Meat-Eater Match Up: Steelers-49ers, Week 1

Sep 09, 2023 at 10:00 AM

Craig Wolfley

Sideline Reporter, Steelers Radio Network

I've been sweating it out, waiting to hear whether or not Nick Bosa and the 49ers would come to a deal in time for the game this Sunday at Acrisure. Much like a couple years ago, when TJ Watt conducted a "hold-in," rather than a hold-out, it came down to the wire, but Nick Bosa is signed and ready to go.

San Francisco head coach Kyle Shanahan left no doubt Bosa will suit up Week 1, joking that Bosa would "have to have a beer belly and be out of shape" to miss the opener. Don't expect either. Just as Watt came ready to play after he signed his new contract, so will Bosa.

This week's "Classic Jurrasic Meat-Eater Matchup" pits both offensive tackles, Dan Moore and Chuks Okorafor, against the 6-foot-4, 266-pound, 5th year pro, and reigning Defensive Player of the Year, Bosa.

The best way to quantify Bosa's importance to the San Fran franchise is much like TJ Watt. With Bosa in the lineup, they are 37-14. Without Bosa in the lineup, they are 5-10. Bosa represented 42 percent of the 2022 San Francisco sack total.

Bosa has the suddenness of a sneeze. When he gets into his heavily leaning forward track/sprinter stance, his weight is primarily on his forward hand, and he's dialed into the snap with his opposite hand reared back to help "launch" on the snap count.

Coaches talk about a player's "motor." Bosa has a Hemi engine under the hood. He's as relentless as an Arnold Schwarzenegger Terminator.

Bosa is strong enough to put his "grille in your grille," stuff a 300-plus pound offensive tackle at the point of attack, set the edge and is cat-quick enough to blow by a half-hearted cutoff block on the backside to wreak ball-hawking havoc, tackles for loss and, of course, go quarterback hunting. Bosa has totaled 34 sacks, 40 tackles for loss and six forced fumbles over the last two years.

Bosa is a classic "speed-to-power" rusher in the likeness of former Steelers Hall of Famer, Kevin Greene, sans the golden locks. Bosa will rush up the field, trying to get the OT to turn towards the sidelines and get his feet parallel. Then, at or about the third step up the field, Bosa will suddenly veer into the OT, either trapping with his hands to knock down the OT's hands, land a two-hand "punch" to the chest plate to gain inside hand position and dominate his opponent's centerline, or stabbing the inside shoulder of the OT with a straight arm and leveraging him with the inside hand power rush.

Bosa will throw in an occasional Alex Highsmith-worthy spin move, or simply go for the hand swipe to the inside move, if either Chuks or Dan over-set. And if all that wasn't enough, Bosa has the speed to run the arc and back door the QB.

If Bosa can catch an OT with his feet together on an up field rush, the OT will have, at that point, little knee bend, hips high and no power base. The leverage is all with Bosa. Think of him as a more forward-leaning James Harrison by comparison. Bosa has a heavier forward lean at the contact point with the OT than Harrison when QB hunting, but James could rush more upright because of his shorter height and his incredible strength.

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Pittsburgh Steelers defensive back Tariq Carpenter (49) during practice at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex preparing for a Week 1 matchup against the San Francisco 49ers Friday, Sept. 8, 2023 in Pittsburgh, PA. (Abigail Dean / Pittsburgh Steelers)