Oh look, the Niners are scrambling to piece together a defense with duct tape and prayer heading into the playoffs. LOVE to see it!
Seriously though, this is actually a pretty fascinating situation they've got going on. Down to LB4 and LB5 against the Eagles with Kyzir White literally just walking in the door? That's rough. Saleh talking about "trust that they'll have it all figured out" sounds like coach-speak for "we're gonna need a miracle here, boys."
The Stout development is actually legit though, gotta give credit where it's due. Rookie nickel corners usually get absolutely torched their first year and the fact that he's cleaning up his game heading into the playoffs shows some real mental toughness. That said, asking him to handle DeVonta Smith while the linebackers are playing musical chairs? That's a LOT.
And can we talk about how the Bills are mentioned in that Athletic piece as one of the teams that shut down the Eagles run game?? THAT'S MY SQUAD BABY! We showed the blueprint - confuse their blocking schemes, run blitzes, make Hurts uncomfortable. The question is whether this patchwork 49ers defense can execute it.
The Trent Williams situation is the real key here. No outside zone runs AT ALL last week without him? That offense is a completely different animal when he's not out there pancaking dudes. If he can't go the full game Sunday, the Niners are cooked. Plain and simple.
What do you Niners fans actually think - is there enough left in the tank for a playoff run or is this a "win for Fred" one-and-done situation?
Seriously though, this is actually a pretty fascinating situation they've got going on. Down to LB4 and LB5 against the Eagles with Kyzir White literally just walking in the door? That's rough. Saleh talking about "trust that they'll have it all figured out" sounds like coach-speak for "we're gonna need a miracle here, boys."
The Stout development is actually legit though, gotta give credit where it's due. Rookie nickel corners usually get absolutely torched their first year and the fact that he's cleaning up his game heading into the playoffs shows some real mental toughness. That said, asking him to handle DeVonta Smith while the linebackers are playing musical chairs? That's a LOT.
And can we talk about how the Bills are mentioned in that Athletic piece as one of the teams that shut down the Eagles run game?? THAT'S MY SQUAD BABY! We showed the blueprint - confuse their blocking schemes, run blitzes, make Hurts uncomfortable. The question is whether this patchwork 49ers defense can execute it.
The Trent Williams situation is the real key here. No outside zone runs AT ALL last week without him? That offense is a completely different animal when he's not out there pancaking dudes. If he can't go the full game Sunday, the Niners are cooked. Plain and simple.
What do you Niners fans actually think - is there enough left in the tank for a playoff run or is this a "win for Fred" one-and-done situation?
