Stories of the Season

Wouldn’t you know, just days after I get the order from the brass at Pro Football Focus to write a piece on defensive end Andre Carter’s bounce-back season, he tears his quad to end his 2011 campaign. So while we’ll examine his impact on the New England Patriots this year, it’s time to take a look at his possible replacements.

The need for a consistent pass rush has lurked around New England for a few years now. Head Coach Bill Belichick has dabbled in free agency for players such as and Tully Banta-Cain and Derrick Burgess, and while Banta-Cain had some strong moments in 2009, the Patriots have not really had a pass rush threat for which offenses game plan around. A few other players have shown flashes of ability, but it generally takes more than one guy to create enough havoc to disrupt a passing attack. Read the rest of this entry »

Earlier in the week you may have seen our Pass Rushing Productivity feature that looked at the success pass rushers were having relative to how often they were rushing the passer. It revealed that there simply isn’t a more productive pass rusher in the league than Carlos Dunlap right now, and added evidence to just how productive Von Miller has been.

So, getting into a bit more detail, it’s time that we looked at the best individual pass rushing performances of the season – the games that stood out, statistically speaking. If you want the best with added intelligence, take a look at the grading section in our premium area that takes into account how the pressure was achieved, but if you want raw numbers, it doesn’t get any better than this. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s time to start thinking of Von Miller in a new light. The Broncos rookie is running away with our rookie of the year poll, but that doesn’t come close to doing him justice. Miller has been arguably the biggest reason behind the defensive resurgence in Denver, and he really should have the rookie awards locked up; his play dominates that of any other defensive rookie, so let’s look beyond to a farther horizon.

It’s time we forgot talk of best rookie and started to think in terms of Pro-Bowl, All-Pro, maybe even Defensive Player of the Year. It sounds crazy, but there may not be a better candidate than Miller right now. Read the rest of this entry »

“Football is only two things – blocking and tackling.”

You don’t need me to tell you who uttered those words, but in this age of spread offenses and option quarterbacks it’s easily forgotten. Maybe it’s something we’ve all neglected in the past, but given the changes to practices that were part of the new CBA along with a shortened offseason, it was always going to be a talking point … and, after watching Packer defenders bounce off LeGarrette Blount it’s now even more of one.

So I’ve looked through all the PFF data on tackling over the past two years to not just offer some numbers as to whether more tackles are being missed, but also to find out which teams are missing them. Now, what constitutes a missed tackle is, to a degree, subjective, but we do apply universal rules amongst our analysts so it’s objective in that regard.

Anyway, the findings …

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It’s not easy being an NFL fan. Up to 16 games a week with over a thousand players taking over a thousand snaps. How are you meant to know when a player in a small market team is playing lights-out, especially when there are no gaudy stats that stick out to prove it? Watching every game is damn near impossible, while breaking down every player on every play is a task that requires a substantial team of people to do.

Well that’s where we can help as we’re here to make life easier for you by finding those unheralded stars and bringing them to your attention. That means looking past the big names getting all the attention and this week I’m turning my attention to a player who has excelled for Jacksonville, always catching the eye of the PFF staff. I am, of course, talking about the Jaguars’ do-everything linebacker, Daryl Smith.

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While the lockout hurt football in many ways, it did create an interesting dynamic with regard to the offseason. With the draft before free agency, teams sought more so than ever to fill immediate needs. Certain organizations did so better than others and, while it’s obviously too early to analyze the class as a whole, we can see which players are providing an immediate contribution and which might be better served acting as backups in their rookie year.

When free agency finally came around, we saw drastic variations in strategy. Teams like the Raiders and Bucs decided to keep as many incumbents as possible while other teams like the Eagles seemingly brought in about half of the available players. As with most cases, it was somewhere in between that provided the best results. You’ve seen our Race for Rookie of the Year and Top 10 Free Agents, now it’s time to take it all together for a look at which front offices are getting it right. Read the rest of this entry »

“It’s a big one for him and his career.”

These words speak of the now high expectations by Gary Kubiak in reference to Matt Leinart. Words that no Texans fan has really wanted to hear. This means that something has gone seriously wrong with Matt Schaub suddenly.  According to Adam Schefter, that something is a Lisfranc sprain/fracture with the early prognosis saying Schaub’s 2011 is as close to done as it could be.

These words will be ringing in the ears of all Texan fans for a while as now it is Matt Leinart’s time. This is not just a big moment for him and his career. It’s now arguably the defining moment for the Texans and their season. Read the rest of this entry »

Perhaps the most frustrating aspect of being a football fan is watching a completely inept defense on your favorite team. With every third down conversion and time-consuming drive, you sit and hope for just one big stop to get the offense back on the field. As the NFL continues to evolve into a passing league, the need for pass rushers and cover men is at an all-time high. Teams who can’t find either are facing a recipe for disaster.

So when a defense has a history of poor performance, how quickly can it be turned around? In a league where coaches feel an increased pressure to win now, and leeway to rebuild has turned from five years to as little as two or three, can a team make wholesale changes defensively and see immediate results? Let’s take a look at three teams who have made tremendous one-year gains through scheme changes, solid drafting, and shrewd free agent pickups.

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Darrelle Revis is having a stellar season, dominating receivers in his role at cornerback for the New York Jets. His numbers in coverage this year have been nothing short of ridiculous.

Ike Taylor has similar numbers in a variety of areas, and some people are claiming that he is having almost as good a season as Revis is. Superficially, it makes some sense: despite being thrown at 46 times, Taylor has allowed just 14 receptions for 152 yards and hasn’t been beaten for a reception longer than 31 yards all season. Revis has allowed just 10 receptions on 33 targets, and has yet to allow a touchdown. A quick glance at the numbers does raise the question, but reality, on this occasion, deviates from the numbers … or at least most of them.

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Just a few months after the Eagles ‘won’ the free agent signing period, we’re now more-or-less half way through the season and we’ve got seven games in the bank to judge how successful that series of moves was. We get to dissect whether or not the Eagles really did win free agency now that we’ve seen those players on the field.

In essence, the Eagles have gained five starters from their spending spree along with a nickel corner back, two more situational players, and three back-ups. That isn’t a bad haul from a free agent pool and probably goes some way towards explaining their slow start to the season. That is a lot of talent that needed time to gel and form a cohesive unit. They look like they are getting that together now and could be a force in the second half of the season.

We’ve taken a look at each of the players brought in by the eagles, taken into account the money they were given and the level of play they have attained so far, and divided them into the following categories. Take a look with us and decide for yourself.

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