Why Nick Bosa and Baker Mayfield won’t be planting flags when 49ers face Buccaneers
Rachel Young 
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The last time Baker Mayfield played at Levi’s Stadium, he might’ve been Public Enemy No. 1 at Ohio State — even if he was playing for the in-state Cleveland Browns.
The year was 2019. The San Francisco 49ers were surging, and Mayfield — the No. 1 pick in the 2018 draft out of Oklahoma — was in his second NFL season and led the Browns into an early-season “Monday Night Football” showdown.
Advertisement
Two years earlier as a senior at Oklahoma in 2017, Mayfield had antagonized Ohio State — and then-sophomore defensive end Nick Bosa — by trying to plant an Oklahoma flag at midfield of Ohio Stadium in celebration of a 31-16 Sooners’ win.
GO DEEPER
Baker Mayfield plants a flag, states his case as an all-time great
Bosa found himself on the other side of the coin once in the NFL. He sacked Mayfield twice, hit him five times and — after forcing Mayfield into an intentional grounding penalty — hoisted an imaginary flag, swung it in the air and planted it in the Levi’s Stadium grass.
Vengeance.
BOSA JUST PLANTED HIS FLAG IN SAN FRAN 😤 @nbsmallerbear
— The Checkdown (@thecheckdown) October 8, 2019
“I don’t usually talk, but this game, he had it coming,” Bosa said of Mayfield in the locker room after the 49ers won, 31-3. “But he didn’t say one word back. I was just screaming his name like ‘Baker, Baker, you good? Come on, pick it up. We want a challenge.'”
Mayfield perhaps has his chance to give the 49ers (6-3) a stiffer test. He’s now with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-5), who’ll visit Levi’s on Sunday. Mayfield and Bosa are both grizzled veterans now, four years after that 2019 encounter and a year removed from their most recent meeting — a 37-15 blowout 49ers win over the Carolina Panthers last season that led to Mayfield’s benching as Carolina’s starting QB and the firing of Panthers coach Matt Rhule. (Rhule’s interim replacement? Current 49ers defensive coordinator Steve Wilks, who also happened to be Cleveland’s defensive coordinator for that 2019 loss to San Francisco.)
Bosa and Mayfield seem to have buried the hatchet. They actually met for the first time away from a football setting this past February at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, a golf tournament.
“He’s nice,” Bosa said, downplaying the past. “I just said ‘hi’. I’ve never had anything against him. That was just a joke as a rookie.”
Advertisement
Mayfield, speaking to reporters this week in Tampa, echoed Bosa’s sentiment when he remembered 2019.
“That was his rookie year,” Mayfield said. “But it’s fun. He’s a good guy. Obviously a great competitor and a stud. One of those challenges that you look forward to going up against and competing with.”
The 49ers are heavy favorites thanks in large part to the resurgence of their defense, which performed cohesively in last week’s 34-3 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. This matchup with Tampa Bay is a promising one for the 49ers because the Buccaneers’ run game has been anemic. That should mean opportunities for their pass rush. Leading Tampa Bay running back Rachaad White is averaging only 3.3 yards per carry behind an offensive line ranked No. 31 in ESPN’s run-block win rate.
Mayfield has dangerous receivers Mike Evans and Chris Godwin at his disposal, but the 49ers are confident Wilks’ recent adjustments will again allow Bosa and his cohorts time to rack up sacks. The 49ers took Jacksonville quarterback Trevor Lawrence down five times last week. He’d entered the game with the second-quickest release in the NFL, 2.4 seconds, but averaged 2.7 seconds from snap to release against the 49ers — a significant slowdown.
“We were disguising (a lot) last game,” 49ers cornerback Charvarius Ward said Thursday. “The safeties disguised pretty well. I know they confused Trevor Lawrence on a lot of plays, just watching the film. What he thought was going to be there wasn’t there.”
Said Wilks: “Giving a different look which confuses the quarterback and makes him hold the ball a little longer — that’s all we need sometimes, with the guys we have up front, is that second hitch.”
Tampa Bay’s offense has not been prolific this season, ranking No. 21 in DVOA and No. 19 in explosive play rate, but it has done a good job avoiding giveaways (second-fewest in the NFL) and sacks. The Buccaneers have allowed sacks on only 5 percent of pass plays, the fifth-lowest rate in the league, and that’s a credit to a line that features All-Pro left tackle Tristan Wirfs and a heady QB in Mayfield.
Advertisement
“He’s definitely scrappy,” Bosa said. “He’s tougher than he looks in the pocket with escapability and athleticism. And then he’s good at whenever guys are open within the scheme, he hits them.”
The 49ers must be particularly wary of screen passes, which the Buccaneers have turned to frequently to augment their sputtering run game. White has already caught 35 of Mayfield’s passes out of the backfield this year.
Wilks emphasized effort in discussing how to combat screens, saying there is rarely a singular play call that can stymie a well-executed one on its own. During a particularly troublesome drive against the Jaguars, the 49ers gave up first downs on consecutive screens after linebackers Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw both missed tackles.
Outside of that drive, the 49ers generally returned to good tackling form after struggling with it over their three-game losing streak. The 49ers missed only seven tackles against the Jaguars after having missed 32 tackles over their prior three games.
Continued execution on that front will allow the team’s ferocious defensive line to continue leaving its mark.
“When you write down your scouting report and you do the Eagles and you do the 49ers — their two-deep on the front, to say the least it’s damn impressive,” Mayfield said. “So, when you have some of those guys rotating in for fresh legs, it’s impressive. We’ve just got to have a good plan, a concise plan, to know how we want to attack these guys. They’re really good, so we have to expect that they’re going to give us some fits and some challenges on different things. We’ve just got to game plan and find out ways to stay ahead of the chains.”
The 49ers, of course, want to stop that from happening. They want to continue to re-create the college pass-rushing experience for Bosa and his former Ohio State teammate, Chase Young, who excelled in his first game for the 49ers. He even split a sack with Bosa at Jacksonville.
Advertisement
“That was pretty crazy,” Young said Wednesday. “Like I said, it’s going to be a race to the quarterback. Hopefully we can keep it going.”
The Buckeye brothers reunited 🥹
🎥 via @NFLFilms @OhioStateFB
— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) November 13, 2023
On the note of recreating the college experience, there’s a rather big detail Bosa and Young want to change. They want to make sure to beat Mayfield this time.
Young was still at Ohio State in 2019 when Bosa exacted revenge for the Buckeyes. He smiled as he remembered watching Bosa’s antics on TV.
“You know, you get to chirping,” Young said, “we just might chirp back.”
49ers vs. Buccaneers predictions
| Winner | Score | Record | |
|---|---|---|---|
Matt Barrows | 30-20 | 6-3 | |
David Lombardi | 27-10 | 6-3 |
Matt Barrows: Yes, the Buccaneers did a nice job of shutting down the NFL’s No. 2 rusher on Sunday. They held Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry to 24 yards and a 2.2-yard average in their 20-6 win. But it’s hard to see them having the same success against the No. 1 rusher, Christian McCaffrey. Whereas the Titans have a two-note offense — Henry and receiver DeAndre Hopkins with a rookie quarterback, Will Levis, at the helm — the 49ers have a symphony of talent on offense. McCaffrey had 153 total yards and two touchdowns in last year’s game against the Bucs. He ought to have a similar output Sunday.
David Lombardi: The 49ers defense has a big advantage on paper. Offensively, their improving interior line must not let Tampa Bay defensive tackle Vita Vea disrupt the game too heavily. Beyond that, quarterback Brock Purdy can aim for an encore of his dazzling performance against the Buccaneers last season. That was Purdy’s first career start. But Tom Brady will no longer be the opposing quarterback. He’s retired and given way to Mayfield.
(Top photos of Nick Bosa and Baker Mayfield: Michael Zagaris / San Francisco 49ers / Getty Images and Adam Lacy / Cal Sport Media via Associated Press)
“The Football 100,” the definitive ranking of the NFL’s best 100 players of all time, is on sale now. Order it here.
