No. 5: SF 49ers defense must clamp down on top wide receivers
There’s only one word needed to describe how San Francisco’s efforts limiting Cardinals wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins went last Sunday: bad.
Hopkins recorded a career-best 14 receptions for 151 yards during the game, and a blown coverage later in the game led to a 33-yard catch and run setting up the first of Arizona’s go-ahead scores.
Granted, Hopkins is an other-worldly talent, and the SF 49ers won’t exactly be facing a wide receiver of that ilk in Week 2.
But that doesn’t mean defensive coordinator Robert Saleh’s unit can take the Jets’ No. 1 receiver, Jamison Crowder, lightly. The 5-foot-9 wideout was New York’s best receiving target in 2019, coming off a 78-catch, 833-yard, six-touchdown campaign. And with fellow wide receiver Robby Anderson now with the Carolina Panthers, Crowder’s usage and targets from quarterback Sam Darnold are expected to rise possibly even more this season.
Darnold targeted Crowder 13 times in Week 1 to the tune of seven catches for 115 yards and a touchdown against a good Bills defense.
Lapses in coverage, paired with any down play from nickel cornerback K’Waun Williams, could lead to a big day from Crowder once again. San Francisco learned already what a top wideout can do if left in a position where he can take over a game.
It can’t happen again in Week 2.