Too many uneducated guesses in here. I'm not the biggest fan of Vance Joseph, but his plan against the 49ers was solid and spot-on. We held Tevin Coleman to 14 yards on 12 carries! Sold out to stop the run, which was the right call as evidenced by a pair Jimmy G's boneheaded picks and the 49ers offense usually flowing through Shanny's zone run game and play action.
The main culprit here is that the talent level of our defense doesn't allow to play the run and the pass more balanced. We have a rookie CB across from a struggling PP. Don't even know who the 3rd CB is but does it really matter? Budda is fine, and even Jaylen Thompson showed some nice flashes, although remember he is a 5th round rookie from the supplemental draft. Reddick can't play LB. Our DL sucks. Don't get fooled by our stout run defense stats. This was a product of stacking the box and everybody playing run-first. Neither Peters, nor Gunter, Kerr, Brown and whoever will scare opponents. Chandler Jones and Hicks are the only good players we have in the front seven. Nobody else should see the field as a starter. Vance Joseph knows he has to pick the poison, but at least he picked the right one in recent weeks. He contained the Bucs stud WRs as good as humanly possible and then we just fell short because of a bad INT. Same could be said about the 49ers run game, but ultimately we fell short again because we did nothing on offense with the 2 picks. Dropping Chandler Jones in coverage looks like a dick move, but I can understand it. We didn't get home with 4 rushers unless it was 3rd & very long. Their protection was focussed and shifting towards Chandler Jones. Dropping him was to fool their rookie LT and leaving 5 or 6 blitzers against 4 OL. Unfortunately they had the perfect call with RB Wilson, who hasn't been in the game before I think, running a nifty route. Then again, I think sticking to a more conservative approach - 4 man rush, soft zone - would have lead to the same result as Jimmy G was moving the ball at will and there was enough time. You don't play for OT on the road.
So what can we change next season? OL could use help of course, but it's not killing us. The running game is decent and Murray moves the ball mostly mistake-free. With an average defense we would probably be in the midst of the wildcard race right now. I'm not sure about Vance Joseph. Not much he could change imo. Has to play the cards he's been dealt. Drafting DL for interior pressure and run stuffing without totally selling out would be nice. Or another ER opposite Jones. Or a legit ILB next to Hicks. Delpit's struggles have been overblown. He is a great playmaker and has proven it over the last couple years. Happens all the time that stud safety prospects fall on draft day for various reasons, only to be big playmakers at the NFL level. Delpit is in the mold of Jamal Adams and deserving of a top 10 selection imo. Just a natural safety with elite instincts and athleticism, no experiment. Ultimately we must pick the best defensive player on the board. We can use help on all levels.
