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.
Hits and hurries are weighted three quarters the worth of sacks. Those numbers are added up and divided by the attempted number of pass rushes to give us the Pass Rushing Productivity formula. Here are the best performances from 2011 so far (minimum 20 pass rushes).
Top 10 Individual Displays – Pass Rushing Productivity
(PRP rating for that game in parentheses)
1. Kamerion Wimbley, Week 10: OAK @ SD (32.9)
Stat Line: 4 sacks, 3 hits, and 7 hurries on 35 pass rushes.
Who can forget how Wimbley kicked-off Thursday Night Football with as dominant a performance as you’re likely to see from a pass rusher. The Raiders' linebacker did most of his work on Brandyn Dombrowski, but also picked up two hits on Tyronne Green and another hurry unblocked. Relentless display.
2. Mario Williams, Week 1: IND @ HOU (32.4)
Stat Line: 2 sacks, 1 hit, and 8 hurries on 27 pass rushes.
Just imagine how much better the already-excellent Texans could be if they still had Williams on the field. ‘Super Mario’ had a field day against the Colts, with Jeff Linkenback the chief victim giving up six pressures. Interestingly, Dallas Clark also gave up two sacks to the former first overall pick in a “why did Indianapolis do that?” moment.
3. Trent Cole, Week 2: PHI @ ATL (31.9)
Stat Line: 1 sack, 2 hits, and 9 hurries on 29 pass rushes.
Sunday Night Football hasn’t produced many beatdowns like the one Trent Cole gave Sam Baker. Outside of one pressure on Justin Blalock, Cole got all his pressure on Baker as the Falcon left tackle. Matt Ryan did not appreciate it.
4. Tamba Hali, Week 4: MIN @ KC (30.2)
Stat Line: 2 sacks, 2 hits, and 7 hurries on 29 pass rushes.
Last year Hali led the entire league in total pressure and topped our Pass Rushing Productivity rating. This year he hasn’t had quite the same level of success but really turned it on against the Vikings. It should be noted that Hali picked up a hit and sack unblocked, and three pressures on Jim Kleinsasser.
5. Marcell Dareus, Week 8: WAS @ BUF (26.1)
Stat Line: 3 sacks and 4 hurries on 23 pass rushes.
Our first interior defensive lineman to make an appearance on the list, the rookie Dareus owes a debt of gratitude to John Beck with two of his sacks coming as a result of the Redskins' QB holding the ball too long. At other times he was too powerful for Chris Chester, and even put a spin move on him to pick up a pressure.
6. Connor Barwin, Week 12: HOU @ JAX (25.7)
Stat Line: 4 sacks, 2 hits, and 5 hurries on 36 pass rushes.
The most recent performance on the list, and one that earned Barwin the AFC Defensive Player of the Month award for November. Now a sack and pressure came unblocked, and another sack and two pressures came as a result of Blaine Gabbert holding onto the ball too long, but Barwin still picked up two sacks on Eugene Monroe and pressure on every Jaguars lineman except Brad Meester.
7t. John Abraham, Week 11: TEN @ ATL (25.0)
Stat Line: 1 sack, 1 hit, and 5 hurries on 22 pass rushes.
The best thing about Abraham's performance? He picked up a hit and four hurries against the excellent Michael Roos. No beating up on schmucks here, even if his sack did come against stand-in right tackle Mike Otto.
7t. Arthur Moats, Week 8: WAS @ BUF (25.0)
Stat Line: 1 sack, 1 hit, and 5 hurries on 22 pass rushes.
Moats made a case for more playing time by working on Sean Locklear as the Bills bested the Redskins. He didn’t destroy the former Seahawk tackle, but consistently got pressure against a gun-shy John Beck.
9. Jason Babin, Week 4: SF @ PHI (24.1)
Stat Line: 3 sacks, 2 hits, and 3 hurries on 28 pass rushes.
I know people want to think Anthony Davis only plays badly when Chilo Rachal is next to him, but that just isn’t the case. Watch how Babin picked up three sacks on the second-year man and see if that’s the case. He wasn’t the only one the Eagle worked on, with four players giving up pressure to him.
10. Jason Babin, Week 11: PHI @ NYG (23.9)
Stat Line: 1 sack and 6 hurries on 23 pass rushes.
It wasn’t just the game-winning sack that should have impressed everyone about Babin's display against the Eagles. No, the only man to make the Top 10 twice, Babin had a lot of fun picking up pressure against Kareem McKenzie. That wouldn’t have happened in 2010.
Best of the Rest – The Top 25
11t. Jay Ratliff, Week 8: DAL @ PHI (22.5)
11t. Jabaal Sheard, Week 3: MIA @ CLV (22.5)
13. James Harrison, Week 9: BLT @ PIT (22.1)
14t. Greg Hardy, Week 1: CAR @ ARZ (22.0)
14t. Brian Orakpo, Week 12: WAS @ SEA (22.0)
16. Carlos Dunlap, Week 8: CIN @ SEA (21.8)
17. Von Miller, Week 12: DEN @ SD (21.6)
18. DeMarcus Ware, Week 3: WAS @ DAL (21.5)
19t. Chris Long, Week 8: NO @ SL (21.4)
19t. Clark Haggans, Week 1: CAR @ ARZ (21.4)
21. Von Miller, Week 11: NYJ @ DEN (21.3)
22t. Myron Pryor, Week 1: NE @ MIA (20.7)
22t. DeMarcus Ware, Week 8: DAL @ PHI (20.7)
24. Cameron Wake, Week 3: MIA @ CLV (20.5)
25. Dwight Freeney, Week 3: PIT @ IND (20.3)
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