How good is the 49ers Defense?

I made this post in another thread which ended up compairing the Niners defense vs. the Cowboys. I dont want to name names but another poster suggested that we were a mess on defense as much or more so than Dallas. I concluded through extensive research that the 49ers would have had a top 10 defense with an average NFL offense.

So how good is the Niners DEFENSE? Here is the evidence, what do you think?

I think most everyone would agree that the Niners defense is the strongest asset to the team. On the other hand Dallas is more of an offensive team. Last year Dallas was the 7th ranked offensive unit in the NFL. While the Niners were ranked 24th and the offense couldnt sustain a drive to keep the defense off the field.

The Niners defense finished as the 13 ranked defense in the NFL with the Highest TOP(ranked 9th highest in a defenses time on the field) of the top 17 defenses. Dallas was ranked the 23rd defense in the NFL and they had the 12th lowest TOP(because of the offense) in the league. If the Niners had the 7th ranked offense I can pretty much say with certainty that they would be a top 10 defense and probably a top 5 defense at that.

With looking at all the facts I cant see how one can conclude that the Niners defense is a mess. In fact I`d say its just the opposite. The 49ers defense with a little help on offense would be down right dominate.

The same can definately not be said about the Dallas defense. So I stick by my original post with the claim that the Dallas defense is a mess and worse off then last year infact.


I just wanted to post this to show how good we could really be with a little offensive improvement under Harbaugh.

this is a playoff team. cant wait to see what competent coaching can do!

PATRICK WILLIS nough said

Originally posted by stunder49:
PATRICK WILLIS nough said

With a new and improved Taylor Mays....11 wins.

Originally posted by Sinsation:
this is a playoff team. cant wait to see what competent coaching can do!

That's what we've been saying for the past 5 years. As long as Alex Smith is our QB, we will not make the playoffs... No matter how good our D is. It's the truth.

Originally posted by bigmike55:

Originally posted by Sinsation:
this is a playoff team. cant wait to see what competent coaching can do!

That's what we've been saying for the past 5 years. As long as Alex Smith is our QB, we will not make the playoffs... No matter how good our D is. It's the truth.

Disagree, this team with all its mental mistakes, and kamikazi coaching missed the playoffs by what 1-2 games this year, and 2-3 games the previous season??

with real coaching we are in even with "ALex" as our qb

Originally posted by bigmike55:

Originally posted by Sinsation:
this is a playoff team. cant wait to see what competent coaching can do!

That's what we've been saying for the past 5 years. As long as Alex Smith is our QB, we will not make the playoffs... No matter how good our D is. It's the truth.

A coach who has been widely considered as a coach who runs up the score will be a breath of fresh air. Not a coach who is content with keeping it close and trying to win on the last possesion(the last 5 years of coaching you are reffering to) Harbaugh is cut throat! Ask Pete Carol why Harbaugh went for 2 when up big late in their USC vs. Stanford rivalry game?

Originally posted by unst4bl3:

Originally posted by bigmike55:

Originally posted by Sinsation:
this is a playoff team. cant wait to see what competent coaching can do!

That's what we've been saying for the past 5 years. As long as Alex Smith is our QB, we will not make the playoffs... No matter how good our D is. It's the truth.

Disagree, this team with all its mental mistakes, and kamikazi coaching missed the playoffs by what 1-2 games this year, and 2-3 games the previous season??

with real coaching we are in even with "ALex" as our qb

Exactly!!!

Originally posted by bigmike55:

Originally posted by Sinsation:
this is a playoff team. cant wait to see what competent coaching can do!

That's what we've been saying for the past 5 years. As long as Alex Smith is our QB, we will not make the playoffs... No matter how good our D is. It's the truth.

With Alex as qb we will have an opportunity to get first overall pick in draft! Period!!

Originally posted by owiseone:

Originally posted by bigmike55:

Originally posted by Sinsation:
this is a playoff team. cant wait to see what competent coaching can do!

That's what we've been saying for the past 5 years. As long as Alex Smith is our QB, we will not make the playoffs... No matter how good our D is. It's the truth.

With Alex as qb we will have an opportunity to get first overall pick in draft! Period!!

Because thats happend every year huh?

We have been closer to the playoffs then the number one pick with and without Alex.

It's not too bad at some spots but worse than most WZers believe.

Missing:

~ SS
~ FS
~ CB
~ CB
~ OLB pass rusher - unproven at the pro level.

That's not a great defense. There are some good D Linemen and 1 great LB and a few other good LB's.

Huge question mark. There are talented players, but we don't really know the scheme(s) that will be used, and we don't know if the changes will help or hurt the effectiveness of each player. I think Willis and JSmith will excell no matter what, but the rest of them could be interesting. I believe that the new staff will scheme to player strengths, but I don't know that, and I don't know how effective it will be.
So, in summation:

Alex gave up the game winning F.G. against New Orleans? Alex gave up the game winning FG against Atlanta in which we had the lead? Alex let Green Bay run the clock out with 6 minutes left on the clock? And Alex is partially the problem here but it's not all his fault that we were -9 in turnovers. Defense doesn't need to cause turnovers?

Our defense still has holes. We are in the middle of the pack right now still missing some major pieces. The stats show that. As stated above the addition of A. Smith and the hopeful emergence of T. Mays should really help this defense where it was weakest. I think we should have a top 10 if not top 5 if these two guys can step up.

NFC West = Padded Stats

completely agree the niners d is very good especially with no help from the offense and little rest. Their d is already a top 10 D stats reflect closer to a top 15 d but we all know that it is closer to a top ten for sure.....with a competant offense top 5 even with our secondary being average. With an actual lead once in a while.....see sea and ariz games our secondary kicked ass. kinda funny how that works huh?