SANTA CLARA — Here’s what Vic Fangio said Tuesday about the 49ers pass rush.
The sack numbers are down, but yet you guys rank, I think, second in the league in passing defense. How do you view how things are happening up front as far as the pressure on the quarterback?
“Well, I think you answered your own question there when you said we were ranked second in pass defense. And pass rush is a part of pass defense. So, although we don’t have the sack numbers, which a lot of people want to sink their teeth into, fantasy players want to sink their teeth into sacks. That’s not the only measure of good pass rush. And right now to this point, I haven’t seen pass rush as being a weakness for us.”
Was that a case for Sunday against the Giants?
“Yes. Now we didn’t have a good rush on one of the passes they completed for good yardage. But, that’s going to happen some. But, I don’t see our pass rush as being an issue right now.”
Are offenses playing differently? Are offenses playing your pass rush differently causing you to adjust more this season?
“At times they’ll be chipping us, keeping extra guys in, or throwing it quicker. I think it’s on their mind. And again, I think that plays into the pass defense, which is what we’re all concerned about here, being pretty good because when they do that, they limit themselves also a little bit.”
As fantasy folks, they like to argue the point but will say, but they only got one hit on Giants QB Eli Manning.
“Well, that’s not a correct stat.”
No?
“No.”
OK. What was it? What was the headcount?
“I don’t know exactly. But, I can remember at least three.”
But overall, you were even-pleased with the pass rush against the Giants? Is that what you’re saying?
“Overall, yes. There were some plays where it wasn’t what we’d like it to be. But, again like I say, that’s going to happen some every game, even if you have a game where you’re getting a bunch of sacks. And they only threw the ball 28 times last week. And it sounds like that’s a low number these days.”
Is that needed to be able to get turnovers though, or the takeaways I should say?
“To a degree it does. Obviously I think if you were to do a study, more turnovers happen on passing plays. Obviously the interceptions can only happen on a passing play. The sack-fumble can only happen on a passing play. Receivers catching the ball, getting stripped can happen. There are more turnovers that do happen on a passing play, no question about that.”
You talked about some of the different things the linemen are doing, as far as the chipping or whatever. Are teams trying to get the ball out quicker against you this year, too?
“Yeah, that’s what I had said earlier. The ball’s coming out pretty quick at times, not all the time, but at times, it is coming out fairly quick.”
Do you agree or disagree with Fangio? Is the 49ers’ pass rush an issue?
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Fangio is absolutely correct. The 49ers pass rush is not an issue… for opponents’ offenses.
+1
For the most part I agree with Fangio. The 49ers are definitely seeing more 3 steps drops and quick passes. It’s up the the D to take advantage of that. The defenses is also seeing more a mobile approach (like Ponder) and getting burned by “chaos passes” after shutting down offenses first and second receiver options.
In the mean time, it’s up to the defense to tack advantage of the quick passes with more bat downs and jumped routes.
One problem. In this Era of passing, You cannot win without a pass rush. The Giants for the last decade has focused a great deal of effort under front for a pass rushing. They have won two Super Bowls. Without pass rushing against the Giants we were humiliated. When the pass rush Alex Smith he threw a three interceptions. Hard to except d assertion that our pass rush is good enough
DBs got burned by Giants fleet of receivers. The Giants successfully went after Culliver last January and they did it again this time. Despite of letting Manningham go, the Giants did not miss a beat. TV showed Justin Smith got double-teamed through out the game, and in theory, it must have created some gaps. However, #99 was MIA and #52 and #53 were on vacation?
Regardless of what Fangio is saying, the pass rush hasn’t been that strong this year. I understand there are some mitigating factors there, including shorter QB drops, but even on longer drops it just doesn’t seem the 49ers pass rush is winning their matchups. Last season there were also a number of ‘coverage’ sacks, but this season the QB’s have been getting rid of the ball rather than trying to extend the play, which is also contributing to sack #s going down from a year ago.
End of the day, while we have a really strong front 7, the pass rush is still very reliant on one player – Justin Smith. Last season he dominated. When he wasn’t putting pressure on the QB himself, he was opening it up for Aldon Smith or someone else. This season, not so much. I was really hoping the 49ers would take a pass rusher in the first couple of rounds of the draft to allow the 49ers some extra flexibility on 3rd down (take a leaf out of the Giants playbook and put in 4 pass rush specialists on 3rd down) and add some extra pressure on the QB.
When defensive players transition from part time, role players to full-time players, their productivity has a tendency to tail off. That is definitely the situation with several Niner players, such as Aldon Smith #99. Players are not as fresh as nickel pass rushers when they have to play the previous two downs, and as the game continues, the fatigue compiles. You see the same thing with the nickel DB who shines one year as a sub and the next year he is mediocre or just average as a full-time player. That is why it is key to continue to draft for youth who can spot play the first year and add speed and quickness in specific situations and mature into an every down player the following year or two. That is what is called developing a roster. Niners still are a year or two away.
I agree 100% with RednGold, Scooter_McG & Mike. York should hire us as consultants. All I ask for is a field or club pass to watch all games!