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49ers in review: How the defense slowly smothered the Buccaneers

A win is a win, but for a San Francisco 49ers team coming off a bye week, Sunday’s win left us with more questions than answers.

The 49ers were able to squeak out a 23-20 win in Tampa Bay against the Buccaneers, but it shouldn’t have been as close as it was. San Francisco jumped out to an early 10-0 lead, but like plenty of games earlier in the season, they couldn’t pull away, and the Bucs hung around, keeping it within one score for the entire game.

The return of Christian McCaffrey wasn’t all it was hyped to be, rushing for 39 yards on 13 attempts, and the offense still struggled, especially in the red zone.