PHILADELPHIA — Some signs the San Francisco 49ers defense could slow down quarterback Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles offense were already present in last season’s NFC Championship Game. One just had to look under the hood of that 49ers’ loss, because the 31-7 final score suggested not much went right for them.
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But their top two cornerbacks, Charvarius Ward and Deommodore Lenoir, combined to allow only two catches for 16 yards in that game — even though Hurts was throwing frequently before matters got away from the 49ers, whose QB Brock Purdy tore his UCL on the first drive. Hurts attempted 19 passes in the first half of the title game but managed only 97 yards, good for an average of 5.1 yards per attempt.
Given that, the 49ers were confident that they could cover Philadelphia receivers A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith effectively. And that was a critical ingredient in their defensive game plan for Sunday’s 42-19 romp over the Eagles.
The strategy centered on preventing Hurts from picking up big yards with his legs, and that meant rushing him in a disciplined fashion. The 49ers voluntarily gave Hurts more time to throw, gambling that the pros of showing pass-rushing restraint — choking off QB running lanes — would outweigh the obvious cons in coverage.
Only a complementary effort — good DB technique on the back end aided by effective pressure to disrupt Hurts’ process up front — could legitimize such a trade-off.
“It was definitely an assignment-focused game,” said 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa. “We had to make Jalen focus on the rush instead of looking downfield and we knew that was the key to the game. So our whole mentality was: we’re not trying to set the record on sacks. We’re trying to close the pocket, we’re trying to get his eyes on us.”
The results spoke for themselves. The Eagles, who entered ranked No. 4 in offensive DVOA, managed only 12 points before the game was effectively out of reach. Philadelphia didn’t turn the ball over. Instead, the 49ers slowly squeezed the most explosive potential out of the Eagles, overwhelming them with a season-high 46 pressures that came from all directions.
The 49ers overwhelmed Philadelphia's sturdy O-line yesterday with 46 (!!) pressures:
Nick Bosa: 8
Chase Young: 7
Arik Armstead: 6
Javon Kinlaw: 5
Randy Gregory: 5
Clelin Ferrell: 4
Javon Hargrave: 4
Kalia Davis: 2
Keep in mind that the strategy was a disciplined pass rush to…
— David Lombardi (@LombardiHimself) December 4, 2023
“Obviously, a really good O-line,” said Bosa, who was working primarily against All-Pro right tackle Lane Johnson. “(Hurts) helps them out with how he evades. You can’t really pick a side when you’re rushing those guys because you know Jalen’s watching you. He’s trying to get out of the pocket and win that way. So I think we did a really good job of just closing in on him.”
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Hurts finished with just 20 rushing yards on seven attempts. In total, Philadelphia rushed for only 46 yards on 18 carries (2.6 yards per carry), which made for their worst performance on the ground this season. The 49ers, who ranked down at No. 26 in run defense EPA at their bye week about a month ago, have regained their form as top-10 performers in that regard.
The performance wasn’t perfect, of course. The 49ers missed 12 tackles, which marked a return to a problem the defense had during its rough stretch over October’s three-game losing streak. Rookie safety Ji’Ayir Brown took a pair of notably poor angles on Brown, who turned short slant patterns into conversions on third-and-long.
But the 49ers believe Brown, who was starting just his second NFL game, will eliminate such errors quickly with more game experience. And they’re already thrilled with the development of other young defensive backs. Ambry Thomas is on the most notable surge and his emergence has allowed Lenoir to replace Isaiah Oliver as the 49ers’ slot cornerback in nickel situations. Thomas notched three pass breakups, Lenoir punctuated the win by de-cleating Eagles running back D’Andre Swift and Ward broke up four passes of his own.
The veteran cornerback’s first pass breakup, which came in the end zone against Brown in the first quarter, was one of the biggest plays of the game. The 49ers offense failed to produce in the first quarter, but two red-zone stops from the defense kept the game close. Ward now leads the NFL with 15 pass breakups.
No Fly Zone ❌ @itslilmooney#SFvsPHI on FOX
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— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) December 3, 2023
“Hopefully I can turn some of those pass deflections and PBUs into interceptions and make big plays,” Ward said. “PBUs are good, but turnovers, those would take my game and the defense to a whole new level. So I’ll be on the Jugs machine. I’ll keep working on my hands and try to pick some of the balls off. I feel like that’s the next step for me.”
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The 49ers also want to avoid finding themselves in compromising situations like the one that arose in the third quarter when linebacker Dre Greenlaw slammed Smith to the ground at the Philadelphia sideline, drawing a flag for unnecessary roughness. (This directly preceded Greenlaw’s run-in with Eagles head of security Dom DiSandro, which led to the ejection of both men from the game.)
“Dre’s been the enforcer for this defense since we got here in ’19 and that’s what makes him who he is, so we’re not going to knock him for being that,” Bosa said. “But in that situation, he knows he can’t do that and it was a perfect learning lesson at this moment down the road. I don’t think he’ll make that mistake again.”
Bosa’s confidence might be rooted in the fact that the 49ers defense has generally avoided repeating errors this season. Two glaring deficiencies have popped up this season — poor run defense over the first half of the season and a slew of ineffective coverage combinations over midseason losses to the Minnesota Vikings and Cincinnati Bengals — and the 49ers have effectively rectified both issues.
That much was clear in Philadelphia, where the marriage between the 49ers’ pass rush and coverage was as strong as ever — even against a formidable opponent.
“There’s so many different matchups every week,” Bosa said. “Some weeks, you’re going to hit your move and get the sack. This week, the entire focus was closing it in, closing it in, and making him do what he does. And it was effective. It’s a lot of running. It’s a lot of power. So you’re gassed out there, so you have to push through. That was the game plan and I think we executed it pretty well.”
Bosa smiled in the locker room after the game, appreciating what he saw as an unselfish mentality from the defensive line. Despite the boatload of pressure that the unit had generated, none of the 49ers’ stars up front had logged a sack. But to Bosa, that was proof of the team’s disciplined commitment to the game plan of containment.
The cherry on top for the star edge rusher came through the fact that two less prominent defensive tackles, Javon Kinlaw and rookie Kalia Davis, were the players who got on the sack board Sunday. Bosa ambled over to both Kinlaw and Davis individually, congratulating his teammates with a smile, handshake and a big hug.
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“It was an unselfish mentality from everybody,” Bosa said. “JK got two, Kalia got one. It ended perfectly. It was awesome.”
99 problems, but a sack ain't one ☝️#SFvsPHI on FOX
NFL+ // https://t.co/KTh0i4nCVJ pic.twitter.com/PwQZhg5qXQ
— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) December 3, 2023
Then, after making sure to also praise the performance of the 49ers offense, Bosa finished with a broader point about his entire team.
“Nobody needs to be the guy,” Bosa said. “There are 20 guys who can be the guy. And it just depends on when the moment comes that you’re ready for it.”
(Photo of Nick Bosa celebrating with Javon Kinlaw after Kinlaw’s first-quarter sack: Tim Nwachukwu / Getty Images)
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