stillers4me
02-27-2011, 09:53 AM
Another 40+ sack season, puts the Steelers (http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/pittsburgh-steelers) at 5 straight seasons of surpassing that mark. Who should we blame for all these sacks? Do we blame the Offensive Line for not being able to block long enough for the QB to get the ball out? Or do we blame Ben Roethlisberger (http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/1630/ben-roethlisberger) holding on to the ball past 3 seconds and making the OL's job nearly impossible? It is a difficult question to answer, because no one has really given us any in depth break down of league wide sack data. Fortunately for us, NFL Fanhouse just filled that void (http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2011/02/23/when-it-comes-to-holding-the-ball-joe-flacco-tops-ben-roethlisb/), at least partially.
My assumption was that 3.5 seconds was the time you should expect an offensive lineman to hold his block. That time should give the QB enough time to make at least 3-4 reads. When it is up, the QB's internal alarm should go off and he should flee or throw the ball away. If he gets sacked holding on to the ball the sack becomes his own fault. Fanhouse decided to go with 3 seconds, which probably is based off stronger analysis than my perceived assumption. They found that the mean sack time was 2.7 seconds, which apparently was exactly the same in 2009. Also, they note that dependent variables like the amount of rushers were ignored, believing those factors average out.
Anyway, they went and reviewed every single sack in the 2010 season armed with a stop watch. They tallied up the sacks in two columns: "Over 3 seconds" and "3 Seconds or Less". Joe Flacco (http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/34919/joe-flacco) tops the list of "slow sacks" with 25, followed by Ben (20), Cutler (19), Vick (19), and (Campbell 16). A great analysis, however something important is not acknowledged. Not every QB played 16 games and not every QB drops back as frequently. Our very own QB missed the first quarter of the year, which probably puts his "slow sacks" per game at 1.67 compared to Flacco's 1.56................
Read more @ http://www.behindthesteelcurtain.com/2011/2/26/2012517/who-should-the-pittsburgh-steelers-blame-for-all-these-sacks
My assumption was that 3.5 seconds was the time you should expect an offensive lineman to hold his block. That time should give the QB enough time to make at least 3-4 reads. When it is up, the QB's internal alarm should go off and he should flee or throw the ball away. If he gets sacked holding on to the ball the sack becomes his own fault. Fanhouse decided to go with 3 seconds, which probably is based off stronger analysis than my perceived assumption. They found that the mean sack time was 2.7 seconds, which apparently was exactly the same in 2009. Also, they note that dependent variables like the amount of rushers were ignored, believing those factors average out.
Anyway, they went and reviewed every single sack in the 2010 season armed with a stop watch. They tallied up the sacks in two columns: "Over 3 seconds" and "3 Seconds or Less". Joe Flacco (http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/34919/joe-flacco) tops the list of "slow sacks" with 25, followed by Ben (20), Cutler (19), Vick (19), and (Campbell 16). A great analysis, however something important is not acknowledged. Not every QB played 16 games and not every QB drops back as frequently. Our very own QB missed the first quarter of the year, which probably puts his "slow sacks" per game at 1.67 compared to Flacco's 1.56................
Read more @ http://www.behindthesteelcurtain.com/2011/2/26/2012517/who-should-the-pittsburgh-steelers-blame-for-all-these-sacks