On-Air Now
On-Air Now
Listen Live from the Casino Matrix Studio

Steve Young cites his biggest concern with 49ers heading into postseason

By

/


© Joe Nicholson | 2019 Dec 29


Optimism surrounding the 49ers is the highest it’s been in a half decade, since Jim Harbaugh was manically patrolling the sidelines in his signature khakis.

There are good reasons for this. San Francisco is the first seed in the NFC playoffs, posting a 13-3 record that culminated with an exorcism of their Seattle demons. They earned themselves a much-needed first round bye, and should take the field on Saturday January 11 at almost full strength for the first time in over two months.

And yet, there are concerns. One of which is in the back of former 49ers quarterback Steve Young’s mind, as he detailed in his weekly hit with Tolbert, Krueger and Brooks on Thursday.

“This defensive line, I thought was top in the league, maybe top two,” Young said. “Remember the game where they just mauled Aaron Rodgers and he put the white flag up? That’s what those defenses like Denver, when Payton Manning couldn’t raise his arm and they still won the Super Bowl, or Seattle, Baltimore had a group like that. There are teams that have had these ferocious defensive lines and we’ve lost that.

“I understand there were injuries and so forth, but that’s my greatest concern. Without that, our defense becomes something where everyone has to standout on their own and a ferocious defensive line can kind’ve mask a lot of stuff, and that’s my concern. You run into these teams that can put up big points, and you don’t pull it out 48-46, you lose a game because you’re not putting the pressure on the quarterback that you need to.”

It’s hard to argue against the former Super Bowl MVP here. The 49ers sacked the quarterback 44 times from Weeks 1-12, an average of four per game. Since that time, the 49ers have four sacks…total. Some of that can certainly be attributed to the loss of edge rusher Dee Ford, who is expected to be back for the Divisional Round. If he’s not, however, the rest of the San Francisco defense will have to continue to pick up the slack.

“There’s other issues that we know the team has but we haven’t had to worry about them…I really believed this defensive line was supposed to be the best in the league and if have that, the rest of it is going to fall into place. If I don’t, then I’m at risk.”