Bosa wears out Chargers with ironman game
After Nick Bosa played the game’s first six defensive snaps Sunday night, the Pro Bowl pass rusher rested on the seventh play.
And Justin Herbert feasted.
With Bosa on the sideline, the Chargers’ quarterback had time to order an Uber, look downfield from an undisturbed pocket and finally float a 32-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver DeAndre Carter.
The lesson the San Francisco 49ers learned: no more breathers for Bosa.
In a dominant ironman performance, Bosa missed just one other play while logging a career-high 97% of the defensive snaps (56 of 58) in a 22-16 win over the
Chargers in which he was instrumental. The final numbers after Bosa spent three hours harassing Herbert, bullying a backup and stuffing the stat sheet: one sack, three tackles for losses, four QB hits and at least eight QB pressures.
Bosa had played more than 87% of the snaps in just three of his first 42 career games, but the 49ers leaned on him more than ever because of attrition. Their three other season-opening starters on the defensive line were sidelined.
It's possible they also couldn't resist keeping Bosa on the field because of his appetizing matchup. Bosa, who typically switches sides throughout games, lined up at left defensive end for all but three of his snaps. That allowed him to face second-string right tackle Foster Sarell, 24, a 2021 undrafted free agent from Stanford making his first career start.
The Chargers provided Sarell with occasional assistance. They used a tight end or running back to chip block Bosa on five snaps. They double-teamed Bosa on four snaps.
But Sarell was often on an island against Bosa. And it made him jumpy: Sarell had one falsestart penalty and he clearly moved before the snap on two plays that had the 49ers' sideline screaming for a flag.
Said NBC play-by-play man Mike Tirico after one of Sarell's unflagged infractions: “They wanted the false start and they don't get it. … The Niners' bench went ballistic.”
Bosa was at his game-wrecking best at a big moment: The Chargers were leading 10-3 in the second quarter and had 1st-andgoal at the 2-yard line after Herbert's 33-yard completion to Carter.
The first snap: Bosa bullrushed Sarell deep into the backfield and pressured Herbert, forcing a throwaway pass out of the end zone.
Before the second snap: Sarell had his false-start penalty.
The second snap: Bosa moved Sarell upfield with a power rush, flung him to the side and dropped Herbert for a 1-yard sack.
The third snap: Bosa was bearing down on Herbert as he threw a 1-yard screen pass before the Chargers settled for a field goal.
• The 49ers took Bosa with the No. 2 pick in 2019, a no-brainer selection for which they still get credit.
However, their under-the-radar, trade-deadline moves to land two backup defensive linemen, Charles Omenihu and Jordan Willis, in recent seasons are more impressive.
Bosa hogged the pass-rushing headlines, but Omenihu and Willis were sensational in supporting roles: They combined for two sacks, a tackle for a loss, five QB hits and a forced fumble.
On the Chargers' penultimate drive, with the 49ers clinging to a 19-16 lead, Willis beat left tackle Jamaree Salyer and decked Herbert in mid-throw. His pressure forced an off-the-mark incompletion — wide receiver Josh Palmer was wide open — on 4thand-3 from Los Angeles' 8-yard line.
Omenihu helped end the Chargers' last-gasp drive after one play. After Herbert was forced to step up in the pocket because of pressure from Bosa, his arm was hit by Omenihu, forcing him to flutter a game-sealing interception to safety Talanoa Hufanga.
The 49ers acquired Omenihu from Houston last season for a sixth-round pick. They got Willis from the Jets in 2020 in a deal that involved a swap of lateround selections.
• Wide receiver Deebo Samuel, who entered with just 33 yards on his previous 14 carries, had 27 yards on four attempts. Running back Christian McCaffrey's presence played a role in Samuel's increased efficiency.
In the third quarter, for example, McCaffrey lined up in the right slot and served as decoy by circling around the backfield in orbit motion before the snap. The result: Samuel ran right for a 15-yard gain, his third longest of the season (28 carries).
In the first quarter, McCaffrey lined up in the backfield with Samuel and then motioned toward the left sideline. The result: Samuel ran right for a 7-yard gain, his sixth longest of the season.
In the second quarter, Shanahan used the same formation, with both players in the backfield and McCaffrey motioning left, but the play call was different. This time, quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo faked a handoff to Samuel and tossed a 12yard screen to McCaffrey. The completion set up Garoppolo's 1yard touchdown sneak three plays later.
• McCaffrey had 11 of the first 16 running-back carries, but Elijah Mitchell had 13 of the final 16 carries.
The likely reason: Mitchell (18 carries, 89 yards) was more effective than McCaffrey (14, 38), who gained 22 yards on his final 11 attempts.
Mitchell showed no signs of the knee injury that had sidelined him since Week 1. In fact, he flashed fresh legs and ran with trademark physicality that belies his size. On his second carry, Mitchell shrugged off two defensive linemen behind the line of scrimmage and turned a significant loss into a rarity: a highlightreel 2-yard gain.
“When Elijah is healthy,” Shanahan said after Mitchell's hardcharging night, “he can run the ball.”
Of course, Mitchell's ferocity has contributed to the laundry list of injuries that have forced him to miss 13 of his first 26 career games.
For his part, McCaffrey missed 23 of 33 games from 2020 through 2021. And the 49ers traded their running-back insurance, Jeff Wilson, to the Dolphins for a fifth-round pick Nov. 1.
Wilson, who ranks eighth among NFL running backs in yards per carry (5.4), has rushed for 170 yards on 26 carries and scored two touchdowns in two games with Miami.
• The winner of the underthe-radar big-play award was wide receiver Jauan Jennings. With the 49ers trailing 16-13 in the fourth quarter, Jennings extended the 49ers' go-ahead, 77yard drive when it was in its early stages. On 3rd-and-8 from the 49ers' 41-yard line, he caught a dump-off from Garoppolo 5 yards shy of a first down, dodged linebacker Drue Tranquill and lowered his shoulder to drive a host of defenders backward at the end of his 10-yard reception.
It was part of a performance that wasn't captured by Jennings' workmanlike stat line (four catches, 40 yards).
Jennings caught every pass on which he was targeted, three of his grabs resulted in third-down conversions and each reception was on a scoring drive. Jennings had a 7-yard catch on 3rd-and-6 on the 49ers' opening drive, which ended with a field goal.