Bosa talked about why stats aren’t everything
The reigning Defensive Player of the Year has a sack in every game but once during the past month and a half for the Niners. But, during the first month, Nick Bosa only registered one sack.
Bosa was on KNBR’s “Murph & Mac” Show on Tuesday, where he discussed whether the “slow” start was due to missing training camp:
“I think I was pretty Close. I mean, Game 1, no, I wouldn’t say. But after that, I think my tape against the Rams was pretty darn good. I definitely wish some of those earlier games I could have snuck a sack in a few times because it would shut people up.”
Seeing the instant reaction of 49ers’ fans on social media during the first four games of the season about Bosa’s perceived lack of production was hilarious. The best of the best pass rushers in the NFL “win” one out of five reps. They’re getting sacks anywhere between two and four percent of the time. And that’s the high-end.
That’s also before acknowledging that Bosa, fresh off winning the Defensive Player of the Year award a season ago, was the most double-teamed defensive lineman for much of the first two months of the season.
Bosa continued, where he explained why stats aren’t everything:
“Sacks are not, especially when you play on a defense that really relies on you doing your job, you can’t really freelance. If you want to be one of the best defenses in the league, you have to execute your job and I think we do that here really unselfishly.
So it’s not all about the stats, and we were winning games early, and we’re winning games now, so I was getting better throughout the year, and I’m still getting better overall throughout the year. I think that’s continued progression.”
Continued progression, indeed.
Per Sports Info Solutions, since Week 5, no player has hit or knocked down the quarterback more than Bosa. His seven sacks during that span tie him for second. Per Sports Info Solutions, since Week 5, no player has hit or knocked down the quarterback more than Bosa. His seven sacks during that span tie him for second. Only T.J. Watt has a higher “wins above replacement” SCORE than Bosa. I’d say he’s been more than dominant.
Thanks to the addition of Chase Young, Bosa has lined up inside more than he ever had all season. And it’s led to this kind of production:
And he’s far from a one-dimensional player. Bosa is in the top-10 for “run stops,” or a tackle that constitutes as a loss for the offense, since Week 5.
Looking at the offensive lines the Niners face for the remainder of the season, Bosa should continue on his torrid pace.
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