The snake bit the 49ers again.
It seems as if the Niners can’t go a few days — much less a few games — without a severe, season-jeopardizing injury.
And now we can add Nick Bosa to the long list of the battered.
The Niners’ worst fears were confirmed Monday when it was reported by multiple national outlets that Bosa tore the ACL in his right knee in the first quarter of the Niners’ Week 3 game with the Cardinals at Levi’s Stadium.
Bosa will miss the rest of the season with the injury, which requires reconstructive surgery. The All-Pro defensive end tore the ACL in his left knee in Week 2 of the 49ers’ 2020 season.
There’s a peculiarity there that I refuse to unpack.
No, there’s too much to worry about in the here and now for the 49ers, a 3-0 team that can’t seem to catch a break.
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Bosa’s injury, to state the obvious, sets back the 49ers across the board.
So much so that it’s difficult to imagine how they can even come close to looking the same without him.
Niners defensive coordinator Robert Saleh has been running more stunts and exotic blitzes to get pressure than the Niners ran all of last season, but he just lost the one guy who made it all work.
You could put a bunch of rookies and journeymen on the line next to him, and they looked good because Bosa was an All-Pro-caliber pass rusher and run defender. He made rookie defensive end Mykel Williams’ job straightforward, which is good because he doesn’t go left or right yet. Bosa let Bryce Huff just be a speed rusher. He gave the team’s rookie defensive tackles a chance to figure things out without getting overwhelmed. We never had to figure out what Yetur Gross-Matos is because he only had to be a role player with Bosa taking every rep at end.
Now that the blueprint for success has to be thrown away.
Bosa’s injury leaves the defense in a death-or-glory situation.
And, to be clear, while the 49ers’ defense had shown serious year-over-year improvement through three games, it’s not like they were world-beaters.
They’re a bottom-third team in sack rate with just seven quarterback hits in the first three contests, per Pro Football Focus. That’s with Bosa drawing double teams and winning seemingly every one of his reps.
What do you think is going to happen now?
Saleh is going to have to get even more aggressive, and that’s going to put a terrible amount of pressure on a secondary — with two rookie starters — that has struggled over the last two games.
And let’s not forget about Fred Warner and Dee Winters. They’re the best linebackers in the league so far this season, but they’re going to have to find a way to up their games now that Bosa isn’t there to command attention. Is there another level to be found there?
Perhaps the Niners can adapt and push forward. Perhaps Bosa’s absence will prove to be a turning point in what was a wildly encouraging season.
But this is the price of building a stars-and-scrubs roster. You need your stars to be available and to play well.
The Niners won’t get that from Bosa for the final 14 games of the season, and there’s no one to blame but this team’s curse from the football gods.
And the defense isn’t going to be the only one feeling the burden.
Yes, Saleh and his gang need to lift their games, but so does Kyle Shanahan’s offense.
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The good news there is that starting quarterback Brock Purdy is expected back for Week 4, and this team still, somehow, has running back Christian McCaffrey — the NFL’s ultimate weapon.
The Niners also have the ascendant Ricky Pearsall, with fellow passcatchers George Kittle and Brandon Aiyuk expected to return in October (though that’s still in question with Aiyuk).
That’s a group that can absolutely carry this team from this point onwards.
But how far? A 3-0 start suggests Super Bowl aspirations, but without an elite pass rush, that ceiling just collapsed.
Maybe they make the playoffs. Maybe they get to the second round. But that’s probably it.
And with this front office being all about the future — 2026 and beyond — I’m not expecting them to make a big swing on the trade market to replace No. 97. Guys like him aren’t available for a couple of forgettable draft picks.
No, the Niners are just going to have to bite their lip and get along with this latest bit of misfortune.
And the Niners have more than enough — and frankly, probably too much — practice doing that.