The San Francisco 49ers were locked in a slugfest with the Seattle Seahawks that came down to 49ers kicking a field goal in overtime and running away with a 26-23 win. There are a lot of good things to take from this, none other than the presence of DeForest Buckner. He was a presence all across the field on Sunday, finishing the game with 11 tackles (four for a loss), two sacks and three quarterback hits. He now has a personal high of 11 sacks, marking the first time a Niner has surpassed double digit sacks since Aldon Smith.
The only thing better than watching the pass rush show up and contain Wilson was 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh after Buckner’s second sack of Russell Wilson. Roll it:
Robert Saleh pic.twitter.com/z5WjT8Ykzu
— Kevin Jones (@Mr_KevinJones) December 16, 2018
Along with harassing Russell Wilson, Buckner was an absolute brick wall in the running game and it’s obvious no one is more proud than his coach.
Robert Saleh has had a lot of question marks for his defense this season and some may have grown tired with the busted coverages and miscommunication. One thing none of us can get tired of is how animated he gets on plays from the sidelines.
The bigger question with these sacks and Buckner’s play is how good this defensive line will be when they get a pass rusher to take the double teams off Buckner. Once that happens, this defensive line could be one of the league’s best.