San Francisco 49ers: Complete grades for Week 1 victory over Tampa Bay Buccaneers
By Justin Fried
2. Defense
But while the offense sputtered, it was the 49ers defense that emerged to save the day.
After an extremely disappointing 2018 campaign that saw the team finish with just seven takeaways — half the quantity of the second-worst team in the NFL — the 49ers managed four in Sunday’ afternoon’s contest.
Three of which came on interceptions as the team remarkably has already surpassed their grand total from last year when they finished with just two. Richard Sherman, Ahkello Witherspoon, and linebacker Mark Nzeocha were the trio that secured interceptions for the team.
It’s especially encouraging to see the corners playing well as last season wasn’t the best year for the 49ers secondary. Sherman came away with his first interception with the 49ers while Witherspoon started his season off strong after a disappointing 2018 campaign.
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The secondary was aided by a much-improved 49ers pass rush that resulted in three sacks — one each for Nick Bosa, Dee Ford, and Arik Armstead. That trio also converged on Winston to force Witherspoon’s game-sealing interception.
To top matters off, linebacker Fred Warner punched a ball free from tight end O.J. Howard and the fumble was recovered by the 49ers.
All three facets of the defense played exceptionally well and perhaps the only issue you could take with the unit is that their run defense wasn’t as stout as expected.
But given their turnovers and stellar secondary play, that seems a little nit-picky.
Final Grade: A