Nick Bosa isn't responsible for a number of things on the 2025 San Francisco 49ers.
He's not responsible for drops (with Christian McCaffrey a particularly egregious offender, although Jauan Jennings also dropped a touchdown), of which there were five in total in Sunday's first half against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Bosa is also not responsible for turnovers, such as when McCaffrey knocks a pass into the air for the Jaguars to intercept, or Luke Farrell proving why he's a (league's highest paid!) blocking tight end by fumbling away his only catch, leading directly to a field goal.
Nor does he force safety Jason Pinnock to take a horrible angle on Jags running back Travis Etienne's 48-yard touchdown run, or the run defense in general, to stop playing and allow their opponents to rack up 9 yards per carry.
You could argue he's the reason for the passivity of coordinator Robert Saleh's coverage schemes, but it's actually a continual running sore of Saleh's -- something I've been critical of before -- he's simply unable to generate pressure in creative ways without the use of an elite player in the front four.
However, Bosa doesn't play on special teams, and that, yet again, has been a sore point for the Niners, with a back-breaking kick return given up before the half, and several head-scratching choices made on the team's own returns. Nor does he play on the offensive line, which has been unable to open holes for McCaffrey, or protect Brock Purdy (who also appears to be playing injured, at least in part).
You get the point.
There are thousands of reasons why, yes, the 49ers miss Bosa, an All-Pro player, after all. But there are too many other things going wrong within the team to make such a lazy and obvious narrative-based reason for what has been a pathetic first half at Levi's Stadium, with the team lucky to only be 17-6 down at the half.
Too many -- and, I'm afraid, the team's analysts -- are hiding behind Bosa's absence to explain what is an all-around terrible performance. The players must take accountability and win despite the attrition, something which, in fairness, they have done very well so far this season.
Unfortunately, Sunday's first half was not just an aberration, but a complete running sore and half-hearted performance by a team that had shown heart and grit up to that point. It's incredibly disappointing, and reducing it to the absence of one player -- incredible though he is -- is facile.
They've got the second half to turn it around. Let's hope they find their heart, brains, and other appendages to drag themselves back into the game. Going into Thursday's titanic clash with the Los Angeles Rams at 4-0 would be a potential game-changer.
But the 49ers aren't going to do it without taking some accountability and getting things done, whoever is or isn't on the field.
What have you got, fellas?