The Bucs defense is on a mission. After a shaky stretch, they’re looking to play a full game against Kyle Shanahan’s 49ers this Sunday. And for Todd Bowles, Christian McCaffrey is a big problem. Before the matchup, Bowles gave his team a heads-up: they need to be ready for a player who can hurt them in more ways than one.

Talking about McCaffrey, Bowles didn’t hold back. “You want to get better at it. I haven’t seen anybody stop him. You hope to slow him down. You can limit the YAC yards after the catch. Those are the big things for him. Very tough to bring down in the open field. So, one guy probably isn’t going to do it more often than not. So you’ve got to have a lot of guys around to the ball,” he said. That focus will define this week’s game plan.

Limiting McCaffrey’s yards after the catch is priority number one. The Bucs have had trouble before with big plays to running backs, but C-Mac is a different animal. His versatility seems built-in—after all, his dad Ed was a Pro Bowl receiver for the Broncos, and his brother Luke now makes plays for the Commanders.

So far this season, McCaffrey has 91 carries for 282 yards and three touchdowns over five games. Shanahan already hinted at his evolving role. “Yeah, definitely. He might not be the best in the league at it like he is at running back, but he definitely could make it as a slot receiver without a doubt.” That versatility makes him unpredictable, and the Bucs know they can’t rely on the usual tricks to contain him.

In short, McCaffrey is healthy and making waves in a new role as the 49ers’ leading receiver. Even if his ground game hasn’t exploded yet, he’s proving dangerous through the air. And the Bucs defense recognizes just how well 49ers “system offense” works.

Todd Bowles should be ready for Shanahan’s plug-and-play offense

The 49ers have been rolling this season, even with starters missing. The Bucs can’t take them lightly. San Francisco’s offense hasn’t skipped a beat. Of their 10 touchdown passes this year, only one has gone to a wide receiver. Yet, it hasn’t slowed them down. They even signed Kendrick Bourne mid-season, and in his first game, the veteran caught 10 of 11 passes for 142 yards. That’s efficiency in action. That is classic Shanahan.

And Todd Bowles knows that. “He’s a great coach,” Bowles said. “He studies himself very well, they change all the time. They do a great job of self-scouting themselves, understanding what you’re looking at, and changing those things up. They have great players that can execute.”

Even Haason Reddick has felt it firsthand. Four years in the NFC West taught him how dangerous Shanahan’s offense can be. Talking to Pewter Report, he broke down why it works so well.

“It’s a system offense; I’m with you on that,” Reddick said. “There is some talent over there, at the end of the day. For the positions that you think are most important and things like that, they can kind of slide anybody into those positions and still run their offense the way that they have. I’ve seen it since my Arizona days. It doesn’t matter who the running back is, who the quarterback is, their system is plug-and-play, it works.” That versatility is why stopping them is so hard.

For Bowles’ defense, the plan is straightforward: stop McCaffrey first. Everything else becomes easier. But as Reddick knows, that’s easier said than done against Shanahan’s machine. The Bucs will need their most disciplined, complete defensive effort of the season to slow down the 49ers’ plug-and-play powerhouse.