Week 7 is officially underway, and we did not get quite the result we were hoping for on Thursday Night Football. The Green Bay Packers won an ugly one over the Chicago Bears. We were hoping for a Bears win for draft purposes, but it was not meant to be. Chicago lost Brian Hoyer to a broken arm, and Matt Barkley was about what you would expect.
We can now begin the move to Sunday. The 49ers are back home on Sunday facing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The game kicks off at 1:05 p.m. PT, and is the 49ers final game before their Week 8 bye. Colin Kaepernick will be back for his second start, but he will not have running back Carlos Hyde. A shoulder injury is sidelining the 49ers starting running back, and instead, second-year back Mike Davis will get the start.
The running game will be the thing to watch on the other side of the ball. The Bills rushed for 312 yards against the 49ers last week. The Bucs will be without Doug Martin, but Jacquizz Rodgers hit the century mark in his first start in place of Martin. Odds are good he can build on it against this defense.
There is a really random mix of picks and predictions for this game. Several sites have a majority of people picking the 49ers to upset the Bucs, while some are in the minority. It’s an odd but random mix. I guess when you’ve got a 2-3 team traveling to face a 1-5 team, people figure anything is possible.
Here are some picks and predictions around the media. You can also offer up your own prediction below.
SB Nation: 7 out of 10
ESPN: 5 out of 10
CBS Sports: 5 out of 8
FOXSports.com: 2 out of 6
USA Today: 1 out of 5
Elliott Harrison, NFL.com: Bucs, 49ers 17
Greg Cote, Miami Herald: 49ers 21, Bucs 19
Dennis Manoloff, The Plain Dealer: 49ers 20, Bucs 18
Vinnie Iyer, Sporting News: 49ers 24, Bucs 23
Neil Greenberg, Washington Post: 49ers cover +2
Pro Football Talk: MDS 49ers 21-20, Florio Bucs 24-17