SANTA CLARA — If defense wins championships, the 49ers gotta be feeling good about their chances to be hoisting a sixth Lombardi Trophy at the end of the season.
No matter the assignment, this unit just doesn’t seem to break. A week after shutting down the touted Tua Tagovailoa and the Miami Dolphins, San Francisco silenced Tom Brady and the Buccaneers. In Sunday’s 35-7 win over the Bucs, the Niners accomplished something only two other teams have pulled off against Brady in his 366 career regular season games: win by four touchdowns.
Yup. The Niners really did that.
Though Mr. Irrelevant Brock Purdy deservedly garnered headlines for outdueling the GOAT, the Niners defense discouraged Brady from getting anything going all afternoon.
“I think we had him flustered,” 49ers edge rusher Charles Omenihu said. “That’s what you gotta do with a guy who’s the best quarterback to ever play. … He’s human, too. He’s gonna panic a little bit.”
Brady finished the day 34-of-55 for 253 yards, one touchdown and two picks. He got some momentum and rhythm going in the second half on some nice connections with Mike Evans, but the Bucs were already down by four scores at that point.
After getting shut out by the Niners in the first half, it got worse for Brady after the break. San Francisco intercepted Brady to end each of the first two drives in the second half, the first coming courtesy safety Tashaun Gipson, who also tacked on a 36-yard return.
“I can’t even explain it,” Gipson said of picking off Brady. “Everybody grew up watching Tom Brady. Obviously, he is the GOAT. Add that to the collection. I was telling (Talanoa Hufanga) earlier, ‘Man, that’s the one guy I haven’t got. I’ve got some GOATs, but I’ve been around a long time and never got Tom, but I’ve played him many times. Today was special.”
The next drive, linebacker Dre Greenlaw batted up a Brady pass with his paw and corralled it for a pick. He, too, was a bit starstruck by picking off TB12. Greenlaw took it a step further and had Brady autograph the intercepted ball after the game.
“The worst thing he could tell me is no,” Greenlaw said while clutching the ball postgame. “I was always told, ‘If you never ask, you’ll never know.’ He’s a good guy to be able to sign that ball out there. He’s the dude that threw the picks. That’s big time. I appreciate that. He’s the greatest. He’s the GOAT. I went like I was a fan. I went like it was a fangirl.
Linebacker Fred Warner joked about making the exchange happen with Greenlaw, who initially didn’t ask Brady to sign the ball amidst the postgame commotion on the field.
“Just rolled up to him, like, “Hey Tom, can you sign the balls for us?’” Warner said. “Like some five year olds. It was great.”
That’s major respect against the game’s greatest individual player.
The only thing that saved Brady from the fifth shutout of his career was a 13-play, 74-yard touchdown drive in the third quarter, when the 49ers had the game in tow. The Bucs offense couldn’t run the ball either, eventually abandoning it after getting just 69 yards on 19 carries (3.6 per rush).
During the Niners’ six-game win streak, the defense has allowed just 21 second-half points and an average of 10.7 points per game overall. Defensive end Nick Bosa admitted he was a bit disappointed the 49ers couldn’t pull off the shutout.
“A little bit,” Bosa said. “That would have been cool.”
The Niners, who lead the league in points allowed per game (15.2) and yards allowed per game (286.8), also tacked on a fumble recovery late in the game for good measure.
Every week, it seems the Niners have a solid gameplan devised by 49ers defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans. The 38-year-old is probably good as gone, as he looks primed to be a head coach by next season.
“We just execute what DeMeco puts out there,” Omenihu said.
