Assigning credit for the dominating Defense

If we have to lose any games, I hope it's the Brees game or Rodgers game. those games will be good preparation and learning experience for the playoffs when it comes to explosive and good offenses.

Originally posted by Oilcan:
When you can get the constant pressure we are getting only rushing 4 you could make pretty much any DC look like a genius.
I find all this talk about Saleh being a future HC talk comical. I mean if Shanny walked away I sure as hell would not want him as our HC.

Honestly, our success has been multifactorial, but mostly this. Our Dline is STACKED.

Our secondary was historically BAD last year with a weak pass rush. This year, they're world-beaters (sorry, Bruce). Same personnel, more-or-less. Same system, same DC. Totally different results.

We aren't going to be able to keep this group together very long, but Lynch should do everything in his power to do so--they're elevating the entire team. Our secondary was a huge question mark coming into this season. Now, our backup DBs look like All-Pros. Our LBs stay clean because we have so much length inside. Kwon and Fred are free to hunt, and they both run really well.

Bosa is damnear-unblockable and he's only 22. He's an absolute technician (did you notice Solly with some Bosa-esque double swipe action Sunday?) and never gives up on a play. At least half his splash plays this year have been on second or third effort.

Ford has the best first step I've ever seen, transfers that speed to power, has great bend, and a penchant for swiping at the ball. He would be the featured pass rusher on most squads. And his knee issues have been grossly oversold by pundits who don't know the difference between a ligament and a tendon.

But the major reason we're getting so much pressure with four isn't our ends, although they're special, it's the twin towers inside. A good QB will step up when he feels pressure. That's hard to do when your interior linemen are on skates. Opposing QBs have to aim for sunlight between the trees, throw early, and hope for the best.

Brees and Wilson might be able to sort through all the noise, but young QBs like Allen need a clean pocket, and that just aint gonna happen. The result? 7 sacks, a dozen hits, 3 INTs, 51-13.

With all the attention rightly directed at our starters, it's easy to forget how DEEP this squad is. DJ, Solly, Day, Taylor, and Blair would be the starting rotation on most teams. Add a true LEO, and that would actually be a solid rotation. I won't be shocked if the niners franchise AA this offseason, but I will be surprised if we can retain him after that. With the kind of depth developing behind him, however, the future is bright.

Originally posted by Niners99:
Kocurek. We weren't really having any success with the Cover 3, so his switch to the Wide 9 has transformed this D. Obviously adding the personnel to enable the change is a big factor too.

Cover3 and Wide9 describe two different things. Wide 9 is the defensive front whereas Cover3 is the coverage. You can play Wide 9 and Cover 3 at the same time on the same play.

the AA one armed power rush move is my favorite right now

I voted for Kris because he as made a world of difference with the wide 9 system

And the fact all of the Linebackers play off the ball keeps them clean and makes the job for the secondary that much easier

The system is the key!

Originally posted by SkyZer0:
If we have to lose any games, I hope it's the Brees game or Rodgers game. those games will be good preparation and learning experience for the playoffs when it comes to explosive and good offenses.

Indeed. It's going to be hard to go win in the superdome, but it might decide #1 seed, so that's huge unless we want to go back to the dome for the NFCC.

Originally posted by SlowDownBoy:
I voted for Kris because he as made a world of difference with the wide 9 system

And the fact all of the Linebackers play off the ball keeps them clean and makes the job for the secondary that much easier

The system is the key!

It's a bit of a chicken-or-egg debate, I suppose, but there's no way we could have run wide-9 without the personnel.

Our staff and system haven't changed nearly so much as our roster has.