Defense Puts Emphasis on Tackling

The challenge laid out to the 49ers defense remains mostly the same from week-to-week. There’s an emphasis on stopping the run, pressuring the quarterback and creating turnovers. But this time around there’s also a focus on something even more fundamental.

“I think the most important thing is tackling,” 49ers defensive coordinator Greg Manusky said in explaining what his guys need to do to beat the Green Bay Packers this Sunday on the road.

”For the YAC [yards after catch] yardage they do accumulate, we need to make sure we do tackle in the open field,” Manusky explained. “They are strong at catching the ball, but they are also strong at getting away from guys and we need to make sure we tackle well in the open field.”

The Packers offense ranks as the league’s eighth best offense, totaling 366.2 yards per game. Head coach Mike McCarthy, a former 49ers offensive coordinator in 2005, leads a balanced offensive attack which relies heavily on multiple playmakers creating yards after the catch.

After seeing some of their own struggles in open-field tackling against Chicago, the 49ers defensive players will keep that in the back of their minds as they prepare for Green Bay.

“Chicago picked up heavy yards on screens alone,” said linebacker , who filled in for an injured in the second half. “The Packers are definitely going to see that. It might be something they’re going to do within their game plan to defeat us.”

“They’re good after catching the ball,” confirmed linebacker , who is second in the NFL in tackles with 88 stops. “They’re YAC yardage might be the best. We have to do a good job of tackling.”

Part of what 49ers defense does so well is stop the run on first and second downs. Doing that dictates the opposition’s play call selection in third-and-long situations.

The 49ers ability to stop teams from running the football has proven vital.

The unit has allowed the third fewest yards rushing per game and fewest yards per carry with opponents rushing for an average of 3.31 yards per attempt. Because of this, no team in the NFL is better on first down than the 49ers, leaving opponents with an average of 8.89 yards to go on second down. With a second-and-long situation, opposing offenses rarely convert, doing so only 20.4 percent of the time, a mark that is also tops in the NFL.

But against an opponent like the Packers who allow quarterback Aaron Rodgers to throw most of the time, the 49ers will have to be ready for pass on each down.

“We look at him as a shifty quarterback who will run outside the pocket, who will run down field,” outside linebacker said. “He also holds the ball a little bit. That gives us a little more time to get to him.”

Although Rodgers has been sacked a league-high 41 times, that statistic does not have the 49ers defense preparing any differently.

“Mistakes happen,” defensive tackle acknowledged. “And you have to give them the benefit of the doubt, they are a good team. They have good offensive linemen and a great quarterback. You go into it preparing like any other game. It’s going to be physical; it’s going to be tough. You just have to be relentless.”

feels that the defense should be able to carry over that aggressive attack that caused so many turnovers from the week before.

“We’re going to build on that,” the 49ers starting free safety said. “We’re coming in to the game with a lot of momentum on defense. Those turnovers are something that we know we’re capable of doing.”

If the 49ers maintain that momentum, they will be victorious in a different city than San Francisco for the first time since their season-opening win over Arizona.

Should the 49ers improve their record to 5-5 with a victory, it would snap a 6-game losing streak at Lambeau Field.

“I’ve never played there. I heard it gets really cold,” Willis said. “I’m looking forward to having the opportunity to play at [Lambeau Field]. There’s a lot of history there. Hopefully we can go there and make some history of our own.”