Steelers and Ravens Blitzmasters - Seattle?

[ivotuk]

SHould we continue to blitz at a high rate? I say Yes, but with the Caveat to do less against QBs that are good at beating the blitz.

The 2 highest blitzing teams in the NFL at 40+% per games. And both are Top 6 in scoring defense. The only defensive stat that matters.

#1 is Miami! 18.6 ppg
#2 is Baltimore 18.9 ppg
#3 is the Rams 19.0 ppg
#4 Chiefs 19.0 ppg
#5 Colts 19.4 ppg
#6 Steelers 20.3 ppg
#10 is 49ers. They were higher before playing Seattle 21.6 ppg

I think this is a good argument for us to continue blitzing.

Seattle after this weekend? #24 at 28.4 ppg

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/ ... team_stats

An article with some videos/pictures:

https://www.behindthesteelcurtain.com/2 ... bud-dupree

Article on Steleers/Ravens blitzing:

The Steelers lead the NFL in pressure percentage at 40%. This could be problematic for Lamar Jackson, who has just a 53.5 QBR this season when pressured. The Steelers get pressure by blitzing 42.7% of the time - 2nd highest in the NFL.

Steelers & Ravens blitz at the two highest rates in the NFL per @NextGenStats. Big Ben leads the NFL, completing 70.5% of passes vs blitz this season in part due to having the fastest time to throw (2.29s). Lamar Jackson has not taken advantage of the blitz the way he did in 2019 pic.twitter.com/lQgmw1ncRl— NFL Research (@NFLResearch) October 27, 2020

Of course, Baltimore is the only team that blitzes more often than the Steelers, at 47.2%. But unlike the Ravens, the Steelers have a quarterback who has excelled under pressure. Roethlisberger is getting rid of the ball faster than he ever has in his career, and as a result he has the highest completion percentage in the league against blitzes, plus the second-most touchdowns.

https://www.nbcsports.com/washington/ra ... ng-numbers


From 2 years ago:

According to our charting, the Steelers have registered 15 of their 39 total sacks this season when five or more pass rushers have been sent after the opposing quarterback. Additionally, four of the team’s 6 total interceptions have come on plays in which more than four pass rushers were sent.

If you are curious about how successful opposing offenses have been against the Steelers defense when facing five or more rushers, we have that data available as well. According to our charting, opposing offenses have registered 70 (44.3%) successful passing plays on the 158 times the Steelers defense has sent five or more pass rushers after the quarterback so far this season. Curiously enough, 12 of those 70 successful plays resulted in touchdowns with two coming this past Sunday in the team’s loss road loss to the Denver Broncos.

On the 32 third and fourth down plays that the Steelers defense has sent five or more pass rushers on, only 11 (34.4%) of them were successful ones.

https://steelersdepot.com/2018/11/insid ... g-week-13/

 

[TwistedHusky]

Of course you blitz! Always. All the Time.

And getting burned is not even that bad an outcome.

If you get burned and give up the big play, the chances are you give up the score sooner. That gets you the ball back so you can score.

The problem was our defense giving up the scores but allowing the opposing team to suck the clock dry doing it. That limited our offensive touches while at the same time resting their defense.

If they score fast, we get to continually keep their defense on the field - making it easier to score later in the game.

We don't get pressure with the front four. Not even close to consistently. So send the rest of the D.

And if you give up the TD to a QB great at beating the blitz? No worries. You are giving up TDs now anyway with the standard defense. The only difference is now you get the ball back sooner and more often.

The objective should be to make TDs cheap not dear, because we can score them in bunches and most teams cannot.

Finally, the blitz will sometimes hit home. Occasionally you will get flagged for roughing the QB (see the last game), but so what? Soften up the QB and he is much less likely to be able to hurt you in the 4th. You were giving up that 15 with the old defense anyway. And the rest of the time you end up pressuring the QB and forcing punts or TOs.

If you can score easily and have a defense that struggles to stop teams from scoring in base D? Then applying heavy pressure on D, even at the cost of giving up a few TDs is a no-brainer.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

Getting Adams back will be HUGE in this respect, much more blitzing. It works.

 

[TwistedHusky]

Here is a good discussion on why we should be blitzing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sH3WGgRkrk