As good as Aaron Donald is, one player can’t carry a defensive line. The Los Angeles Rams fully understand that, which is why they went out and acquired Dante Fowler Jr. last season and signed Clay Matthews this year.
Those two players were supposed to fortify the pass rush, and they have – with some mixed results. What they haven’t done is prevent opponents from double-teaming Donald.
Each week, Donald has two or three offensive linemen blocking him on more snaps than not. He finds ways to split those double-teams and get to the quarterback, but the extra blocker makes his life significantly more difficult.
Donald is still the best defensive tackle in the NFL and quite possibly the best overall player around, as evidenced by this stat from Seth Walder of ESPN. He wins more pass-rush reps than any defensive tackle in football despite facing more double-teams than anyone else.
The 49ers allowed two sacks to Donald on Sunday, as well as another QB hit and three tackles for loss. He’s owned San Francisco since coming into the NFL and that trend continued this week.
Donald’s numbers may be down compared to his historic 2018 season, but he remains an elite pass rusher and someone teams are always trying to slow down.
