Buccaneers 2016 season preview: Crushing the 49ers in week seven

Previewing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ 2016 season, game by game. Today: at the San Francisco 49ers, in week seven.

Bucs’ all-time record vs. 49ers: 5-17

Last year, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers absolutely destroyed the Chip Kelly-led Philadelphia Eagles, 45-17. This year, they get to take on the Chip Kelly-led San Francisco 49ers in their brand new stadium, and the results could be very similar.

Three years ago, the 49ers were competing for Super Bowls. Now, with a lot of talent jettisoned, a quarterback who looks like a shell of his earlier, and a new coaching staff, San Francisco looks like a giant mess. They’re debating whether to start Colin Kaepernick or Blaine Gabbert, after all.

Of course, Chip Kelly is a bit of a wild factor here. His teams certainly declined the past couple of years, but he also turned some decidedly mediocre quarterbacks into more than capable starters, and produced some highly explosive if not overly consistent offenses. And while he basically blew up the Eagles’ personnel, he hasn’t had the chance to do that in San Francisco — not yet, anyway.

Looking at the 49ers’ roster, they lack talent at a lot of key positions. Their defensive line is a mess, and DeForest Buckner won’t solve that problem. They don’t have much at the skill positions — no receiver topped 800 yards and no running back managed moer than 500 yards last year — and really, it’s hard to pinpoint a position of real strength for San Francisco.

Helping the Bucs some more is the fact that they’ll be coming off a bye week, giving them plenty of time to plan and prepare for Chip Kelly’s offense.

The Bucs should be able to win this game pretty comfortably, all in all. This team lacks talent across the board, is coming off a disastrous season, and hired a head coach who has been pretty inconsistent in his three years in the NFL.