The San Francisco 49ers had the most dominant defense in the NFL in 2011, and the unit is expected to be the backbone of the team in 2012 as it looks to contend once again for the Super Bowl. But in its second-to-last tune up before the regular season, San Francisco's first team defense was steamrolled by a Denver Broncos offense that had been working out its own kinks for much of the preseason.
Denver's first team offense put up 17 points in the first quarter of Sunday night's game, with the two touchdowns coming on passes from Peyton Manning to Eric Decker. The question for 49ers fans is whether the defense's poor showing is a harbinger of things to come. For his part, David Fucillo of SB Nation's Niners Nation, is attributing that first quarter to something simpler and more human: boredom.
I really think we're looking at a mix of issues. Some of this does come from very basic game-planning, while some of it also is poor tackling and poor fundamentals at time. However, I think for the purposes of last year's dominant defense, I would suspect there is a certain lackadaisical nature to the preseason. It does not make poor performances acceptable, but it is something to at least consider moving into the final week of the preseason.
For more on the 49ers, head over to Niners Nation. For more on the Broncos, check out Mile High Report. For more news, notes and analysis from around the league, head over to SB Nation's NFL news hub.
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