The San Francisco 49ers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers will duke it out in Raymond James Stadium on Sunday afternoon in a battle of two NFC powerhouses. Both teams are 4-1 heading into Week 6, and even though it’s early in the season, a win here could propel either team towards the No. 1 overall seed in the NFC.

If it weren’t for such a great Sunday night game, this would be the game of the week. Either way, it should be a very entertaining game, and the winner is going to come out feeling very good about their chances of earning a bye week in the playoffs.

Here are some storylines, players to watch, and bold predictions for Sunday’s game.

Key Storylines

Can Baker Mayfield do it again?

Baker Mayfield’s career resurgence has been so fun to watch. Ever since arriving in Tampa Bay, he’s been nothing short of a top 10 quarterback, and this year, he’s off to an incredibly hot start. Through five weeks, he’s some people’s (myself included) pick to win the MVP. He’s put this offense on his back this season, and last week was a prime example of that.

The Buccaneers travel across the country to face the Seattle Seahawks. They didn’t have star running back Bucky Irving, and rushed for 56 yards on 24 carries. Despite that, the Bucs scored 38 points, including a game-winning field goal as time expired, because of Mayfield.

Baker threw for 379 yards and two scores while completing 88 percent of his passes against a very good Seattle defense. He was the lone reason the Bucs won that game, and with Irving out again, he’s going to need to channel some of that same magic this weekend.

Does Mac Jones still have some magic left?

Since taking over for an injured Brock Purdy, Mac Jones has been exceptional. He’s started three games this season and has thrown for 305 yards, six touchdowns, and one interception. His 301.7 yards per game ranks first in the NFL, but the question has to be asked: How long can he keep this up?

Jones has been streaky during his career. He’ll have a couple of good games, but usually he falls back down to Earth. With Ricky Pearsall and George Kittle out and Jauan Jennings questionable, will he be able to keep pace with Mayfield and the Bucs?

Those injuries didn’t stop him last week against the Los Angeles Rams, who statistically have a better defense than the Bucs. I hope, for entertainment’s sake, that Jones continues to play as well as he has this season, because if he does, this could be another Bucs-Seahawks game like last week’s.

Is Emeka Egbuka really that unstoppable?

Emeka Egbuka has easily been the Offensive Rookie of the Year through the first five weeks of the season. Nobody has even come close to matching his production. As a rookie, Egbuka is fourth in receiving yards (445) and second in touchdowns (five), but is his production sustainable? Or will someone figure him out eventually?

With Mike Evans, Jalen McMillan, and Chris Godwin still out, it will be all up to Egbuka to keep up this pace. While the 49ers may not have many household names in their defensive backfield, they have been pretty solid in coverage this season. As a team, the Niners are allowing just over 200 yards per game through the air, and believe it or not, only one receiver (Jaxon Smith-Njigba) has had a 100-yard game against them this year.

So, will Egbuka be able to have yet another big game on Sunday? Or will the 49ers find a way to slow him and the rest of the Bucs’ passing game down?

Players to Watch

• Rachaad White (RB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers)

We talked about how much Mayfield is going to have to do with his arm to win this game, but if the Bucs can establish a run game, it would take a ton of pressure off their veteran quarterback.

With Irving out last week, Rachaad White took over as the lead man, getting 14 of the team’s 24 carries. He was only able to turn those carries into 41 yards, but that was against a very good Seattle run defense. He also proved to be a threat in the pass game, catching four passes for 30 yards. If the Bucs’ offensive line can give him some holes to run through, he can be very efficient.

Can White take some pressure off Mayfield’s shoulders? Or will Mayfield have to do it all himself? The latter feels more likely, but we’ll have to see.

• Vita Vea (DT, Tampa Bay Buccaneers)

The Buccaneers haven’t had much of a pass rush this season. When your defensive tackle is third in pressures and first in sacks, that tells you all you need to know about their edge rushers. If the Bucs want to win this game, they need to put pressure on Mac Jones, and Vita Vea is going to play a big role in that.

Vea is also going to play a big role in slowing down Christian McCaffrey. The 49ers’ star running back has yet to figure things out on the ground this year, averaging just 3.1 yards per carry, and if they can keep him around that number, it puts more pressure on Jones to play well.

Can Vea help the Bucs put pressure on Jones? And can he stop the run? If he can do both of those things, the Bucs should win this game.

• Kendrick Bourne (WR, San Francisco 49ers)

With Pearsall, Kittle, and possibly Jennings out, Kendrick Bourne is going to be the 49ers’ WR1 for the second consecutive week. Last time out, Bourne caught 10 passes for 142 yards against the Rams, so if Jones and the 49ers offense want to have success again, Bourne is going to need to have another massive game.

The Buccaneers’ secondary has given up a few big games to opposing wideouts this year, so there should be opportunities for Bourne to have a big game.

Bold Predictions

This is the highest-scoring game of the weekend

Last week, the Buccaneers and Seahawks treated us to the highest-scoring game of the week, and I think the Bucs could be in for another shootout this time around.

The 49ers offense is firing on all cylinders with Mac Jones under center, and we just saw what this Buccaneers offense can do against a really good defense last week. Both quarterbacks know they’re going to have to put a lot of points on the board if they want to win this game, so another 38-35-type game could be on the horizon.

Bucs rush for 125+ yards

Even though Tampa Bay’s running game was completely useless last game, I think it should be much better this week. I still believe White is a capable NFL running back, and now that they’re not facing a top-three rushing defense in the NFL, he should be able to show off some of his explosiveness in the run game.

Sean Tucker will also be a big part of the run game. The third-year man out of Syracuse averaged over six yards per carry on 50 touches a year ago, so even though he only had three yards last week, expect to see more of him this time around.

If the Bucs can establish the run early, which I believe they’ll try to do, it will take a ton of weight off Mayfield’s shoulders and ultimately open up the passing game.

Christian McCaffrey totals 200+ yards

Even though Christian McCaffrey hasn’t found much success on the ground, he’s been the 49ers’ top pass catcher this season. He currently ranks sixth in the NFL in receiving yards (not just among RBs, among everyone), and with so many of the 49ers’ weapons out, expect McCaffrey to be HEAVILY involved in both the run and pass game.

Through five games, McCaffrey has yet to even hit the 150-yard mark, but he also hasn’t broken a run or catch for more than 29 yards. All it’ll take is one big run or catch for the 200-yard mark to be very much in reach.