Pressure Percentage: Final 2009 Results

Back in 2008 Bucs Central broke down how effective each NFL teams was a getting pressure on opposing quarterbacks, well those stats are back! We once again broke down the numbers, armed with are geek squad excel workbook and stats readily available from Profootballfocus.com and NFL.com we added, subtracted and divided to see just how far the Buccaneers dropped in the rankings from 2008.

Based on the information from 2008, four of the bottom five teams spent first round picks on prospects, that either play defensive end or outside rush linebacker positions, while one drafted a player that many had graded as a first round talent, but fell to the third round.

Looking at the final numbers for 2009, if the trend from 2008 continues will we see the bottom teams in terms of “Pressure Percentage” once again be drafting to fill needs?

Now looking at the stats from 2009 the ” Total Pre” column represents sacks, plus quarterback hits plus quarterback pressures. The “Total Sacks Plus Att” represents the number of passes plus sacks each defense faced. The “%” column represents the percentage a team was able to get pressure i.e. sacks, plus quarterback hits, plus pressures, then divided by the total amount of attempts plus sacks.

The “Pre Per Drop Backs” is the actual number a quarterback was able to drop back before a team was able to apply pressure.

Rk	Team	Total Pre	Total Sacks Plus Att	%	Pre Per Drop Backs
1	Minnesota Vikings	309	569	54%	1.84
2	Dallas Cowboys	320	606	53%	1.89
3	New York Jets	267	531	50%	1.99
4	Philadelphia Eagles	287	618	46%	2.15
5	New Orleans Saints	264	594	44%	2.25
6	Arizona Cardinals	271	619	44%	2.28
7	Cleveland Browns	243	556	44%	2.29
8	Indianapolis Colts	259	596	43%	2.30
9	Atlanta Falcons	239	563	42%	2.36
10	New York Giants	221	530	42%	2.40
11	Pittsburgh Steelers	249	598	42%	2.40
12	Miami Dolphins	216	523	41%	2.42
13	Green Bay Packers	244	591	41%	2.42
14	Carolina Panthers	211	528	40%	2.50
15	San Francisco 49ers	246	620	40%	2.52
16	Tennessee Titans	243	619	39%	2.55
17	Houston Texans	224	573	39%	2.56
18	New England Patriots	206	530	39%	2.57
19	Denver Broncos	211	544	39%	2.58
20	Oakland Raiders	187	487	38%	2.60
21	Chicago Bears	217	566	38%	2.61
22	Washington Redskins	212	557	38%	2.63
23	Baltimore Ravens	210	560	38%	2.67
24	San Diego Chargers	209	560	37%	2.68
25	Kansas City Chiefs	193	554	35%	2.87
26	Seattle Seahawks	212	609	35%	2.87
27	St. Louis Rams	181	535	34%	2.96
28	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	173	515	34%	2.98
29	Cincinnati Bengals	188	576	33%	3.06
30	Buffalo Bills	177	565	31%	3.19
31	Detroit Lions	181	588	31%	3.25
32	Jacksonville Jaguars	156	554	28%	3.55
	NFL AVERAGE	226	567	40%	2.51

Based on the information from 2008 & 2009, the Buccaneers dropped from 12th in the league in 2008 all the way down to 28th in just one season. It’s no secret to win in the NFL a team must do four things adequately well in order to be a legitimate contender year in and year out. Those are protect the passer, open holes in the running game, get after the quarterback and stop the run. Based on that and an earlier stats breakdown on ” Pass Blocking sack Percentage” it’s safe to say the Bucs attention will surely be on upgrading the talent along its defensive line heading into the draft and free agency.

Whether or not it will be with the consensus number one overall prospect at defensive tackle remains to be seen. But I would not rule out the team adding a few new defensive lineman to the roster this offseason.

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