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Steelers' defense on pace for fewest sacks in 16-game season
By Alan Robinson
Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2014
Steelers linebacker Lawrence Timmons sacks Texans quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick during the second quarter Monday, Oct. 20, 2014, at Heinz Field.
Not even Peyton Manning is keeping up with Andrew Luck, who is piling up the passing yards so quickly and easily he could threaten Manning's single-season record set only last season.
Luck is averaging nearly 360 yards passing during the five-game winning streak the Indianapolis Colts (5-2) will carry into Heinz Field on Sunday, when the Steelers would be well advised to find a long-missing element to their defense.
The sack.
Luck is exceptionally accurate when he's not facing a persistent pass rush — he's completing 71 percent of his passes when not pressured — but like even the best of quarterbacks, he's far less successful with defenders in his face mask. He completes only 52.6 percent of those passes, with 11 sacks.
Now the Steelers must try to get pressure on Luck — who's already elevated himself into the very small group of ultra-elite NFL quarterbacks — when they couldn't get it on Ryan Fitzpatrick or Brian Hoyer.
“Any quarterback struggles with pressure,” Steelers defensive end Cam Heyward said Wednesday. “He's got great receivers with (Reggie) Wayne, (T.Y.) Hilton, (Hakeem) Nicks, and their tight ends (Dwayne Allen and Coby Fleener) do a great job for him.
“He's got all the pieces around him, he's got his pickings (of where to throw). We've got to make sure we affect him early and get a couple of sacks.”
For the Steelers, that's proving to be increasingly difficult to do.
Consider this: During James Harrison's NFL Defensive Player of the Year season in 2008, he had eight sacks through seven games. This season, the Steelers have only 10 sacks on 452 snaps in seven games, on pace for a 23-sack season.
They've never had fewer than 31 in a 16-game season, but this isn't a recent trend. Their 34 sacks last season were their second-fewest since that 16-game schedule was adopted in 1978.
Since getting at least 47 sacks in the 2008, '09 and '10 seasons, the Steelers haven't had more than 37 sacks.
NFL offenses have changed since Harrison's 16-sack season in 2008, he said.
“It's turned into more of an open-up, spread-it-out, let your quarterback read what he reads, sees what he sees (game) — get the ball to wherever he should, according to whatever defense he reads,” Harrison said.
To Harrison, it's almost a matter of timing — quarterbacks are taking less time than ever to throw during an era when defenders are taking more time than ever to get them.
“If a quarterback is able to read and see what he needs to see, he shouldn't have to hold the ball more than 2.5 to 3 seconds,” Harrison said. “A guy who's unblocked and free to the quarterback, it's going to take him at least 2.5 seconds to get there.”
Texans defensive end J.J. Watt is an anomaly in that he's able to get consistent pressure, much like the elite pass rushers of not so long ago.
“It's turned into more of a passing league, the guys that are good at reading what they see and getting the ball where it should go (are having great success),” Harrison said. “But look at Watt, he got a gang of money because he's the guy who's fast enough to disrupt the passer, sack the quarterback.”
Heyward's three sacks lead the Steelers; Jason Worilds, who's earning nearly $10 million this season based on his sack-heavy second half of last season, is getting near the QB regularly but still has only two sacks.
The Steelers have 25 QB hits and 68 QB hurries, and Heyward said they could be just as important as a sack.
“They (quarterbacks) are throwing the ball faster, but sometimes you just want the pressure to affect the pass so you get turnovers,” Heyward said. “Whatever it is, you've got to make sure you're getting pressure on the quarterback. Whether it's a sack or him getting the ball out quick where he doesn't get a chance to look all the way downfield, it works hand in hand.”
[URL]http://triblive.com/sports/steelers/7001012-74/season-sacks-steelers#ixzz3HBC78JKf[/URL]
By Alan Robinson
Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2014
Steelers linebacker Lawrence Timmons sacks Texans quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick during the second quarter Monday, Oct. 20, 2014, at Heinz Field.
Not even Peyton Manning is keeping up with Andrew Luck, who is piling up the passing yards so quickly and easily he could threaten Manning's single-season record set only last season.
Luck is averaging nearly 360 yards passing during the five-game winning streak the Indianapolis Colts (5-2) will carry into Heinz Field on Sunday, when the Steelers would be well advised to find a long-missing element to their defense.
The sack.
Luck is exceptionally accurate when he's not facing a persistent pass rush — he's completing 71 percent of his passes when not pressured — but like even the best of quarterbacks, he's far less successful with defenders in his face mask. He completes only 52.6 percent of those passes, with 11 sacks.
Now the Steelers must try to get pressure on Luck — who's already elevated himself into the very small group of ultra-elite NFL quarterbacks — when they couldn't get it on Ryan Fitzpatrick or Brian Hoyer.
“Any quarterback struggles with pressure,” Steelers defensive end Cam Heyward said Wednesday. “He's got great receivers with (Reggie) Wayne, (T.Y.) Hilton, (Hakeem) Nicks, and their tight ends (Dwayne Allen and Coby Fleener) do a great job for him.
“He's got all the pieces around him, he's got his pickings (of where to throw). We've got to make sure we affect him early and get a couple of sacks.”
For the Steelers, that's proving to be increasingly difficult to do.
Consider this: During James Harrison's NFL Defensive Player of the Year season in 2008, he had eight sacks through seven games. This season, the Steelers have only 10 sacks on 452 snaps in seven games, on pace for a 23-sack season.
They've never had fewer than 31 in a 16-game season, but this isn't a recent trend. Their 34 sacks last season were their second-fewest since that 16-game schedule was adopted in 1978.
Since getting at least 47 sacks in the 2008, '09 and '10 seasons, the Steelers haven't had more than 37 sacks.
NFL offenses have changed since Harrison's 16-sack season in 2008, he said.
“It's turned into more of an open-up, spread-it-out, let your quarterback read what he reads, sees what he sees (game) — get the ball to wherever he should, according to whatever defense he reads,” Harrison said.
To Harrison, it's almost a matter of timing — quarterbacks are taking less time than ever to throw during an era when defenders are taking more time than ever to get them.
“If a quarterback is able to read and see what he needs to see, he shouldn't have to hold the ball more than 2.5 to 3 seconds,” Harrison said. “A guy who's unblocked and free to the quarterback, it's going to take him at least 2.5 seconds to get there.”
Texans defensive end J.J. Watt is an anomaly in that he's able to get consistent pressure, much like the elite pass rushers of not so long ago.
“It's turned into more of a passing league, the guys that are good at reading what they see and getting the ball where it should go (are having great success),” Harrison said. “But look at Watt, he got a gang of money because he's the guy who's fast enough to disrupt the passer, sack the quarterback.”
Heyward's three sacks lead the Steelers; Jason Worilds, who's earning nearly $10 million this season based on his sack-heavy second half of last season, is getting near the QB regularly but still has only two sacks.
The Steelers have 25 QB hits and 68 QB hurries, and Heyward said they could be just as important as a sack.
“They (quarterbacks) are throwing the ball faster, but sometimes you just want the pressure to affect the pass so you get turnovers,” Heyward said. “Whatever it is, you've got to make sure you're getting pressure on the quarterback. Whether it's a sack or him getting the ball out quick where he doesn't get a chance to look all the way downfield, it works hand in hand.”
[URL]http://triblive.com/sports/steelers/7001012-74/season-sacks-steelers#ixzz3HBC78JKf[/URL]
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