Unblocked Pressure: Offense

[planetdoc]

excerpts below (the words are not mine, but outside of quote boxes for ease of reading)
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Unblocked Pressure: Offense

Continuing our look into unblocked pressure, we turn our attention to the league’s offenses and their ability to minimize the amount and withstand the effects of free runners against them.

There are a number of ways that an offense can regulate the unblocked pressure it sees. For starters they can simply execute both pre-snap and during the play. Teams with smarter centers and quarterbacks setting the protection should be able to pick up when and where the pressure is coming from and thus be able to pick up defenders that other, perhaps less aware, offenses may leave unattended. At the same time you can minimize their numbers by being better at passing off rushers on stunts so that defenders don’t get free runs on loop-arounds.

Finally you can simply get rid of the ball before the free runner becomes a threat to the passer. Just because there is a free runner on the play doesn’t necessarily mean he will convert that into unblocked pressure. If you pick it up pre-snap then a quick release will neutralize the free runner before he ever becomes a factor in the play, mark another one up for the perceptive quarterback improving his pass protection.

San Diego (with a rag tag offensive line) was 2nd best in the NFL. Denver was the best thanks to Manning, and the chiefs were #23 out of 32.



Smith Feels the Heat but Stays Upright
Surrendering 56 unblocked pressures the Kansas City Chiefs were among the league’s 10 worst offenses at giving up unblocked pressure but as a group, led by quarterback Alex Smith, they did the league’s best job at ensuring those pressures weren’t converted into hits and sacks. Of the 56 unblocked pressures the Chiefs surrendered last year only five were sacks and nine of them hits, a league best conversion rate of 25%.

Other offenses that saw the quarterback tending to be upright against unblocked pressure were the quarterback by committee in Oakland, the Ben Roethlisberger led Steelers and the Drew Brees led Saints. This collection of quarterback shows how different approaches to quarterback play can yield success in ensuring the quarterback doesn’t go down against unblocked pressure. If you’re good at it whether you fight the pressure (literally in Roethlisberger’s case) or do it by subtle movement in the pocket and timely release (Brees and Smith) success can be found in abundance.



Kaepernick Turns the Tables
Having an agile quarterback will certainly help when dealing with free runners and the league’s best offense at making a defense pay for not getting home with their unblocked pressure were the Colin Kaepernick led 49ers.

[Hog's Gone Fishin]

Or you can have Johnny Football to negate any and all free rushers

[planetdoc]

seems smith did a good job of that last yr.

[TribalElder]

Originally Posted by Hog Farmer

Or you can have Johnny Football to negate any and all free rushers

[Jimmya]

Unblocked pass rushers usually means a shitty oline.

[planetdoc]

Originally Posted by Jimmya

Unblocked pass rushers usually means a shitty oline.

in general. Its a combo of individual sucking + inexperience working as a unit.

[htismaqe]

Alex "D" Smith?

WTF