Getty San Francisco 49ers DE Nick Bosa has some advice for the Dallas Cowboys.
San Francisco 49ers Pro Bowler Nick Bosa has a direct message for the Dallas Cowboys.
As the Cowboys prepare to play their biggest regular season game of the year as they host the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 14, Bosa has some advice for Dallas — use the “blueprint” that the Niners gave them.
The Niners blew out the NFL-leading Eagles, 42-19, in Philadelphia. In the process of doing so, they completely negated the Eagles’ rushing attack, and most importantly, they made quarterback Jalen Hurt a non-factor.
“Yeah, I mean, you see it on tape, though,” Bosa said. “Obviously, we put the blueprint out there. Hopefully the Cowboys watch the tape,” Bosa said when it comes to slowing down Hurts.
Why Niners Were Able to Limit Jalen Hurts
Hurts — who is arguably the top dual-threat quarterback in the league — was limited to just 20 rushing yards on seven carries. His number of rushing attempts and his rushing yards were his lowest of the season outside of the team’s 38-31 win over the Washington Commanders.
It’s worth noting that was also a game in which Hurts had his finest passing performance of the season, throwing four touchdowns versus zero interceptions for a 135.7 passer rating and 76.3% completion rate. By comparison, Hurts had just one passing touchdown for an 85.2 passer rating and 57.8% completion rate in the loss to the Niners.
One thing in particular the Niners did extremely well against Hurts was containing gaps, specifically the B-gap. By keeping two defensive lineman back to contain the gaps, the Niners often rushed two linemen and kept a quarterback spy behind. By going with this strategy, the Niners limited Hurts’ ability to run, which forced him to throw a season-high 45 passes.
“We made Jalen stay in the pocket and escape outside instead of those B-gaps, and it paid off,” said Bosa. “Because Jalen is looking at the rush every play, so you just have to be disciplined and not give him that quick escape route where he can get to his guys quick.”
Why the Cowboys Can Also Limit Jalen Hurts
The Cowboys may not have the stacked defensive front that the Niners have, but they feature arguably the top pass-rushing threat in the league in Micah Parsons along with formidable pass rushers in Dorance Armstrong Jr., DeMarcus Lawrence and Dante Fowler. Dallas actually ranks seventh in the league in sacks (37), ahead of the Niners (36).
Dallas actually did a decent job of containing Hurts during their earlier matchup against Philadelphia, limiting him to 36 rushing yards on 10 carries. However, they also allowed Hurts to do severe damage through the air on a limited number of passing attempts, as the Eagles QB threw for 207 yards on just 23 attempts. Hurts threw for a season-high 9.0 yards per attempt and 10.74 adjusted yards per attempt.
As the Cowboys enter this matchup, containing Hurts the way the Niners did is likely the key to winning. Not only was Hurts’ play limited because the Niners contained the B-gaps, their offense as a whole was limited. Philadelphia ran for a season-low 46 rushing yards as they averaged just 4.8 yards per play.
We’ll see if the Eagles find a way to counter that potential strategy by the Cowboys, but there’s little doubt it was effective as the Niners knocked out Philadelphia.