Bucs Tops In Pass Protection
November 3rd, 2011
One of happy stats of the day coming out of One Buc Palace tells us that the Bucs’ high-priced offensive line is doing its job keeping Josh Freeman upright.
Per the Buccaneers official Twitter feed, the Bucs are the most efficient pass protectors in the league.
@TBBuccaneers: Here’s a little stat for u that says a lot about the guys up front: TB ranks 1st in the NFL this year in fewest sacks allowed per pass play.
Kudos to the big boys up front.
Joe can only imagine how even better their numbers would be if the Bucs committed to a running game and Freeman ran three or four times a game.
November 3rd, 2011 at 12:47 pm
Wow how misleading is this? I also just read something that said the Bucs are one of the worst teams in the league in allowing QB pressures. So which is it? They may not give up sacks but if our QB is getting constantly pressured and consequently throwing off his back foot doesn’t that lead to even bigger problems?
If this article is all there is to the story then we could just say, the O-line is great. The passing game problems are almost entirely on Freeman.
November 3rd, 2011 at 12:57 pm
Pressures are such a bogus stat. IT’s not official and very subjective and a guy Freeman’s size is less effectec by pressure anyway, or should be.
November 3rd, 2011 at 1:40 pm
Chris,
Alot of the pressure IS on Freeman. he has been less decisive this year, holding the ball longer, and more reluctant to take off running. Alot of that is because the coverages have been keying on William and K2 , taking away his main targets. That is also a big reason why his INTs are up, he has been forcing it into them too often
November 3rd, 2011 at 2:00 pm
Very misleading. Freeman has been throwing a lot of bad balls due to collapsing pockets among other things. There have rarely been pockets this year for Freeman to step into leading to him throwing a lot of inaccurate passes of the back leg. This pressure also is cutting off running lanes at times. Yes Freeman could and needs to play better, but so indeed does this line.
Can’t take one stat and use it to determine an entire portion of the game. The pressure has been there but Freeman has been forcing throws before the sacks have happened which leads to inaccuracy, pass deflections and ints. There are other problems, but the pressure put on Freeman by lack of consistent play from our line has been a factor.
Trueblood is by far the biggest culprit.
November 3rd, 2011 at 2:02 pm
Every stat is subjective. That’s why Ruud used to have 200+ tackles according to the Bucs but closer to 140 according to the NFL. Though admittedly pressures are even harder to judge.
Sacks are on the line and the QB. Freeman is about as good as any eluding the rush. Then again it’s also on him for slow progressions and holding on to the ball.
Basically, stats are pointless. Based solely on what I’ve seen, this still isn’t a very good pass protection line, especially Trueblood. Dude couldn’t handle a speed rush to save his life.
November 3rd, 2011 at 2:24 pm
lowlife,
I understand the stats are misleading but to say this is not a very good pass protection O-Line is ridiculous.
They have been excellent most the year. They have had their moments when it didn’t go so well, but that is about it. Penn is probably the best pass blocking LT in the NFL. The weakest link in pass protection is Trueblood and he is not nearly as bad as most of you make him out. He is about average for a RT and abover average for a run blocker.
November 3rd, 2011 at 2:43 pm
Skytown- No. In this instance sacks are the bogus stat. When your QB is as strong and elusive as Freeman sacks alone are a far from accurate measure of the pressure the offensive line is giving up. Jeremy Trueblood alone gives up constant pressure on just about every single pass play. The other guys, especially Donald Penn, have done much better but the constant and immediate pressure TRusuck gives up is holding the Bucs offense back as much as any other factor.
November 3rd, 2011 at 2:46 pm
Dave- Next game actually focus on Trueblood. He gets his ass handed to him routinely by all but the worst pass rushing left defensive ends in the league. The only time he doesn’t give up pressure is when he is busy committing false start and holding penalties. He is even worse than many make him out to be. Contender for ABSOLUTE WORST RT in the league.
November 3rd, 2011 at 3:37 pm
RankTeam Plays Sacks Hits Hurries Pressures
32 NO 576 12 7 74 93
31 TB 452 8 11 74 93
–
–
1 TEN 413 4 14 18 36
I have this ranked in order of Pressures. Saints and Bucs are tied in both for last place in Hurries and Pressures as well, but notice the Bucs have had 124 less snaps. I put TN up just for comparison from what is the best in the league as far as allowing pressure.
November 3rd, 2011 at 3:40 pm
Wow, in the minority again! I have been a huge critic of our O-line the past several years, and justifiably so! They never performed up to the level their draft status indicated. Penn( and previously Aaron Sears) being the exceptions.
But I watch the games repeatedly, and I think the line has performed well this season. I think Pat Morris has them doing more power blocking. And they are playing a hybrid Zone blocking scheme that seems to play to their strengths. They seem really comfortable in their formations now. They always seemed uncomfortable in previous years.
I think you guys are wrong( this year only) about TrueBlood. I think he has played above average this season. Remember, he has a pretty big handicap. On a right handed team, Trueblood plays on the strong side- next to the tight end. The tight end on running plays, and even briefly on passing plays, is an in line blocker. Winslow may be one of the best receiving TEs in football- but he is NOT a blocker. John Gilmore was of some help in previous years- but he’s gone. Luke Stocker shows signs, but he doesn’t play much.
So Trueblood is left on a island as often as Penn. I think he has played well this year.
Freeman handles pressure well, and is strong enough to avoid sacks. But his reads are much slower than last year. Defenses are taking Williams and Winslow away. He has to start punishing them, by throwing to Benn and Briscoe as first options. This will force defenses off of his primary reads.
That will speed up his release
All in all, I’m pretty happy with our O-line this year, and think Pat Morris has made a huge impact on their performance.
November 3rd, 2011 at 4:29 pm
Well, one way to keep sacks down is to throw wildly whenever you feel the slightest pressure. And Josh’s INT’s are way up this year…
Obviously that’s a bit of hyperbole, but there may be some truth there. Sometimes taking a sack is better than making a poor throw; tops in the league in sacks allowed while being at-or-near the bottom in INTs thrown implies that you might be getting rid of the ball too early in general.
November 3rd, 2011 at 4:42 pm
we are 4-3, and our passing game is lack luster…. This is a prime example, “stats are for losers”.
November 3rd, 2011 at 4:49 pm
Just going on passing numbers:
Brees has dropped back 343 times and been sacked 19 times, thats once every 18 pass attempts.
Freeman has dropped back 276 times and been sacked 12 times, thats once every 23 pass attempts.
Each have 10 ints.
November 3rd, 2011 at 4:55 pm
Taking the difference in drop backs which is 67 and taking the sacks per attempt 18, Brees should only have 4 more sacks than Freeman, not the 7 he has. Meaning their O-line is giving up a little more than they should, they are weak at the ends and center, but strong at guard. GMC and Price are going to busy DTs come Sunday.
November 3rd, 2011 at 5:31 pm
I should have wrote that Trueblood alone has 26 of the 93 pressures. That’s basically 28% of our total pressures. The others that are calculated in the pressure/s totals are Penn, Zuttah, Faine, Larsen, Joseph, Hardman, Stocker, Winslow, Pianalto, Franklin, Lumpkin, Blount, Graham, Lorig….. All of the aforementioned have pass blocked at one time or another this year.
Out of all the 14 guys that have pass blocked, Trueblood alone accounts for 28% of total pressure allowed! Ridiculous! If we cut that 26 in half we would be doing sooooo much better! There has got to be someone on our roster that can do better than that!
November 4th, 2011 at 1:54 am
The misleading stat isn’t the sacks it’s the pressures. Have you guys seen how long Freeman holds onto the ball? I don’t care if the Bucs had the Colts O-line from a couple years ago, any QB holding the ball that long is going to get pressure. The issue is a mix between Freeman being indecisive and the receivers not getting open. The fact that he has few sacks regardless shows the O-line is actually doing their job well. Certainly better than the majority of NFL O-lines.