The San Francisco 49ers are one of the hottest teams currently in the NFL. They have pushed their record to 7-4 on the season and are riding a four-game winning streak; only the Miami Dolphins and Kansas City Chiefs are on longer ones, as they have both won five in a row.

While both of those teams are getting the job done with high-powered offenses, it is the defensive side of the ball in which the 49ers are finding their success. Their offense, despite a ton of talent, is sometimes inconsistent. But, their shortcomings are more than made up for with how dominant their defense is.

There is a ton of talent on that side of the ball as well, led by Defensive Player of the Year contender, Nick Bosa. He leads the pass rush, with 11.5 sacks, 13 tackles for loss and 30 quarterback hits.

That pass rush is buoyed by a strong secondary led by two very good cornerbacks in Charvarius Ward and Emmanuel Moseley, and safeties Talanoa Hufanga and Tayshaun Gipson. At the second level of the defense, Fred Warner is one of the best in the business at linebacker alongside Dre Greenlaw.

The performance of this defense has been special in 2022. As shared by NFL on CBS on Twitter, the 49ers are leading the league in multiple statistics. They are first in points per game, yards per game, rushing yards per game, first downs per game and passing touchdowns allowed.

Those are some truly remarkable statistics as the 49ers have separated themselves from the rest of the league on that side of the ball. How big of a gap would they have had they not struggled in back-to-back weeks against the Atlanta Falcons and Kansas City Chiefs when they surrendered 72 points and 818 total yards?

Those are the only two games this season that the 49ers have surrendered more than 20 points. Sunday’s game against the New Orleans Saints was their first shutout of the season and the fourth time they held a team to 10 or fewer points.