The 49ers were missing a lot of defensive pieces on Sunday and their absence was hard to miss as the Falcons ran their way to a 28-14 home win.
No one can be sure that the outcome would have been different with defensive end Nick Bosa, defensive tackle Arik Armstead, safety Jimmie Ward and others on hand for the game, but it’s tempting to believe the 49ers would have had a better chance of winning. Linebacker Fred Warner agreed that it would be better to play with a full deck, but said that wasn’t an excuse for the team falling short in Atlanta.
“It does suck,” Warner said, via 49ersWebzone.com. “You wish you have your guys out there, but at the same time, I feel like for me, I put a lot of pressure on myself in the fact that I command the defense. I’m the one who should get all eleven lined up at all times regardless of who’s out there, and everybody else who’s coming into the game, they’ve got to be ready to go no matter what. It’s all about being prepared. Regardless of the circumstance, whoever’s out there we’ve got to make sure we’re playing to our standard.”
Three turnovers on offense didn’t help the cause and the 49ers will need to play better complementary football regardless of who is in the lineup on defense if they’re going to be consistent winners this season.
