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Richard Sherman complimented defensive coordinator Robert Saleh for the game plan he installed in the 49ers’ Week-2 win over the Detroit Lions. There weren’t many people complimenting the 49ers defense after Week 3, when the Chiefs scored 35 first-half points, including five straight touchdowns to begin their 38-27 win over the 49ers last Sunday.
49ers coaches and players identified tackling as the most identifiable issue. Other miscues, from lack of communication to untimely penalties, helped dig the 49ers into a 25-point deficit entering halftime.
The Chiefs entered last Sunday’s matchup scoring a league-leading 40 points per game. They boast weapons all over the field, and first-year starting quarterback Patrick Mahomes is the early frontrunner for MVP. Yet Sherman, again, felt the 49ers were well-prepared for everything the Chiefs threw at them — even if the results don’t show it.
When asked how the 49ers defense, which is allowing 29.7 points per game through three games, can turn things around, Sherman said they need to “play sound, assignment football.”
“Guys being where they are supposed to be,” Sherman said Thursday. “It wasn’t like (the Chiefs) were doing anything crazy, like jumping out and saying, ‘Look at this outstanding play.’”
Sherman said the 49ers practiced many of the plays that the Chiefs deployed in the game. But the 49ers missed 17 tackles, and they committed 14 penalties for 147 yards. The 11-point loss was largely a result of self-inflicted wounds, not lack of preparation, as Sherman says.
“I have been in the league in eight years, and it’s as simple as (the coaches) show you the plays the other team runs,” Sherman said. “You go to practice, they run the plays that they just showed you in the meeting. Then, you review the plays you just saw run, just saw practiced. It’s like somebody saying, ‘Here are the answers to the test. Let’s go take this practice test and review the practice test.’ And you go into the games, and the coaches have done a great job game-planning and putting us in a position. It’s just going out there and taking it to the game field.”
These are growing pains for a 49ers defense filled with rookies and second-year players. Sherman is the only defensive starter older than 26. The majority of these players are in their first seasons as full-time starters.
Sherman’s calf injury, which he expects to sideline him Sunday at Los Angeles (Chargers), exacerbates the defensive issues. Jimmie Ward and Ahkello Witherspoon will likely be the starting cornerbacks. Both have struggled in recent weeks. If Adrian Colbert (hip) can’t play, rookie D.J. Reed will step in alongside strong safety Antone Exum, who would fill in for the injured Jaquiski Tartt (shoulder).
After last Sunday’s wakeup call, Sherman is looking for his teammates to come out with a renewed focus in Week 4.
“Sometimes, the bright lights get to some people,” Sherman said. “We need to get back to being more detailed and being able to say, ‘Hey we have seen this in practice, we reacted like this in practice, this is how we need to react in the game.”