After their bye week, the 49ers defence will be up against a formidable quarterback in Trevor Lawrence of the Jaguars.
There are numerous factors that make Lawrence difficult. He is a quickly developing star in the field with all the skills needed to be an excellent performer. However, for the majority of the previous five seasons, the 49ers have often made talented quarterbacks appear worse than they actually are.
However, Lawrence’s ability to get the ball out fast presents a different kind of difficulty for a club that is having defensive difficulties similar to San Francisco’s.
The 49ers have struggled to consistently pressure quarterbacks into errors in the pocket over the past three weeks. With 62 points in their previous three games, the 49ers are under pressure, but all three of those games ended in defeat as Kirk Cousins and Joe Burrow tore up the 49ers defence for 661 yards, 8.6 yards per attempt, five touchdowns, and one interception. Because they were quick to release the ball, both QBs were successful.
One of the reasons Lawrence has had such an amazing third NFL season is his lightning-fast ball release rate. On dropbacks including a pass attempt, Lawrence disposes of the ball in 2.25 seconds, according to Pro Football Focus. That time is second fastest in the league, only surpassed by Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. He is fourth in the league in terms of throwing time on all dropbacks (2.48 seconds). Third in that category is Burrow.
The 49ers will need to accomplish two goals in order to defeat Lawrence and the Jaguars.
They must first cover well enough to force Lawrence to hold onto the ball for a little bit longer than he would like. That should help the pass rush get home and possibly influence a few throws.
After that, they must confront. They’ve had a terrible time missing tackles the past two weeks; in the last two games, they’ve missed a staggering 22. Lawrence will mishandle passes; the 49ers must just make sure that the hurried nature of the game doesn’t lead to a lot of yardage after the catch.
Limiting the Jaguars to play second or third-and-long will only improve Lawrence’s throwing time and, hopefully, free up a highly skilled 49ers pass rush to once again be the tip of a very good defense’s spear.
