Aside from an injury-plagued 2020 campaign, the San Francisco 49ers defense has found success in recent years when the often-punishing pass rush has created problems for opposing quarterbacks. To win on Sunday against the visiting Green Bay Packers, Nick Bosa knows that the pass rush will have to cause nightmares for quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
"You try your hardest to do [stop him]," head coach Kyle Shanahan said of Rodgers this week. "He's been making people look bad for a long time. But yeah, if you let him get comfortable at all, I think everyone knows what that result is."
Bosa got to Rodgers once in the NFC Championship Game two seasons ago. He also got to Rodgers during that regular-season matchup. Bosa hopes to get to the Packers quarterback again this weekend and make sure there isn't a chance for the future Hall of Famer to get too comfortable. The third-year defensive end shared a bit of the battle plan for Sunday.
"We just want to get off to a good start and just have him feel the pressure overall because in 2019, obviously, we made him uncomfortable," Bosa shared. "If he's comfortable, then it's going to be a long day for [everybody]. So, we're just trying to close the pocket on him, make him get off his normal routine, drop. And then once you start taking him down, you just want to make him pick himself up as many times as you can."
Bosa is having a pretty nice 2021 campaign after missing most of last season due to a torn ACL. He has brought down opposing quarterbacks three times through two games, a third of the way to the nine-sack mark he reached during his NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year season in 2019. Bosa also has four quarterback hits. It looks like he hasn't missed a beat after last year's setback.
The 49ers have won two of their last three meetings against the Packers, with the one loss coming last year. San Francisco is currently favored by 3.5 points over Green Bay.