FOOTBALL OUTSIDERS: 2014 Pressure Plays: Defenses

Very interesting rankings here, with the Patriots having a huge difference in their defense between when they got pressure and when they didn’t.

The Pats got pressure on the quarterback just 22.5% of their snaps, ranking them 25th in the league. However, when they did get pressure in those limited snaps, they were the best defense in the league. But when they didn’t get pressure they fell all the way to 27th in the NFL.

This goes back to something I find myself typing a lot – pressure can protect coverage deficiencies, but great coverage doesn’t matter without pressure. No secondary can cover forever.

In this context it seems more obvious why the Patriots have been loading up on the defensive front seven the last couple years without making any major long-term investments at cornerback (but with a sizable commitment to Devin McCourty at safety).

Getting pressure without blitzing is the key for the defense and now with guys like Easley, Hightower, Collins and others, they should have some versatile pieces to disguise where the four rushers are coming from, giving them the extra jump on the quarterback.