Pat's note: I'm a data-driven guy and this has things in spades. I do think the offensive line has done better as a unit, but these numbers give you a lot of good things to think about. Plus I can appreciate the time it took to get this data.

This is a deeper dive looking at the offensive line’s pass protection performance following my previous post "Ok, but What about the Offensive Line? (A Study)." In my previous post, I concluded that their performance was terrible and they showed no improvement throughout the 2018 season. However, this conclusion was based on the assumption that quarterback sacks and quarterback hits were primarily the result of poor pass protection by the offensive line. The purpose of this follow up post is to challenge this assumption.

Ideally, I would have reviewed all footage of the 2018 season so I could assess all 125 times the quarterback was hit, but I don’t have that kind of time. Instead, I reviewed the video of 42 of the 48 sacks in 2018, as shown in the table below. I managed this because almost all the sacks were easily accessible in highlight videos. This assessment assumes that the sample (42 sacks reviewed) is reasonably representative of the circumstances of the population (125 quarterback hits).

Sacks in 2018

See the pie charts below for the breakdown. Or keep reading for the details.

42/48 sacks reviewed because I could not find video of 6 of the sacks

22/42 not the result of bad OL pass protection

• The sacks that were not due to bad OL pass protection resulted from the QB not passing when guys were open, the QB not passing because no one was open, the RB or TE missing their block, or the defense sending more defenders than the offensive had blockers. Also, sacks were called on a failed QB sneak and a bad snap that went over the QB’s head.

• QB held it too long: 9

• No one open: 4

• Overload blitz: 4

• RB/TE missed block: 3

• Failed QB sneak

• Bad snap

20/42 the fault of bad OL pass protection

14/20 OL beat physically (blocked the right guy, but got beat)

• LT (74): 4; not surprising given the RDE is usually the best pass rusher on the D

• LG (75): 4, two of these were when the C/LG double teamed the DT and still got beat

• C (58): 3, two of these were when the C/LG double teamed the DT and still got beat

• RG (68): 2, but one of these was a really hard block (PA pass; had to pull and pass block the rushing opposite side DE)

• RT (69): 4; not too bad for a rookie

6/20 OL beat mentally (blocked wrong guy due to misreading or not recognizing a blitz or stunt)

• LT (74): 0; not surprising

• LG (75): 3; twice the DE did a stunt to the inside and the LG did not slide off his man to pick him up

• C (58): 0

• RG (68): 1; helped the C instead of picking up the blitzing LB

• RT (69): 2; not too bad for a rookie

Keeping the same offensive line, sacks in 2019 can be significantly reduced by:

• QB getting rid of the ball; too often the QB stared down his primary (who was covered) while his check downs were open; QB needs to feel the pressure and react

• Scheme an "outlet receiver" who runs a short route so the QB can dump it off if no one is open down field or if there is an overload blitz

• QB throws it away if everyone is covered and there is nowhere to scramble

• Run more screens and draws to slow down the pass rush

• Second year improvement of RT (69)

• And, of course, we will have so many offensive weapons that the defensive will be on their heels trying to figure out where the ball is headed