How Nick Bosa is Making an Impact Without Tallying Sacks

He may be starting the season slow on sacks, but Nick Bosa is still making a major impact on the 49ers defense without them.

Excitement surrounded the 49ers when they finally extended Nick Bosa prior to Week 1.

They were getting the Defensive Player of the Year and 2022 sack leader back in the building. Unfortunately, it hasn't been too exciting with Bosa due to a lack of sacks. He has only generated one through three games so far. The first sack came in Week 3 against the Giants on Thursday Night Football. Being paid as much as he is, it is understandable to want Bosa to reel in more of them.

However, Bosa is still making a massive impact without tallying sacks. He is being double teamed on 37-percent of his snaps, which leads the league for edge rushers according to ESPN. That makes a massive impact because offenses are allocating all efforts into stopping/slowing Bosa down. So, of course he isn't going to pop off with sacks when he's getting the kitchen sink thrown at him.

But because he's being double teamed, he is freeing up his teammates on the defensive line. Drake Jackson scored himself a hat trick in sacks in Week 1 against the Steelers. He made the Steelers pay for pulling all stops on Bosa. Javon Hargrave is also finding success as he has two sacks already along with being the second-most efficient defensive tackle with a pass rush win rate of 26-percent.

Much, if not some, of this can be credited to Bosa demanding those double teams. Since he is going to find it tough to get those sacks, then he will need his teammates to take advantage of those one-on-one opportunities. It is paying dividends so far. Plus, Bosa will eventually find his way around the double-teams as he has done in the past. I'll chalk that up to his lack of training camp to really get him up to speed. I would expect Bosa to start turning it up as soon as Week 4 against the Cardinals.

There's no need to panic with Bosa only having one sack through three games. Yes, it would be great if he got another one or two, but the point is for him to make an impact on the game, which he is massively doing. He is freeing up others on the defensive line in Jackson, Hargrave, Arik Armstead, Javon Kinlaw, and even Fred Warner on his blitzes. Double teaming Bosa is going to soon be useless with all of these players taking advantage of it.