After squeaking past their opponent in Week 5 by overcoming a 20 point deficit to defeat Mike Vick and the struggling Eagles, the 49ers were expected to be in another close game as they welcomed the NFC South division leading Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The final score at the end of the game, however, would prove otherwise as it became one of the most lopsided victories for the 49ers in recent memory. San Francisco displayed stellar game play on both sides of the ball as the 49er defense forced an early three and out on Tampa Bay's opening drive. Alex Smith would pick up right where he left off in Philly as he wasted little time getting San Francisco on the board, finding Delanie Walker 26 yards out for an early touchdown.
Tampa Bay's Josh Freeman would respond by marching his team down field for a field goal, but the rest of the game for the Buccs would be better off forgotten. After recovering a Frank Gore fumble in the redzone, Freeman would give the ball right back as cornerback Carlos Rogers intercepted the ball and took it to the house 31 yards out. The 49ers wouldn't look back from there as the lead only grew larger. Coming off his first big game this season, Frank Gore continued his dominance by logging his second consecutive 100 yard game, finishing the day with 125 yards to go along with a touchdown. Receiver Ted Ginn and backup running back Kendall Hunter would add another 89 yards rushing, giving them over 200 yards on the ground alone.
49ers QB Alex Smith wouldn't have his biggest game as a quarterback, finishing with only 170 yards passing, but he would have one of his more cleaner games yet as he threw for three touchdowns and zero interceptions opposed to Freeman's zero TD's and two picks. The 49ers pulled so far ahead that coach Harbaugh decided to pull his starting quarterback midway through the fourth quarter to let rookie QB Colin Kaepernick take a few snaps. There would be some bad news, however, as a late injury sustained to wide-out Josh Morgan caused him to be carted off the field in the fourth quarter. An MRI would later confirm that Morgan who's been Smith's most dependable receiver so far this season would be out for the rest of the year with a broken ankle.
The rest of San Francisco's scoring would come from third-string RB Anthony Dixon who punched in a 1-yard touchdown and tight-end Vernon Davis who caught a pair of touchdown receptions. Kicker David Akers would tack on six more points by splitting the uprights twice to help San Francisco get to 4-1, their best start in nine years. The 45-point margin of victory was also the franchises largest since 1987 when they steamrolled the then Los Angeles Rams, 48-0.
Week 6 Preview: In Week 6 the 49ers hit the road to face one of the two lasting unbeaten teams -- the 5-0 Detroit Lions. Coming off a Monday night win against the division-rival Chicago Bears, the Lions have shown very much like the 49ers that they can get the job done both on offense led by Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson as well as on defense led by last year's Defensive Rookie of the Year Ndamukong Suh.
Prediction: 49ers win a close one by a score of 20-17.
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