Jake Moody said his confidence never changed, even after a teammate got upset with him on the sideline.
The usually dependable San Francisco kicker made up for missing three earlier field goals by kicking a 44-yard field goal as time ran out on Sunday, giving the 49ers a 23-20 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
This victory also marked the return of running back Christian McCaffrey to the field for his season debut.
“I really, really wanted a chance to redeem myself,” Moody said. In his first game back after missing three weeks due to a sprained ankle, he also made field goals of 28 and 33 yards. The 49ers (5-4), defending NFC champions, won their second game in a row, marking their first consecutive wins this season.
“I felt really confident, really good going that direction. It was the same exact spot as the previous one,” Moody explained. “I saw what happened with the previous one and was able to make an adjustment.”
Moody, who was 13 of 14 on field goals before Sunday, made the game-winning kick after missing wide left on attempts from 49 and 50 yards. He also missed a 44-yard try earlier that would have given San Francisco a six-point lead with 3:09 remaining.
TV cameras showed 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel having words with and appearing to push long snapper Taybor Pepper when Samuel, frustrated by Moody’s missed kicks, confronted him on the sideline. Samuel had five catches for 62 yards in the game.
Moody brushed off the sideline incident. “It’s an emotional game. Stuff like that happens all the time,” he said. “You just move past it. We won, so that’s all that matters. Like I said, heat of the moment, it happens. I do have to make those kicks at the end of the day. That’s all I’m focused on.”
49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said he didn’t see the incident. “Guys are frustrated, something probably happened … brothers scuffle a little bit. I didn’t see any of it, so I don’t know how bad it was,” Shanahan said.
“It’s something I’m not too worried about. We’ll fix it, if it hasn’t been fixed already. We’ll fix it on the plane and go back to loving each other (Monday).”
McCaffrey returned to practice last Monday after missing time since early September due to Achilles tendinitis. He ran for 5 yards on the first play and finished with 39 yards on 13 carries. The 2023 AP Offensive Player of the Year also caught six passes for 68 yards.
Baker Mayfield led a drive for Tampa Bay (4-6) to set up a tying field goal, helped by three straight personal foul penalties. Mayfield finished 18 of 29 for 116 yards and one touchdown for the Buccaneers, who have now lost four straight games.
It was the second straight week Tampa Bay lost in the final moments. Last week, they forced overtime against Kansas City, but lost 36-30 when Patrick Mahomes led the Chiefs to a touchdown on the first possession of overtime.
“We have to finish ballgames,” Bucs coach Todd Bowles said. “There’s nothing wrong with how hard we’re playing and how tough we’re playing, but we have to finish games. We’re making too many mistakes at the end.”
Brock Purdy threw for 353 yards without an interception, including two touchdown passes: one for 46 yards to rookie Ricky Pearsall (his first NFL touchdown) and another for 11 yards to George Kittle. Purdy also helped get the 49ers into position for the game-winning field goal with two completions to Jauan Jennings and two more to Pearsall.
Pearsall, who missed the first six games of the season after being shot in the chest during an autograph session in San Francisco on August 31, caught a pass from Purdy and sprinted down the left sideline for a touchdown.
Safety Antoine Winfield Jr. nearly stopped him, but Pearsall stretched the ball over the goal line for the score.
Tampa Bay fought back from a 10-0 deficit, aided by a third-quarter fumble by 49ers punt returner Jacob Cowing. The Bucs recovered the ball at San Francisco’s 21-yard line and scored four plays later on a 9-yard pass from Mayfield to Rachaad White, tying the game at 10-10.
Rookie Bucky Irving then gave Tampa Bay the lead with a 12-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter. Purdy answered with his touchdown pass to Kittle to put the 49ers back ahead with just over seven minutes to play.
“They are a good team that’s lost some games, some close ones, and it was a day before their bye week, so we knew we were going to get their best shot,” Shanahan said. “We had some opportunities to run away with it. We didn’t. That was on us.”
