Mac Jones continues to play efficiently and he’ll have Jauan Jennings in the lineup. The Bucs are terrific at late-game magic but it’s different when expecting them to cover a substantial number. They too are dealing with significant injuries. Look for a tight game and grab the points.

The hook coming in makes the 49ers the play despite their continued personnel issues. Getting Jajuan Jennings back should mitigate the loss of Ricky Pearsall, and it seems like Kendrick Bourne figured something out with Mac Jones last week. The Buccaneers are perhaps not as good as their record suggests, and it took quite an implosion by the Seahawks for last week’s result. Kyle Shanahan should have the schematic advantage against Todd Bowles’ injured unit, and don’t forget, Tampa Bay is still down multiple key pieces in its own right. If San Francisco, which enters on extra rest and preparation time, can figure out a way to simply limit Emeka Egbuka, they may not only cover but win this outright.

Some curiosities about these teams should be answered on Sunday. Regarding the 49ers, how long are they going to be able to hang in there with a patchwork lineup? Injuries have decimated the roster but here the Niners sit at 4-1 into this weekend, with Mac Jones (in again for ailing Brock Purdy at QB) now 3-0 as a starter, even minus the likes of Brandon Aiyuk and George Kittle. Meanwhile, the Bucs have mastered Perils of Pauline acts, with four last-minute wins in five games as orchestrated by QB Baker Mayfield, generating some deserving MLB buzz. Tampa Bay has injuries as well, but Mayfield also has an exciting new target, Ohio State rookie Emeka Egbuka, already on 5 TD catches. Play Bucs

Now that the 49ers are catching 3 and the hook, I’ll take a chance on the road dogs to cover. The Bucs will be without RB Bucky Irving, WRs Mike Evans & Chris Godwin, and lose another starting DB in Zyon McCollum. This 4-1 Bucs team has relied on Baker Mayfield’s late game heroics, with all four of their wins coming by 3 or less. San Fran backup QB Mac Jones has been running Kyle Shanahan’s offense highly efficiently. Although the 49ers are also banged up on both sides of the ball, I trust their defensive unit much more than Tampa’s, who gave up 35 points to the Seahawks last week. The Bucs feel like a favorite whose luck may run out this week.

Shepard went over this receiving yards mark in each of his first 3 games this season. The Bucs are now extremely thin at wide receiver, and will be without Mike Evans & Chris Godwin for this game. While Jalen McMillan also remains sidelined, Baker Mayfield’s best downfield options are Shepard & Egbuka. Shepard has seen 4+ targets in each game thus far, and has been on the field for at least 60% of the offensive snaps in 4/5 weeks. If Shepard sees his typical 4-6 targets, he should go over this modest total.

FanDuel. With Bucky Irving slated to miss his second straight game, Rachaad White will once again assume the lead-back role. Last week, without Irving, White was on the field for 33 of Baker Mayfield’s 39 dropbacks, amassing four catches. In fact, between White and Bucky, the Bucs have had a running back clear this line in each of their five games this season. The 49ers have allowed 5.4 running back catches per game (5th most). With Chris Godwin and Mike Evans both out, Mayfield might have to rely even more on his running back in the passing game on Sunday.