Last season, the 49ers defense was ranked as one of the best in the NFL when it came to forcing opponents into turnovers. The 49ers caused a total of 28 turnovers on the season, which works out to 1.6 per game, good for fifth in the league. The offense responded with efficiency on its side, committing just 18 turnovers—1.1 per game, which was sixth in the NFL.
This season, with the team sitting on a very disappointing 2-3 record through five weeks, the defense is holding up its end of the turnover battle, again forcing 1.6 turnovers per game. Problem is that the offense has slipped greatly, also giving up 1.6 turnovers per game. That’s 26th in the NFL.
After Sunday’s bizarre come-from-ahead loss to the Cardinals, star defensive end Nick Bosa said the 49ers needed to get back to playing, “complementary football.” There’s no area in which that shows up more than in terms of turnovers.
Brock Purdy: ‘It’s a Team Sport’
Here’s what Bosa said on the subject of the state of play for the 49ers, via Niners Nation:
“It’s pretty simple in the NFL. Turnovers, not playing complementary football. … This organization, since Kyle (Shanahan) has taken over, has found ways to win. It’s not about how good your players are, how explosive an offense is, or how good a defense is. If you’re turning the ball over and not making those plays on defense in the crucial moments in the NFL.”
Bosa does put some onus on the defense to make plays. But he is clear about the difficulty the offense is creating with its increase in turnovers.
49ers quarterback Brock Purdy was asked about his view of complementary football this week. His message to Bosa and the defense was clear: We know the offense needs to take better advantage of its opportunities.
“It’s a team sport,” Purdy said. “So, for four quarters, when the defense gets a stop for us as an offense, it’s like, ‘All right, let’s pick it up and go put points on the board.’ And vice versa, when we’re rolling, defense gets a stop, special teams do their thing, that’s complementary football. That’s how you win in this league.
“And if defense is getting all these stops and the offense is cold, it’s pretty obvious to everybody that it’s going to be tough to get into a rhythm and pull away from a team and then you allow a team to stay in the game and those kinds of things.”
49ers Still in Good Position
For all their struggles, though, the 49ers are not in a bad position. Losses to the Cardinals and Rams will sting, but a win over the Seahawks will pull the 49ers into a tie with Seattle for first place in the NFC West.
With a team coming off a Super Bowl appearance like the 49ers, how they play in the first month of a season does not matter. How they play down the stretch, though, does. This team just needs to get to the playoffs, and go from there.
“I think this season is so much about momentum and obviously staying healthy and getting ready for the next game,” Purdy said. “But for us, it’s one game at a time. We’re not looking too far ahead in the future. And whoever we get up on our schedule for the next game, that’s who we’ve got. We’re not looking too far into it. We’ve just got to win.”
