PatsPropaganda

Alright, the Gronk and Hernando posts are donezo, time to get back to some real football talk. In the world of casual football fans there’s one way to get pressure on the quarterback. It’s a Demarcus Ware, James Harrison or Lawrence Taylor type, screaming off the edge, causing mayhem on every snap.

But in reality pass rush is so much more than that. It’s a number of different factors, including (and just as importantly) the interior rushers and the quality of the coverage (especially taking away the quick throws).

So while the Patriots don’t have a feared outside linebacker and look now (reminder: BEFORE FREE AGENCY) like they’re going to have the same problems  they had last year we’re preaching patience with the pass rush problems that existed last season because the Pats were hammered with injuries to their interior rushers in 2010.

One thing that I’ve talked about extensively this off-season, especially on the podcast with Frenz, is how you have to take in the whole picture of pass rush before you can make a judgement on how good the Pats will be in 2011. So while Ty Warren, Mike Wright, Myron Pryor and Leigh Bodden don’t play OLB, their return to the lineup should have a definite effect on making opposing quarterbacks uncomfortable in the pocket.

This is the gist of what our response has been to pass rush panickers of Patriots Nation.

Well today, (hat tip to Frenz) comes this article from Pro Football Focus. Now I usually take their rankings with a grain of salt, but these numbers jump of the page when it comes to Mike Wright.

I’d hazard a guess that, unprompted, not many people would say Patriot Mike Wright was the most productive interior pass rushing lineman last year. He was, and it was such a shame (for him, for the Pats, and for football fans) that his season was cut short. Wright may not be that great against the run, but you only need to watch his performance against Pittsburgh to know what he’s capable of as a pass rusher.

Wright is ranked as the number one in Pass Rush Productivity in the NFL in 2010, and ranked 8th overall in the past three seasons. Now it seems even more apparent how big it was to lose him. But no one wants to talk about the interior guys when they slam the Pats pass rush woes.

The problem of losing Wright was even magnified even more when the Pats lost their top interior rusher behind him, Myron Pryor. If you don’t have push up the middle the QB is able to step up in the pocket, thus nullifying even the most dangerous edge pass rushers.

For the stretch run and playoffs the Pats were forced to use defensive lineman who didn’t have the jump and power of guys like Wright and Pryor. With their return in 2011 the Pats outside linebackers and overall pass rush should improve immensely.