The 49ers BOSS Package
With an excellent front four, San Fransisco leveraged their talent against the Seahawks' protection schemes.
Newly appointed Texans Head Coach DeMeco Ryans has quickly established himself as one of the premier defensive minds in the NFL. Ryans retired from football in 2015 and started his coaching career in ‘17 as the 49ers’ Defensive Quality Control Coach (DQC). After a year, he moved into the role of Inside Linebacker Coach from ‘18 to ‘20. With the exit of Robert Saleh to the Jets in ‘21, Ryans ascended to the coordinator spot in San Fransisco. The former Texans and Eagles LB quickly rose from a player to a rising star in the coaching profession.
Related Cotent: The Jets’ “Stab” tag in Quarters coverage (’22)
Like Saleh in New York, Ryans’ defenses are not “exotic” or use a lot of blitzes to attack the QB. Instead, the 49ers leveraged a great secondary and LB corp with an elite DE in Nick Bosa. Both ILBs, Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw, are excellent coverage LBs. To maximize the talent within the unit, Ryans found ways to create pressure with only four defensive linemen, which is easier said than done.
For San Fransisco, their front four consists of several 1st Round draft picks in Bosa (‘19), Arik Armstead (‘15), and Javon Kinlaw (‘20). Outside of Bosa, who recorded over 800 snaps this year, only former Ram Samson Ebukam and former Texan Charles Omenihu held over 600 snaps. Ryans used multiple D-linemen throughout the year to create matchups to maximize Bosa.
According to ESPN’s Pass Rush Win Rate (PRWR) metric, the 49ers came in 5th overall at 46%. Only Bosa registered on ESPN’s individual ratings, coming in 9th. Though not #1 in win rate, Bosa recorded the most sacks in the NFL this year with 18.5; only Ebukam recorded more than 4.5.
Ryans utilized a rush-by-committee thought process all year to keep his front players fresh while leveraging the workhorse mentality of Bosa, who also happens to be an elite talent. The defense finished #1 overall in DVOA according to Football Outsiders, which uses the metric to rate overall efficiency in a unit. Against the run, the unit finished #2, only behind the Titans, and against the pass finished 5th overall.
Above, you can clearly see the 49ers’ defense was by itself regarding EPA, which translates yards to points in context (concise definition via CFBGraphs). As stated, Ryans’ philosophy is not pressure-heavy. The 49ers ranked 25th in Blitz Rate (BR) in ‘22 at 19.5% and 23rd when teams passed the ball (21.4%).
To create chaos with four D-linemen, Ryans leaned heavily into line stunts that manipulate protection schemes. Behind Dallas (27.7%), the 49ers were the top unit using D-line stunts at 25.1%. The same is true against the pass, where the Cowboys were king (42.9%), with San Fransisco right behind (33% - via PFF).
Both Cowboys and 49ers units feature an elite EDGE (Parsons, Bosa), and each DC uses movement to create one-on-one opportunities. The 49ers change the math on defense by leveraging the talent of Bosa on the front line and Warner at the second level. Ryans doesn’t have to be exotic to succeed; he just needs to manipulate the offense enough to free up his elite DE.
One alignment in particular that the 49ers use to free up Bosa is the BOSS Front (Bigs On Same Side). Also known as a “load” front (overload), where the defense places multiple anchor points (DL) on one side of the Center, creating a numbers advantage. Above, BOSS is illustrated from a five-man presentation. The Jack LB can be a hybrid EDGE or another DE, depending on the front structure.
Related Content: The BOSS Front (Bigs On Same Side)
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