Eye on the Opponent: 49ers Pass Rusher Nick Bosa Seeking First Sack of New Season

Through the season's first two weeks, the New York Giants offensive line has been inconsistent in protecting quarterback Daniel Jones against the opposing pass rush.

This week, their task doesn't get any easier when the San Francisco 49ers’ fearsome defense lines up in front of them on Thursday night.

In the season opener against Dallas, Jones was sacked seven times and hit on 12 occasions, with all five linemen finishing 32nd or worse in pass-block win rate among eligible players at their positions.

The unit’s numbers improved significantly in Week 2 against Arizona, with all five starters landing at least an 89.7% pass block win rate even though the line was missing left tackle Andrew Thomas and had a new right guard in Marcus McKethan.

This week, the Giants are facing a 49ers defense whose core pass rusher, Nick Bosa, has yet to record a sack among the six sacks, ten tackles-for-loss, and 11 pass breakups recorded thus far.

Since 2021, Bosa has become one of the league's elite pass rushers, posting 107 total tackles and 24 sacks in that time, including two consecutive seasons of 15.5 takedowns in the backfield. According to ESPN Analytics, those efforts landed the 27-year-old in the Top-10 edge rushers for pass rush win rate last fall and helped the 49ers finish fifth (46%) in the NFL in the same metric.

As he looks to chase that feat again, the 2022 Defensive Player of the Year entered the 2023 season, signing a massive five-year, $170 million contract extension to make him the highest-paid defensive player in NFL history.

That places a huge chip on his shoulder to show up and outperform the opposition each week, something he has been a little slow to achieve. Bosa has recorded four total tackles in his first two games and has yet to record a sack.

When the fifth-year player takes the stage with his fellow linemen for the primetime bout, it’s anticipated that he’ll spend most of his snaps battling against Giants right tackle Evan Neal. The Giants' second-year tackle started on a rocky road against the Cowboys, allowing three sacks, but last week, he rebounded with a 93.1% pass block win rate to finish 15th best among eligible tackles.

The Giants will have to worry about more than Bosa’s pass-rushing ability. He can also do heavy damage against the run, where he has played over 860 career snaps and recorded one of the lowest missed tackle rates in his position over the past two seasons. His stat line wasn’t enough to get him into the top 10 among defensive ends for run-stop win rate in 2022, but it did get the 49ers into the top 10 for the same category at 32 percent.

Bosa is just one part of a 49ers pressure group that also features a mix of linebackers Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw, defensive tackle Justin Hargrave, and defensive ends Arik Armstead, Drake Jackson, and Kerry Hyder Jr. Four of these players have been responsible for the team’s sacks and other big plays at the line of scrimmage.

The best scenario for New York to succeed in this matchup will depend on whether Thomas returns to the scene. In that case, we could see an emphasis on setting up plays toward the left side of the field, where the protection will be sharper, and Bosa will have to make up the extra ground to get to the ball carrier to make a play.

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