3 reasons SF 49ers lost Week 5 matchup with Dolphins

No. 2: The SF 49ers’ injuries

I said before that injuries were not a sufficient reason to wholly explain exactly what happened in Week 5, but it would be naïve to say it didn’t have any impact whatsoever.

The cornerback position was of grave concern with all three starters in Richard Sherman, K’Waun Williams and Emmanuel Moseley out for the game, as well as key backup Ahkello Witherspoon hobbled.

Add in the two best EDGEs in Nick Bosa and Dee Ford, along with Ezekiel Ansah, and the defense was in dire straits.

The team is still down some important players on offense, too, despite some important stars returning. Running back Tevin Coleman, tight end Jordan Reed and starting center Weston Richburg were all missing from the game as well.

You could see from the game exactly how much of a loss this was for San Francisco. The 49ers were completely incapable of covering receivers or putting sufficient pressure to affect the pass.

Remember, the entire defensive philosophy for the 49ers is predicated on the front four getting enough pressure on the quarterback to avoid blitzing, allowing the other defenders to drop into coverage.

Short of their two best pass-rushers, they couldn’t do this and were picked apart accordingly.

Offensively? Well, we’ll get to that on the last slide.