San Francisco 49ers: Causes & effects behind lack of defensive turnovers

The 2018 San Francisco 49ers rank dead last in the NFL in generating turnovers on defense. Exactly why and what the repercussions are end up being more complex than you think. And just as simple too.

There’s no easy way to get around this, but the San Francisco 49ers are bad at taking the ball away on defense. And they’re bad at protecting the ball on offense too.

Through 12 weeks of the season, the Niners have generated a mere five defensive takeaways (three fumble recoveries and two interceptions), which ranks dead least among all 32 teams. To compound the problem, San Francisco’s offense ranks third worst in the league with 25 turnovers lost.

In a nutshell, it looks as if head coach Kyle Shanahan’s squad doesn’t like having the ball in its hands.

But why? What’s causing this to be the case? More importantly, what kind of impact is this having on both sides of the ball?

Let’s attempt to answer the second question first, keeping in mind these crucial turnover-related stats:

Provided by Pro-Football-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 12/6/2018.

The offensive tendency to turn the ball over frequently has led to many of the Niners’ opponents benefiting from short field position, which you can see above. This helps explain why the 49ers rank 29th in points allowed (336) but only 12th in all-purpose yards given up (4,185).

But with defensive takeaways a key problem for San Francisco, all one needs to do is look at the data to see how there’s a correlation between the numbers. Short fields for opposing offenses, plus a lack of defensive takeaways equates to a lot of points given up.

That’s hindering the 49ers offense too, which enters Week 13 with the third worst starting field position in the league.

Add in a few more defensive takeaways, and that number would look a lot better.

The problem gets even more compounded when you’re evaluating some of the individual 49ers players’ efforts. Cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon, linebacker Malcolm Smith and, before he was hurt, safety Adrian Colbert have all been major liabilities in coverage this season. And while each player bears a lot of individual responsibility for their respective struggles, there’s a lot more than meets the eye.

Case in point, let’s look at Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Tyler Lockett’s 52-yard touchdown against San Francisco in Week 13 with Smith in coverage:

The easy (and still correct) argument is Smith never should have been in coverage that deep down the field, especially against a speedy wide receiver. This places some blame on Niners defensive coordinator Robert Saleh, of course. And 49ers Webzone’s Rich Madrid described here, in this Twitter thread, why there might have been some confusion.

But there’s another reason why Smith was forced that deep. Well, two.

The first is the lack of safety help over the top — almost always necessary when a linebacker is covering a wide receiver beyond the intermediate range of 20 yards. The second, however, involves yet another problem directly related to the lack of turnovers.

The pass rush, or in this case, the absence of one.

No Pass Rush = No Turnovers

Despite generating eight sacks against the Oakland Raiders back in Week 9, the 49ers still have just 29 total on the season — good for 20th in the league. And one needs to factor in how banged up the Raiders’ offensive line was/is and at a point where Oakland head coach Jon Gruden’s squad is going through some serious turnover.

Take a look again at the video above. Wilson had just under 3.5 seconds to throw between snap and release. That’s a lot. Generally, 2.5 seconds is about the cutoff time when NFL quarterbacks have to start worrying about defensive pressure.

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The longer a quarterback has time, the worse off in coverage any defensive back — or linebacker, in this case — will be. It’s the age-old football adage of a secondary being only as good as its pass rush allows it to be.

Smith covering Lockett on an intermediate route less than 20 yards downfield wouldn’t exactly be a bad thing. Beyond that, and with time to gain separation, the lack of a pass rush opens up a slew of problems like the one Smith experienced.

And to be honest, he was in pretty good coverage until the end.

It’s another major reason why many of San Francisco’s defensive backs, like Witherspoon and Colbert, have struggled this season. At some point, receivers are going to break free either with speed or route-running abilities.

On the flip side, a good pass rush forces quarterbacks to make bad decisions, either throwing the ball too early or taking sacks. In the case of the former, that’s when turnovers are typically generated.

The 49ers aren’t generating them, and the lack of a quality pass rush is a key reason why.