All 49ers

The Key to Slowing Down the 49ers Offense

The defenses that had the most success against the 49ers offense last season -- Cleveland, Baltimore, Kansas City -- all had outstanding cornerbacks. And now we're seeing NFC contenders load up at the position.
Grant Cohn|
Dec 3, 2023; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; San Francisco 49ers center Jake Brendel (64) snaps the
Dec 3, 2023; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; San Francisco 49ers center Jake Brendel (64) snaps the | Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

In this story:

San Francisco 49ers

Teams have figured out how to slow down the 49ers offense, but not many have the players to pull it off.

Teams know the 49ers are a run-first team whose running back is the reigning Offensive Player of the Year, Christian McCaffrey. They can't let him beat them. So they have to stack the box with eight defenders on rushing downs. No matter what.

Then the secondary must play press man-to-man coverage to take away the short, quick throws so that Deebo Samuel doesn't beat them. Because he can't beat press man coverage. And he's deadly when he faces zone.

So that means the defense essentially has to play Cover 1 -- eight in the box with 1-on-1 matchups between the wide receivers and the cornerbacks on the outside. Force Brock Purdy to make difficult throws downfield. Force the 49ers subpar offensive line to block for more than two seconds. Force someone on the 49ers to beat tight coverage.

And that means the defense's cornerbacks must be outstanding, or else Brandon Aiyuk and Jauan Jennings will eat them alive.

The defenses that had the most success against the 49ers offense last season -- Cleveland, Baltimore, Kansas City -- all had outstanding cornerbacks. And now we're seeing NFC contenders load up at the position. This offseason, the Lions traded for cornerback Carlton Davis and drafted cornerback Terrion Arnold in Round 1. Meanwhile, the Eagles drafted cornerbacks Quinyon Mitchell in Round 1 and Cooper DeJean in Round 2.

That's why the 49ers drafted wide receiver Ricky Pearsall in Round 1. They understand how defenses will try to slow them down next season. So they need all the wide receivers they can get.

Published
Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

Share on XFollow grantcohn
Home/News