49ers’ D-line just getting started after stifling Jets’ run game originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SANTA CLARA — The 49ers got back to basics by stifling the New York Jets‘ ground game in their 32-19 win on “Monday Night Football,” and the defensive line collectively believes this only is the beginning.
Stopping the run was important to defensive end Nick Bosa, especially after the unit’s less-than-superior performance in that area across the 2023 NFL season. The star pass rusher was pleased the group only allowed the Jets to tally 68 total yards on the ground in the 2024 regular-season opener.
“If we can stop the run like that, we’ll obviously clean up more things and we will have a lot more rush ops in the future,” Bosa said after the game at Levi’s Stadium. “… That’s just our main focus every year because if you make teams one dimensional, it’s huge. …
“We take a lot of pride in it, and last year we weren’t as good as we needed to be so we had to improve.”
The only quarterback sack registered by the group was made by free-agent acquisition Leonard Floyd, who coincidentally was the last man to sack Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers in 2023. The play resulted in a season-ending Achilles injury for the four-time NFL MVP.
Floyd believes the 49ers’ defensive line as a group could be the cornerstone of the defense. The nine-year NFL veteran is excited for what the season will bring.
“We got great potential,” Floyd told NBC Sports Bay Area. “We just got to come out and execute. We got to come out and put action to our words. [This is] very much the surface of what we can actually do. Look forward to coming out next week and going harder.”
Stuffing the run, however often starts on the interior of the line, and the 49ers added new contributors there as well. Maliek Collins and Jordan Elliott already have made an impact on the defense and were in large part a reason, along with Javon Hargrave, that the Jets were unable to move the ball on the ground.
“For sure, there’s a lot left out there,” Collins said after the game. “There’s a lot left on the bone. We would’ve wanted to get to him little more. I’m mad at myself about that last one; I let him escape through the B-gap in the red zone.”
Bosa has been impressed with Collins and what the team’s new defensive tackle has been able to do while playing by his side. Floyd, on the opposite end, will garner attention from opposing offenses, and that will give everyone opportunities.
“I think having [Floyd] on the other side is going to open up a lot of things for all the guys rushing,” Bosa said. “Maliek played an awesome game in the run and he’s a great vet to have, and me and him are going to work really well together on the left there.”
Bosa complimented both coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager/president of football operations John Lynch for assembling the defensive-line grouping for the season. The All-Pro believes that each player has come in with the right mindset needed for a dominant season.
“You really have no choice when you come into this building to not play with great effort and play Niner football,” Bosa said. “I think tonight was the epitome of a Niner win, but we are just scratching the surface. We are going to have a lot of fun games I think.”
