National Football League

49ers’ Nick Bosa is in a sack drought, but he needs some help from rest of D-line

Updated Oct. 25, 2023 1:53 p.m. ET

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Eric Williams

NFC West Writer

The San Francisco 49ers pass rush has not lived up to lofty expectations seven games into the regular season. 

Specifically, reigning Defensive Player of the Year Nick Bosa is not putting up his typical numbers. The Ohio State product has four games this season without a sack and just 2.5 on the season, which puts him on pace for six on the year. Bosa had 8.5 sacks through seven games last season.

According to Next Gen Stats, Bosa has generated a career-low 12.8% pressure rate this season.

Bosa led the league with 18.5 sacks in 2022. While he isn't closing on quarterbacks, Bosa has still generated pressure and pushed the pocket. According to Next Gen Stats, Bosa's 29 pressures lead the team and ties him for No. 14 in the league with Maxx Crosby of the Las Vegas Raiders. 

But Bosa hasn't converted those pressures into the game-wrecking plays he's come to be known for – sacks — which gives San Francisco's defense a chance to take the ball away and generate negative plays.

The 49ers have come up with just two sacks during the team's two-game losing streak. San Francisco has a chance to rectify that number, facing the Cincinnati Bengals off a bye week, with the 49ers on a short week. The Bengals will be looking to complete a sweep of the NFC West with a win over San Francisco on Sunday. 

San Francisco head coach Kyle Shanahan doesn't believe his team is getting enough from the front four.

"No, I don't. It doesn't look like it," Shanahan said after his team's loss to Minnesota. "I mean, last week (against Cleveland) I don't think they had as many opportunities. This week it seemed like they did, watching it live. … We didn't have any sacks today. When you go against a quarterback like that, you've got to make him uncomfortable, and he didn't seem too uncomfortable." 

Bosa held out for an extended period this preseason before agreeing to the highest contract for a non-quarterback in NFL history just before the regular season started — a five-year, $170 million deal.

Bosa was on a limited snap count in San Francisco's season opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers. But he has maintained a regular workload since then. Bosa played 68 of a possible 76 defensive snaps (89%) against Cleveland two weeks ago and 64 of a possible 70 snaps (91%) against the Vikings last week.

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According to Pro-Football Reference, Bosa played 746 total snaps (74 percent) in 2022, so perhaps the 49ers should bring Bosa's snap count down so he's more effective in critical moments of the game. 

The 49ers failed to generate a sack on 44 dropbacks in a loss to the Vikings on Monday Night Football. Bosa created the most pressures with six, but even when the 49ers blitzed up to seven rushers, they couldn't get home, allowing Kirk Cousins to sidestep the rush and create big plays down the field. San Francisco forced Minnesota to punt just once.

Along with paying Bosa, the Rams signed defensive tackle Javon Hargrave to a four-year, $84 million deal in free agency. Fellow defensive tackle Arik Armstead is in the middle of a five-year, $85 million deal.

San Francisco has $41.4 million in salary cap money allocated to the defensive line this season (No. 5 in the NFL) and a league-high $61.6 million earmarked for the position group in 2024. 

So far this season, the 49ers have not received a good return on their investment. The 49ers' 15 sacks on the year are tied for 18th in the league. According to Next Gen Stats, San Francisco's sack rate (4.9%) is tied for No. 27 in the NFL.

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Armstead and Hargrave have combined for 3.5 sacks. And Drake Jackson has yet to record a sack after his three-sack effort against the Steelers in Week 1. The 49ers were so desperate to find someone to generate consistent pressure off the edge opposite Bosa that they traded for former Bronco Randy Gregory.

Gregory has flashed at times off the edge for San Francisco. New defensive coordinator Steve Wilks and defensive line coach Kris Kocurek must figure out how to get more from this group. Through seven weeks, Wilks has blitzed 24.4% of the time, so perhaps the 49ers will have to blitz more to create consistent pressure. 

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"It definitely works out sometimes," Bosa told reporters when asked about blitzing. "I'm not used to it. We're usually a rush four kind of team, and it's a little different this year." 

Or, it's just a matter of mixing up personnel groupings to get back to playing dominant defense.

"The thing with us right now is we've got to find a way to win the grimy games, the ones where it's not looking great," Fred Warner said. "Obviously, we can 30-10. But who are we and what are we going to do when we  are down and have to come back and win a game?"

Eric D. Williams has reported on the NFL for more than a decade, covering the Los Angeles Rams for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Chargers for ESPN and the Seattle Seahawks for the Tacoma News Tribune. Follow him on Twitter at @eric_d_williams.

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