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How the 49ers Offense Matches Up with the New York Jets Defense

Considering how many key starters didn't practice this offseason for the 49ers, it's hard to expect their offense to light it up in the first game of the season.

Grant Cohn

Dec 28, 2023; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; New York Jets cornerbacks Sauce Gardner (left) and D.J. Reed (4) before the game against the Cleveland Browns at Cleveland Browns Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott Galvin-Imagn Images
Dec 28, 2023; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; New York Jets cornerbacks Sauce Gardner (left) and D.J. Reed (4) before the game against the Cleveland Browns at Cleveland Browns Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott Galvin-Imagn Images / Scott Galvin-Imagn Images
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On paper, the Jets defense has the ability to do to the 49ers offense what the Chiefs did to it in the Super Bowl just a few months ago.

The 49ers have one of the best offenses in the NFL -- they have an All Pro at every skill position plus a future Hall of Fame left tackle. And yet, in the Super Bowl they scored just 19 points in four quarters against the Chiefs.

The Chiefs were able to give the 49ers offense fits by putting eight defenders in the box to limit Christian McCaffrey. In addition, Kansas City played lots of press man-to-man coverage to take away the quick, short throws and force Brock Purdy to hold the ball a second or two longer. Finally, the Chiefs blitzed and brought disguised pressure which forced 49ers center Jake Brendel to reset the pass protection schemes on the fly, and he failed.

Theoretically, the Jets can do those things to the 49ers, too. They have an excellent run defense. They have arguably the best cornerback in the NFL -- Sauce Gardner. He can make Brandon Aiyuk seem pedestrian.

And they have head coach Robert Saleh, who used to be the 49ers defensive coordinator. He knows the weaknesses of the 49ers' protection schemes as well as anyone. Look for him to bring pressure and use a similar game plan to the one that was so successful for the Chiefs in the Super Bowl.

And considering how many key starters didn't practice this offseason for the 49ers, it's hard to expect their offense to light it up in the first game of the season.

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Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

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