced a three-and-out to open things up, potentially giving the team momentum.

Instead, Tampa Bay got the ball right back. Baker Mayfield and Co. drove the ball down the field 21 yards on four plays, culminating in a game-tying touchdown.

In reality, San Francisco’s special teams cost it 16 points in a game that shouldn’t have been as close as the final score indicated. That’s just not acceptable. Period.

Brock Purdy Shines For San Francisco 49ers

Brock Purdy was tremendous for the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday. (Photo by Kevin Sabitus/Getty ... [+] Images)

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Purdy pretty much won San Francisco this game. The third-year quarterback was methodical throughout the game. He put his receivers in position to rack of a huge number of yards after the catch.

Purdy handled pressure well. He found lanes to throw through. Some were absolutely tight windows. It might have been Purdy’s best performance of the season.

In the end, Purdy completed 25-of-36 passes for 353 yards with two touchdowns and zero interceptions. He completely outplayed Baker Mayfield. It’s certainly a good way to come out of the bye with a stretch of difficult games looming.

Other Notes From San Francisco 49ers’ Ugly Win Nick Bosa did have a sack of Mayfield in the second half. But he went three quarters without even putting a single pressure on the quarterback. That was glaring with Buccaneers left tackle Tristan Wirfs having left early to injury. Late in the fourth quarter, Bosa seemingly had Mayfield wrapped up for a sack. But the quarterback avoided it. He converted on third down. It was a brilliant play from Mayfield. However, it was a representation of Bosa struggling coming out of the bye. Rookie first-round pick Ricky Pearsall had the best game of his career on Sunday. He opened the scoring with an amazing 46-yard touchdown catch. It was great to see after Pearsall had to make his way back from being the victim of a shooting in San Francisco back in August. It was also a representation of what the 49ers liked when they drafted him in the first round. All said, Pearsall caught four passes for 73 yards in the win. Jauan Jennings returned from his two-game absence on Sunday and continued where he left off. The underrated receiver caught seven of his 11 targets for 93 yards. He came up absolutely huge on third down multiple times. With Brandon Aiyuk sidelined for the season, Jennings will have to continue playing at this level. San Francisco should have confidence that this will happen. San Francisco entered Week 10 ranked 28th in the NFL in red-zone success rate (touchdowns only). It has been a major problem all season long. Sure, Moody missing field goals doesn’t help. But you want to be able to come away with six pretty much every time. That did not happen on Sunday. The 49ers converted three red-zone trips into just one touchdown. This is not a recipe for success. Next up: The San Francisco 49ers host the Seattle Seahawks in a divisional matchup next Sunday.