© Cary Edmondson | 2019 Sep 22
The 49ers defensive line is a problem. For other teams that is.
That was on full display again Sunday, when the San Francisco 49ers front four made Jared Goff’s day miserable, sacking him four times and limiting him to just 78 yards passing.
This has been a consistent theme. The 49ers defense is first in the NFC in yards allowed per game (237.4), points allowed per game (12.8), opponents QB rating (62.5) and rank first in the NFL in passing yards allowed per game (150.2).
Additionally, the 49ers have the two most productive pass rushers in the league in Dee Ford and Nick Bosa according to Pro Football Focus, and have four edge defenders (Ford, Bosa, Arik Armstead and Ronald Blair) ranked in the top 11 among all non-defensive tackles.
So how good are these 49ers? According to hall of famer Steve Young, they have the potential to be one of the best front fours in NFL history.
“You’ve got to say to yourself, this defensive line if they continue to gel — think about the Seattle “Legion of Boom” when they had the four guys that could just wreck games. Think of all the times when you’ve seen teams that have four guys that can wreck a game. With four, not five. Not the extra blitzer, not with the extra guy. Just four guys wrecking games.
“Think back. The Ravens had a wrecking crew like that. Seattle had that. We had it a little bit in 2012. And then you go back further and there’s maybe 10 teams that had a wrecking crew like this group, and just think of the success that those teams have.
“So that’s what really stuck out to me. Those four guys wrecked the game and took a team — they did what the Patriots did to the (Rams) in the Super Bowl. Just smashed them. They had nothing to do. Jered Goff had no answer. You don’t see that very often amongst good teams, and we knew this was going to be a good matchup. They were hit quick, were on their back, and never got up. That was the story to me.
“If we’re going to be really good, those are the guys that are doing it.”
Listen to the full interview below.