Nick Bosa has seen his gauntlet of 1,000-yard backs in his career. Dalvin Cook of the Minnesota Vikings, Joe Mixon of the Cincinnati Bengals, Ezekiel Elliot of the Dallas Cowboys and Jonathan Taylor of the Indianapolis Colts are among the few Bosa had to face.
But on New Year’s Day, the San Francisco 49ers star edge rusher revealed who’s the best one he’s ever faced in his career: The one he had to tackle that day in Josh Jacobs of the Las Vegas Raiders.
“Best running back I’ve played against in my career, no doubt about it,” Bosa said to reporters following the 37-34 overtime win. “That dude’s a beast.”
How 49ers Defense Fared Against Josh Jacobs
Jacobs, who also came from the same 2019 draft class as Bosa and went No. 24 overall, went on to average 4.1 yards per carry facing Bosa and the NFL’s best defense.
The three-time 1,000-yard rusher, however, was bottled to just 69 rushing yards on 17 carries. Per Pro Football Focus, Jacobs gained his most yardage running up the middle left between his center and left guard with 19 yards up that way. He added 14 yards running toward the left end and 13 rushing the right end side. But on plays designed to go up the left guard side, he only had just one yard there on two carries. He additionally struggled running up the right tackle side with gaining only five yards on two carries.
There was this critical moment as well involving the 49ers centering their attack on Jacobs — during this crucial fourth and inches scenario near the goal line where Arik Armstead, Charles Omenihu and the 49ers stonewalled the play:
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Jacobs is the league’s rushing leader at 1,608 yards with one regular season game left. He’s also in a contract year after the Raiders declined his fifth-year option back on April 29, 2022.
Josh Jacobs Sounds Off on Facing 49ers
A week ago, Jacobs went on a vulgar tirade after the Raiders lost to a surging Pittsburgh Steelers team in the final 46 seconds…with Jacobs saying “It’s bull****” twice in his rant with reporters.
This time, his team lost in overtime after a costly interception from Jarrett Stidham to Tashaun Gipson helped set up the winning field goal by Robbie Gould. Was Jacobs in a profanity-driven mood once again?
“I already had no feelings,” was the first thing Jacobs said when he was asked if he had feeling toward the 49ers loss.
Jacobs, though, did praise Stidham’s performance by saying “oh he balled. He was calm, collected and unbelievable. I mean, you couldn’t tell that he was a backup.” He was equally impressed Stidham performed at a high level against the No. 1 defense — finishing with a combined 399 total yards (365 passing) and averaged 4.9 yards per carry.
Back to Bosa, he ended his day with these rare stats: Zero tackles, zero assisted stops and no sacks. His only stat in the contest? Five quarterback hits on Stidham. Bosa gave the Raiders their respect.
“They have a lot of really talented players. Quarterback played good,” Bosa said. “The NFL will humble you 100 percent of the time.”
Obviously, allowing 500 total yards of offense will leave a fierce disgruntled state for any defense including the 49ers. Bosa, though, sees this as something the 49ers defense needs.
“A lot to get better on, but I think we needed this as a defense,” Bosa said.
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‘Dude’s a Beast:’ 49ers’ Nick Bosa Reveals Toughest RB He’s Faced