On Sunday, there will be a gold rush in the bakery.

The Tampa Bay Bucs have arrived at another extremely difficult opponent. The San Francisco 49ers may be the most difficult foe Tampa faces this season. The 49ers were struggling with a three-game losing streak before getting back to winning last week against the Jacksonville Jaguars, however Sunday’s matchup will be between two teams who are officially ‘back to winning.’ The Bucs will enter Sunday’s game with a wave of energy coming from the end of their own losing streak. Tampa fell victim to four consecutive defeats before settling in against Will Levis and the Tennessee Titans. With a 4-5 record on the season, the Bucs have a chance to get back to .500.

A season ago, the Bucs traveled out to California to face the 49ers. The game was an obvious mismatch. Tampa Bay lost 35-7. On paper, before the start of 2023, this game was a mismatch. Now, with the rematch only a few days away, the Bucs are heavy underdogs.

Photo by Michael Zagaris/San Francisco 49ers/Getty Images

2022’s blowout victory against Tampa was Brock Purdy’s first start, this week will be his 17th (including playoffs). Last year, a rookie Brock Purdy went a near flawless 16 of 21, with two touchdowns and Tampa Bay left California with an ugly result. A different net outcome is not necessarily needed for the Chef, he was not a part of last year’s debacle. The Bucs can lose a close game with dignity and still hop on the team plane with their heads held high.

On the other end of the spectrum, if Chef Mayfield is able to take his team into San Francisco and scrape out a win against a Super Bowl caliber 49ers team, it will be the kind of game that goes a long way towards the long term decision of whether or not to keep Baker Mayfield at the helm, beyond the 2023 season.

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