Bucs mistakes lead to blowout Ira Kaufman, The Tampa Tribune, published 10 October 2011 Raheem Morris often says statistics are for losers, but even Morris knew the importance of one stat that defined San Francisco's 3-1 start to the season. Turnover differential. The 49ers entered Sunday's game tied with the Lions for the NFL lead in turnover ratio at plus-8 and improved to plus-10 after posting three takeaways in a 48-3 rout. In registering their most lopsided victory since humbling the Los Angeles Rams 48-0 in 1987, San Francisco picked off Josh Freeman twice and forced a third-quarter fumble by WR Mike Williams. "It feels horrible right now,'' Bucs LT Donald Penn said. "That wasn't Buc football – we got our (butts) whipped. You've got to take your hat off to the 49ers. They did what you're supposed to do. They came here to handle business, we didn't and it showed up big-time. It hurts a lot.'' At 4-1, the 49ers lead the NFC West under first-year coach Jim Harbaugh, a former NFL quarterback who has had a settling effect on QB Alex Smith. "Turnovers are something that's emphasized,'' said Smith, who has thrown only one interception this season. "Being smart with the football, not being careless, making good decisions. It doesn't happen by accident.'' Smith wasn't sacked or picked off Sunday while posting a passer rating of 127.2. "It's already been forgotten about, man,'' Bucs CB Aqib Talib said. "We're not the first team to get our butts beat like that. They came out ready to play, with a good game plan, and they won the game. Next up, the Saints.'' Opening jitters After the game, the Bucs didn't have to be reminded about yet another slow start. Tampa Bay trailed 24-3 at the half, turning the Bucs one-dimensional and rendering RB LeGarrette Blount an afterthought. "Realistically, we can't go out there and play flat,'' G Davin Joseph said. "You can't go out there every week and rely on a big second-half comeback. That's not how we want to make a living. We went on the road against a good team and another slow start bit us in the butt.'' The Bucs averaged only 4.0 yards on their 36 first-half snaps and the offense has gone 59 consecutive games without scoring more than seven points in an opening quarter. "We weren't able to establish anything early,'' Joseph said. "You can't take way anything from the 49ers … they played great today. They have a talented group of guys who took advantage of every opportunity they had. We've got to regroup and we can't waste any time doing it because the team coming into Tampa next week (New Orleans) is for real.'' Gore and gash With Frank Gore running for 125 yards, the 49ers rolled up 213 yards on the ground, averaging 5.9 yards per rushing attempt. While Gore reeled off three runs of at least 18 yards, Tampa Bay's longest gain on the ground was a 9-yard run by Blount, who was limited to 34 yards on the day. "Alex Smith is playing great ball and they don't know what to defend,'' Gore said after his 26th career 100-yard game. "This is the first time since I've been here (seven years) that we are looking this good.'' Meanwhile, the 49ers and that stout 3-4 defensive alignment haven't allowed a 100-yard rusher in the past 27 games, easily the longest streak in the league. "They had a game plan they played to perfection and we never got going,'' Bucs RB Earnest Graham said. "They won the turnover battle, they played physical, they ran the ball like they wanted and they stopped us.'' Extra points Second-year LB Dekoda Watson made his first road start, filling in for injured OLB Quincy Black (ankle) The sellout crowd stood for a moment of silence before the game in honor of Raiders owner Al Davis, who died Saturday at the age of 82. Opposing quarterbacks boast a 99.0 passer rating against the Bucs through five weeks, with nine touchdown passes and only two interceptions. After posting four sacks in each of the past two games, Tampa Bay failed to put Smith and backup Colin Kaepernick on the ground.