Assigning credit for the dominating Defense

Originally posted by TheWooLick:

The team has lacked an edge pass rush for a long time. No way they could be great without a good edge rusher and now they have two great ones.
Saleh has the horses now and his defense is shining.

If this D has a bad week, Saleh will take the brunt of the blame. When they play well like they have been though, the talent takes the brunt of the credit. Funny how that works right?

Originally posted by evil:

Originally posted by TheWooLick:

The team has lacked an edge pass rush for a long time. No way they could be great without a good edge rusher and now they have two great ones.
Saleh has the horses now and his defense is shining.

If this D has a bad week, Saleh will take the brunt of the blame. When they play well like they have been though, the talent takes the brunt of the credit. Funny how that works right?

Well he did take some heat on the Steelers game after those 2 big touchdowns.

Originally posted by evil:

Originally posted by TheWooLick:

The team has lacked an edge pass rush for a long time. No way they could be great without a good edge rusher and now they have two great ones.
Saleh has the horses now and his defense is shining.

If this D has a bad week, Saleh will take the brunt of the blame. When they play well like they have been though, the talent takes the brunt of the credit. Funny how that works right?

Stick to question, evil.

Originally posted by jreff22:

Originally posted by 9erReign:
Bosa and Ford. That is all.

Originally posted by ChazBoner:
addition of Bosa and Ford. 100%

These

getting both is like an open fire hydrant when all you were looking for was a drinking fountain

To me the most impressive thing has been the lack of roughing calls. I'm not saying we've deserved any, but I seem to recall Fangio's defenses consistently flagged for them, even though we didn't deserve them. Seems the league is real focused on allowing offenses to put up as many points as possible, and I've seen many this year on other teams that floored me. So the frequency with which we're hitting QB's, and scarcity of flags for it is absolutely delicious!

Addition of Bosa and Ford are what's making the difference.

Personnel.

Specifically edge rushers.

The pressure impacts every facet of the game.

You double team one and the others will beat you. There is no winning.

Originally posted by NCommand:

Originally posted by evil:

Originally posted by TheWooLick:

The team has lacked an edge pass rush for a long time. No way they could be great without a good edge rusher and now they have two great ones.
Saleh has the horses now and his defense is shining.

If this D has a bad week, Saleh will take the brunt of the blame. When they play well like they have been though, the talent takes the brunt of the credit. Funny how that works right?

Stick to question, evil.

Credit goes around to everyone involved, from position coaches (Demeco Ryan's and Holland included) to talent to Saleh himself and to John and Kyle and everyone involved in talent acquisition.

Some fail to realize Saleh formulates the final game plan and is responsible for the adjustments. Sherm has been sincere and genuine in talking up Saleh since he got here, and labeled him a genius because of his meticulous attention to detail, his understanding of the opposition and their nuances and tendencies.

Everyone is coming together to make this all work at the level it is. But if and when we have a bad showing on D, Saleh will be the fall guy for most of our fans yet they don't want to fully credit the guy when we play at a high level. Talent alone did not hold the leagues 2nd best passing attack to 78 yards yesterday, that is also on game planning, preparation and adjusting and adapting with the ebb and flow of the game.

Originally posted by captveg:

Kyle Shanahan / John Lynch. It's their vision. Starts at the top. Everyone from front office to coaching to players is doing their part right now, so kudos all around.

Unfortunately, you are right. Lynch made some great moves.

~ Improved talent by leaps and bounds. Dee Ford in Free Agency and Nick Bosa in the draft really helped a lot.

~ Better health of the roster. Ward is a perfect example. He is finally healthy and is playing so great. Even Richard Sherman is more healthy this year than last year and it shows big time.

~ Development of players over time. Solomon Thomas and Arik Armstead are perfect examples. They are late bloomers but they are playing good now so that's what is important.

~ Good drafting on defense in recent years. Buckner, Bosa, Fred Warner, Jimmy Ward.

~ Good FA pickups over time. Richard Sherman and Dee Ford in particular.

We made a lot of good moves in FA and the draft over time in recent years. Also some players have been developing lately. So it's all that combined.

I'd say the GM for stacking our front 7.

I think Bosa and Ford are the most obvious ones. Then Kwon Alexander has played a significant part. Witherspoon is developing as well. Then the willingness to change defensive coaches has been a very powerful addition. Now with the new coaches it seems to have affected Armstead and Thomas as well and as a team, all pulling together, it has been impressive to see.

The GM for hiring the coaches and drafting the players. When he had a gamble not pay off, he set it right by getting Alexander.

credit goes to the Cards for not taking bosa

Originally posted by NCommand:

IMHO, when Ward, Witherspoon, E-Man, T.Moore, K.Williams, Greenlaw and hell, even Dontae Johnson yesterday are all looking like all pro's, that's talent up front: Armstead, Buckner, Ford, Bosa, Thomas, Blair and Jones.

Not a mystery. All of us have been watching football long enough to know that a great pass rush makes everybody look much better. Guaranteed if Bosa and Ford had to sit a few games we would be back to cursing the secondary, though I will admit I think the combo of Ward and Tartt at safety is a winner.