Rising tide lifts unheralded secondary
Here’s another way the 49ers have gotten better.
Coming into Sunday’s game against Jacksonville, the 49ers’ cornerbacks had just two interceptions this season.
Sunday, they ended up with three more. One was returned for a touchdown. The other two set up touchdowns.
The defense was a huge reason the 49ers laid the most points of the season on the league’s top defense in a 44-33 win.
“They just fed off each other,” head coach Kyle Shanahan said. “To have that many points, we don’t do that without the defense. They scored for us on one and got us in scoring position twice. That was huge.”
Jacksonville quarterback Blake Bortles was handing out gifts like Santa Claus on his last shift of the season. One for you, Dontae Johnson. One for you, K’Waun Williams. One for you, Ahkello Witherspoon.
It wasn’t just Bortles’ errors. There’s a synergy between all elements of the 49ers right now.
“We’re a brotherhood, man,” said Williams, whose onehanded, third-quarter interception was highlight-reel material.
“Oh, my goodness, that was an awesome thing,” said tight end George Kittle, whose touchdown was set up by the interception. “Holy cow.”
Williams, who was with the Browns when Shanahan was the offensive coordinator in Cleveland, said the defense is feeling good right now and feeding off what’s happening on offense.
“Guys make plays, we feed off their energy, and we try to go and get the ball back,” Williams said. “We’re communicating and making plays.”
The 49ers’ secondary is widely considered the team’s weakness, something the team is likely to address in next year’s draft.
Still, it speaks to the risingtide element of the 49ers that even the weakest link is vastly improved. It helps that the 49ers’ offense, thanks to quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, is sustaining drives, keeping the defense rested and not asking it to carry the burden as in the past.
“You can see it through the whole team,” Shanahan said of the synergy. “We have a tight group that believes in each other and feeds off each other.”
Garoppolo was quick to credit the defense.
“Three turnovers today?” he said. “That put us in such good field position, offensively. The momentum of the game changes.”
The momentum of the whole season has changed.
“We’re just trying to win out and build on this for next year,” Witherspoon said.
This month is a launching pad into 2018. For every unit, including the secondary.