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Doug Kyed at NESN.com has a good take on the Patriots pass rush, and threw out some stats I hadn't realized:
It will be interesting to see how Jamie Collins ends up being used, or if Jermaine Cunningham or Jake Bequette can ultimately emerge into being productive players - although Cunningham is clearly the biggest question mark and is obviously in a make or break type of year.
In 2011 the Patriots put a band aid on their pass rush by adding Andre Carter and Mark Anderson on one-year deals. And it worked. Carter, Anderson and linebacker Rob Ninkovich were all solid in getting after the passer as Carter and Anderson both racked up 10 sacks, with Ninkovich adding another 6 1/2 outside. Carter also had 16 quarterback hits and 24 hurries, Anderson had six hits and 36 hurries and Ninkovich had eight hits and 35 hurries.
The Patriots were able to get after the passer on 39.6 percent of passing downs, or every 2.52 plays. That was while using Brandon Deaderick and Shaun Ellis at the left defensive end spot, and neither were effective in getting after the passer. Those figures went down in 2012, despite moving Ninkovich from strong-side linebacker to left defensive end, where he would get more opportunities to rush the quarterback. The Patriots got after the passer on 34 percent of all passing downs, or every 2.94 plays. They were still sending as many blitzers as in 2011, too — New England averaged 4.18 pass rushers in 2012 to 4.16 in 2011.
The difference was that the Patriots were never able to find a third rusher — like Anderson in 2011 — to give Jones and Ninkovich a rest. Jermaine Cunningham did an alright job of creating pressure up the middle, but he was rarely used outside effectively. Justin Francis and Trevor Scott got snaps at edge rusher, but neither were good enough to give Ninkovich or Jones a consistent rest. The Patriots have a few options in 2013 to take some pressure off their starters. The first of which, and perhaps most appealing, is the possibility of adding either John Abraham or Dwight Freeney as a situational rusher. Both players are getting up there in age, but they proved in 2012 that they can still rush the quarterback.
Full Article: http://nesn.com/2013/05/patriots-ha...rove-pass-rush-if-john-abraham-does-not-sign/
It will be interesting to see how Jamie Collins ends up being used, or if Jermaine Cunningham or Jake Bequette can ultimately emerge into being productive players - although Cunningham is clearly the biggest question mark and is obviously in a make or break type of year.
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