How brutal was the Pats' pass rush - by the numbers

[shatch62]

There has been a ton of talk about the lack of pass rush from the Pats D. The Pats ranked 24th in the league (see below) with 31 sacks. This is bad but 'good' defensive teams like SD, NYJ and Bal didn't do much better. This made me think that it wasn't that bad. Then I thought about the second Bills game when the D went off. In that game the Pats racked up 6 sacks. At this point I looked back to the first Bills game and found they got 4 sacks in that game. So out of the 31 sacks 10 came in the 2 games vs the Bills which means that in the other 14 games that Pats got 21 sacks. That is terrible. Now I know that other teams will game games like this to bump up their numbers. Minnesota got 14 of their 48 sacks in the 2 games vs GB this year but that still means they got 34 in 14 games. Not a news flash I know but Pats need a pass rusher (or 2...or 3).

One last note, how is it possible that the Jags only got 14 sacks on the year?

Team - Sack
Minnesota - 48.0
Pittsburgh - 47.0
Miami - 44.0
San Francisco - 44.0
Philadelphia - 44.0
Arizona - 43.0
Dallas - 42.0
Cleveland - 40.0
Washington - 40.0
Denver - 39.0
Green Bay - 37.0
Oakland - 37.0
New Orleans -35.0
San Diego - 35.0
Chicago -35.0
Indianapolis -34.0
Cincinnati -34.0
New York -32.0
Baltimore - 32.0
Tennessee -32.0
Buffalo - 32.0
New York -32.0
Carolina -31.0
New England - 31.0
Houston - 30.0
Atlanta - 28.0
Tampa Bay - 28.0
Seattle - 28.0
Detroit - 26.0
St. Louis - 25.0
Kansas City - 22.0
Jacksonville - 14.0

 

[satz]

We are not one pass rusher away . I keep saying we play 3-4 . To pass rush from the blind side you need a 3-4 END who is a matchup problem for a Gaurd . Then you create plays where the left tackle gives help or watchfull of the END and this creates a TE or RB to chip/block a OLB.MATCHUP TO SACK.

Last year sey got 8 sacks but also notice thomas had 5 before 1/2 way into the season. Sey was doing a good job that he opened up thomas.When tackle blocked thomas it opened him up .banta is faster guy and i thought with better end play he would be even more effective.ofcourse incase of a run he knows the end will do enough play to sell out to chase the QB.

Jacksonville got 8th overall pick and another high pick to pass rush.It never works out sadly as young players against NFL caliber tackles is a tough matchup. GB used there 3-4 END to open up clay mathews.

 

[zimmy]

sack numbers can be a bit misleading. Pressure and hits on the QB are as important. Now I'm not saying we got loads of pressure on the QB this year but these stats don't tell the whole story. How do these compare to last year?

It all comes down to team defence. If you can't cover anyone then you don't have time to get to the QB and vice versa.

 

[Patspsycho]

We are not one pass rusher away . I keep saying we play 3-4 . To pass rush from the blind side you need a 3-4 END who is a matchup problem for a Gaurd . Then you create plays where the left tackle gives help or watchfull of the END and this creates a TE or RB to chip/block a OLB.MATCHUP TO SACK.

Last year sey got 8 sacks but also notice thomas had 5 before 1/2 way into the season. Sey was doing a good job that he opened up thomas.When tackle blocked thomas it opened him up .banta is faster guy and i thought with better end play he would be even more effective.ofcourse incase of a run he knows the end will do enough play to sell out to chase the QB.

Jacksonville got 8th overall pick and another high pick to pass rush.It never works out sadly as young players against NFL caliber tackles is a tough matchup. GB used there 3-4 END to open up clay mathews.

This begs the question of what exactly is Warren lacking? He is 6'5 300 pounds. Understood that Green is a little too light on the other end, but Warren is not.

 

[satz]

This begs the question of what exactly is Warren lacking? He is 6'5 300 pounds. Understood that Green is a little too light on the other end, but Warren is not.

I personally think warren is a little light to play on the Left tackle,Left Gaurd side. Every teams best OL are there LT and LG. I believe if Brace can play he will be awesome there. 330 ,6 5. He was the size up matchup with Jake Long.
If you remember people here were impressed when Vince moved to play over him to counter dolphins running game and not warren. Seymour was 310-320 and that is what i believe it will take.

Problem is the only guy i have seen with that size and speed went No3 overall last year to KC. He is bigger and faster than seymour. Intrestingly sey came out in 2000 and his dude in 2009. 10 years apart to see similar size and speed even in raw form.

 

[RobertWeathers]

This begs the question of what exactly is Warren lacking? He is 6'5 300 pounds. Understood that Green is a little too light on the other end, but Warren is not.

Warren topped out w/ 7.5 sacks in 2006. Quite frankly I don't think he someone to be considered as a pass rushing presence. He'll pick up a few here and there. Thats about it.

He solid vs the run.

 

[JackBauer]

Warren topped out w/ 7.5 sacks in 2006. Quite frankly I don't think he someone to be considered as a pass rushing presence. He'll pick up a few here and there. Thats about it.

He solid vs the run.

True. He's a solid DE, but hardly a pass rushing threat.

I think playing down the line from Seymour probably helped out some. After all, no one is going to mistake Jarvis Green for an NFL-caliber DE.

 

[Shockt327]

sack numbers can be a bit misleading. Pressure and hits on the QB are as important. Now I'm not saying we got loads of pressure on the QB this year but these stats don't tell the whole story. How do these compare to last year?

It all comes down to team defence. If you can't cover anyone then you don't have time to get to the QB and vice versa.

ProFootballFocus.com - Cumulative Team Statistics

Here is a great site that lists sacks, pressures, and hits on the QB. It also lists passes defended, and gives detailed player participation charts...

 

[RobertWeathers]

True. He's a solid DE, but hardly a pass rushing threat.

I think playing down the line from Seymour probably helped out some. After all, no one is going to mistake Jarvis Green for an NFL-caliber DE.

Yep. Pats had a multitude of decent pass rushing threats that needed to be accounted for. As you point out, Green did well b/c of Seymour's presence. Hes lost a little bit of that burst IMO. You also had Vrable, Colvin, etc. off the edges and they required attention.

 

[BradyManny]

I'd be curious to see what the #s look like when factoring how often the team was passed on. AKA, sacks per pass attempt kind of thing. I don't know if that would make our #s look better or worse.

 

[SyN65]

Who cares about the numbers.

We never got to the QB when it mattered most. Our defense as a whole padded their stats against terrible teams. I know some people are probably going to quote me and say "Well all teams pad their stats against terrible teams." but our pass rush was incapable at getting to the QB on a consistent basis (or generating any pressure, for that matter.) on any decent teams.

 

[Tunescribe]

Interesting that the Jets had only one more sack than we did.

 

[PowerAlley.com]

Interesting that Houston only had 30 with the number 1 pick in the draft a few years back rushing.

 

[klinefan]

Our pass rush was really kind of comical. Thomas would run in, engage the OT and then kind of dance with him really close. I mean he was never any threat whatsoever to rush the passer. The OT's biggest battle was staying awake and trying not to laugh.

I guess he'd chalk it up to "playing contain" or something. Yeah, be nice if you got a sack once in a while, Mr. Megabucks.