RolandDeschain":3en6euaw said:
Marvin, regardless of whatever you say, Aldon had good sack numbers after getting his injury while Justin was still playing, then when Justin went out, he hit a cold streak of getting none for what, 5 straight games through the Super Bowl? After averaging 2 per game?
Yes....his didn't get another sack after Justin got hurt. Trust me, I've heard it 1000 times. So has Aldon
Are the two connected? Of course they are. Teams double and even triple teamed Aldon in those games. He was also playing hurt. Its not a matter of Justin being the sole reason for Aldons success, its an issue of nobody else in the injury depleted front 7 forcing teams to account for other guys while double and triple teaming Aldon. Thats some of the reason why RJF and Sopoaga are gone. Thats why they took a DE in the second round and an OLB in the 3rd round and its a good thing they get Parys Haralson back after being out all last year.
Heres the thing tho....he never stopped getting pressure. He pressured Wilson several times and Wilson did what Wilson does and eluded half the D. Brady got rid of the ball in a blink and then started snapping the ball every 25 seconds so the D couldn't even breathe let alone rush (and I'm thinking teams are going to start doing that alot more this year). Even then, Aldon crushed Brady right at the release several times and intercepted a pass.
He pressured Rodgers several times and CRUSHED Ryan. He completely OWNED the LT on one play jacking him into Ryan and it was a miracle that Ryan was able to get the ball off incomplete.
Aldon didn't get any sacks after Justin was hurt, but it is incorrect to say he wasn't productive. Oh..and BTW...Justin was BACK in the playoffs. He only missed 2.5 games.
Another thing that people don't seem to understand is that on 3rd downs Aldon doesn't play next to Justin....he plays on the opposite side of the formation.
Finally...the players in the NFL ranked Aldon SEVENTH in the entire NFL. You can say all you want about how it's flawed and players are ranked too high or too low....but the fact that the PLAYERS ranked him that high should tell you something. The players who have to face him put him there. No player has ever in the 30+ years that the stat has been tracked had as many sacks through 2 seasons as Aldon. NOBODY. There are alot of players who played next to some other great players...yet NOBODY has done that. I'm not trying to make the argument that Aldon is the best defender in the NFL because I think that's JJ Watt...and I don't think Aldon is the best defender on his OWN TEAM....but to dismiss him as an average player who is "made" by a guy who had 3.5 sacks last year is simply ludicrous.
Aldon didn't say he would get 30 sacks anyways. The interviewer just asked him what he thought the absolute ceiling for a sack record would be. Aldon said 30, Jared Allen said 25. The only claim he made was that he was a candidate to break the sack record. Which isn't outrageous since with all those Justin Smith triple holds last year he was on track to beat it.
