Here are my preseason Week 2 grades for the 49ers’ defense.
DEFENSIVE LINE: B+. The starters didn’t get much pressure on the quarterback, but they mostly shut down Arian Foster and the Texans’ great running game – Foster gained most of his yards in the second quarter against the Niners’ backups. Speaking of the backups, Ricky Jean Francois and Ian Williams played well, busting into the Texans’ backfield a few times. I think they’re locks to make the team.
INSIDE LINEBACKERS: B+. Patrick Willis got three solo tackles and he only played nine plays. NaVorro Bowman didn’t get any tackles, however, and Larry Grant missed one. Joe Holland sacked T.J. Yates once and broke up a pass on third and 4.
OUTSIDE LINEBACKERS: C+. Aldon Smith and Ahmad Brooks didn’t play, so Parys Haralson and Eric Bakhtiari started and did not get pressure on Matt Schaub, who leisurely went through his reads and connected for long completions. Bakhtiari played the entire game, and he dominated the Texans’ backups for stretches.
CORNERBACKS: B-. Chris Culliver gave up a 22-yard completion to Keshawn Martin on the first series of the game, but that was Culliver’s only bad play. Matt Schaub did not test Carlos Rogers or Tarell Brown, but he did go after Tramaine Brock over and over again, beating him three times in one drive, including once for a touchdown to Lestar Jean on third and 7 from the Niners’ 9-yard-line.
SAFETIES: B. Donte Whitner made a nice tackle on third and 8 to prevent a first down. Michael Thomas struggled in coverage, giving up a touchdown and a first down conversion on third and 7. To his credit, he also sacked T.J. Yates on a blitz later in the game.
SPECIAL TEAMS: D+. David Akers made all three of his field goal attempts, including a 55-yarder. That was the only bright spot from this unit. LaMichael James caught one punt and ran backwards before gaining two yards, and then later he dropped a punt which bounced out of bounds. Not so good. The worst moment came when the coverage team allowed Trinden Holliday to return a punt 87 yards for a touchdown. Corey Nelms and Joe Holland let Holliday run right by him when he caught the ball, and no one had a good angle to tackle Holliday after that.
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Fair assessment. I was biting my knuckles when Holland and Nelms missed the return. Andy Lee out there all by himself stretched out made the injury red flag go up. Nothing to worry about as it turns out but that was a bit freaky there for a minute.
Adam
I was mad at Lee like I was mad at AS last week on his scramble up the middle. If Lee gets hurt trying to make a tackle in a pre-season game and is out to miss any real games, we are at a decisive disadvantage.
Let the guy score here. Kinda like catchers standing in front of home plate. Unless it is a big game/important moment, don’t do it. If you get hurt, you and your team are screwed. The Giants saw that last year with their Catcher. Know when to risk it, and when to let it go. Risking an injury in pre-season to stop a run back on a punt return is not the time for the best punter in the NFL to risk it. Maybe do so in the regular season. Most definitely in the playoffs.
Agreed.
I almost had a heart attack when I saw Lee going that direction. Never wanted a Niner to miss a tackle more in my life.
To his credit though, and not mentioned above in the D+ special teams grade, Lee did bang some very solid punts. The coverage team had some decent coverage and some absolutely awful/embaressing coverage, but all things considered Andy Lee is the man.
AndyLeeMVP
That is serious. Not a joke, and not an insult to other Niner players.
That guy made the offense and defense better more than any other single individual.
It’s a detail, but since you’re writing about the players, you should at least try to spell Bowman’s name correctly.
You are a moronic twerp
Niners dodged a couple bullets with LMJ and Jacobs… hopefully, they’ll both be back soon !
While I would have loved to see the Texans get spanked.. Ihad to remind myself that this was only a pre-season game .. and The Harbs wasn’t about to reveal all his cards as yet ..
The fact that Shaub scored on the Niner back-ups was a testament to how much of a priority he put on a mere scrimmage game ..
But I kinda wish we had those refs in the NFC Champ Game ..
They made so many “great calls” …
chances are … they wouldn’t have seen the Kyle Williams fumble .. !
(He did look pretty good vs the Texans)
Did Goldson play in this game? I did not hear his name not once and I have watched the game twice.
Good question UC. Whitner was very involved but it seemed like Robinson was in at safety very early.
Maybe the coaches wanted to see Thomas and Robinson against 1st team opponents?