From Justin Smith and Aldon Smith harassing Drew Brees all day, to Patrick Willis and NaVorro Bowman shutting down the running game and Dashon Goldson making punishing hits and key plays from the secondary, the defense is the biggest reason for the resurgence in San Francisco. That resurgence has the 49ers (14-3) back in the NFC championship for the first time since the 1997 season.
Before the Seattle Seahawks defense drove Sean Payton pistachios in 2013, so much so that he became enamored with their scheme and tried to copy it, the one team defense that gave Drew Brees and company fits was none other than the Vic Fangio coordinated 49ers defense.