49ers sink Buccaneers: Quick takeaways

The San Francisco 49ers kept the train moving on Sunday by beating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 27-14. It wasn't a perfect game by the 49ers, but they dominated for the most part. And with a loss by the Seattle Seahawks, the 49ers are now back in sole possession of first place in the NFC West. A win in Seattle on Thanksgiving night can put a little more space between the two teams.

There were a lot of things that stood out in this game. Brock Purdy was exceptional. Brandon Aiyuk was unguardable. Fred Warner was disruptive. Here are my live reactions and takeaways:

• There are still too many mistakes being made on special teams. The punt return they gave up in the fourth quarter was especially bad.
• Nice start by the 49ers' defense. They were good for most of the game. They bent a little more than I preferred to see, but they did a good job keeping Tampa from scoring too much.
• Christian McCaffrey started a new touchdown streak. He's such a valuable weapon.
• The 49ers defense and screen passes. Not my favorite duo.

• Did Baker Mayfield really block Nick Bosa?
• Did Baker Mayfield really fumble the ball back to the 49ers? Yes, he did.
• It's really nice having a pass rush again. The 49ers sacked Mayfield four times. Chase Young was one of those.
• I did not like letting the Buccaneers score right before halftime. But the 49ers did respond with a field goal.
• Speaking of which, it's good to see Jake Moody making his kicks. The more kicks he makes, the better his confidence will be moving into the postseason.
• Charvarius Ward was really good on Sunday.
• All Purdy does is dink and dunk. Sure. Such a beautiful throw to Aiyuk on the 76-yard touchdown.

• Is Aiyuk elite? Seems like it to me. Five catches, 156 yards, one touchdown, and 31.2 yards per reception. That's elite.
• This wasn't Talanoa Hufanga's best game. I hated to see him go down, though. When I saw the play, I immediately was concerned about his knee. Unfortunately, it sounds like he could be lost for the season.

• Warner is so special. He makes huge plays each week. How many turnovers has he forced this season?
• Dre Greenlaw needs to hit the jugs machine.

• Go ahead and keep blitzing Purdy. We don't mind.

• Wow, Purdy is so good. He makes things look so easy.

• There were too many penalties for the 49ers in this game. That's one area they need to clean up.
• Warner hits anything that moves. He's so physical. He and Greenlaw don't tackle people, they obliterate them.
• What a gutsy call by Steve Wilks to bring Isaiah Oliver on a blitz and leave Ji'Ayir Brown one-on-one with Mike Evans. It worked. But it was scary.
• The two 3-and-outs by the 49ers offense didn't help out a tired defense. And I would like to have seen them close out the game with the ball instead of making their defense go back out there.
• The 49ers offensive line gave up five sacks. And they didn't do a great job in run blocking in the second half either.
• Brown replaced Hufanga and after giving up a big pass play, came up big late in the game with a few huge plays. including the game-sealing interception.

• George Kittle is back. That's about four good games in a row. On Sunday, he had eight catches for 89 yards and a touchdown.
• The offense as a whole was just so good. Deebo Samuel had a good game. Elijah Mitchell gained six yards per carry. And Purdy did a great job of spreading the ball around.
• Arik Armstead has been great lately. I don't know if it's the addition of Young, but he's been playing much better lately. Not that he wasn't playing well before.
• Purdy finished the game with a perfect 158.3 QB rating. That's the first time a 49ers QB has finished with a perfect rating since 1989. It was actually done twice that season. Once by Joe Montana. Once by Steve Young. I'm not sure how QB ratings are formulated, but if Purdy does things Montana and Young did, that's good enough for me.
• How good has Purdy been in the past two games? According to OptaSTATS, his passer rating over the last two starts is an astonishing 157.3. That's the highest for a two-game stretch since 1950 when this stat started being tracked.

It's a short week, as the 49ers prepare to go to Seattle to play the Seahawks. Maybe the 49ers can win the game and eat turkey on their 50-yard line this time. Happy Thanksgiving, 49ers fans.

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