When the San Francisco 49ers lost Nick Bosa, it felt deflating. The team had been able to sustain countless injuries, but the thought was that because a game-changer such as Bosa was still on the field, the unit still had a chance to be game-changing. It took just one game to see just how significant that impact was.
The 49ers did not record a hit on the quarterback for the first time since 2015. This is well before Bosa was even drafted. Still, it shows just where the unit is without him.
To be fair, some of this comes down to Trevor Lawrence and the Jaguars. The Jaguars ran the ball well and stayed ahead of the sticks. When Lawrence faced pressure, he got the ball out quickly and stayed clean. That is a testament to his play.
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At the same time, this is what you may expect moving forward without Bosa.
Mykel Williams is just a rookie, and his best pass-rushing reps all come along the interior. When he was asked to play more outside this week, we saw what happened. Yetur Gross-Matos and Bryce Huff are supposed to be part-time players, and now that they are asked to do more, they are not coming with the same level of ferocity.
Sam Okuayinonu is better against the run, and he is just a part-time player as well. So, they are asking a lot of players to step up, and none of them can currently.
The hope is that as the season goes on, these players grow into their roles. Williams and Okuayinonu have potential that is not tapped yet. Gross-Matos can get healthier. If they step up on run downs, then Huff will be back to his ways of unleashing on the quarterback like he can with Bosa on the field.
However, this is going to take some time, and it was clear that the defense does not have the same ceiling it once had just seven days ago. The 49ers take on the Rams, and it is on a short week. Kyle Shanahan has a good history in this matchup, but he will come in a bit short-handed, and if they cannot fix the pass rush, Matthew Stafford can sit in the pocket and pick them apart. The 49ers are going to have to figure things out on the fly because 3-2 may not be far away.
