The San Francisco 49ers’ defense put together a dominant performance on Monday, shutting out the Los Angeles Rams in their home opener. Though the Rams offense is far from the class of the NFL, Niners radio analyst Tim Ryan told Murph and Mac on Friday morning that the San Francisco defense has the ability to be one of the better units in the league this season, especially when it comes to pressuring the quarterback.
“The beauty of the defense is it’s really built to play with a lead,” Ryan said. “When you can get a team one dimensional and then start dialing up all those pressures for (defensive coordinator Jim O’Neil) he’s like a kid in a candy store.”
“Get a little pat of 10 to 14 points in games and this defense has the ability, and should absolutely, roll this year.”
Being up by a couple scores is not a luxury San Francisco is likely to have in their matchup against the reigning NFC champion Carolina Panthers this weekend, giving them less of an opportunity to dial up the type of consistent pressure they showed against Rams quarterback Case Keenum. Stopping the Panthers will start with trying to slow down the power running combo of Jonathan Stewart and Cam Newton.
“Now if the offense can’t produce big points, then the defense better do what they also did the other night,” Ryan said. “Which was hammer that run game and hammer Todd Gurley and that’ll give them the opportunity to stay in it.”
Gurley is by most accounts one of the top backs in the league, but the Panthers are a different animal entirely. Even if the front seven is able to keep things in check, Cam Newton is as comfortable as any quarterback in the league when it comes to dealing with pressure. Ryan says San Francisco will have to stay disciplined to be effective against the dynamic Carolina offense.
“Do what they did last week,” Ryan said. “Just be disciplined and play your reads.”
“The flow of this game will dictate weather they can get pressure without manufacturing it.”
