Whats wrong with the 49ers defense? Does Chase Young fix their issues?

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It wasn’t long ago that the San Francisco 49ers’ star-studded defense was contending to be the best in the NFL, but a three-game losing streak has raised questions about the normally stout unit.

The 49ers were expected to shut down backup quarterback PJ Walker and the Cleveland Browns in Week 6 but gave up 160 yards on the ground. Then Kirk Cousins passed for 378 yards against them. Finally, Joe Burrow sent them into the bye week with a bitter taste in their mouths, passing for 283 yards and three touchdowns while rushing for 43 yards.

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Is the 49ers defense suddenly mediocre now? Probably not. Playing elite quarterbacks in this league is hard, and they played two in a row — yes, Cousins has been playing at that level. And against elite quarterbacks, sometimes your offense has to step up, which hasn’t been the case for San Francisco, as that unit has struggled with turnovers during the streak. The defense, while not up to its standard, still gave up only 19 points to the Browns and had two takeaways. The Minnesota Vikings scored only 22, including a touchdown against a Cover 0 blitz — during which cornerback Charvarius Ward had an interception wrestled away from him — as the first half was ending. The Cincinnati Bengals offense scored 31, but the 49ers offense also gifted them a possession in the red zone with an interception.

Still, this is not how the defense was supposed to look — it is expected to be a top-three unit. Elite defenses don’t give up as many yards as the 49ers have. They’re playing bend-but-don’t-break defense. There are too many handsomely paid blue-chip players on that side of the ball to look like this. So, what are the issues? Is it new defensive coordinator Steve Wilks? Is it the players? Will newly acquired edge rusher Chase Young solve their issues?

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Run defense

The 49ers’ defensive identity revolves around allowing their defensive line to get upfield and disrupt. Offenses know that and are coming in with tailored game plans to take advantage of their aggressiveness. Their game plans have all included forms of toss crack, traps and draws.

First quarter, 9:39 remaining, first-and-10

This is an influence trap play. Arik Armstead lined up over the right guard, and he pulled to kick out the end, but it also influenced Armstead to get upfield. Armstead took the bait and was easily trapped by the pulling guard. Running back Joe Mixon had a huge lane to run through and kept his balance after a bad tackle attempt by Talanoa Hufanga and turned this run into an explosive one. Tackling has been an issue for this defense.

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First quarter, 2:34 remaining, first-and-10

Toss crack has been the most common way opponents have attacked the 49ers. As the ends get upfield, they are easy to pin inside with down blocks or crack blocks. On this play, the Bengals have two tight ends on one side. Tight end Drew Sample’s job was to pin Drake Jackson inside so the pullers could get outside of him.

Jackson went upfield and Sample easily pinned him inside. Dre Greenlaw and Fred Warner had to fit outside, but that’s a lot to ask of them with two pullers to deal with and all that space to defend.

Greenlaw fell back and made the tackle, but Mixon was able to fall forward for 5 yards on first down. It’s never good when a linebacker technically made a good play but the offense is still able to get 5 yards.

The 49ers ranked second last season in defensive rush success rate. They rank 28th in the same category this season. The 49ers believe Young could help their run defense with his athleticism off the edge, but they’ll have to find more schematic answers for how offenses are attacking them. Their style of defense is good against zone runs, but now that offenses are moving toward more gap-scheme runs, more teams can include specific runs that give the 49ers trouble in their game plan.

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Coverage issues

Though the 49ers upgraded their pass rush at the trade deadline, their issues mainly have been with coverage. The issue started with the departure of Jimmie Ward, who played nickel cornerback for them. Ward could play the run like a safety but cover like a corner. Isaiah Oliver, who has taken most of the snaps inside this season, has been targeted 40 times, giving up 35 catches for 271 yards and three touchdowns. When he’s been targeted, he has given up a passer rating of 109.5. Oliver plays the run well but has struggled in coverage.

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Also, Charvarius Ward isn’t playing at the elite level he did last season. He’s still good, but he has given up nearly as many yards and touchdowns in eight games this season as he did all of last season (17 games). He gave up 531 yards and three touchdowns last season. This season, he has given up 332 yards and two touchdowns. He’s just not winning those 50/50 ball situations like he was last season, but that luck might regress soon because he’s still been in a position to make those plays.

Ideally, one of the 49ers’ young cornerbacks — Samuel Womack III and Darrell Luter Jr., who are coming back from injuries — plays outside. That would allow Deommodore Lenoir to kick inside and stabilize the nickel spot.

I spoke to a team source who said the team’s defensive playbook under Wilks isn’t much different from what it was with DeMeco Ryans, but Wilks isn’t applying it the same way as his predecessor. They are playing slightly more man coverage (an increase of 3 percent), but their blitz rate has slightly decreased.

The biggest issues are miscommunications and coverage busts. Despite the 49ers ranking seventh in pressure rate (42.12 percent), they also ranked eighth in quickest opponent time to throw (2.68 seconds). The Browns are the only other team in the top 10 of pressure rate that is also in the top 10 of quickest time to throw.

Second quarter, 0:55 remaining, first-and-10

On the fringe of the red zone, it appeared the defense was in 3-mable or 3-site, meaning it was playing zone to the three-receiver side and man to the one-receiver side. The Bengals lined up Ja’Marr Chase in the No. 3 position (furthest inside).

Hufanga buzzed down and played the weak hook zone, and Warner had the strong hook. Chase chipped the end, and the defense seemed to forget about him after that. Either Hufanga or Warner had to take Chase running to the weak side. This should have been Hufanga’s responsibility, but it was a well-designed play to stress this type of coverage.

Hufanga helped on the deep route, which was already being covered by the free safety. Warner stayed on the strong side, leaving no one near Chase. Nick Bosa and Javon Hargrave got quick pressure, but Burrow was able to quickly get rid of the ball to a wide-open receiver.

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Third quarter, 0:04 remaining, first-and-10

Here, it looked like the defense had a man blitz called. Ward had Tee Higgins in man, with safety Tashaun Gipson playing inside and deep.

For some reason, Gipson went upfield to get on top of Higgins, but he ran too far outside, leaving him susceptible to an in-breaking route.

Higgins ran a post, and Gipson had to try to speed turn to recover. He was late, and Burrow was able to easily connect with Higgins for a 33-yard gain.

If the 49ers can clean up the coverage busts and bump Lenoir inside, they should be able to make opposing quarterbacks hang on to the ball a little longer, which would allow them to convert some of their pressures into more sacks.

“We can do a better job on the back end in coverage, whether it’s man or zone, and allowing the quarterback to hold the ball a little longer,” Wilks said last week. “Watching tape, I think we’re close. I think we’re close a lot. We’re going to eventually get there. I’m not really pressing right now about the lack of production because I feel like it’s going to come.”

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Young doesn’t help the coverage issues, but he will help supercharge the 49ers’ pass rush. The ends opposite of Bosa have been inconsistent, and Young has been playing at a high level, ranking 11th in pass rush win rate (24.8 percent) and eighth in pressures (25). Again, the defense has to be more connected on the back end for Bosa and Young to maximize their impact. The defense has to be better against the run to force offenses into more long-yardage passing situations as well. The 49ers believe they have what they need in-house to improve in coverage. We’ll see whether their inability to upgrade the secondary before the trade deadline will matter.

(Top photo: Michael Zagaris / San Francisco 49ers / Getty Images)

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