San Francisco. The name conjures up images of the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, the technology giants of Silicon Valley, and… the best defensive unit in the NFL? Believe it.
Stingy. Intimidating. Vaunted. The Best Defense in the NFL. All of these have been used this season to describe the San Francisco 49ers defensive unit. But the thing is, prior to this year, those words were rarely used when referring to, well, anything San Francisco football related.
A few seasons ago, the 49ers had a home game against the Atlanta Falcons. On one drive, Falcons QB Matt Ryan was leading his offense down the field so easily that Mike Singletary called timeout, like how NBA coaches do to stop the momentum of the other team.
During the timeout, Singletary held an impromptu team meeting in the middle of the field. The entire team huddled around him as he implored the defense to step it up as they were getting their asses handed to them. It was unlike anything I’d ever seen.
When game resumed, what else does Matt Ryan do but promptly toss a 40-yard bomb into the endzone for a touchdown.
Clearly, Singletary’s ranting and raving wasn’t registering. He just wasn’t getting through to the team, and that’s how it went for his tenure with the Niners. (They went on to lose that game 45-10)
Fast forward to the offseason of 2011. Management clears house and hires Jim Harbaugh from Stanford, who brings his entire staff with him. Now, new defensive coordinator Vic Fangio is charged with the task of turning a very talented defense from ‘underachieving’ to ‘championship-caliber.’
The results speak for themselves.
Not only did Harbaugh, Fangio, and the staff instill proper techniques into the 49ers’ game, they gave them something that can’t be recorded in any stat book: the belief in their own abilities.
They were now expecting to win, rather than hoping not to lose.
Over the course of one season, the 49ers defense transformed from a very good run stopper into the number 1 ranked run defense in the NFL. The 3.5 yards per carry and 77.2 yards per game they allowed were tops in the league. They forced opposing teams to be one dimensional, relying on the pass more than they would have liked.
That was kind of all right for teams with gun-slinging QBs (Lions, Saints, both of whom still lost anyway), but then you had teams with pitiful pass offenses like Tampa Bay (49ers won 48-3) and St. Louis (26-0).
Here’s an alarming statistic: What do Arian Foster, Felix Jones, LeSean McCoy, LaGarette Blount, Jahvid Best, Montario Hardesty, and Pierre Thomas have in common? They have all been seriously injured by the 49ers defense this season.
“We’re not really trying to hurt people, but when you play physical, people get hurt,” safety Donte Whitner said during a practice. “Sometimes that happens in this game.”
It was Whitner who laid the smackdown on the Saints’ Thomas in the NFC divisional game. Thomas fumbled on the play, turned it over, and went into the locker room and never returned. The 49ers went on to win that game in the most dramatic finish I’ve ever seen.
Their defense was so good that they didn’t allow a rushing touchdown until week 16 against the Seahawks and Marshawn Lynch.
In fact, if you start typing “running backs injured” into Google, the first suggestion that pops up is “running backs injured by 49ers.”
But stopping the run wasn’t the only thing they were good at. At some point in the season, the Niners defense ranked first in every major defensive category, including points per game allowed and turnovers forced.
Needless to say, they are loaded with talent at every level, from the line to the safeties. DE Justin Smith, LB Patrick Willis, CB Carlos Rogers, and S Dashon Goldson all earned a trip to Hawaii. And the ones that didn’t make it, like rookie LB Aldon Smith, you could make a case for.
Obviously, the team’s management knows they have a good thing going. Consistency is key in these situations, and that could be a problem as many of the Niners key players are becoming free agents. But they aren’t wasting any time in working to re-sign them, as they just gave LB Ahmad Brooks a six-year $44.5 million contract and put the franchise tag on Goldson, meaning that he will get the average of the top paid safety over the last 5 seasons.
The 49ers 13-3 finish qualifies as an excellent season by NFL standards. But by the time Kyle Williams fumbled and cost the Niners a chance at the Super Bowl, the expectations for the team were sky high. Everyone, from the players to the fans, simply expected the team to win.
It will be pretty hard to top that record next year. But with the new vibe and attitude that has taken over the City by the Bay, it really wouldn’t be that surprising.
Follow Giovanni Galindo on Twitter: @giogalindo
