San Francisco 49ers' Nick Bosa #97 is congratulated by Miami Dolphins' Raheem Mostert #31after their 33-17 NFL win over the Miami Dolphins at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., on Sunday, Dec.4, 2022. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
SANTA CLARA — As Nick Bosa racks up what he affectionately calls “sackaroonies,” more NFL honors come his way.
Bosa is the NFC’s player of the week, shortly after being named the conference’s top player for November.
Weeks. Months. Year? These back-to-back awards certainly thrust Bosa’s name onto the national radar for NFL Defensive Player of the Year consideration, presumably making it a two-man race with him and the Dallas Cowboys’ Micah Parsons.
Bosa’s third sack Sunday resulted in a fumble that linebacker Dre Greenlaw recovered and returned for a touchdown to cap the 49ers’ scoring in a 33-17 win over the Miami Dolphins.
In leading the 49ers (8-4) to first place in the NFC West and a five-game win streak, Bosa leads the NFL with 14 1/2 sacks, one shy of last year’s career-high mark.
Drafted No. 2 overall in 2019, Bosa has 39 sacks in his 46 regular-season games, plus eight sacks in six playoff games.
Next up: his first date opposing Tom Brady, when the 49ers host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Levi’s Stadium.
Of the 23 quarterbacks Bosa has sacked in his overall NFL career, his most frequent prey is Matthew Stafford (6 1/2 sacks). Four times Bosa has sacked Aaron Rodgers, and three sacks have come against Kyle Allen, Kirk Cousins and, thanks to last Sunday, Tua Tagovailoa.
On the horizon are quarterbacks Geno Smith (at Seattle, next Thursday night), Tyler Heinicke (vs. Washington, Dec. 24), Derek Carr (at Las Vegas, Jan. 1) and Kyler Murray (vs. Arizona, Jan. 8).
Bosa twice won player-of-the-week honors in his rookie season. The only other 49ers defenders to win that award at least three times in their careers: Merton Hanks (five times) and Bryant Young (three).
Originally published at Cam Inman