Sturm: Examining The Sack Rates

[erod]

Of course you want to downplay the value of a sack because you are trying to discredit Sturm's overall point that the pass rush is just not good enough.

But chew on what I said above. The Cowboys were 2nd to last in the NFL in pressures last year. So no matter how you slice it, Sturm is pretty much spot on. The defense didn't generate much pressure last year at all and with a group of largely unknown edge players, the Cowboys are going to have to improve greatly even to get to "average" in pressuring the QB.

No, the pass rush is no where near good enough. I just don't like sacks as the measure. Give me consistent pressure over occasional sacks.

 

[erod]

How about........ A defensive end that gets 0 sacks and 12 pressures,3 batted balls,5 knockdowns,7 tackles !!

Yeah, I'll take him.

 

[DandyDon52]

QB sacks are very important the players that gets lots of them make lots of money

important to the player, yes but it is overall play that really matters, playing the run ,batting balls, knockdowns, and chasing the qb around.

 

[erod]

Williams and freeney would have been great additions at reasonable rates. Sometimes you just gotta get more talented players via free agency. Alot of peeps think that Mawoya is the answer, but I don't think so. He's bounced around for a reason, and the Raiders didn't feel it was necessary to match our smallish contract offer.

On a side note, we get a lot of players from the raiders : Butler, Mawoya, McFadden ( was a raider before joining the boys), Kenyon Coleman ect..

Defensive end pressure is overrated. The best pass rushes come from a solid push up the middle. That is Romo's kryptonite, like a lot of QBs.

When you can force QBs to the outside, offenses break down. Hopefully, we can get that from Crawford, Thornton, Collins, and McClain to help the outside guys.

 

[LocimusPrime]

Pressures are like deflections and sacks are like interceptions. One is an almost play, the other seals the deal. Obviously hurries/pressure can lead to mistakes such as poorly thrown balls ect.

A DE who gets a lot of sacks usually has a high number of pressures too. Justin Houston, Khalil Mack, and Geno Atkins where the top 3 last year.

 

[erod]

A DE who gets a lot of sacks usually has a high number of pressures too. Justin Houston, Khalil Mack, and Geno Atkins where the top 3 last year.

You also see guys with a lot of sacks that give up a lot of yards because they're all about the sack. They rush wide and give up draw plays, or they don't recognize screens. They often are weak against run plays.

 

[Sydla]

You also see guys with a lot of sacks that give up a lot of yards because they're all about the sack. They rush wide and give up draw plays, or they don't recognize screens. They often are weak against run plays.

No offense but you really seem chock full of excuses as to why this team has a pass rush problem. The DEs are a clear problem on this team and you constantly try to shift away from that............. pressure from the DTs is more important.............. guys who have a lot of DE pressures give up a lot of running yards.

It's like you are already setting the groundwork for how you'll defend cruddy DE play from us this year.

 

[erod]

No offense but you really seem chock full of excuses as to why this team has a pass rush problem. The DEs are a clear problem on this team and you constantly try to shift away from that............. pressure from the DTs is more important.............. guys who have a lot of DE pressures give up a lot of running yards.

It's like you are already setting the groundwork for how you'll defend cruddy DE play from us this year.

Man, how do you get that from what I said? We have a gawd awful pass rush. I've only typed that about 3,000 times in the past 3+ years.

I'm merely pointing out that sack totals are not indicative of a whole lot. Consistent pressure is the key, and until you have it, your secondary looks like warm puke.

 

[Hawkeye19]

I like our chances to cause more consistent pressure from the DT positions this year. Thornton >>> Hayden and if McClain can stay healthy, he's shown himself to be disruptive as well. Crawford was dinged up last year, so I expect his play to improve as well.

Not sure it will lead to more sacks necessarily -- but I have heard that most QBs despise pressure up the middle more than any other kind of pressure.

 

[DandyDon52]

Man, how do you get that from what I said? We have a gawd awful pass rush. I've only typed that about 3,000 times in the past 3+ years.

I'm merely pointing out that sack totals are not indicative of a whole lot. Consistent pressure is the key, and until you have it, your secondary looks like warm puke.

LOL man people are brainwashed when it comes to sack totals, and sacks themselves.
Even the players will celebrate a sack like they just won the game.

Some sacks may be important plays, but many are not.

For example lets say it is 2nd and 5, and mr DE sacks qb for 8 yard loss, and does his big dance.
now it is 3rd and 13, and qb then completes a 15 yard pass for a 1st down, and then drives on for a td.
How important was that sack now??
Well it is basically meaningless.
Now if it is 3rd down and team is trying to get in position, or maybe is in position for a long fg, and mr DE
sacks the qb that takes them out of fg range, so that is a good play unless the team goes for it on 4th down
and gets a 1st down or td. Then it would be meaningless again.

So if a guy has 15 sacks, how many of those actually meant something??
If they stopped a drive that is good, and also did his team win the game, I mean if a guy has 3 sacks
in a game and his team loses, did the sacks mean anything??
Stats are cool, but unless the team wins the game, they dont mean much.

 

[LocimusPrime]

Which would you rather have in a game......?

A defensive end that gets 1 sack and 5 pressures?

or

A defensive end that gets 0 sacks and 12 pressures?

Not arguing with you here but based on your comparison of 1 sack and 5 pressures to 0 sack and 12 pressures, a sack is worth 7 pressures. Hehe so a 15 sack guy would have 105 pressures a year which would double the nfl pressure leader.

 

[Longboysfan]

Makes sense if you are talking about signing a big ticket free agent.

But no one has really suggested that. They could have bolstered the pass rush this offseason by making some cheaper, but smart decisions. They didn't. They decided to go bottom of the barrel bargain shopping for DEs this offseason and have put their biggest shortcoming in the hands of a guy like Gregory, who has a drug problem, and complete unknowns like Irving and Mayowa. They have one known commodity at DE. Lawrence. That's it.

In the case of Seattle it was not so much of signing big ticket player as re-signing their own players - who within their system played at a level they should get big money contract.

That is why Seattle and now Carolina are having to make choices on who the keep.

I'll not get into how New England stays competitive.
Their management and now QB have shown how they do it without the highest level of talent.

 

[CATCH17]

We gotta make teams throw downfield against us instead of just allowing them to chip away at us all day.

I hate these bend don't break defenses because of that. I feel like the spread offenses have made a Rod Marinelli defense only useful as a compliment to a high powered offense.