Pagano Addresses Defenses' Lack Of Sacks

[chargertom]

In the NFL these days, pressuring the quarterback is a must.

While the San Diego Chargers rank seventh in total defense, their Achilles heel this season has been their lack of producing sacks. The Bolts have the third lowest total in the league, 14, while their opponent this week, the Denver Broncos, leads the NFL with more than double that amount, 31.

It’s the team’s struggle to get to the quarterback that has defensive coordinator John Pagano most concerned.

“It’s always a disappointment because the opportunities are there,” he said. “We call them MOPS, missed opportunities, where we’ve had pressure on the quarterback and not had the ability to get him down when we had the opportunity to get him down. There are several plays that go through my head in each game where we had chances to get guys down with the pressure and he’s scrambled out of there. We’ve got to do a better job. We understand creating pressure helps any defense, and that’s something that each week we keep working at it and it’s something that we’ve got to do a better job of. When we have the opportunity to get him down, we have to make the play.”

Pagano said the struggles start up front, beginning with the four man rush combination between the defensive line and linebackers.

“The four man rush is (struggling) where the ball is coming out quick,” he said. “Teams like last week are doing a great job of chipping, and working their way out with the tight end and the running back. We’ve got to get better in that area. It’s something that we’ve been working on and improving, and not having to create those different types of rushers to always get pressure on the quarterback. Like I said from day one, any time you have a four man rush going and working and the opportunities that we have in those situations, we’ve got to go after them. And we’ve got to keep working it. It gives us the opportunity to do more things.”
The task of bringing the quarterback down doesn’t get any easier this week against Peyton Manning. At 36-years old, he has a strong pocket presence and gets the ball off quick.

“He’s still very athletic with the way he moves,” said Pagano. “He works at it. That’s what he does, and it shows out there on the field.”

As a whole, the Chargers have done relatively well on the defensive side of the football. But if they want to be even more effective in passing situations, particularly on third down, they must do a better job of bringing down the quarterback.

[chargertom]

Both of our lines are going to have to bring their A game.

Denver can get after the quarterback, and Manning has great protection.

[DiegoFan6336]

I think it all comes down to two things so far....

1) Not enough pass rushers are winning their 1 on 1 battles
2) They are not finishing plays when they do get to the QB

Those two things are the difference between successful pass rushing team and the Chargers. It literally comes down to a half second here or 2 feet away there. Great players and teams find a way to get there and others "just miss".

[ReadyToBolt]

Maybe they are just used to playing our O-line in practice.

[richpjr]

I think the biggest reason why we are close but not finishing off is our DT play getting no push up front. Opposing QBs generally have a clean pocket to step up into and our OLBs are pushed too far down field on most occasions. Contrast that with our offense - our pocket is regularly collapsing on Rivers not often giving him room to step up which is contributing to his throwing off his back foot and our oline not pushing outside rushers past him, leading to sacks and stripped balls. Watch the difference between our line and theirs this week and see which QB has a huge advantage.

[SDBoltsFan26]

Originally Posted by ReadyToBolt

Maybe they are just used to playing our O-line in practice.

+1

It doesnt take more then 3 to get by our O-Line.

Originally Posted by richpjr

I think the biggest reason why we are close but not finishing off is our DT play getting no push up front. Opposing QBs generally have a clean pocket to step up into and our OLBs are pushed too far down field on most occasions. Contrast that with our offense - our pocket is regularly collapsing on Rivers not often giving him room to step up which is contributing to his throwing off his back foot and our oline not pushing outside rushers past him, leading to sacks and stripped balls. Watch the difference between our line and theirs this week and see which QB has a huge advantage.

Im going to guess Manning get ~10 sec in the pocket vs Rivers ~2.9 sec
Before any type of pressure is applied.

[AFboltfan]

Our secondary is not good enough to take opposing WR's out of play... Opposing QB's don't have to wait for a route to develop. Thats IMO anyways...

If we had better secondary play the QB would have to look longer for an open man giving our pass rushers more time.

[boltsmojo]

The title of this article is misleading. It should not read that Pagano "addresses" the lack of sacks. He's only "discussing" it. "Addressing" an issue implies some kind of action has been taken. That has yet to happen.
I'll be happy if the lack of pressure gets "addressed" this weekend.

[v-jaxdabeast]

Idk what he can do really. If he blitzes peyton manning, he can kill you. But if you give him too much time, he will still kill you. If we bring 4-5 and can get some pressure, we have a good chance to win on sunday.

[thumper300zx]

Originally Posted by AFboltfan

Our secondary is not good enough to take opposing WR's out of play... Opposing QB's don't have to wait for a route to develop. Thats IMO anyways...

If we had better secondary play the QB would have to look longer for an open man giving our pass rushers more time.

Goes both ways. There are coverage sacks and pressure interceptions, right?