Sack/hit/hurry numbers

[Ring 6]

I finished putting in all the defensive plays from the final game last night, so there's now the full season in the defensive part of the database if you want to see player totals by down, etc:

http://www.patsfans.com/new-england-patriots/stats/2014/defense/sortable/

You can also sort by each category column too. Collins was the team leader in tackles on 3rd down with 22, while Ninkovich and Hightower lead the team in QB hits with 6 & 5 respectively. One of the other things I thought was interesting was the fact they only had one interception on 3rd down all season, which was made by Harmon. Was surprised we didn't see a few more...or at least more than one in that situation this season.

Do you have defensive stats, such as rushes and yards, pass attempts, completions and yards, etc, broken down the same way?

 

[Ian]

Do you have defensive stats, such as rushes and yards, pass attempts, completions and yards, etc, broken down the same way?

I have this page, which shows opposing players and their stats that are sortable:

http://www.patsfans.com/new-england-patriots/stats/2014/defense/

All the pages that are available are here:

http://www.patsfans.com/new-england-patriots/stats/2014/

Or you can click on the "Stats Database" link on the navbar. There are also week-by-week snap totals for offense and defense, but I need to add the total snaps underneath each name. That's a blatant oversight on my part that I need to fix.

 

[jah]

It's just hard to find a place for Ayers in the base D when the top two edge players are pretty clearly Ninkovich and Jones. For Ninkovich, Jones, and Ayers to all be on the field at once, someone has to be playing out of position, whether it be Jones as a DT/3-4 DE or Ninkovich/Ayers as a 4-3 LB. I understand Ayers played 4-3 LB in TEN, but I think part of his great improvement can be attributed to the position switch to edge rusher.

 

[Ian]

Do you have defensive stats, such as rushes and yards, pass attempts, completions and yards, etc, broken down the same way?

I'll be adding a page - probably in the offseason...not going to have time to get it done this year I don't think - that will also tell you which opposing player they had tackles against, passes defensed against, what QB's they accumulated QB hits against, QB's they sacked, red zone tackles, etc. Although the red zone chart will probably come sooner, that's just an easy change and I'm hoping to maybe do that this week.

 

[Ring 6]

I have this page, which shows opposing players and their stats that are sortable:

http://www.patsfans.com/new-england-patriots/stats/2014/defense/

All the pages that are available are here:

http://www.patsfans.com/new-england-patriots/stats/2014/

Or you can click on the "Stats Database" link on the navbar. There are also week-by-week snap totals for offense and defense, but I need to add the total snaps underneath each name. That's a blatant oversight on my part that I need to fix.

Awesome. Thanks

 

[Oswlek]

someone has to be playing out of position

Or on the bench so guys have fresher legs in the 4th quarter.

 

[Ring 6]

It's just hard to find a place for Ayers in the base D when the top two edge players are pretty clearly Ninkovich and Jones. For Ninkovich, Jones, and Ayers to all be on the field at once, someone has to be playing out of position, whether it be Jones as a DT/3-4 DE or Ninkovich/Ayers as a 4-3 LB. I understand Ayers played 4-3 LB in TEN, but I think part of his great improvement can be attributed to the position switch to edge rusher.

In the 43 he kind of has to be a LB because the other choice is Casillas, and he is not good.
In the 34, we play it a few different ways, the most common being one of Nink and Chandler are a DE and the other an OLB (depending on formation) so Ayers would be one of the 3 other LBs (with Collins and HT) and honestly those 3 can flipflop among all 3 spots which is very interesting.
Since we have gone to nickel base, on the rare occassions we play the 34 its with 3 bigs in run predominate situations, so Nink and Jones are both OLBs, and no room for Ayers.

In nickel he is the 5th guy for 4 spots (arguably Casillas would be ahead of him in a coverage role too).
In dime, we tend to play 1 or even 0 DTs, so he is often in on that as well.

 

[VrabelJr]

I wanted us to sign Robert Ayers badly last year.

 

[DaBruinz]

Wilfork is extremely vital to the success of the defensive line, in my opinion. Even with a higher cap hit above 8 million dollars next season, I still believe that they should keep him.

That said, I'd also like to see the DL position addressed with a draft pick or two, along the possibility of a middle tiered free agent. I think we need to start increasing the preparation for life without Wilfork, although I hope that doesn't happen until 2016.

Supa - You missed my sarcasm there.. That's why I put in the eye roll.. Cause we've had far too many people claim that Wilfork is only good against the run..

 

[Ring 6]

Wilfork is extremely vital to the success of the defensive line, in my opinion. Even with a higher cap hit above 8 million dollars next season, I still believe that they should keep him.

That said, I'd also like to see the DL position addressed with a draft pick or two, along the possibility of a middle tiered free agent. I think we need to start increasing the preparation for life without Wilfork, although I hope that doesn't happen until 2016.

I think DL depth is a huge strength for this team, at least inside.
We have VW, Siliga and Branch as wide bodies, and Easley and Chris Jones as well. Few teams go that deep in quality at the DT position. I'd rather see draft choices spent elsewhere.

 

[BradyFTW!]

Per Chris Price, using numbers from the NFL gamebooks (whatever those are) and PFF -- http://itiswhatitis.weei.com/sports...ts-pass-rush-numbers-for-2014-regular-season/

Hits track remarkably closely to 2X sacks.





But the correlation breaks down for hurries.


Judging by PFF numbers from November --https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2014/11/12/sig-stats-pass-rushing-productivity/ -- no one Patriot's full-year numbers were terrifically high (but we already knew that). Meanwhile, in a tidbit from that article:


It's been a good year for the team-switching Ayers brothers.

LOL, that Robert Ayers quote is one of many reasons why you just can't take PFF all that seriously.

 

[supafly]

Supa - You missed my sarcasm there.. That's why I put in the eye roll.. Cause we've had far too many people claim that Wilfork is only good against the run..

No, I fully got it, DaB.

I was simply adding in some additional thoughts, that's all. Sorry for the confusion.

 

[supafly]

I think DL depth is a huge strength for this team, at least inside.
We have VW, Siliga and Branch as wide bodies, and Easley and Chris Jones as well. Few teams go that deep in quality at the DT position. I'd rather see draft choices spent elsewhere.

I still think we're a bit light at quality DEs, despite the consistency that we see with Ninkovich. I'd like to see some lessened reps for Ninkovich, along with the attempt to develop someone for the future.

As far as the strength of the interior DL, I agree that it's definitely much better than it has been, but there's still some unknowns with Easley, as well as Branch hitting FA.

To take it one step further, I was speaking more of a replacement for Vince (hopefully not until 2016), so I wasn't really counting him in my comment. We have a bit of a difference of opinions on Chris Jones. I feel as though he's a very adequate backup/rotational player, but wouldn't mind seeing the position upgraded.

I certainly don't think it's a "bad" positional grouping, but personally, I'd like to see another fairly high draft pick in rounds 1-3.

 

[supafly]

It's just hard to find a place for Ayers in the base D when the top two edge players are pretty clearly Ninkovich and Jones. For Ninkovich, Jones, and Ayers to all be on the field at once, someone has to be playing out of position, whether it be Jones as a DT/3-4 DE or Ninkovich/Ayers as a 4-3 LB. I understand Ayers played 4-3 LB in TEN, but I think part of his great improvement can be attributed to the position switch to edge rusher.

I'm cautiously optimistic about the return of Ayers, especially if he's seeking anything close to some of the projections that some have been throwing around the forum. I'd love for him to stay, but as a rotational player I'd have a hard time envisioning Belichick finding value in the kinds of deals that some are predicting. We'll have to see. He's been a nice pickup though.

 

[supafly]

Disagree. He isn't playing in place of Chandler Jones in sub against a passing team. Jones is a far better pass rusher.
In sub, he doesnt really have a play to play (Nink,DT,DT,Jones,HT, Collins) until we get to 3rd and long and bounce Jones inside.
In base, it is very surprising to me that Casillas has played ahead of him, although it could have been a chance to see what Casillas could do in the buff game, which by the way, was play horribly.
I would assume Ayers has his job back if and when we ever play base, and in sub is the first backup off the bench at DE or LB.

What do you believe the odds are that Ayers will be back, and what kind of financial value would you project?

Just curious. I've read some bigger types of predictions that I'm having a hard time believing, and am wondering if I'm undervaluing him or if others may be overvaluing him.

 

[DaBruinz]

What do you believe the odds are that Ayers will be back, and what kind of financial value would you project?

Just curious. I've read some bigger types of predictions that I'm having a hard time believing, and am wondering if I'm undervaluing him or if others may be overvaluing him.

Bearing in mind that Ayers has not been consistently successful to this point, I believe that he'll be back. He's not yet proven to be a premier pass-rusher or someone who is an every down player full-time. I think that his best bet to develop is to be in New England behind Jones and Ninkovich (Nink only has another year or two at best) and that would put Ayers into his prime years to be a starter for the Pats..

Now, all this goes out the window if he's got a huge ego or he puts up a huge number of sacks in the play-offs..

 

[Ring 6]

What do you believe the odds are that Ayers will be back, and what kind of financial value would you project?

Just curious. I've read some bigger types of predictions that I'm having a hard time believing, and am wondering if I'm undervaluing him or if others may be overvaluing him.

I think he is an sub but a really good one.
Seems bb places that value somewhere from a rookie contract to vet minimum to about 1mill.
I don't know how other teams will view him since we pulled him unwanted off the scrap heap but he has played better than expected but ultimately gone to the bench.

 

[supafly]

I think he is an sub but a really good one.
Seems bb places that value somewhere from a rookie contract to vet minimum to about 1mill.
I don't know how other teams will view him since we pulled him unwanted off the scrap heap but he has played better than expected but ultimately gone to the bench.

That's what I assumed, as well.

I've seen some ridiculous projections of 4/16 and 4/18 etc that I'd have a very difficult, if not totally impossible time seeing happen.

Not claiming that it can't happen, and that I'm right etc---because I respect the posters who have stated it, but I was shocked to see those kinds of numbers thrown around.

 

[Fencer]

Is Ayers a backup/rotation guy, or is he a regular in the sub packages? If it's the latter, then he could project to >50% of total snaps.

If the nickel Front Six includes two guys normally thought of as DTs, then it also has Ninkovich and Jones and two guys normally thought of as starting LBs, and hence not Ayers, except on a rotation/freshness/backup basis.

If it only includes one DT, perhaps with Jones in the other DT role, then there's room for three of Collins/Hightower/Mayo/Ayers, and Mayo could easily be the one not included.

 

[Ring 6]

Is Ayers a backup/rotation guy, or is he a regular in the sub packages? If it's the latter, then he could project to >50% of total snaps.

Nickel is 2 DTs, 5 DBs and 4 others, playing some form of DE or LB.
Top 4 are Ninkovich, Jones, HT, Collins.
That is without Mayo.
Ayers is not a regular in nickel.

In dime, many times we got 1 DT, 6 DBs, and the same 4, but once in a while its 0 DTs, 6 DBs and Ayers is the 5th LB/DE. I'd say that is less than 50% of the dime snaps, which is probably about 10% of the sub package snaps.

If the nickel Front Six includes two guys normally thought of as DTs, then it also has Ninkovich and Jones and two guys normally thought of as starting LBs, and hence not Ayers, except on a rotation/freshness/backup basis.

This is what we have been doing.

If it only includes one DT, perhaps with Jones in the other DT role, then there's room for three of Collins/Hightower/Mayo/Ayers, and Mayo could easily be the one not included.

This is not being done in nickel, but sometimes in dime, to reiterate the above.
I seriously doubt Ayers would play ahead of Mayo unless he is subbing for a DE.
Even without Mayo, there aren't many snaps for Ayers.