How Steve Wilks Revived the 49ers Defense
During the bye week, it seemed as though the 49ers made only two changes to their defense: They traded for Chase Young, and they moved Steve Wilks from the coach's booth to the sideline.
But those weren't the most important changes the 49ers made to their defense. Those were just the obvious ones.
Wilks made a few key adjustments to his secondary that unlocked everything for the 49ers. And he didn't talk about these adjustments before the game. He just made them, and in the process he confused the Jaguars and unlocked his pass rush.
First, Wilks benched nickelback Isaiah Oliver, which was overdue. Oliver is a veteran the 49ers signed this offseason to replace Jimmie Ward, but has been a miserable disappointment. He can't cover or tackle, which means he can't play. So Wilks benched him, moved Deommodore Lenoir to the nickel spot and started playing Ambry Thomas outside.
In addition, Wilks finally started calling more aggressive coverages, such as press-man coverage. He had been hesitant to call this earlier in the season because Charvarius Ward commits so many penalties in man coverage -- he committed two illegal contact penalties that both resulted in automatic first downs against the Jaguars.
But the tighter coverage forced Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence to hold the ball longer than usual, and forced his offensive line to block longer than usual, which was bad news for the Jaguars, because their offensive line can't block the 49ers defensive line for more than a couple seconds. And once the tight coverage took away the quick passes, the 49ers' expensive defensive line took over the game.
Give Wilks credit for figuring out the best way to use a defense he never has coached before this season.
