Keys To Cannon Fire: Tampa Bay Buccaneers at San Francisco 49ers

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers travel to the West Coast this week in a battle of the bays as they take on the San Francisco 49ers. After righting the ship against the Tennessee Titans, the Bucs are faced with a stiff challenge against a formidable 49ers team. The Niners just turned around after an ugly three-game losing streak themselves and are looking to get back on track to establishing themselves as an NFC powerhouse.

With dynamic playmakers on both sides of the ball, pulling off the upset will be no easy feat. The Bucs will need to play physical, smart football if they want to have any chance of winning. Slowing down the likes of Christian McCaffrey, Deebo Samuel, and George Kittle on offense, while limiting their vaunted pass rush featuring Nick Bosa, Javon Hargrave, and Fred Warner will be a challenge unto itself. If the Bucs can slow those players down and follow these "Keys to Cannon Fire" they should get their season back on track with a victory.

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Tackle, Tackle, Tackle

The Bucs are going up against a team that knows how to make defenders miss and get yards after the contact. McCaffrey currently leads the league in yards after contact and yards after the catch amongst all running backs. Deebo Samuel is a swiss army knife and is prone to making defenders miss.

It's going to take sound technique and proper angles if the Buccaneers are going to slow down this 49ers team adept at creating with the ball in their hands.

Need A Hot Start On Offense

The Bucs are going up against a 49ers team that knows how to put up points. They're putting up 28 points per game which is good for the third-best in the NFL. While the Buccaneers' defense is only allowing 19.2 points per game, if Tampa Bay is going to stand a chance at the update they're going to need to get on the board quickly.

Getting Mike Evans and Chris Godwin involved early as well as Rachaad White in the short passing game is going to be key. Baker Mayfield needs to be smart with the football as the Niners' secondary have the most interceptions in the league. If Dave Canales can dial up the most creative game plan of his young career, the Bucs might have a chance to pull out an unexpected win.

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Stick With What Works On Defense

Last week the Bucs went back to the basics of a Todd Bowles defense. Gone was the soft zone coverage that was allowing big play after big play, with a return of the man press-zone coverage and pressure-based attack. While the 49ers are adept at creating space the Buccaneers can not get sucked into playing the soft zone coverage that will give them plenty of space to work with.

Playing smart defensive football, combined with strong tackling will give the Bucs a chance in this game. Bowles can't try and get too cute with it or this will be over before it begins.

You can follow JC Allen on Twitter @JCAllenNFL.

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