A couple of things..
1. Justin Smith will dictate much of how effective the pass rush is.. if he can't go.. it greatly reduces the effectiveness of their edge pressure. His absence has shown this.
2. I find it amusing that Marshall is continuously degraded even after he has shown himself to be reliable to the tune of 8 sacks in 647 snaps. Example for comparison.. Joe Staley of the Niners.. 8 sacks in 492 snaps. Staley is in the Pro Bowl. 🤔
* Per Pro Football FocusI think Marshall gets chewed up on a fast track against speed when he has to really step out quickly and wide, but coaching should be able to help in those cases with a chip or via playcalling to slow that down. The games in which he got chewed up, notably Seattle, it was a poorly called game from MM. The Stick is basically a sandpit with green paint on it, this will help the offensive lineman verse the speed rush. Hedge the bets on the plodders.
3. To feel better about a kid after a handful of games than Newhouse, one in which he got his ass handed to him in MN, is curious. I like the grit of the kid, I really do, he stepped in and played after many thought the season was lost with Bulaga going down. Probably saved our season sort of like Wilkerson did in 96.
4. The Niners do not blitz much at all.. so if we can force them to blitz to get pressure.. Rodgers is going to eat them for lunch.
5. If the Packers can keep running and screening the ball, it will help the line out a great deal. at this point, my opinion is many are undervaluing the Packers running/screen game, if we vary this team off into their nickel (pulling Willis out of the line up) and can find success we are really going to gash this defense. The Patriots did that.. they played the game with the Niners defense making them guess a bit with Willis and Bowman.. and the Patriots rolled up a ton of yards and points on them. The Niners are a good team.. but they are not the 85 Bears. They can be spread out and exploited. And rendering their pass rush which is really only three players deep ineffective.
NinersPassRush.JPG
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