D-Line 'Em Up: Who Sends the House, Who Plays It Safe?

Filed under: NFL Analysis

If you're an offensive line coach facing the Saints next week, you'll know you have plenty of extra work figuring out how to handle all kind of blitzes. If you're playing the Bucs, you can feel comfortable that what you see is what you get.

To get a better idea of which teams are blitz happy and which ones depend on their front four, here's a look at how each team generated all of their sacks this year (it does not include the Thanksgiving Day games). These were compiled by watching and charting each and every sack of the 2010 NFL season.

At the top of the list, you'll see that the top pass-rushing teams are ones who generally can mix it up, but still generate plenty of pressure with only a four-man rush. The Seahawks (tied for 10th in sacks) are the only team in the top 10 who have generated less than 40 percent of their sacks on standard three and four-man rushes.

Closer to the bottom of the sacks list, you'll see several teams who have to play it risky. Gregg Williams is known as a defensive coordinator who doesn't play it timid. The Saints are just as comfortable sending eight pass rushers as they are dropping eight into coverage. The sack stats bear that out -- New Orleans has recorded seven sacks this season when sending seven rushers while the entire rest of the NFL has only 19 sacks on seven-man blitzes.

But Williams may not have much of a choice. His front four has recorded only four sacks all season when rushing four and another two while rushing three.

Some other teams without gaudy sack stats have decided to play it safe. Tony Dungy left Tampa Bay long ago and he's now been gone from Indianapolis for a while as well, but his former teams still seem to have his approach -- rush four and cover with everyone else. More than 80 percent of the Colts' sacks and nearly 80 percent of the Bucs' sacks have come when they rush three or four.

 

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Source: http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2010/11/26/d-line-em-up-who-sends-the-house-who-plays-it-safe/

Ana Paula Lemes Ananda Lewis Angela Marcello