If it seemed like Nick Bosa didn’t come out of the game much during the 49ers’ rout of the Steelers in Pittsburgh on Sunday, your eyes weren’t deceiving you. And interestingly enough, it actually wasn’t because the San Francisco coaches decided to lay off the rip cord with their star pass rusher, even though he’d reported to the team just 72 hours (or so) before the opener.
As it turns out, the Niners’ defense was, well, too good for the plan to reveal itself.
“I was very confident talking to [the staff during the week],” Bosa told me postgame, from the visiting locker room at Acrisure Stadium. “And they were confident in my ability to go out there and play some plays. We wanted to keep it under 40 snaps. I think it was 35. The three-and-outs were perfect for getting me going, so I didn’t have to go too long on those drives.”
Indeed, the Niners started the game by forcing five straight three-and-outs (one ending in a pick, the other four in punts). The Steelers’ initial first down didn’t come until Pittsburgh’s two-minute touchdown drive to end the first half. So as a result of continuing to send Kenny Pickett & Co. to the sideline, the Niners never really needed to do the same with Bosa.
And that made Sunday feel like business as usual for everyone in the defensive huddle.
In a lot of ways, it was, as the Niners eviscerated the Steelers, 30–7, on their home field.
But for Bosa himself, in the aftermath of a six-week holdout and, finally, the completion of a five-year, $135 million extension, there was a little more to being able to get back out there with his teammates of the last four years. The contract itself, of course, is meaningful, and not just because of its record-breaking value. It’s also what Bosa went through, especially injury-wise, to get to that bag, including the holdout itself.
Now that it’s over, he and I had a chance to cover where he’s been along the way, how he got here and where he’s going next—playing for a team that showed Sunday that it’s as ready as any to compete for a championship in the here and now.
