Rodgers' Improved Play Reduces Sack Numbers
NFL Fanhouse blogger J.J. Cooper timed every sack recorded in the 2010 season. The results spoke well for Aaron Rodgers' development.
By PackerAaron
An oft-repeated theme throughout the 2009 season and the off-season leading up to 2010 was the tendency of starting quarterback Aaron Rodgers to hold the ball too long.
It would seem Rodgers, head coach Mike McCarthy and quarterbacks coach Tom Clements have made some excellent headway in correcting the problem, at least according to the numbers compiled by J.J. Cooper, an NFL Fanhouse blogger. Cooper took on the incredible task of timing each and every sack of the 2010 NFL season.
From Cooper:
In logging the time of each and every sack in the NFL in 2010...I chose three seconds as the demarcation line because it's a pretty fair cutoff point for where a sack can no longer be blamed on a quarterback's blockers. The median sack time in the NFL last year was 2.7 seconds, just as it was in 2009. Obviously a line should be able to hold a three-man rush back longer than a eight-man all-out blitz, but for practical purposes, three seconds is the point where a quarterback should generally know that he has to get rid of the ball.
Rodgers came in with only 10 "long" sacks and 21 "short" sacks.
The full list is below:
| Quarterback | Team | Over 3 Seconds | 3 Seconds Or Less |
Total Sacks |
| Joe Flacco | Ravens | 25 | 15 | 40 |
| Ben Roethlisberger | Steelers | 20 | 12 | 32 |
| Jay Cutler | Bears | 19 | 33 | 52 |
| Michael Vick | Eagles | 19 | 13 | 32 |
| Jason Campbell | Raiders | 16 | 18 | 34 |
| Kyle Orton | Broncos | 15 | 19 | 34 |
| Mark Sanchez | Jets | 14 | 13 | 27 |
| Matt Cassell | Chiefs | 14 | 12 | 26 |
| Phillip Rivers | Chargers | 13 | 25 | 38 |
| Sam Bradford | Rams | 12 | 23 | 35 |
| Brett Favre | Vikings | 11 | 11 | 22 |
| Colt McCoy | Browns | 11 | 12 | 23 |
| Aaron Rodgers | Packers | 10 | 21 | 31 |
| Josh Freeman | Buccaneers | 10 | 9 | 19 |
| Donovan McNabb | Redskins | 9 | 28 | 37 |
| Matt Hasselback | Seahawks | 9 | 20 | 29 |
| Matt Schaub | Texans | 9 | 23 | 32 |
| Alex Smith | 49ers | 8 | 17 | 25 |
| David Garrard | Jaguars | 8 | 24 | 32 |
| Derek Anderson | Cardinals | 8 | 18 | 26 |
| Tom Brady | Patriots | 8 | 17 | 25 |
| Kevin Kolb | Eagles | 7 | 9 | 16 |
| Matt Ryan | Falcons | 7 | 16 | 23 |
| Ryan Fitzpatrick | Bills | 7 | 16 | 23 |
| Troy Smith | 49ers | 7 | 11 | 18 |
| Vince Young | Titans | 7 | 6 | 13 |
| Chad Henne | Dolphins | 5 | 23 | 28 |
| Drew Brees | Saints | 5 | 21 | 26 |
| Jimmy Claussen | Panthers | 5 | 29 | 34 |
| Jon Kitna | Cowboys | 5 | 15 | 20 |
| Shaun Hill | Lions | 5 | 12 | 17 |
| Carson Palmer | Bengals | 4 | 22 | 26 |
| Drew Stanton | Lions | 4 | 2 | 6 |
| Joe Webb | Vikings | 4 | 4 | 8 |
| Charlie Whitehurst | Seahawks | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| Dennis Dixon | Steelers | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| Max Hall | Cardinals | 3 | 10 | 13 |
| Rex Grossman | Redskins | 3 | 6 | 9 |
| Seneca Wallace | Browns | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| Tim Tebow | Broncos | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| Tony Romo | Cowboys | 3 | 4 | 7 |
| Trent Edwards | Jaguars | 3 | 8 | 11 |
| Brian Brohm | Bills | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Brodie Croyle | Chiefs | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Bruce Gradkowski | Raiders | 2 | 8 | 10 |
| Charlie Batch | Steelers | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Matt Flynn | Packers | 2 | 5 | 7 |
| Matt Moore | Panthers | 2 | 10 | 12 |
| Todd Collins | Bears | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Tyler Thigpen | Dolphins | 2 | 8 | 10 |
| Bryon Leftwich | Steelers | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| David Carr | Texans | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Eli Manning | Giants | 1 | 15 | 16 |
| Jake Delhomme | Browns | 1 | 5 | 6 |
| John Skelton | Cardinals | 1 | 8 | 9 |
| Joshua Cribbs | Browns | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Josh Johnson | Buccaneers | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Kerry Collins | Titans | 1 | 12 | 13 |
| Leon Washington | Seahawks | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Matt Stafford | Lions | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Peyton Manning | Colts | 1 | 14 | 15 |
| Richard Bartel | Cardinals | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Tarvaris Jackson | Vikings | 1 | 5 | 6 |
| Tyler Palko | Chiefs | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Brian St. Pierre | Panthers | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Caleb Hanie | Bears | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Chase Daniels | Saints | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Jordan Palmer | Bengals | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Mark Brunell | Jets | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Rusty Smith | Titans | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Stephen McGee | Cowboys | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Todd Bouman | Jaguars | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Tony Pike | Panthers | 0 | 1 | 1 |
I think its interesting that while Rodgers has improved his tendency to hold the ball in pretty dramatic fashion, Ben Roethlisberger, another quarterback who holds the ball in search of the big play, remains near the top of a list like this.
Just another example of improvement from within. Like I always say - that phrase applies to everybody on the team, not just guys who noticeably struggled the previous season, but to star players as well.
Comments (4)
February 26, 2011 at 05:18 pm
It's interesting but it needs to include the number of attempts and sacks per attempt. Roethlisberger, Vick, & Campbell threw the ball less than anyone else at the top of that list. You can't throw the ball and be sacked on the same play, so the number of sacks need to be added to the total attempt figure as well.
Rodgers: 475 attempts + 31 sacks = 506 attempts, 1 sack / 16 att, 1 long sack / 50.6 att
Roethlisberger: 389 + 32 = 421, 1 sack / 13 att, 1 long sack / 21 att
etc.
Sack totals don't tell a lot if we don't know how many times they threw. Bradford for instance has almost 275 more attempts than Campbell.
February 26, 2011 at 05:50 pm
+1
I kept thinking about it looking at the guys that were sacked the least.
Most of them are backups.
The math should've been, like you said, long sacks / pass attempts + number of sacks
But that's presentation. The work the blogger did is still incredible.
February 26, 2011 at 08:16 pm
The best part is that Cutler got sacked in less than 3 seconds 33 times.
Sieve.
February 27, 2011 at 12:20 am
It was interesting that both the Manning Brothers were almost identical in their "sacking habits" Peyton and Eli both were only sacked once in over 3 seconds and Peyton was sacked 14 times in under 3 seconds and Eli was sacked 15 times. Weird.