Are you worried about the San Francisco 49ers defense giving up 500 total yards against the Las Vegas Raiders this past Sunday? It was the unit's first time surrendering anything close to that number since October 23 against the Kansas City Chiefs. Between the two games, the 49ers defense was playing lights-out football, allowing just 286 total yards and about 12 points per game.
Was Week 17 just a bump on the road or a sign that something within the 49ers defense might be broken?
"Here's what I know about our defense: We've got a championship-level defense," general manager John Lynch said Friday morning during KNBR's Murph & Mac show. "There's a reason why we've been the No. 1 defense in football all year. Now, we just slipped to No. 2, and I think that's going to really motivate these guys. These guys are a prideful bunch."
Lynch went back to his own experience in 1999 when his Tampa Bay Buccaneers were among the best defenses in football. They had won six straight games before getting trounced 45-0 by the Oakland Raiders.
"We went back, we took a hard look at it, we got back on the focus of our details, and we went on a stretch of football," Lynch said. "We went to the NFC Championship Game, lost to Kurt Warner and the Greatest Show on Turf (11-6), but we played a stretch of football that was as good as I've ever been a part of, including our '02 defense that was one of the best of all-time.
"I've been there before where these things can have a good outcome, as long as you approach it the right way. But we're not broken. We've got a really good defense. We've got to come play with that swagger, clean up some of the details. DeMeco's [Ryans, defensive coordinator] always going to have a high standard. I think that's why those guys are so good.
"The players, DeMeco does a tremendous job of leading them. I promise you, the players, we're going to handle that as well. We'll come out, we'll play good dense, we'll tighten up the details. I'm real confident in that."
You can listen to the entire conversation with Lynch below.