Can The Steelers Reach 60 Sacks In 2019?

[polamalubeast]

Yesterday, Matthew Marczi asked a fair and realistic question of if T.J. Watt can notch more than 16 sacks this season, breaking James Harrison’s current single-season record. I’m going to take it a step further and push my chips all-in. Not saying it will happen but I think it’s possible for this defense to be the first to crack 60 in quite some time.

Some perspective. Since 2000, only four defenses have hit that figure. The 2013 Carolina Panthers, 2006 Baltimore Ravens and San Diego Chargers, and 2000 New Orleans Saints. Only two teams did it in the 90s. All those defenses had excellent to elite pass rushers. The Panthers had Greg Hardy, the Chargers Shawn Merriman, Ravens Terrell Suggs (who didn’t even lead the team), and Saints La’Roi Glover.

And all those teams had at least two defenders who registered double-digit sacks.

Pittsburgh is built a similar way. Watt finished the year on the highest of notes and though I wouldn’t classify him as an elite pass rusher – yet – he’s bordering on excellent. He finished last year with 13 takedowns, including three of them over the final three weeks. With his hand use improved, it’s entirely possible he reaches at least 15 sacks in 2019, even if he doesn’t break Deebo’s mark.

Who is the other Steeler who will meet Watt with double-digit sacks? Easy answer. Cam Heyward. 20 of them over the last two seasons. So let’s give him ten.

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https://steelersdepot.com/2019/06/ca...sacks-in-2019/

[polamalubeast]

I think the steelers had 56 sacks in 2017 .... To have a big total, a team needs to inflate their stats in some games .... As the steelers have inflated their stats against the Browns in 2017 and for the 2006 Chargers were against an awful raiders team, the worst offense in the NFL in the last 20 years.

I do not think a team in our division are going to have an awful offensive line ... I do not know about the Bengals, but Dalton has never given a lot of sacks,even if sometimes their offensive line was not very good.

This is very unlikely and the most important thing for the steelers will be to have a constant pass rush for the more often possible and not to have a big game with 6-7 sacks and to have just 1 sack in the next 2 games and another game with 5-6 sacks after.

[tube517]

We need these sacks to cause turnovers. Otherwise it's 2018 all over again.

[Fire Goodell]

Yeah but they won't all count cause they're mostly dong sacks

[munchy]

60 real sacks or 60 dupree, 'if i wouldnt have got held' sacks?

[teegre]

We need these sacks to cause turnovers. Otherwise it's 2018 all over again.

The errant throws have been available for interception, but... 1. our secondary just needs to catch them.

Two other things that are more important than raw sack numbers.

2. Consistent pressure. Pressure leads to hurried throws/throwing off of the wrong foot... which leads to turnovers (or, at least, incompletions). Aaron Donald’s 20.5 sacks are outstanding, but his consistent pressure (every 8.5 snaps) is more disruptive.

Math.
Donald’s sacks: 1.25 sacks per game
Donald’s pressure: 7 pressures per game

3. Timing. Getting a sack on first down is great... but, if the opposition converts on third down, then the sack is wasted. We need sacks on third down. (Get off of the field!!!)

[Born2Steel]

The errant throws have been available for interception, but... 1. our secondary just needs to catch them.

Two other things that are more important than raw sack numbers.

2. Consistent pressure. Pressure leads to hurried throws/throwing off of the wrong foot... which leads to turnovers (or, at least, incompletions). Aaron Donald’s 20.5 sacks are outstanding, but his consistent pressure (every 8.5 snaps) is more disruptive.

Math.
Donald’s sacks: 1.25 sacks per game
Donald’s pressure: 7 pressures per game

3. Timing. Getting a sack on first down is great... but, if the opposition converts on third down, then the sack is wasted. We need sacks on third down. (Get off of the field!!!)

Agreed. Defense getting off the field on 3rd down is bigger than sacks. Sacks are 'splash plays' and look great on a stat sheet, but the defense's job is to get the ball back to the offense. 1.Get a turnover, 2.get off the field on 3rd down. That's the job. Getting pressure on the QB plays a much bigger role in that than sacks.

[Mojouw]

Agreed. Defense getting off the field on 3rd down is bigger than sacks. Sacks are 'splash plays' and look great on a stat sheet, but the defense's job is to get the ball back to the offense. 1.Get a turnover, 2.get off the field on 3rd down. That's the job. Getting pressure on the QB plays a much bigger role in that than sacks.

Sounds like something I’ve been thinking about. With the way offense is going I don’t think it is about limiting yards and points. I don’t think you consistently can. But you can limit possessions.


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[Born2Steel]

Sounds like something I’ve been thinking about. With the way offense is going I don’t think it is about limiting yards and points. I don’t think you consistently can. But you can limit possessions.


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That's what it has always been about. If you consistently get off the field on 3rd down as a defense that will limit the other team's yards and points. Steelers' defense finished 25th in 3rd down conversions in 2018.

[polamalubeast]

That's what it has always been about. If you consistently get off the field on 3rd down as a defense that will limit the other team's yards and points. Steelers' defense finished 25th in 3rd down conversions in 2018.

In fact, in the last two years, for the most part, the steelers have been good in defense in this situation (top 10 in 2017 and 2018 in 3rd down defense).

But sometimes the opponent is not often in 3rd down...This is the problem... Like in the game against the Chiefs, KC had only had 5 3rd down attempts in the entire game and they scored 6 TD !!!!

I've never seen a team scored more TD than 3rd down attempts in a game before this game!

[Mojouw]

In fact, in the last two years, for the most part, the steelers have been good in defense in this situation (top 10 in 2017 and 2018 in 3rd down defense).

But sometimes the opponent is not often in 3rd down...This is the problem... Like in the game against the Chiefs, KC had only had 5 3rd down attempts in the entire game and they scored 6 TD !!!!

I've never seen a team scored more TD than 3rd down attempts in a game before this game!

Good point. And now we are back to turnovers. You can limit possessions by forcing punts or turning the ball over. You gotta be able to do both against these high powered offenses. Give your offense more chances to put up pinball numbers as well. The Steelers cause a comically low amount of turnovers. Whenever they force a decent amount, they tend to go really deep in the playoffs.

[polamalubeast]

Good point. And now we are back to turnovers. You can limit possessions by forcing punts or turning the ball over. You gotta be able to do both against these high powered offenses. Give your offense more chances to put up pinball numbers as well. The Steelers cause a comically low amount of turnovers. Whenever they force a decent amount, they tend to go really deep in the playoffs.

Not just turnovers .... but turnovers that gives us great field position in offense ..... Most of the turnovers of the steelers had last year did not give a great field position for the steelers after that ... I mean our offense had the worst field position of the NFL last year and that was one of the reasons why.

[teegre]

Not just turnovers .... but turnovers that gives us great field position in offense ..... Most of the turnovers of the steelers had last year did not give a great field position for the steelers after that ... I mean our offense had the worst field position of the NFL last year and that was one of the reasons why.

Not all turnovers are created equal.

Getting an INT in the end zone takes away 7 points. Getting an INT in your own red-zone gives you an automatic 3 points.

Whereas, getting an INT 45 yards downfield (on third down) is basically a punt. Similarly, when the opposition is on our 40 (no man’s land) getting an INT at the 20 is also basically just a punt.

[JimHarbaugh'ssoakedtissue]

Not all turnovers are created equal.

Getting an INT in the end zone takes away 7 points. Getting an INT in your own red-zone gives you an automatic 3 points.

Whereas, getting an INT 45 yards downfield (on third down) is basically a punt. Similarly, when the opposition is on our 40 (no man’s land) getting an INT at the 20 is also basically just a punt.

Yep I posted the same thing last night in the Buy or sell AB thread. I think Ben hurt us where he was throwing the ints then the amount. Everyone wants to talk about the amount and ignores this.

[pczach]

Yep I posted the same thing last night in the Buy or sell AB thread. I think Ben hurt us where he was throwing the ints then the amount. Everyone wants to talk about the amount and ignores this.

And yet they were still fantastic in red zone scoring efficiency.

Frankly, I think that there are multiple issues that contribute to the interceptions:

1. Ben forces the ball sometimes. He needs to protect the ball more.

2. Special teams suck, and leave the offense constantly losing the field position battle and having to go the length of the field to score. That means more plays to execute and more chances to make a mistake.

3. The defense doesn't create turnovers, and just like #2, Ben and the offense always have to go a long distance to score which creates an environment to make more mistakes. The more plays per drive, the greater the chance for mistakes.

4. The lack of commitment to the run tips tendencies to the defense, and in some games there is no balance to the offense or unpredictability.

5. The lack of confidence in the field goal unit probably put added pressure on making plays and not leaving it up to a long field goal attempt.

6. Bad luck. It seems like almost every time Ben got a pass tipped last year, it went right to a defender. Between the fumbles they couldn't jump on, the dropped interceptions from the defense, and seemingly every pass that was touched getting intercepted...they were on the wrong side of "shit happens" last season. It was just one of those years.


It sure would be nice to be the team creating turnovers, getting short fields, and having extra possessions every game.

[Born2Steel]

However, turnovers, field position, QB hurries, etc, all aside, 60 sacks would be a good thing for this defense. I say go for it.

[munchy]

Not all turnovers are created equal.

Getting an INT in the end zone takes away 7 points. Getting an INT in your own red-zone gives you an automatic 3 points.

Whereas, getting an INT 45 yards downfield (on third down) is basically a punt. Similarly, when the opposition is on our 40 (no man’s land) getting an INT at the 20 is also basically just a punt.

same could be said for our turnovers.
i know ben has taken a lot of crap for his league leading ints last year but it would be interesting to find out how many of those lead to points for our opposition.
yes, bens ints potentially kept us from scoring on some drives but maybe the one4s he threw didnt hurt us as much as people think(or maybe they did)

[Born2Steel]

As a branch-off of this article thread, consider this defense as a whole, as of today. The strength of this D is the DL which looks to be the same with the addition of Buggs(whom I think will be a good player here). The OLBs were not really addressed other than Smith, time will tell. ILBs better be vastly improved with adding Bush and Gilbert. CBs are already better with adding Nelson and getting Sutton and Allen another year in. Did the safeties get better with adding Barron? Edmunds is a year wiser, add Barron, Davis at year 2 in the same position maybe this safety group is better this year? Maybe.

One thing I must look at that goes hand in hand with this train of thought. If the team is better personnel-wise, and they do not improve as a defense, then full blame falls on Butler. I feel that adding Austin and Bradley are substantial upgrades at position coach, although Burns failed miserably under Bradley and Sutton took a step back.

[polamalubeast]

One thing our defense needs to be better is when our offense makes a turnovers

Looks like most of the time our offense makes a turnovers, the opponent scores a TD, regardless of the field position ... As in the game against Denver in 2018, after Conner's fumble, the Broncos were still 80 yards to score a TD, but they had an easy drive of 80 yards for a TD.

Same thing in the playoffs in Denver in 2015 ... After the fumble of Fitzgerald Toussaint, the Broncos were still at 65 yards to go for a TD, so our defense deserves blame on this TD too.Same thing after the Mendenhall fumble in the XLV super bowl against Green Bay.

Our offense needs to protect the ball better, but our defense also needs to react better when our offense makes a turnovers .... When the opponent is at 50 yards or more for a TD, no reason to give an easy TD.

[teegre]

same could be said for our turnovers.
i know ben has taken a lot of crap for his league leading ints last year but it would be interesting to find out how many of those lead to points for our opposition.
yes, bens ints potentially kept us from scoring on some drives but maybe the one4s he threw didnt hurt us as much as people think(or maybe they did)

Very, very true.

An 40-yard INT in third-&-forever is basically a punt. At the opponent’s 40 yard line, an INT at the 20 is essentially a punt. Those do not bug me.

Red-zone INTs, though...

From last season, I can only really remember one. It was the one at the end of the Denver game, where he threw it to the D-lineman. Painful.

[hawaiiansteeler]

Red-zone INTs, though...

From last season, I can only really remember one. It was the one at the end of the Denver game, where he threw it to the D-lineman. Painful.

and then blamed AB for it on his radio show

[teegre]

and then blamed AB for it on his radio show

Technically, I believe his words were something to the tune of: “I should have gone to JuJu four times.”

He was correct. JuJu has the hot hand(s).