Is The 49ers’ Secondary A Concern Heading Into The Playoffs?

For most of this season, the San Francisco 49ers‘ defense has been air tight, as most have considered it the best defense in the NFL.

But on Sunday versus the Las Vegas Raiders, some holes appeared in that defense.

The Niners’ pass defense wasn’t as effective as usual, and Las Vegas was able to connect on multiple long passes downfield while scoring 34 points and totaling 500 yards of offense.

The cornerstone of San Francisco’s defense has been the ability of its front four to pressure opposing quarterbacks, which is centered around the talent and skills of defensive end Nick Bosa, who is expected to win the Defensive Player of the Year award.

Although Bosa had five quarterback hits on Sunday, he had no sacks, and none of his teammates recorded a single sack either.

What makes the Niners’ inability to corral the Raiders more concerning is the fact that it wasn’t three-time Pro Bowler Derek Carr who did the damage, but backup Jarrett Stidham, who hadn’t started a single NFL game prior to Week 17.

He went 23-of-34, threw three touchdown passes and posted a 108.1 passer rating while drawing rave reviews for his performance.

Time and again, he found receivers such as Davante Adams and Darren Waller for big-yard receptions, and it could serve as a blueprint for how to attack the Niners’ feared defense.

Second-year safety Talanoa Hufanga, who has emerged as a star in the making, has shown some slippage lately in pass coverage, while cornerback Charvarius Ward has had only three passes defended in the last 11 games.

The other side of this argument is that not only do the Raiders have more offensive talent than their 6-10 record would suggest, but perhaps it was simply an off-day for the 49ers’ defense.

After all, the 49ers did win in overtime, 37-34, and they did force Stidham into two interceptions, one in overtime that set up Robbie Gould‘s game-winning field goal.