Refreshed and recharged. That is how the San Francisco 49ers should be feeling as they emerge from their Bye week. It was a perfect time to step away so that they could lock in for their second half of the season push. However, it is also some time for them to reflect on where they can improve. When it comes to the 49ers defense, there is one area that it has to specifically improve on and it must be evident against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
49ers Defense has to Improve in This Area
The area that needs improvement on the 49ers’ defense is their blitzing. Their issue isn’t the rate at which they call it. Blitzing heavily is never going to be their bread and butter. The 49ers always prefer to rush the quarterback with four, which always garners amazing results. They utilize a four-man rush at the third-highest rate in the NFL this season (77.9 percent), per Next Gen Stats. Their 37 percent pressure rate using four pass rushers ranks as the sixth-highest in the league. 14 sacks is what they have tallied when not blitzing in 2024, tied for the sixth-most. The 49ers also rank No. 11 in pressure rate. So, if the pressure is pretty solid and they’re doing it without blitzing a lot, why is blitzing an area of improvement?
Why it needs to be fixed
Blitzing is an area of improvement because it is ineffective. They need more creativity so that it can be successful like when DeMeco Ryans was the defensive coordinator. Ryans wasn’t dialing up blitzes left and right, but he dialed them at the most unpredictable and opportune times with creative plays. There are going to be moments where a blitz is necessary for the 49ers and the optimal play to call. What’s plaguing the 49ers with their blitzing is they are predictable. The 49ers are one of three defenses (Jacksonville Jaguars, Buffalo Bills) to have blitzed on less than 25 percent of dropbacks on each of first (16.2 percent), second (12.1 percent), and third down (23.6 percent) this season. Overall, the 49ers have blitzed on just 18.0 percent of dropbacks this season, the third-lowest rate in the NFL.
But when they do blitz, they do it mostly on third down. Offenses can adjust for that by taking into account the frequency with which certain players are called to blitz. That makes it way too easy to defend the 49ers when they do utilize a blitz and it shows in their pressure rate. They have managed to generate pressure just 2.4 percent more often when blitzing (36.5 percent) compared to when sending four or fewer pass rushers (34.2 percent) this season. It is the third-smallest increase in the NFL. The 49ers are wasting time by calling a blitz. It hurts them more than it helps given the small benefit. When they blitz, they are leaving more open space for a quarterback to find a receiver since they’re taking away at least one defender from coverage. Again, there will be times when a blitz is useful for the 49ers to call, but it can’t if they are too predictable.
How to improve it
The sequencing of blitzing has to change. That is the first step in creating a tendency breaker to reduce predictability. More importantly, they have to be creative. Defensive coordinator Nick Sorensen spent his first season with the 49ers when Ryans was the coordinator in 2022. He saw firsthand how creative and effective the blitzes were from Ryans. Sorensen needs to review the film back from 2022 and copy or tinker with the ones that worked. An example of creative blitzing is delaying a rusher, stunting them, or even sending the safety. These are a few ways the 49ers defense can increase the success rate. Chances are that Sorensen used the Bye week to tinker with the blitzing. It will come in handy as it did in 2022 as a contingency when rushing four isn’t enough.
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