How Demaryius Thomas Exposed the 49ers’ Defensive Weakness

October 21, 2014   ·   Sean Tomlinson   ·   Jump to comments

The San Francisco 49ers have one of the NFL’s best defenses. We don’t need to qualify or soften that statement by mentioning injuries, even though core pieces are still missing.
Go ahead and haul out any of the standard statistical measuring sticks typically used to assess a defense. The 49ers are among the top five in four major categories and the top 10 in two others even without getting a single snap this year from middle linebacker NaVorro Bowman and outside linebacker Aldon Smith.
And yet Sunday, one of the best defenses in the NFL was absolutely pummeled by one of the best offenses in the NFL.
The 49ers were certainly limping defensively against the Denver Broncos during that 42-17 beatdown, tying the most points allowed during the Jim Harbaugh era.
Beyond the deep, dark black hole without Bowman (over 140 tackles in three straight seasons) and Smith (42 sacks in 43 career games), cornerback Chris Culliver sat out, and safety/nickelback Jimmi...

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