Beating the blitz

NO defensive coordinator Gregg Williams likes to send the house, so the 'Hawks QB should be prepared to see a lot of blitzing on Saturday. We all know Charlie's got better mobility than Matt, but does that mean that Hass would be killed by the blitz?

In part 1 of the playoffs podcast at the link above (about 34:00 in), Bill Simmons has a conversation with Aaron Schatz of Football Outsiders and Schatz brings up an interesting stat: Against blitzes of 6 or more, Hasselbeck has averaged 9.5 yards per attempt this season. Against 3-5 pass rushers he's averaging 5.5 yards.

Well color me surprised.

over 1 year ago thebyron 4 comments 1 recs |

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Wonder what the sample size is for 6+ rushers.

9.5 YPA is very high for Hasselbeck. Maybe he’s faced like nine 6+ rushes?

My eyes tell me it’s not about the number of rushers, but getting one guy unblocked and also noticed by Hasselbeck. He sees a guy coming, play’s over.

by jacobstevens on Jan 6, 2011 2:55 PM PST reply actions

Found some of these numbers to supplement this.

http://espn.go.com/blog/nfcwest/post/_/id/30889/resolved-which-qb-seahawks-should-start

I would expect Charlie’s numbers to look a little better with more volume and more experience against 6+ rushers, and Hasselbeck’s to go down with more volume. Neither look sustainable.

But maybe there is something to the coaches and the QB expecting to face a lot of rushers and being prepared to exploit it. 6 of 6 for 128 and a TD is pretty good.

by jacobstevens on Jan 6, 2011 3:33 PM PST up reply actions

FO's Wild Card Preview talks about this a little more

here.

In 2010, Hasselbeck’s numbers have gotten better as teams have brought more rushers. His yards per attempt and Success Rate are below league-average when teams rush him with three, four, or even five defenders. Against big blitzes, though, Hasselbeck has been wildly effective. Teams have brought six players against him 41 times in the data we have charted: He’s averaged 8.8 yards per attempt on those plays, well ahead of the league average of 5.7 yards. His 63 percent Success Rate also blows away the 40 percent average figure. In the first matchup between these two teams, Hasselbeck faced a six-person blitz four times. He completed three of those passes for first downs, and a fourth throw was tipped at the line. All those completions came on third down, and each time, he threw a short pass to Tracy Porter’s side of the field.

by Nate Dogg on Jan 7, 2011 1:14 PM PST reply actions