Stock Up: San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Eric Mangini.
He seemed clueless at the beginning of the season. His defense gave 90 points combined Weeks 2 and 3, and his secondary couldn’t cover anybody. The zone pass coverage in particular left gaping holes all over the field.
In retrospect, the zone coverage may not have been Mangini’s fault. The Niners defense lost seven starters during the offseason—the new players needed time to jell.
They seem to have jelled the past two weeks. San Francisco’s defense allowed an average quarterback rating of just 73.3 despite generating little pressure against Carson Palmer and Jay Cutler.