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Will the 49ers Pillage Brady and the Bucs?

The 49ers appear to have the advantage at nearly every position group, besides the quarterback.

If there ever were a modern day version of David versus Goliath, this has to be it. 

The Brock Purdy hype is so wild right now that it might even have you thinking that Tom Brady is the David in this scenario, instead if the Goliath that his 22-plus year Hall of Fame career has proven him to be. I mean, Brady was late 6th round pick and Purdy was late 7th round pick -- the latest. I'm seeing comparisons from Nick Mullens to Taylor Heinicke to Drew Brees to even Joe freaking Montana! 

I was very impressed with Purdy's performance against the Dolphins, but we've seen this movie before, in which a backup quarterback flashes initially, only to fall back to earth once defenses are able to create a game plan to take away his strengths and exploit his weaknesses. It's also possible that building rapport with the 49ers elite weapons and practicing versus their No. 1 defense could actually cause Purdy to play even better. Big advantage for the Bucs.

That said, quarterbacks don't face one another directly. In all actuality, they play against each others' defenses. To me, this game will come down to the trenches, just like last week against the Dolphins was "A Tale of Two Armsteads". 

Each defensive line has their own Goliath. The Bucs defensive tackle Vita Vea might be the best interior defensive lineman in all of football. He is questionable with a shoulder and a foot injury. Nick Bosa has a strong case for DPOY this season and has been the best Edge player this season. 

In case you're a sacks-don't-tell-the-whole-story kind of person, then take a look below and please keep in mind that Bosa is a beast against the run as well:

Tristan Wirfs is out and left tackle Donovan Smith leads the the league in holding calls.  Hopefully the Refs won't ignore holds on Bosa, as they often do.

Akeem Hicks is no slouch in the interior of the Bucs defensive line. Vea and Hicks are a big concern for me, as center Jake Brendel is not very good, right guard Spencer Burford has a lateral ankle sprain -- limited practice on Wednesday -- that may hamper him if he even plays, and left guard Aaron Banks has struggled against the Saints defensive line and the Dolphins defensive line in back to back games. Joe Tryon-Shoyinka is an up and coming Edge player who could be trouble for right tackle Mike McGlinchey. The 49ers offensive line will need to step up its play if we don't want to see Josh Johnson taking snaps at quarterback.

The 49ers were understandably excited to get Arik Armstead back against the Dolphins, but losing Hassan Ridgeway tempered that excitement quite a bit for me. Still, the Bucs will be without center Ryan Jensen. Edges Samson Ebukam and Charles Omenhu have both been having great seasons. Slight advantage for the 49ers in the trenches.

Both teams have elite linebackers, but Dre Greenlaw is arguably playing the best of any linebacker the league right now. The speed and violence that he plays with are unmatched. Fred Warner is by far the best at coverage in the middle of the field. Lavonte David and Devin White are both ridiculously good though. Even if you somehow thought it was close, then Azeez Al-Shaair is the easy tie breaker. Advantage for the 49ers

In the secondary, the Bucs have some really good players. Jamel Dean is a tall and very athletic cornerback. Carlton Davis III is a solid corner. Antoine Winfield Jr is a star safety, but he is questionable with an ankle injury. The Bucs other safety Mike Edwards is questionable with a hamstring. Both Bucs safeties missed practice on Wednesday. Cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting is questionable with quad injury.

The 49ers secondary still misses Emmanuel Moseley, but at least Jimmie Ward is playing better now that he has the club off of his hand and is in game shape. Tayshaun Gipson isn't great, but he usually does enough. Deommodore Lenoir has been improving, but his coverage still has a ways to go. Charvarius Ward has gotten burned in the Chiefs game and the Dolphins game, but not much other than that and he is arguably the best tackling cornerback in football. Talanoa Hufanga has been a revelation and he seems to be due for a big game. Advantage for the 49ers.

The Bucs weapons are quite fearsome. Wide receiver Mike Evans has 761 receiving yards and three touchdowns. He is on his way to a record 9th season in row with more than 1,000 receiving yards. That would be every season of his NFL career. Wide receiver Chris Godwin has 646 receiving yards and two touchdowns. Running back Leonard Fournette is load and has 848 combined yards and six combined touchdowns

The 49ers have arguably the best group of weapons in football. Christian McCaffrey has 589 combined yards and four combined touchdowns as 49er, plus 670 combined yards and three touchdowns as Panther, which equals 1,359 combined yards and seven combined touchdowns! Brandon Aiyuk has 696 receiving yards and six touchdowns. Deebo Samuel has 776 combined yards and four combined touchdowns. George Kittle has 472 receiving yards and four touchdowns, plus he is the best blocking tight end in football. Kyle Juszczyk remains the best fullback in football. Jordan Mason hasn't gotten much of an opportunity to play, but when he has he really flashed in limited action with 5.4 yards per carry. Advantage for the 49ers.

The 49ers appear to have the advantage at nearly every position group, besides the quarterback. Don't be fooled by Brady's tongue in cheek tweet:

Unfortunately, playing quarterback in the NFL is the most important and difficult position in all of sports. Will the 49ers pillage Brady the Bucs? Will David slay Goliath? As of now, my answer is yes, but I believe that it will be a close game and anything can happen in a close game. Especially, when facing the quarterback with the most comeback wins of all time. 

As always, I will reply to this article with more official score prediction once we know exactly who will play and who won't.