Pass Protection Comparison

[percyhoward]

The Eagles OL has allowed 9 sacks in 145 attempts, which means Mcnabb has been sacked once for every 16.1 attempts

The Cowboys OL has allowed 3 sacks in 91 attempts, meaning that Bledsoe has been sacked once for every 30.1 attempts

The difference between the two lines gets bigger when you look at the competition each line has faced. Dallas's opponents average a sack per this many attempts...
JAX 21.0
TEN 14.4
WAS 18.7
AVG against league18.0 (AVG against Dallas 30.1)

IOW, against the league, Dallas' opponents get a sack for every 18 pass attempts. But they've only sacked the Cowboys once for every 30. When teams face the Cowboys' OL, their sack production goes down 67%.

Eagles' Opponents att/sack
HOU 17.4
NYG 59.5
SF 10.5
GB 11.7
AVG against league 24.8 (AVG against Phi 16.1)
When teams face the Eagles' OL, their sack production goes up 70%.

To make it short, the Cowboys' OL has faced stronger pass rushes than the Eagles' OL, and has given up far fewer sacks.

Comparing both teams' pass rushes, the Cowboys' maligned pass rush sacks the QB every 10.6 attempts (as previously pointed out in this forum), while the Eagles' vaunted pass rush does it every 10.2 attempts.

 

[tomson75]

Interesting stuff Perchy.

 

[America's Team]

so what do you think of our O-Line now

 

[bobtheflob]

You do have to take into account that because the Eagles pass so much they not only face more opportunities to get sacked, but also the opposing team doesn't have to worry about the run as much and can focus more on pass rushing. Still, the Eagles' line gets lots of hype while the casual fan still thinks the Cowboys' line stinks, which are both far from reality.

 

[Galian Beast]

Good numbers, but I also think it is based on the situation your team is in.

The Eagles have been in shoot outs, so teams have been playing against their pass a lot more. Where as in the game against Washington, and the game against the Titans, it was more so our running game that set the pace. We only threw 20 times against the Titans... That is 5 times per quarter...

If we can get up to a lead early on a team, it's pretty much good night with the way our defense is playing. I think that is the key to us winning. I do think we have an explosive offense. And if they can score early, teams become one dimensional, and you can't do that against this defense.

I think the Titans we're a glimpse of what we're going to see throughout the season. Although even though Young was a rookie qb in his first start, he actually brought an extra dimension that kept the defense honest throughout the game. Philadelphia can do that with McNabb, but most teams we're going to play this year will get a lot of pressure once they get behind.

The keys to beating dallas is keeping the score close, and not letting us rely simply on the run. And in fact forcing us to pass, and make mistakes.

In other words the key to beating dallas is beating our offensive line. They're really the key to our season. If we can protect bledsoe, give hime time, and open holes for our running game... we're going to score a bunch of points on you quickly. And when you're behind our defense is not going to let you back into it. and the offense will begin to run on you all day. And it just gets worse from there, as you're forced to pass to get back into the game, and then the pressure starts coming. forcing bad passes. Which lead to turnovers, and more points.

We played contain against vince young, because we wanted him to beat us with his arm instead of his legs. We'll do the same to some extent with McNabb. I think a mobile qb is the worst thing for our defense. Not to mention the fact that westbrook creates a huge mismatch.

But other than McNabb twice, and Michael Vick near the end of the year, I think our defense will have a field day with most teams.

 

[LaTunaNostra]

We played contain against vince young, because we wanted him to beat us with his arm instead of his legs. We'll do the same to some extent with McNabb. I think a mobile qb is the worst thing for our defense. Not to mention the fact that westbrook creates a huge mismatch.

But other than McNabb twice, and Michael Vick near the end of the year, I think our defense will have a field day with most teams.

I agree a mobile qb is the worst thing for our D, the D we've seen to date.

But I wonder if Zimmer is going to pull something special out of the 'contain' box this weekend.

McNabb is now healthy, slimmer, well-conditioned...but the memory of how Belichick played him in the SB will never escape me---how he sent the dogs after Donovan, ran him absolutely ragged, and how majorly the backers figured in that equation. Stopping the run is always Bill and Zim's main concern, but in this case the run IS Donovan.

Maybe one or THE reason Bobby C is being activated for Sunday is amassing fresh legs to send after McNabb. Wouldn't it be great to see multiple blitz packages and the diverse types of attack NE has featured vs mobile QBs?

We have this young, athletic 3-4 D now - I want to see them getting after the quarterback, even if he is Donovan McNabb.

 

[percyhoward]

The opposing team doesn't have to worry about the run as much and can focus more on pass rushing.

That would mean that the teams that pass more would be the teams that allow the most sacks, and this isn't the case.

The top 16 teams in the league in pass attempts have been sacked 142 times in 62 games, for an average of 2.3 sacks per game. The bottom 16 have been sacked 138 times in 58 games, for an average of 2.4 sacks per game.

So the number of attempts doesn't matter, at least not for the league as a whole.

 

[proline]

... a mobile qb is the worst thing for our D...

Maybe, but I think that the worst thing for our D is a short passing, west coast style offense. I really believe that playing dink-and-dunk against our LB's will get you 5-7 yards per play.

 

[DLCassidy]

I agree a mobile qb is the worst thing for our D, the D we've seen to date.

But I wonder if Zimmer is going to pull something special out of the 'contain' box this weekend.

McNabb is now healthy, slimmer, well-conditioned...but the memory of how Belichick played him in the SB will never escape me---how he sent the dogs after Donovan, ran him absolutely ragged, and how majorly the backers figured in that equation. Stopping the run is always Bill and Zim's main concern, but in this case the run IS Donovan.

Maybe one or THE reason Bobby C is being activated for Sunday is amassing fresh legs to send after McNabb. Wouldn't it be great to see multiple blitz packages and the diverse types of attack NE has featured vs mobile QBs?

We have this young, athletic 3-4 D now - I want to see them getting after the quarterback, even if he is Donovan McNabb.

Great post.

 

[LaTunaNostra]

Maybe, but I think that the worst thing for our D is a short passing, west coast style offense. I really believe that playing dink-and-dunk against our LB's will get you 5-7 yards per play.

Bill's 3-4 Ds in NY and NE were usually disciplined in their assignments and experienced enough not to get dinked and dunked all the way to the end zone - but I have seen it happen. I think every fan has a loathing of a 'bend don't break' defense that allows itself to be bent over all the way downfield.

The good thing about those short wco attacks are the number of plays it takes to get downfield multipy the opportunities for the O to make mistakes. A shaken receiver getting creamed over the middle and the ball comes loose, one too many attempts by the QB to thread a needle.

McNabb's a problem in that he can lead just that kind of drive, AND he presents the issues a mobile qb does. And Westbrook is the ideal multi purpose chain mover. Those two represent a major test for our linebackers under any circumstances.

Our backers - I'm just dying to see them come into their own. I know they're not ready to be let loose, or play a measured, experienced defensive style that can consistently negate a short passing wco attack.

But this week I would love to see some sign of growth, whether in the sense of exuberance that comes with competence, or from the experience that leads to multi-turnovers.

Burnett, he's the one I have a suspicion is about to take a big leap forward.

 

[Future]

Maybe, but I think that the worst thing for our D is a short passing, west coast style offense. I really believe that playing dink-and-dunk against our LB's will get you 5-7 yards per play.

good thing to believe, it worked wonders for the jags

 

[Galian Beast]

We play soft zones a lot. But I haven't really seen teams beat us with them this year.

Generally even when we lost last year, it was to the big play. Dink and dunk offense doesn't generally work on our defense. It might get you a first day here or there, but it usually doesn't drive an offense down the field, rarely gets them a touchdown.

 

[lspain1]

Maybe, but I think that the worst thing for our D is a short passing, west coast style offense. I really believe that playing dink-and-dunk against our LB's will get you 5-7 yards per play.

I disagree. The 3-4 is a much better defense against the WCO because you have more LB help against the short crossing routes.