[h2]Imagining an Aaron Lynch, Aldon Smith Pass-rush Tandem[/h2]
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Tyler EmerickDigital Media49ers.com
@TylerEmerick
[h3] [/h3]
In this Monday edition of Niners Daily, we highlight a bright spot from the San Francisco 49ers tough loss in Denver, relay an encouraging report about a sidelined player and serve up some laughs from a late-night host.
Lynch Continues Ascension
Aaron Lynch began his rookie campaign by playing sparingly in the team's Week 1 road victory over the Dallas Cowboys.
A week later, Lynch delivered his first impact play, blocking a Chicago Bears punt and giving the 49ers a short field for an eventual touchdown.
Since then, Lynch's playing time has increased rapidly. In San Francisco's Week 4 win over the Philadelphia Eagles, Lynch solidified his job as the team's nickel pass-rusher over
Corey Lemonier by playing
all 25 snapsout of the formation.
On Sunday night against the Broncos, Lynch further expanded his role in the 49ers defense. He also tallied his first career sack, bringing down Peyton Manning, whom he later congratulated after the quarterback's record-breaking touchdown pass.
Nathan Jahnke @PFF_NateJahnke
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Aaron Lynch ended up playing 44 of 60 snaps. That's 73%, which is a 10% increase from his previous high last week.
8:39 PM - 19 Oct 2014
Aldon Report
Some potential exciting news to pass along: The 49ers could see Lynch tag-teamed with another explosive pass-rusher sooner than expected.
Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reported on Sunday that linebacker
Aldon Smith's nine-game suspension might be reduced by one or two games. The Pro Bowler has already served seven games of his ban.
The 49ers enjoy a bye this week before returning to the field on Nov. 2 against the St. Louis Rams.
From 2011 to '13, Smith recorded 42 sacks, second in the NFL only to Jared Allen's 45.5. Lynch only has the one sack to his name, but the rookie has applied consistent pressure on opposing quarterbacks in Smith's absence.
The 49ers saw firsthand the kind of havoc a pair of dynamic pass-rushers can wreak on an offense. Broncos linebacker Von Miller and defensive end DeMarcus Ware combined for five sacks of
Colin Kaepernick on Sunday.
"We always talk about about getting pressure on the quarterback," Ware said after the game. "That’s what we do best... Me and Von always look at each other and say, ‘Hey, it’s time to get at the quarterback. Let’s get pressure and do what we do best,’ and we were pretty effective tonight."
A 3rd-and-long scenario with Smith and Lynch barrelling down on an opposing quarterback sounds pretty good to us.