Matt Canada: Steelers offense won’t ‘magically’ contain 49ers edge rusher Nick Bosa
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When the Pittsburgh Steelers began formulating a game plan for the San Francisco 49ers, they designed it with the belief that NFL Defensive Player of the Year Nick Bosa would be wearing scarlet and gold — and not street clothes — for the season opener.
That assumption proved to be correct when Bosa ended his lengthy holdout Wednesday and signed the richest contract given to a defensive player in league history. Bosa practiced Thursday and plans to play in the opener at Acrisure Stadium.
Now comes the difficult part for the Steelers: making sure the execution against Bosa matches all of that preparation.
“We had no doubts that he was going to be back,” offensive coordinator Matt Canada said Thursday. “We prepared for that. That doesn’t mean we’re magically just going to be able to contain him.”
Bosa, after all led, the NFL with 18 1/2 sacks last season playing for a team that totaled 44. He also had 19 tackles for loss after leading the league with 21 the previous season, his 90 quarterback pressures tied for the league lead and he was sixth in MVP balloting.
In a two-year span, Bosa has taken a quarterback to the ground 34 times.
“He’s a tremendous talent, and I’m sure they were planning on him coming back as well,” Canada said. “We’ll go out and play the game. We’ve played a lot of great players, but he’s certainly at the top of the list right now because of the accolades he received last year.”
More than perhaps any other NFL team, the Steelers are aware of what an elite pass rusher can do with little practice in the preseason. T.J. Watt signed his record contract in 2021 less than a week before the opener in Buffalo and, despite his limited practice time, played 81% of the snaps in the opener and had two sacks and five quarterback hits.
Based on the way he pressured the passer last season — he accounted for 42% of the team’s sacks — Bosa might be more important to the 49ers defense than Watt is to the Steelers.
“It’s like if T.J. isn’t playing or he is,” wide receiver George Pickens said. “Bosa is a great player. We already know that. We respect him.”
Playing the role of Bosa in practice has been outside linebacker David Perales, a rookie from Fresno State who is on the practice squad. Bosa is an inch taller and about 12 pounds heavier than the 6-foot-3, 255-pound Perales.
“I’m trying to give the best looks I can,” Perales said. “I get in a three-point stance like he does, move how he does and ask questions to coaches about what they want to see from me.”
It’s not small task asking a player earning $12,000 per week to emulate someone who will get $122.5 million guaranteed over the next five seasons.
“I’ve always watched film on him, so I have an idea on how he pass rushes,” Perales said. “He’s very dynamic and does a lot of things with power. Power to speed, speed to power, so the tackles and tight ends have to be ready. I think they’re doing a good job of preparing.”
For quarterback Kenny Pickett, Bosa’s presence means a priority on releasing the ball quickly rather than risk a sack. Pickett was sacked 27 times last season, but just nine came in his final seven games. Still, his release time of 2.98 seconds was among the slowest in the NFL.
Bosa also will present a test for tackles Dan Moore and Chuks Okorafor. Moore figures to get the most work because Bosa regularly lines up on the right side of the 49ers defensive formation. But he also flips sides on the defensive front, and he could line up over Okorafor or even rush from the middle.
Moore, whose seven sacks permitted were tops among Steelers offensive linemen last year, retained his starting job ahead of rookie Broderick Jones. The Steelers, though, replaced Kevin Dotson, who was responsible for four sacks, with free agent Isaac Seumalo.
The Steelers also could use rookie tight end Darnell Washington as an extra blocker against Bosa.
“He’s a challenge for everybody he’s played, and he’ll be a challenge for us because they move him around,” Canada said. “He’s talented from both sides. He’s not just the guy that can rush from one side or the other. I mean, he was named defensive player of the year for a reason. We’re going to do the best we can to know where he is and account for him. He certainly deserves our attention, and we’ll do our best to give it to him.”