San Francisco 49ers Must a Find Solution for Their Poor Pass Protection

Colin Kaepernick can run and scramble and be creative amid chaos in the open field. We know this, as do the San Francisco 49ers and offensive coordinator Greg Roman. That’s why designed quarterback runs are part of his playbook.

A quarter of the season has been completed for most teams, and Kaepernick is first among quarterbacks in rushing with 187 yards. He’s averaging 5.7 per attempt, and he’s had three straight games with over 50 yards. We’ve come to expect that with his bounding, gazelle-like strides.

But Kaepernick is still a typical quarterback in the sense that he wants to decide when it's a good time to run or have the playbook give him the order. Being forced to frantically escape oncoming pressure often is far from ideal and reduces effectiveness.

And at times early this season, frantic has been Kaepernick’s natural state through no fault of his own. He’s had little choice, with the pocket crumbling around him.

So as the 49ers prepare for Tamba Hali, Justin Houston and a rather menacing Chiefs pass rush that’s brought an opposing quarterback down 12 times this season (tied for second), it’s time to think long and hard about this question: is their offensive line regressing?

The group has given up 10 sacks so far. At a glance, that’s troubling, but it also doesn’t seem horrible either. After all, a year ago at this time the 49ers had also allowed 10 sacks.

But look at their opponents to begin 2013.

	Year-end rank	Total sacks	Sacks against 49ers
Packers	T8	44	2
Seahawks	T8	44	3
Colts	11th	42	3
Rams	3rd	53	2

That was a rather painful gauntlet that featured the league’s top two pass-rushers: Robert Mathis and Robert Quinn, who combined for 38.5 sacks last year, 2.5 of which came against the Niners.

This year the early-season pressure coming at Kaepernick shouldn’t have been nearly as daunting. Yet he's still been turfed the same amount of times, with two dud games particularly standing out.

	Sacks against 49ers	Sacks against all other opponents
Eagles	4	3
Bears	4	5

Kaepernick was sacked four or more times in a game only twice last year. It’s Week 5 and 49ers opponents have already matched that total.

Of course having a healthy right tackle would be helpful. Anthony Davis has appeared in only one game due to knee and ankle issues, and he left that game (Week 4) early too. He’s likely set to miss another game after sitting out for a full week of practice, meaning Houston—who’s currently tied for the league lead in sacks—will put a clown suit on Jonathan Martin.

But the problems and flailing as pass-rushers sail by has gone beyond Davis' absence, as we saw in the first quarter against the Philadelphia Eagles.

Of the four Eagles sacks, three of them came in the first quarter. One led to a 13-yard loss and then a blocked punt for a touchdown when an attempted screen was blown up and wasn’t given nearly enough time to develop.

The sack that’s concerning came on the last play of the opening quarter, and it resulted in Davis’ latest injury. It’s an example of left tackle Joe Staley’s early struggles after he was a steady rock last season.

The Eagles rushed four, and on the outside Brandon Graham shifted wide and stood up in a two-point stance when Vernon Davis went in motion. Kaepernick was in the pistol with Gore behind him and fullback Bruce Miller to his right.

NFL Game Rewind

At the snap Staley jumped out aggressively, as he should, while looking to cut off Graham’s outside angle and speed to turn the corner. But he was far too upright and lost his base. With one swat Graham shoves Staley aside, using the tackle’s own momentum against him.

NFL Game Rewind

And just like that, we’re done here.

NFL Game Rewind

Staley should bounce back and be just fine, because that's what a three-time All-Pro does. Throughout all of 2013 he allowed only four sacks, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), which is concrete protection defined over 1,144 snaps.

The real concern lies a little further down the line. Guard Alex Boone was similarly impressive a year ago, giving up only two sacks over 1,208 snaps, per PFF. Now? Two sacks over four games.

Kaepernick was hit 57 times in 2013, which was the fourth-lowest total in the league and reflected his consistently pristine protection. A healthy Davis will help to restore a clean pocket, but when we look at the 49ers’ upcoming schedule, the five men up front need to find that 2013 form quick.

Beyond the Chiefs Sunday, there’s the Rams and their defensive front that turns quarterbacks into dust next week, followed by the Broncos' speed-rushing tandem of DeMarcus Ware and Von Miller.

The pressure up in Kaepernick’s grill will either get worse before it gets better, or a challenge will be met with a swift course correction.