Bosa stymied by Packers’ third-string left tackle in loss originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
Nick Bosa was supposed to feast Sunday night.
Everything was laid out on the table in his favor. The 49ers’ star defensive end is one of the best pass rushers in the NFL, and he was going up against a third-string left tackle. With Green Bay Packers star David Bakhtiari and backup Elgton Jenkins both out to injuries, the Packers turned to Yosuah Nijman.
At first, it looked like Bosa would eat all night long. That quickly changed.
Nijman played admirably, especially for a player with his lack of pedigree. According to Pro Football Focus, Nijman pass-blocked 34 times, allowed two pressures and no sacks, NBC Sports’ Peter King wrote in his Football Morning in America column. Nijman blocked Bosa 31 times.
Bosa finished the 49ers’ 30-28 loss with four tackles — one for loss — and one QB hit. He did not record a sack.
That’s a good but not great game from Bosa, especially compared to expectations rushing against a former undrafted player who had never started a game in the NFL coming into Sunday.
As a whole, the Packers found a way to stymie the 49ers’ pass rush. Aaron Rodgers was sacked just once, and consistently had time and space to find Davante Adams and pick apart San Francisco’s defense.
Tracking data illustrates how well Green Bay neutralized the 49ers’ pass rush today. Average distance from QB at the time of throw is 4.52 yards. Only Nick Bosa was within that, and barely. You can see how far Dee Ford was from Aaron Rodgers on average pic.twitter.com/Pra8dQBS15
— David Lombardi (@LombardiHimself) September 27, 2021
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In the end, that made a huge difference between the two NFC foes. The 49ers will have to find ways to get more pressure on the QB this week when they face Russell Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks.