The Tampa Bay Buccaneers Week 14 matchup with the San Francisco 49ers was one of the most hyped up matches of the weekend. Both teams had a lot of the line when it came to playoff seeding, and the 49ers were curious to see how their rookie quarterback Brock Purdy would hold up in the first start of his career.

A game that was expected to be fairly close ended up being a lopsided blowout. The 49ers ran riot on the Bucs, and controlled this game from start to finish. When all was said and done, Tampa Bay was dealt a crushing loss by San Francisco, and the final score of 35-7 makes this game look closer than it actually was, which is saying a lot.

Just when it looks like the Buccaneers are figuring things out, they manage to take a massive step backwards to erase all their progress, and that pretty much summarizes this loss. Let's take a look at the three Bucs most responsible for this horrid outing, and see why that is the case.

3. Donovan Smith

Donovan Smith has been a solid left tackle throughout his career, but the 2022 season hasn't been a good one for him. While the Buccaneers offensive line as a whole has struggled with poor play and injuries, Smith continued his hot streak when it came to getting penalties called on him, and he committed maybe the worst penalty of his rough season early on in this one.

After forcing a 49ers punt on their second drive of the game, the Buccaneers got the ball back, and Tom Brady found Mike Evans wide open on a 68-yard bomb, presumably tying the game at 7-7. The problem was that Smith was called for a holding penalty, negating the touchdown. Tampa Bay wouldn't end up scoring their first points of the game until late in the third quarter as a result of this miscue.

In the grand scheme of things, it's fair to wonder how much of a factor Smith's penalty played in a game the Buccaneers ultimately ended up losing by 28 points. But this touchdown would have tied the game and put the pressure on Purdy and the 49ers offense. Instead, it was wiped off the board, and Purdy ended up facing virtually no resistance in the first start of his career.

2. The entire Buccaneers defense

That leads up to Tampa's defense, which in fairness, has held its own for most of the season. With the offense laboring through the season, nobody has really paid too much attention to the Bucs defense. They were expected to at least make things difficult for a very inexperienced quarterback in Purdy. Instead, they made him look like a veteran who has played his fair share of football in the NFL.

Sometimes, it's as simple to say the entire defense played bad, and that's the case here. Purdy got everything he wanted in the passing game, Christian McCaffrey torched Tampa Bay on the ground, and it's worth noting a good chunk of this was done without star wide receiver Deebo Samuel on the field after he left in the second quarter and didn't return.

The defense let their offense down in this one. Yes, the offense was just as bad, but they have been bad all season long. And again, Purdy was a seventh-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft who had never made a start in his career. Purdy played well, but if the Buccaneers can't slow down an offense led by a rookie making his first start, they are in some serious trouble if they somehow find their way into the playoffs.

1. Tom Brady

At the end of the day, this was a horrid outing from Brady and the offense, and ultimately he has to shoulder the majority of the blame. Brady was never comfortable under center in this one, and it resulted in probably the ugliest outing in a season that has been full of them for Brady and Tampa's offense.

Brady was shut down for most of the day in this one (34/55, 253 YDS, 1 TD, 2 INT) and the only reason his stats look respectable is because he played the entire game for Tampa Bay for whatever reason. Brady was missing open receivers, threw a pair of ugly interceptions, and generally looked lost against a talented 49ers defense.

You can never really count out Brady, but it's beginning to look like the Buccaneers offense is a lost cause. Brady is never in sync with his receivers, has no rushing attack to aid him, and the offensive line often plays like they have a vendetta against the greatest quarterback in the history of the NFL. But against the 49ers, it was Brady's poor showing that stood out, earning him the top spot on this list.