In addition to quarterback sacks, Falcons coach Mike Smith considers the number of quarterback knockdowns and hurries. The Falcons’ pass rush, when considered in its totality, is affecting the quarterback on 24.8 percent of the opposition’s pass attempts.
The Falcons have 20 sacks, 52 knockdowns and 25 quarterback hurries, according to Stats Inc. Opponents have attempted 390 passes on the Falcons. So on 24.8 percent of the pass attempts, the Falcons are achieving either a sack, a knockdown or a hurry.
“I look at it like we can do more,” defensive end John Abraham said. “I’m not knocking out the D-line, but I definitely feel like we leave a lot of things out on the field with just small things. I think our aggressiveness comes out, but sometimes you can be so aggressive that you mess up on the small things. We have to fine tune things here and there.”
There were a couple of times against Minnesota last week, where the Falcons got out of their lanes and cleared a path for rookie quarterback Christian Ponder to escape.
“When we watch the tape a lot of times we’ll see ‘oh, if you’d just stayed up field’ or ‘if you’d just did this,’’’ Abraham said. “We harp on it a lot because we know we can do better.”
Abraham has four sacks, 12 knockdowns and three hurries. Defensive end Ray Edwards has two sacks, four knockdowns and 5.5 hits. Backup defensive end Kroy Biermann has one sack, seven knockdowns and three hurries. Linebacker Sean Weatherspoon has three sacks, six knockdowns and two hurries.
“It’s about hurrying the quarterback and knocking the quarterback down after he throws the football,” Smith said. “Those are the plays that have a cumulative effect, not only on the quarterback, but on the offense in general. That’s really the reason that we emphasize our pressure on the quarterback. The sacks, again, are overrated.”
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