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Our Defense Can't Tackle, But At Least Our Pass Rush Is Good.


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So far, with 28 teams having played 4 games, our pass rush numbers are very good.  Dolphins and Saints play tonight, which could alter the rankings slightly.  The Packers/Panthers are on a BYE.  But we're clearly at least a Top 10 team in getting after the QB.

 

Total Sacks

We're 2nd in the league, with 15 sacks through 4 games.  Only the Chiefs are higher (with 17 sacks).

 

QB Hits

We're tied for 2nd in the league with 30 hits.  Only the Ravens are higher, with 31 hits.

 

A better way of measuring pass rushing productivity, is accounting for how many opportunities we've had to sack the QB.  So how many times does the QB have to drop back, before we sack them.  Or even sack + hit them.

 

Number of QB drop backs per Sack

We're 4th in the league here.  Every 10.4 drop backs, we've sacked the QB.  Only the Texans (9.15), Chiefs (9.82), and Colts (10.38) are higher.

 

Number of QB drop backs per Hit or Sack

Again, we're 4th in the league.  Every 3.47 drop backs, we've either sacked or hit the QB.  Only the Texans (3.22), Ravens (3.39), and Niners (3.46) sack or hit the QB more frequently than we do.

 

What this shows is we're very consistent at getting after the QB.  Unlike other teams who aren't hitting the QB a lot, but are somehow getting sacks, I believe our pass rushing will stay potent throughout the season.  For the actual chart (which isn't complete given Dolphins/Saints play tonight and Panthers/Packers are on a BYE), here's the break down.

 

For funsies, check out where our NFC East competition ranks.

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Just for reference, here are our teams individual pass rushing stats.  They are taken from ESPN.

 

Sacks

  1. Ryan Kerrigan - 5 sacks
  2. Brian Orakpo - 3 sacks
  3. Barry Cofield - 2 sacks
  4. Darryl Tapp - 1 sack
  5. Perry Riley - 1 sack
  6. London Fletcher - 1 sack
  7. Bacarri Rambo - 1 sack
  8. Josh Wilson - 1 sack

QB Hits

  1. Brian Orakpo - 7 hits
  2. Barry Cofield - 6 hits
  3. Ryan Kerrigan - 5 hits
  4. Perry Riley - 5 hits
  5. Josh Wilson - 3 hits
  6. Darryl Tapp - 1 hit
  7. London Fletcher - 1 hit
  8. Bacarri Rambo - 1 hit
  9. Stephen Bowen - 1 hit
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Matt Flynn having a performance John Beck would be proud of skews those stats somewhat. 

 

Hail. 

 

Nothing beats Beck's disastrous outing against the Bills in 2011.  10 sacks and 14 QB hits.  Ugh.

 

As for how Matt Flynn's performance skews the stats, they do skew the Sack stat but QB hits weren't affected much.

 

Against Philly:

9.33 dropbacks per sack

2.8 dropbacks per sack and hit

 

Against Green Bay:

11.5 dropbacks per sack

4.6 dropbacks per sack and hit

 

Against Detroit:

43 dropbacks per sack (Stafford has only been sacked 3 times all year)

3.9 dropbacks per sack and hit (we hit Stafford 10 times, our season high)

 

Against Oakland:

5.57 dropbacks per sack

2.78 dropbacks per sack and hit

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Matt Flynn having a performance John Beck would be proud of skews those stats somewhat. 

 

Hail. 

Why is it that stats can only be skewed in regards to us? The Chiefs had a world of a game against Philly with 6 sacks. The Jaguars, Browns, and Steelers, all have more sacks allowed than the Raiders, who come in at number 4.

Sacks allowed Top 5:

Jags 18

Browns 17

Steelers 15

Raiders 14

Dolphins 14

Should we not take into account anyone's stats who plays those teams as well? 

On the flip side, as someone mentioned earlier, Detroit has only given up 3 sacks this year. Best in the league. But, since that is on the other side of the spectrum, and makes our stats look worse, it's completely fair to keep. Seems legit.

 

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Why is it that stats can only be skewed in regards to us? The Chiefs had a world of a game against Philly with 6 sacks. The Jaguars, Browns, and Steelers, all have more sacks allowed than the Raiders, who come in at number 4.

Sacks allowed Top 5:

Jags 18

Browns 17

Steelers 15

Raiders 14

Dolphins 14

Should we not take into account anyone's stats who plays those teams as well? 

On the flip side, as someone mentioned earlier, Detroit has only given up 3 sacks this year. Best in the league. But, since that is on the other side of the spectrum, and makes our stats look worse, it's completely fair to keep. Seems legit.

 

 

That's a good point.  Let's see if what our pass rush did against our opponent's is better or worse than their average sack/hits allowed.

 

Philly allows 9.79 dropbacks per sack and 3.61 dropbacks per sack + hit

Against Philly we had 9.33 dropbacks per sack and 2.8 dropbacks per sack + hit

 

Green Bay allows 13.2 dropbacks per sack and 4.89 dropbacks per sack + hit

Against Green Bay we had 11.5 dropbacks per sack and 4.6 dropbacks per sack + hit (but we only had 1 sack after they basically stopped doing anything longer than a 3 step drop)

 

Detroit allows 53 dropbacks per sack and 7.95 dropbacks per sack + hit

Against Detroit we had 43 dropbacks per sack and 3.9 dropbacks per sack + hit

 

Oakland allows 9.29 dropbacks per sack and 3.94 dropbacks per sack + hit

Against Oakland we had 5.57 dropbacks per sack and 2.78 dropbacks per sack + hit

 

 

Granted it's hard to compare given Pryor vs Flynn, but our averages for sacks and hits is at least marginally better to much better in every case.

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The pass rush should only get better after the bye. We get some vital depth back so at least that is a plus moving forward, but.....TACKLING HAS TO BE RESOLVED THOUGH. Part of the problem is that the defensive play calls seem to be also putting guys in difficult situations. I understand still being a bad pass defense, but weren't we a good run D last season? No excuse for that having changed. 

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Good research and presentation AZ.  

 

I think this goes to show how important it is for our offense to continue to improve as this season progresses.  It's easy to see that our defense is built to play with a lead and get after the QB.  Obviously we would all like a balanced defense that can get after the QB as well as stop the run and cover on the back end but we aren't playing with a full deck yet.  

 

If our offense can manage to take a lead early our defense will be getting even more opportunities to pin their ears back and head for the QB.  Hopefully that can aid our inexperienced secondary while they sort things out among themselves.  

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EDIT: 

 

So the Raiders gave up 7 sacks in 3 games with Pryor... but then 7 sacks against us?  And they played the Broncos and the Colts in there... who have pretty good defenses.

 

I'm going to wait a few more games before I get excited.

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Stats are stats. Please stop with the nonsense about them being skewered towards or against a certain team. It's impossible for all variables to be equal. You play the schedule you are given against the players that are suited up and let the chips fall where they may.

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Uhm, I don't agree that we have a good pass rush. As GHH said, the 7 sack game yesterday adds to the inflated numbers. 

 

To me eye, from the macro, we just have a bunch of guys at the d-line spots who basically hit the o-line wall and recede. Cofield makes plays, the rest of the d-line is just a bunch of bodies. Only Kerrigan shows up a handful of times each game. He basically does straight-up bull rush each time and every so often finds himself getting through creating pressure or sacking the QB.

 

And numbers don't mean diddly to me when the vast majority of the time, the majority of the plays, in which Aaron Rogers went back to pass or for that matter, Vick and Stafford, none of them had so much as a breath of air touching them. 

 

I understand that numbers are numbers. If you have 85 total offensive plays, 45 of which are pass plays and the QB is sacked 5 times you might look at the 5 sacks as really a great accomplishment, however, if in those other 40 plays the QB is hardly touched, has all day to find a receiver and torches us for hundreds upon hundreds of yards and 25+ or 30+ points, then no ... our pass rush wasn't effective or top of the league.

 

That to me is the point. When our rush doesn't get there, it really doesn't get there and we surrender tons of yards and points. But when our rush does get there, it just does get there and we seem to achieve decent numbers on paper.

 

But to the overall view of the game, in totality, we stink. 

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Stats are stats. Please stop with the nonsense about them being skewered towards or against a certain team. It's impossible for all variables to be equal. You play the schedule you are given against the players that are suited up and let the chips fall where they may.

 

Yes.  Don't let facts get in the way of a good rant!

 

EDIT:  Those 2nd half Griffin numbers are pretty indicitive of his play thus far, no?

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The problem with our tackling is obvious and I observed it a number of times yesterday.  As far as I have seen, we are the only team in the NFL that seems to intentionally refuse to use our arms when tackling.  It seems every time a Safety or Corner attempts to tackle someone, it is all shoulder and their arms remain at their sides.

 

It is inexplicable other than the coaches are telling them to do this.  No one tackles without using their arms except for us.

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