Nick Bosa is on a roll. A week after being named the NFC Defensive Player of the Month for November, he was named the NFC Defensive Player of the Week for the first week of December.
The 49ers’ defensive end was the obvious choice for the Week 13 award (truth be told I’m writing this Tuesday night because I’m so certain he’s going to win). He racked up three tackles, seven pressures, 3.0 sacks and a forced fumble that led to a touchdown in San Francisco’s 33-17 win over the Dolphins.
There simply wasn’t a more dominant defensive performer in the NFL, much less the NFC last week.
For Bosa the 3.0 sacks gave him a league-leading 14.5 for the season. Pro Football Focus has him No. 2 in the NFL in pressures with 62, and one behind Vikings DE Za’Darius Smith for the league lead. Bosa is the only player in the top five in pressures to have played 11 games. The rest of the top five have played in 12. Bosa is also first in QB hits (19) and second in pass rush win rate (24.8 percent).
A Defensive Player of the Month immediately followed by a Defensive Player of the Week should push Bosa firmly to the top of the Defensive Player of the Year conversation with five games to play.
