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Why the 49ers Defense Has Been Such a Disappointment This Season

Why can't the 49ers defense get off the field? What's different between this season and last?

Grant Cohn

Sep 22, 2024; Inglewood, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers linebacker De'Vondre Campbell (59) fouls Los Angeles Rams tight end Tyler Higbee (89) in the fourth quarter at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
Sep 22, 2024; Inglewood, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers linebacker De'Vondre Campbell (59) fouls Los Angeles Rams tight end Tyler Higbee (89) in the fourth quarter at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images / Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
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It's hard to overstate just how bad the 49ers defense has been through three games this season.

They currently are giving up a grotesque 6.1 yards per play -- third-worst in the league. Last season, they gave up 5.1 yards per play, which was eighth-best.

In addition, the 49ers defense has allowed a third-down conversion percentage of 52.9 -- again, third-worst in the league. Last season, they allowed a third-down conversion rate of 42.7.

So what's the deal? Why can't the 49ers defense get off the field? What's different between this season and last?

Clearly, personnel is part of the issue. This offseason, the 49ers signed linebacker De'Vondre Campbell and cornerback Isaac Yiadom. And through three games, both have been awful. Campbell is giving up a quarterback rating of 125 when targeted and Yiadom is giving up a QB rating of 132.6. They're beyond liabilities. They're destroying the defense.

But another part of the issue is scheme. New defensive coordinator Nick Sorensen is blitzing at the lowest rate in the league despite his pass rush generating minimal pressure. He's allowing opposing quarterbacks to hang out all day in the pocket. That's his choice.

Sorensen needs to show that he can manufacture pressure when his four-man rush can't create it on its own. He also needs to show that he can disguise his coverages before the snap and confuse opposing quarterbacks because Sam Darnold and Matthew Stafford knew exactly what the 49ers defense was doing.

Finally, Sorensen needs to bench Campbell and Yiadom.

Let's see if the 49ers can fix their defense and save their season before it's too late.

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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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