Pressure Makes A Difference
July 2nd, 2015
Get this man help!
Oh, those spreadsheeters are wearing out their keyboards this summer.
It really is something. As good guy Mike Tanier of Football Outsiders Twittered yesterday, when there is no NFL news, it’s time for research.
Yesterday, the Football Outsiders crowd brought word just how miserable turnover-prone Josh McClown was under pressure. And watching the Bucs play (or the front line trying to block), boy, was there pressure.
Now, the same numberscrunchers document just how important pressure is for defenses. Yeah, duh, we know that. But it is still interesting to see how the Bucs were with — and without — pressure on the quarterback.
Believe it or not, Sterling Xie revealed the Bucs were not the worst team when putting heat on the quarterback. Really. Per the data, the Bucs were in the top-25 percent of NFL defenses in yards allowed per play, when they got pressure on the quarterback, eighth-place specifically.
Without pressure on quarterbacks, which was often, there was a significant dip. But not as bad as you may think. The Bucs dropped to No. 18 in the NFL in yards allowed without pressure. Not great, but not disgusting, either.
This also tells Joe the Bucs defense is not that far off from turning the corner.
What really jumped out were a couple of teams with the worst percentage of yards allowed per play. The worst happened to be the Steelers. At No. 28? The Belicheats.
Why were those two teams in the playoffs (one a Super Bowl winner) when their pressure-less defenses were so toasty? They both had quarterbacks that overcame obstacles.
An excellent quarterback can save a team from a lot of grief.
July 2nd, 2015 at 1:17 pm
Will this year be the 10th anniversary without a single Buccaneer collecting 10 sacks in a season?
Will we win atleast 9 games, matchin Schiano’s two year output?
Will we sign Evan Mathis, slide Marpet at C, and trade Doetrich Smith and a 6th round pick for anyone’s 7th rounder?
July 2nd, 2015 at 1:45 pm
This also tells Joe the Bucs defense is not that far off from turning the corner.
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So you’re saying we’re on the verge?
@Steve K
Will we sign Evan Mathis, slide Marpet at C, and trade Doetrich Smith and a 6th round pick for anyone’s 7th rounder?
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Lol, I see what u did there. Lmao. Agreed!
July 2nd, 2015 at 4:27 pm
@JOE
“This also tells Joe the Bucs defense is not that far off from turning the corner.”
Some corners are bigger than others!
July 2nd, 2015 at 5:00 pm
because plays without pressure were seldom from those two teams
July 2nd, 2015 at 7:21 pm
And both of those QB’s had a OC with a game plan and how to run it. This team still put Glennon behind the 8 ball but he did have them in position to win. And what jumps out is Glennon beat the Steelers. (Enter Tmax and his gang who don’t credit it to Glennon). And a coach for reason unknown even to God for sure why he played McClown.
July 2nd, 2015 at 7:53 pm
He played McCown because he had watched the film and saw what a loser Glennon was, and he knew what a winner McCown had been in Chicago. But aren’t we glad he did because we won the first pick in the draft! I wish McCown good luck with the Browns. They improved their line after getting rid of WarFLOP and Cousins and Gilkey who they know dragged down McCown.