The 49ers under head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch made it a point to construct their defense from front to back by prioritizing the defensive line. That means their defensive front, led by star defensive end Nick Bosa, gets a lot of the credit for San Francisco’s defensive dominance.
Shanahan after the 49ers shutout the Saints in Week 13 called out his defensive line and said the linebackers outplayed them. The defensive line, and Bosa in particular, took that to heart. Bosa responded with 3.0 sacks against the Miami Dolphins on Sunday.
“Yeah he threw a little shade at me and the D-line,” Bosa said in his post-game press conference. “So we kinda talked in our meeting. We don’t like being called out like that. I mean, it’s our head coach so he obviously has the right. He watches the tape more than anybody and he expects the most out of us, so I’m glad we were able to make an impact.”
Just doing it on the field wasn’t enough for Bosa, who’s taken down the QB in six consecutive games and leads the NFL with 14.5 sacks after his trio against Miami. After his third sack of the game led to a fumble that linebacker Dre Greenlaw returned for a game-sealing touchdown, Bosa had some strong words for his coach on the sideline.
“I said, ‘don’t talk (expletive) about me anymore,'” Bosa said.
Whatever Shanahan told the defensive line worked. Along with Bosa’s three sacks, Arik Armstead notched a QB hit and San Francisco held the Dolphins to only 33 rushing yards on eight carries. They also never let Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa get comfortable which aided in his worst outing of the 2022 season.
The 49ers have a talented defense at all three levels, but Sunday was a reminder from the defensive line that they’re still very much the tip of the spear.
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