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San Francisco 49ers: The good, bad, and ugly in week one loss to the Vikings

By Kevin Saito

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - SEPTEMBER 09: Members of the San Francisco 49ers line up in the tunnel to take the field before the game against the Minnesota Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium on September 9, 2018 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - SEPTEMBER 09: Members of the San Francisco 49ers line up in the tunnel to take the field before the game against the Minnesota Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium on September 9, 2018 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images) /
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San Francisco 49ers
MINNEAPOLIS, MN – SEPTEMBER 09: Kirk Cousins #8 of the Minnesota Vikings passes the ball in the first half of the game against the San Francisco 49ers at U.S. Bank Stadium on September 9, 2018 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images) /

Bad: 49ers Pass Rush

We knew coming into the season that the 49ers had a problem with their pass rush. Namely, that they don’t have a pass rush – and haven’t for a number of years now.

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    • It’s mind boggling to think that San Francisco lines up Solomon Thomas and Arik Armstead – both large, athletic, fast, and powerful guys – alongside DeForest Buckner, who is also all those things – and they still cannot get to the quarterback with any sort of consistency.

    Well, against the Vikings, we got confirmation that nothing has changed. If not for Buckner, who had himself a day with two and half sacks San Francisco wouldn’t have had a pass rush at all, and Cousins would have had more time than he already did to sit in the pocket and dissect the defense.

    Buckner is the one who put the most heat on him – actually, he was pretty much the only one to put any real sustained and consistent heat on him.

    If the 49ers are going to be competitive this year, they need to up their pass rush by a margin of eleventy-billion. When you go up against an offensive juggernaut like the Rams, for instance – whom they face twice a year – the last thing you want is for Jared Goff to have more than enough time to sit back, and poke bigger holes into what is already a suspect secondary.