When I was 8 years old, I was watching a San Francisco 49ers’ game on TV and they showed an old highlight: a helpless young quarterback scrambling for his life as dozens of defenders smashed him to the ground.
The sight was pathetic, and it shocked me to learn that the quarterback in the ugly orange and red uniform was my favorite player, Steve Young. The broadcast was showing the highlight to contrast Young’s success since being traded to the 49ers from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
That’s how I first learned about the Buccaneers existence, and during my childhood, I associated them as an icon of failure in the NFL.
Flash-forward a decade later, the 49ers have just lost a playoff rout 31-6 to the Buccaneers. For the 49ers, the game would be their last playoff appearance in eight years and counting - and the Buccaneers, they’d go on to win Super Bowl XXXVII.
The fate of the Buccaneers and the 49ers’ seemed to have flipped during the turn of the millennium.
In the last 20 years, the 49ers and the Buccaneers have both won a Super Bowl, combined for 17 playoff appearances and 21 winning seasons. But successful seasons by one team seemed to always be met by disappointing ones by the other.
However, Sunday’s match up between the 49ers and the Buccaneers will mark the first time in their series’ history that both teams hold a legitimate winning record (both at 3-1).
The only exception was during the 1989 season, when both teams were 1-0 during their week 2 match up. However, the Buccaneers lost the game and went 5-11 that season.
In 1997, the Buccaneers upset the 49ers 13-6 at Candlestick Park in week 1. Both teams would go on to have winning seasons and appear in the playoffs that year. The game was also the Buccaneer’s new uniform debut, which cemented a turning point in franchise history with their victory over the - then elite - 49ers.
The 49ers would go on to play in their last NFC Championship game, losing to the Green Bay Packers and slowly declining from grace, descending into the 49ers Dark Age.
But there’s a different feel to this series’ meeting, and it’s not just the 3-1 records. Both teams are young and have fresh coaching staffs, and seem to be headed in the right direction. Regardless of their future, this may be the most high profile match up they’ve ever had in the regular season.
Here’s a look at all the 49ers/Buccaneers match up since 1990…
1977 49ers 20-10
1978 49ers 6-3
1979 49ers 23-7
1980 Buccaneers 24-23
1983 49ers 35-21
1984 49ers 24-17
1986 49ers 31-7
1987 49ers 24-10
1989 49ers 20-16
1990 49ers 31-7
1992 49ers 21-14
1993 49ers 45-21
1994 49ers 41-16
1997 Buccaneers 6-13
2002 Buccaneers 31-6 (Divisional Playoff Game)
2003 49ers 24-7
2004 Buccaneers 35-3
2005 49ers 15-10
2007 49ers 21-19
2010 Buccaneers 21-0
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