49ers vs. Bengals preview: Nick Bosa impact, matchups and more
By Peter Panacy
49ers vs. Bengals: Week 2 by the Numbers
Neither the Niners, nor Bengals defenses were particularly good in 2018.
One could make an easy argument Cincinnati’s defense was worse than that of San Francisco last year. Aside from ranking dead worst in the league in total yards allowed, the Bengals also gave up the third most points (455).
The 49ers, meanwhile, allowed 435 points a season ago — fifth worse. Yet the Niners were in the middle of the pack, in terms of all-purpose yards given up.
Why?
A key reason is turnovers. San Francisco didn’t have short defensive stands, after failing to turn over no more than seven turnovers last season. Meanwhile, the 49ers offense turned the ball over 32 times in 2018 — third most in the NFL.
That helps explain why the Niners didn’t give up a ton of yards, yet allowed a lot of points.
Cincinnati wasn’t particularly spectacular generating turnovers, picking up just 18 defensive takeaways. But while the Bengals offense wasn’t eye-popping in 2018, at least it protected the ball, losing turnovers only 17 times on the year — good for fifth best.
Not sure if that says more about Cincy’s ball protection being good, or its defense being terrible.
Either way, turnovers could be a key part of Sunday’s contest on both sides of the ball for both teams. San Francisco forced four turnovers in Week 1, three by the way of interceptions, while only losing one on offense. The Bengals, meanwhile, lost three turnovers in Seattle, while picking up just one defensive takeaway of their own.
Advantage: 49ers… hopefully.