Dawgs By Nature
The defense is set to continue its status in 2025
The Cleveland Browns lost 14 games last season. This came on the heels of an 11-win season and a postseason appearance.
RELATED: WHERE DO BROWNS DEFENDERS RANK ON PFF’S TOP-32 LIST?
The defense kept them in games while the offense struggled to score points and run the ball. Cleveland’s defense was ranked 11th in pass defense and graded sixth overall. Meanwhile, the offense was 24th in passing and ranked #29 at running the ball.
Pretty simple math, eh?
Total tackles, interceptions, and sacks are the hallmarks of any defense. There are other parameters, such as total yards allowed either in the run game or through the air, the number of batted passes, and tackles for loss. But the aforementioned stats are considered the Big-3.
Or, are they?
There is another metric that is fast becoming a major stat: pressures.
Pressures are used to evaluate how effective a defense is on passing downs. But this stat differs in scope and what it actually measures.
Registering sacks, this has always been a definitive moment in any game, similar to a hard dunk in a basketball contest. The game suddenly comes crashing down as the home crowd goes berserk, or the visiting stadium goes eerily quiet. A sack alters an offense’s current drive and not only takes away a useful down, but adds yardage to the grand total needed to gain another set of downs.
Sometimes, a sack will result in an injury to either the opposing team’s quarterback or to the blocker who attempted to stretch a hamstring or groin muscle trying to reach farther than his body is designed to achieve. And in today’s game, armed with various penalties designed to protect signal-callers, the play can also go against the defense.
Sacks are exact. Sacks are easy to interpret. Sacks are straightforward to decide upon in the stat column for those keeping up with the game’s data. They are a specific form of pressure, and either the quarterback is knocked down on the ground or he’s not.
Other pass rushing stats, such as QB hits, knockdowns, and hurries, have their own agenda.
A hurry is when a quarterback is forced to throw the ball before he is ready. A knockdown describes when the ball has left the quarterback’s hand, and yet he is hit and falls to the turf. A QB hit is when a defender makes contact with the quarterback, but does not bring him down, but usually disrupts the QB’s actions.
Pressures are defined as all of the above.
A defensive player can achieve any of the above stats and also receive a “pressure” in his game numbers. Essentially, a single “pressure” is a defensive act that will interrupt the quarterback’s ability to make a clean throw.
Is a sack also a pressure? You bet.
Now, in a game, the word “pressure” can also have another meaning. Defenders constantly “apply pressure” to their opponent’s...
