Dallas Cowboys vs San Francisco 49ers: The Divisional Round Rematch

What We’ve Seen from the San Francisco 49er Defensive Unit

Points Per Game: 16.3

Passing Yards Per Game: 240.9

Rushing Yards Per Game: 77.7

Total Yards Per Game: 318.6

Third Down Conversion Percentage: 39.0%

Red Zone Conversion Percentage: 56.8%

San Francisco Defensive Strengths

The 49ers’ ability to be the more physical team at the point of attack on defense has been one of their top strengths this season. Winning at the line of scrimmage has allowed them to attack quarterbacks and contain the opposing teams running game leading them to be the top defense in the NFL. Defensive tackles Kevin Givens, and Arik Armstead have been able to dominate the interior of the line which has led teams to abandon the run and start throwing the football. That’s when defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans is able to unleash his blitzes and overwhelm the opposing offensive lines with heavy pressure up the middle with his linebackers Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw and on the outside with defensive ends Nick Bosa, Charles Omenihu, and safety Talanoa Hufanga.

That ability to force teams to pass the football has led to a lot of third-down and long situations for offenses facing this defense. That’s also when Ryan will look to throw a lot of pre-snap looks at Dak Prescott in order to try and confuse or redirect the quarterback’s reads and force him to throw into an area once perceived to have no one there which has led to the team picking off 20 passes this season. They know that Prescott has had issues with interceptions over the past few weeks outside of Monday night’s Wildcard game so these defenders are going to be looking to jump routes and get their hands on the football.

Overall you aren’t going to be able to make mistakes against this defense because they are going to make you pay.

San Francisco Defensive Weaknesses

For all of the strengths of this defense, one perceived weakness at times has been their ability to tackle players. Whether it be running the football or catching passes these aggressive defenders at times play themselves out of position or lose their technique. This happens at times along the defensive line with  Givens, and Armstead who try to get off the snap quickly but in the process play too high and allow offensive linemen to get into their chests and move them out of the play. The Cowboys if they want to exploit this will need to get running backs Tony Pollard and Ezekiel Elliott to hit those inside running lanes quickly in order to give themselves a chance to gain positive yardage and wear down these defenders.

Once the Cowboys are able to establish their running game Prescott will be able to attack the weakest part of this 49ers’ defense, the cornerbacks. Of all the positions on this defense, the cornerbacks have been the group prone to missing the most tackles this season and with the route-running ability the Cowboys receivers possess, they should be able to take advantage of that fact. The Cowboys aren’t going to get anything going on offense if they are continuously in these situations against this defense so staying ahead of the chains is key for Dak Prescott and this offense on Sunday, his receivers are going to need to be sure-handed and able to get off the line creating separation to make things easier for Prescott.

We’ve seen how well this offense can move the ball when it’s all working and they have the ability to do it against this defense as well. They just need to play sound football offensive coordinator Kellen Moore needs to continue to bring the heat much as he did against the Buccaneers in the Wildcard round.

Cowboys get 2 positive injury updates after Wild Card win (and 1 negative one)

The Cowboys got encouraging injury updates on Micah Parsons and Jayron Kearse, but there's concern Jason Peters could miss the Divisional Round.