GETTY Defensive lineman Nick Bosa #97 of the San Francisco 49ers battles through the block of offensive lineman D.J. Humphries #74 of the Arizona Cardinals.
The 2021 NFL All-Pro team was announced on Friday and San Francisco 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa just missed a spot.
In our initial coverage, Heavy broke down that Bosa only received five votes from the AP voters to Las Vegas Raiders DE Maxx Crosby’s six. That was enough for Crosby to take the last All-Pro spot for defensive ends.
However, Bosa produced 15.5 sacks to Crosby’s 8, 21 tackles for loss to Crosby’s 13 and forced four fumbles while Crosby didn’t force any, all according to the PFR numbers.
While Bosa outclassed Crosby in those stats, there’s always room for debate. And when it comes to the Raiders and 49ers fanbases, clashing isn’t out of the norm, but it’s grown less frequent since the silver and black team left Oakland for Las Vegas and the “Battle for the Bay” was no longer a thing.
49ers and Raiders Fans Go Head to Head
One of the biggest sources of online arguments was @inheritedrunnrs post comparing the two players’ play from Week 7-15.
Maxx Crosby got more 1st Team All Pro votes than Nick Bosa
Weeks 7-15:
Crosby: 0 sacks, 4 TFL, 7 QB hits
Bosa: 10 sacks, 6 TFL, 19 QB hits
Voting is a joke lmfao
A Raiders fan, @jaxonvon, made his case for Crosby although the numbers he’s using for pressures and hurries are not from Crosby’s Pro Football Reference page, rather Pro Football Focus’ calculations.
One Niners fan countered by saying that Crosby could have better advanced stats, but the simple fact of the matter is that Bosa made actual plays more often.
“Bosa-15.5 sacks Crosby-8 sacks Bosa-21 TFL Crosby 13 TFL,” @pn_warner replied. “Crosby led Bosa in “almost plays”, Bosa actually made plays, Voting was a joke.”
Another San Francisco fan brought up a similar point, saying that it seems like players are credited as much for not getting a sack as they are for getting a sack.
“Back in the day you didn’t get credit for almost getting a sack,” @RobGotti415 tweeted. “Either you do or you don’t .. now they reward people for almost getting a sack more than a person who actually had more sacks and tackles for loss lol.”
A Raiders fan called out that response which is understandable. Getting home on the QB is important, but consistently causing pressure with or without sacks is also vital.
“Tell me you don’t know pressures affect the qb without telling me,” @DavidPalma23 responded.
Then there’s several users like @MicCrewDaGoose who just want this snub to motivate Bosa in the 49ers’ Wild Card round battle against the Dallas Cowboys on Saturday.
“I get fans are pissed but who gives a f***,” the fan replied. “Let it fuel him …. We got a f****** title to play for.”
Kyle Shanahan Sounds Off on Bosa
When speaking to the media on Friday, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan was asked about Bosa in the context of the season’s awards. While he is just happy to get elite production from his young DE, he’s also in disbelief that Bosa isn’t in the Defensive Player of the Year conversation.
“I don’t think people appreciate how good Bosa is play-in and play-out,” Shanahan said per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. “I’ve heard people talk about him for Comeback Player of the Year, and every time they say that, I can’t believe he hasn’t been mentioned in Defensive Player of the Year.”
Bosa tore his ACL in Week 2 of the 2020 season, missing the remainder of the year and setting up a long recovery. In his first season back, he cleared his award-winning rookie numbers to finish fourth in the NFL in sacks.