The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have played some tough teams so far this year, and they’re set to face one of their toughest opponents yet in the San Francisco 49ers.
The 49ers had a three-game skid before heading to Jacksonville to play the Jaguars, and they dismantled one of the best teams in the AFC 34-3. There’s also the 35-7 drubbing they gave the Bucs last year with Tom Brady, but offensive coordinator Dave Canales isn’t deterred — in fact, he looks forward to the game.
“Yeah, big challenge. Championship moment, right?” Canales said. “Championship opportunities all the way, starting from Monday as we started to transition from the Titans to the 49ers. [We were] talking about like, ‘We need these games. We need these games to go against the Eagles, to play the Lions, to play the 49ers this week to really see where we’re at when we play such a talented group.’”
So far, Tampa Bay’s games against those first two teams haven’t displayed a championship acumen. The Bucs lost their game against the Eagles 25-11 and then dropped their game 20-6 to the Lions, so if anything, the Bucs probably won’t want to repeat those type of games, but the reminder could serve to jolt them in a year where every win from here on out matters.
On top of that, Canales was with the Seattle Seahawks before he joined up with the Bucs. As such, he’s played the 49ers twice a year for a bit, and he knows exactly what type of team he’s playing when it comes to the 49ers.
“It helps to know where people are going to be at, and also knowing the style of defense and the way that they’re structured and really how good they are in that front seven and how good they are in that front,” Canales said. “There’s a style that you have to play these guys.”
The Bucs will travel to Santa Clara for their “championship moment” on Sunday when they face San Francisco at 4:05 p.m. EST.
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