The San Francisco 49ers struggled in a 42-26 loss to the Los Angeles Rams over the weekend, getting blown out as they got off to a slow start and just couldn’t manufacture enough stops in the defeat.
It was a demoralizing game, as the 49ers had a prime opportunity to get a step in the division at 6-3 with a 3-0 NFC West record. Instead, they fell to 6-4, dropping 1.5 games behind the Los Angeles Rams and the Seattle Seahawks.
The 49ers are still very much in the playoff race, currently being the first
team out of the NFC playoff picture. But, they need to figure things out, especially defensively, if they are to make a late-season push.
What’s the fix for the 49ers defense? To figure that out, we first have to identify the problem, which is, quite frankly, a lack of personnel.
When defensive end Nick Bosa went down earlier in the season, the 49ers definitely suffered from a pass-rush perspective, but they still had some quality defensive performances with Fred Warner arguably playing at the highest level of his career. But, when Warner went down, the defense crashed, and they’ve yet to recover over the last few weeks.
San Francisco isn’t getting many more reinforcements defensively, apart from a few additions on the defensive line, so they’ll need to figure out how to best use their current personnel schematically. One issue with Warner’s injury is the difference in how the team uses its safeties.
“You’re missing a Hall-of-Fame player [with Fred Warner], so I don’t like to say anything to take away from Tatum [Bethune],” head coach Kyle Shanahan said on Monday. “I think Tatum’s doing a really good job, but you’re missing a Hall-of-Fame player.
“Fred is elite when it comes to just how intelligent he is, how he communicates, how he can get us in and out of every single thing, how he can handle every single motion. He’s also elite in covering things from numbers to numbers. Usually if you’re going to throw over the middle, you’ve got to throw it over Fred Warner which allows our safeties to play deeper, it allows our corners to just stay on top. But, when you’re missing a Hall-of-Fame player like that, it unlocks a lot of things which affects all three levels of the defense.”
Without Warner on the field, the responsibility of the secondary has changed a bit, and it hasn’t helped that San Francisco has struggled to get pressure with four. When they blitz, the coverage needs to be pristine, which hasn’t been the case.
At the moment, defensive coordinator Robert Saleh is trying to figure out how to use his defense best. That requires a mix of not putting too much on a young defense’s plate, while also trying to present different looks for opposing offenses. So far, the results haven’t been great.
“I think results-wise, [the balance of being simple and exotic defensively was] not good because I think we made too many mistakes and that’s the fine line,” Shanahan said about the defense. “Like, if you just sit back and do some really simple things versus a quarterback like [Matthew] Stafford and their offense, it’s not going to give you a very good chance either.
“But, when you try to get a lot of stuff done and we mess up too much, then you have no chance. So, we’ve got to continue to work to find that balance, what we do in the week and carry it over to Sunday. But, definitely made too many mistakes there on Sunday.”
San Francisco has a huge four-game stretch up ahead with the Arizona Cardinals, Carolina Panthers, Cleveland Browns, and Tennessee Titans up next. They’ll need to be very good, likely even 4-0, during that stretch. To do so, they’ll need better results from the defense.
