How the 49ers Transformed Into a Premier Pass Rush and Run Defense
Efficiency wasn't clear cut with the 49ers' defensive front.
They weren't nearly the same dominating force against the run and rushing the passer as they were in the second half of the season.
A lot of that stems from their specialists in each of those areas that ended up getting injured. Javon Kinlaw was an immovable object as a run defender and Dee Ford was to be the counterpart to Nick Bosa. With these two players out for the season, the 49ers needed to adjust.
And boy, did they adjust well and beyond the absences of those two players. For instance, the sacks the 49ers tallied in the first seven weeks of the season was just 12, which ranked No. 26 in the league. From Week 8 to now the 49ers have put up 31 sacks to rank No. 3. The difference in those weeks? It wasn't just Bosa being a factor anymore.
With the run defense, running backs were gashing the Niners defense and getting to the second level easily with Kinlaw out. The Packers did it without much of a challenge in Week 3. Then as midseason drew, they started adapting. The difference from early on to later? D.J. Jones and Arik Armstead.
This is how the 49ers transformed into a premier pass rush and run defense.
They adapted, along with their rotational guys stepping up in an enormous way. Arden Key, Samson Ebukam, and Charles Omenihu are part of that 49ers depth that has stepped in the pass rushing departement. It is also how the 49ers have conducted their pass rushes. It isn't just a simple straight up rush. DeMeco Ryans has his guys stunting and twisting to give the rush a better chance of success and it is clearly working.
“I think with the pass rush and just overall, our guys just continued to get better at working together," said Ryans. "So when we work our stunts, our games, just collectively as a unit, guys just continue to get better. And it's just a matter of just getting reps. And we have a lot of new guys we added to our team and it goes to Samson [Ebukam] and also Arden [Key] inside as well. So those guys just had to get more familiar, more comfortable with what we're asking them to do. And I think now they are comfortable and you see the pass rush just being more effective now.”
Armstead deserves credit for the pass rushing surge as well. Ever since he was kicked inside with Kinlaw gone, he has been a force in both departments. Seeing Armstead excel inside should not come as a surprise. He did so in 2019 when he had his season career high for sacks with 10. Only this time he is much better because he has added elite run defending skills to his arsenal.
“I think our run defense improved drastically because of the unselfish play by Arik Armstead. I think people kind of forget we lost our starter in Kinlaw early in the year and we were trying to figure that out inside. When you want to play good run defense, you have to have two really good interior defensive lineman," said Ryans.
"And Arik unselfishly moving inside and D.J. Jones has been outstanding all year. He has had a dominant year, a career year inside and he's been consistent all year. That's why our run defense has been better because of Arik and his play. Arik continued to get better and better inside as the year went on. And D.J. has been as consistent as ever this year.”
Tremendous work by Ryans, defensive line coach Kris Kocurek, and each of their players for stepping up. Now, they are a unit NO TEAM remaining in the playoffs will look forward to.
