If at first — or second, or third — you don’t succeed, try, try again. San Francisco’s Jake Moody missed three field goals Sunday afternoon against Tampa Bay, but made one that he needed to — a 44-yard game-winner as time expired to kick San Francisco to a 23-20 victory. It wasn’t pretty, but it kept San Francisco in the playoff hunt … even though it’s clear the 49ers have substantial locker room problems.
Moody also made three field goals on the afternoon, but after the third of three misses, teammate Deebo Samuel confronted him — not the kind of thing you see in a smoothly-functioning team.
San Francisco’s first score on the afternoon was an auspicious one — the career-debut touchdown for Ricky Pearsall, the wide receiver and first-round draft pick shot in an apparent offseason robbery gone wrong. Pearsall’s acrobatic 46-yard touchdown led most early-afternoon highlight packages, and with good reason:
On the 49ers’ next possession, George Kittle used a little magic of his own to reel in a Brock Purdy pass:
That possession stalled out in the red zone, and San Francisco added a field goal to take a 10-0 lead.
The usually prolific but currently injury-laden Bucs offense didn’t even cross midfield until halfway through the 2nd quarter. Quarterback Baker Mayfield could only lead Tampa Bay to one anemic field goal in the first half, putting the score at 10-3.
But the Bucs found a touch of mojo in the third quarter. Tampa Bay flipped a 49er muffed punt into a touchdown, a short nine-yard pass to Rachaad White that tied the game at 10. San Francisco retook the lead with a 33-yard field goal, but Mayfield led the Bucs on a deliberate 10-play, 70-yard drive that ended with a 12-yard Bucky Irving touchdown run to earn a brief 17-13 lead.
Christian McCaffrey returned for his first game of the season, and his signature moment of the afternoon came with just under nine minutes left in the game. Purdy lofted a moon-shot pass that arced straight down into the hands of McCaffrey, who turned it into a 30-yard gain.
Later in the drive, Purdy found Kittle in the corner of the end zone for a nifty 11-yard toe-tap touchdown that put the 49ers back ahead, 20-17. San Francisco smothered Tampa Bay into a net minus-13 three-and-out, but Moody missed a 44-yard field goal, his third miss on the afternoon.
That was enough for Deebo Samuel to confront Moody as he came off the field; Moody’s long snapper, Taylor Pepper, intervened on Moody’s behalf and got in Samuel’s face.
Tampa Bay hadn’t been able to capitalize on the previous two misses, but this one gave the Bucs an opportunity to force overtime late in the 4th.
On their final, desperation drive, Mayfield outran Nick Bosa on an all-or-nothing fourth-and-7 to complete a pass to White, and the Bucs rode multiple 49er penalties to a game-tying field goal. But the 49ers were able to drive 39 yards in 41 seconds, enough for Moody to get in position to kick what must have been the most nerve-wracking field goal of his life.