While the San Francisco 49ers have dealt with a ton of injuries this season on both sides of the ball, they've overcome those problems and now sit just one win away from the top seed in the NFC.
Brock Purdy, George Kittle, Jauan Jennings, and Ricky Pearsall are back on offense. But the defensive side of the ball, with Fred Warner and Nick Bosa both out, is in dire straits.
Aaron Schatz of ESPN.com highlighted the 49ers' biggest weakness entering the playoffs, and it has the 49ers badly missing Bosa. Their pass rush is struggling, and it could prove to be an issue in the playoffs this season.
49ers badly missing Nick Bosa amid biggest weakness
"Concerning weakness: Lack of pass rush," Schatz writes. "They rank 29th in pass rush win rate (30%) and last in pressure rate (25%). As a result, the Niners are 25th in pass defense DVOA when they do not blitz. (They're 17th when they do blitz)."
The 49ers' struggling pass rush isn't just due to Bosa being out. First-round pick Mykel Williams is done for the year, and Bryce Huff, after a decent start, has been massively disappointing as of late.
Overall, the 49ers have one of the weakest defensive units in the NFL in general, and it's thanks in large part to how bad the pass rush has been this season.
Those issues came to a head against the Chicago Bears in Week 17, and if it weren't for a career game from Purdy, the 49ers might not had a chance to win the NFC West in Week 18.
The lack of pass rush is a very serious issue for the 49ers. Playoff teams that cannot generate pressure consistently will have a very tough time stopping opposing offenses.
Combined with the majority of the top playoff teams this year having strong defenses, or at least ones better than the Bears' unit, the 49ers could be in trouble in the playoffs.
A good first test will be the matchup in Week 18 against the Seattle Seahawks, as Sam Darnold and the Seahawks aren't the best offense, and if the 49ers can generate some pressure, there could be greater hope for a Super Bowl run this season.
If Bosa were playing, then this issue wouldn't be one; the 49ers might have even been the Super Bowl favorites. But this is an issue they need to address in the playoffs, and it might come in the form of aggressive blitzes from Robert Saleh.
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