How are teams generating pass rush

by statcruncher on Oct 17, 2011 3:30 PM EDT

This week our pass rush reached a new level of atrocity. Our pass rush is getting really sickening and that led me to think who can we possibly be so talentless. Can we really be that bad? So I decided to do this quick analysis.

For this analysis, I assumed we want to aspire to be the top 12 stingiest defenses in scoring (not top 12 in sacks or yards). After 6 weeks, the 12 stingiest defenses are ravens, 49ers, redskins, steelers, bengals, titans, lions, packers, texans, chargers, bears and jaguars.

These 12 teams have produced on average 12 sacks so far, way better than our 4 total.

Next I looked into how are these 12 sacks being generated. I split the sacks based on positions/ roles. The positions/roles are as follows:

DE, OLB, speciality rushers, ILB, NT, safety blitz, corner blitz... this is what I found

DE - 2

OLB - 2

speciality rushers - 2

ILB - 1

NT - 1

safety blitz - 2

corner blitz - 2

What we can see is that teams dont rely on a stud rusher to do all the job... if they dont have a stud rusher they still get the job done... out of the 12 sacks 4 comes from the secondary... that's a 1/3rd from the secondary blitz!! where are our blitzes George??

Another interesting thing to note is teams generate as much pressure from speciality rushers as they do from their star rusher... here are a few speciality rushers

aldon smith - SF - rookie - 5.5 sacks so far... doesnt start games but comes in on rushing situations... this is so disappointing... he has 5.5 in 6 games.. and maybin didnt give us 1 in 2 years...

for SD, antwan barnes and larry english have 2 each... for PIT, larry foote has one...

i think we have moats who can do that job... why is George not subbing moats in instead of kelsay in passing downs more regularly?

Another thing is inside blitz... teams on average have been successful to blitz their ILB at least once so far... GB's desmond bishop has 3 sacks so far... ray lewis has 2... i think barnett is capable... why arent you blitzing barnett more George?

A positive is out of our 4 sacks 2 have come from DEs... i think our DEs are doing the job... and i think once kyle is fit he will start generating pressure from the nose position...

But the main hole still remains... a star rusher who can get atleast 6-7 sacks by himself from the OLB position...

But based on what others are doing, I think we should have produced atleast 9 sacks based on scheming...

I put this one solely on George... I think he is too conservative... I think he is not using so many blitzing opportunities... Hell, when you are giving up 400+ yards every game anyway, i think it is time the CBs and safeties start running the other direction towards the QB more often than keep getting beaten by bigger faster WRs...

Summary, we have intelligent DBs to blitz, we have good ILBs for the first time to blitz, our frontline is actually doing a good job and we have a couple speciality rushers in moats and batten... what we lack is a stud every down rusher which we have to wait till next draft... but given what we have got we should still be having around 8-9 sacks by now and more pressure on the QBs... then maybe they all wont throw 300+ yds... so I put all this on conservative George...

What do you guys say?

Just another great fan opinion shared on the pages of BuffaloRumblings.com.

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Comments

You can't look at sack counts to determine how a team is rushing, or who is being successful

Clyde Simmons played opposite Reggie White and got a lot of sacks because he was never double teamed. Carl Banks had the same experience. Both were good players, but each team had way different schemes, but got sacks.

Look at the players on those teams:
Baltimore: Ngata and Suggs
Washington: Orakpo and Kerrigan
SF: both Smith’s
Pittsburgh: Woodley and Harrison
DET: Suh and Avril
GB: Matthews and Raji
Houston: Williams (pre-injury) and Watt
SD: Phillips, English, and Castillo
Chicago: Peppers and Idonije

These teams have good players that require a defense to slide protection, or adjust in some way. There are few coaches that can take average front seven talent and scheme to goodness. The two best, Dom Capers and Dick LeBeau, would have trouble with Buffalo’s lack of rushers.

Bottom line is that Buffalo needs to acquire pass rushers.

Starting the official Buffalo "Draft a Quarterback in the First Round in 2012" campaign.

by Der Jaeger on Oct 17, 2011 3:46 PM EDT reply actions

*require an offense

Starting the official Buffalo "Draft a Quarterback in the First Round in 2012" campaign.

by Der Jaeger on Oct 17, 2011 3:47 PM EDT up reply actions

those teams have good rushers

but they also use blitzes extensively… this is a very easy excuse to relieve the blame off of george…

jets dont have a good rusher but they blitz and confuse very well… i dont think george will ever be as creative as the best in the business but I am disappointed with the lack of trying

by statcruncher on Oct 17, 2011 4:09 PM EDT up reply actions

I think DJ is trying to say that the blitzes are part and parcel of having guys who demands attention. If they slide protection it opens lanes for blitzers. Whereas blitzing, in and of itself, isn’t necessarily a good idea. I actualy have seen us blitz at times, but it only looked effective against the Eagles. If the blitz isnt generating real pressure, its a bad idea.

I have low expectations. But high hopes.

by greysquirrel on Oct 17, 2011 4:41 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs

Just a matter of time

great post, I think next draft will see Buddy Nix going after atleast 2 premium pass rushers. Kelsay is a bit “long in the tooth” to excel at the OLB position, and why he doesnt blitz Barnett more is beyond me. I feel Edwards will be replaced by Wannstedt very soon

by ganoosh297 on Oct 17, 2011 4:24 PM EDT reply actions

i am wondering

why george edwards was retained from the old regime when chan and buddy canned most of the rest?

Hi, I'm Jim Kelly for the Mancuso Family of Dealerships.

by captainStros on Oct 17, 2011 5:03 PM EDT reply actions

he was not retained

we had perry fewell if you remember…

george edwards was miami’s linebacker’s coach… then he was offered the DC position by florida gators… and 2 weeks later we offered him the DC position

by statcruncher on Oct 17, 2011 6:05 PM EDT up reply actions

I say get Merriman healthy. I know he hasn’t been terribly effective, but before sitting out this game he was starting to garner more attention and even get more pressure on the QB. Merriman and Kelsay with Moats in on passing downs should start to help, especially as Edwards gets more comfortable with his personnel.

But overall, I agree. Scheme can produce a good amount of pressure, and we’re not seeing it.

"Slowly all the roles we act out become our identity. And in the end we are what we pretend to be." - Jerry Cantrell.

by stetzwebs on Oct 17, 2011 5:19 PM EDT reply actions

Just a note here.

I saw George Wilson blitz at least 3 times yesterday, FWIW. He got no push each time.

by APhoenixDestiny on Oct 17, 2011 7:21 PM EDT reply actions

I feel like ive seen Bryan Scott blitz a few times

But it has been totally ineffective. Although i cant remember who were the D lineman on the field at the time, as Marcell and Kyle do rotate out. So he should be blitzing while they are on the field, so one of them has a chance to win a one on one or the blitzer get a sack. Now I’m curious to see if they are on the field when he calls blitzes. But i think our ILB should blitz more often.

Fitzmagic

by tomcs on Oct 17, 2011 7:28 PM EDT reply actions

I think we’re pretty good straight up the middle but it’s the outside stuff that’s killing us. I don’t know the break down stat-wise but run or pass to the outside is doing the most damage. I’m totally clueless as to what Edwards is doing, but his play calling leaves much to be desired. Wanne was brought in to help the LB’s but when I watch the game and see Dareus and Williams being double teamed I see nothing from the LB’s (other than Barnett). Barnett is the only LB on this team in the top 10 as far as tackles. If we didn’t have some great safeties our defense would really be toast.

"A deaf person can hear better than a ignorant person."- Unknown Comedian

by blknites on Oct 18, 2011 6:51 PM EDT reply actions