San Francisco 49ers' Defense Reeling After Embarrassing Loss To Pittsburgh Steelers

The San Francisco 49ers were handed their first loss of the year by the Pittsburgh Steelers, 43-18. In what many will surely view as the beginning of the end for San Francisco’s season, Sunday’s beatdown can serve as a wake-up call for a young and inexperienced defense.

To be fair, the 49ers were coming off a short week after defeating the Minnesota Vikings on Monday Night Football and traveled cross-country to face an east coast opponent, so expectations were low to begin with.

“Our calls from last week, we came in with the same type of mentality,” said cornerback Tramaine Brock. “I think they just had our number for our calls. But at the end of the day, we’ve got to make plays.”

Pittsburgh was the first real elite offense the 49ers’ defense faced, and Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger effortlessly picked apart a lumbering secondary, primarily targeting second-year cornerback Kenneth Acker.

“It was a learning experience for myself, personally,” said Acker. “As a team, I don’t think we harp on the old. I’m just ready to get onto the next week.

Acker wasn’t the only 49er who did a poor job in Sunday’s loss. Pro Bowl safety Eric Reid attempted to disguise the coverage by cheating up to the line and flashing blitz. Big Ben was not fooled by the stunt and threw a 59-yard bomb to Antonio Brown, which set up a DeAngelo Williams‘ touchdown on the next drive.

Roethlisberger ended the night completing 21 of 27 for 369 yards passing, three touchdowns and a near-perfect passer rating of 155.8, while Brown recorded nine receptions for 195 yards and two scores.

Embarrassing as those numbers might be, it does provide a teachable moment for the 49ers as they must now prepare for the 2-0 Arizona Cardinals.

“My thing is, I want to see how we respond,” said inside linebacker NaVorro Bowman. “This is the NFL. We’ve had losses before, but it’s how you respond (after) taking a loss like this. We’re a young team, so that’ll be the great challenge for us. We have an important game coming up in Arizona.”

James Forsythe is a 49ers Beat Writer at www.RantSports.com. You can Follow him on Twitter @9erJim or add him to your network on Google.