Poor John Bates.
He’s just a measly tight end, AKA fresh meat for Nick Bosa. With 5:25 remaining in Sunday’s contest against the 49ers, the Washington Commanders needed a two-point conversion to stay alive. Onec Bates got left on an island against Bosa, the Commanders might as well have waved the white flag. Ain’t no one person, especially no tight end, was gonna stop Bosa.
Though it technically didn’t go down as a sack, but Bosa’s takedown of Carson Wentz sealed the deal for football’s hottest team, as the 49ers topped Washington 37-20. The Niners continue to own the NFL’s longest win streak of eight games, which matches the longest of the Kyle Shanahan era in Santa Clara.
Afterwards, two-touchdown tight end George Kittle pretended to put a crown on Bosa on the sidelines. He’s right, because Bosa has some hardware coming his way.
"I think today secured his defensive MVP," Kittle said. "I don't know how it doesn't. If you look at what he does in the game every Sunday compared to everyone else around the league. With our top-tier defense, I don't know why he's not in the MVP conversation too."
Last week, Bosa became the betting favorite to win the Defensive Player of the Year Award. He showed why on Sunday, bullying his way to a two-sack day, as he now has a career-high 17.5 on the season. Two more and Bosa will match Aldon Smith’s franchise record of 19.5, which he set in 2012.
For his second sack of the day, Bosa got around the edge and forced a fumble on a strip-sack. Then came his classic shrugging celebration, which was preceded by a hearty Vince McMahon walk. The confidence is high.
Bosa is a one-man wrecking crew. About the only person who has an outside shot to chance Bosa in the DPOY race is Dallas Cowboys edge rusher Micah Parsons, who is sitting on 13 sacks but piled up the quarterback pressures.
At this point, Bosa might as well start clearing out space in his trophy case. If (when?) he wins DPOY, he’ll join Dana Stubblefield (1997) and Deion Sanders (1994) as the only 49ers in franchise history to win the award.
It seems like everything is coming together for 25-year-old Bosa, who has upped the price tag of his forthcoming contract extension this offseason. It's not like he's just a pass-rusher, as Pro Football Focus also ranks him as tied for the third-best run defender on the edge. After a full summer of being healthy, the fourth-year end has built off the surging success he experienced in 2021. He said he's never played better in his career.
"Just more reps and being able to continue to learn each and every week," Bosa said. "And plan out my rush plan each week to tailor to who I'm playing. I feel like I have an answer for every type of blocker at this point."
It’s hard for a single defensive player in football to affect the game on such a consistent basis, but Bosa has been simply unstoppable this season. He’s been the engine of the NFL’s top defense, as DeMeco Ryans’ unit shined again Sunday, forcing two turnovers and coming up with two huge fourth-down stops. The 20 points allowed by San Francisco is the most allowed during its eight-game win streak.
"Bosa’s usually the key," Kittle said. "Fred Warner’s fantastic and our defense is playing at a high level, but when you have to gameplan for Nick Bosa, it just allows all those guys to be so much better."
So long as Bosa and the 49ers defense is playing like this, Brock Purdy just needs to stay out of the way. Purdy finished 15-of-22 for 234 yards, two touchdowns and a pick, with another stat line comparable to a classic Jimmy Garoppolo outing. In the process, he became the first 49ers quarterback ever to win his first three starts.
