Aaron Curry recorded more pressures than sacks. He has the skills and quickness to turn pressure into sacks. Why then did so many of his blitzes end up empty? Tough to say. Maybe he recorded some near-sacks that were lost in the semantics wringer. Once a quarterback tucks to run, it's no longer a sack. It's an ambiguous distinction, but not one that will change in the NFL. Curry was blitzed from the wings, and the length and deliberateness of his route to the quarterback could have contributed. Maybe it's indicative of his just-good agility. Curry is agile, even better than normal agile for a linebacker, but he doesn't compare with Julian Peterson or DeMarcus Ware. Whatever the case, without Peterson, Seattle looks like a team that will struggle to create pass rush. Curry will not fix that. And it once again looks like a team that will struggle against mobile quarterbacks. Curry will not fix that either. However great, Curry is not the post-Julian Peterson pass-rusher Seattle needs.
- (Left) Curry slides towards the middle, contains, contains and then pushes into the pile for tackle after a Josh Haden rush of three.
- (Right) Dominique Davis play-fakes then rolls right. That puts him on an island opposite Curry. Curry briefly holds contain, but when he sees his teammate drop into the flat behind him, Curry rushes Davis. Davis is initially eight yards away and drops another two before Curry closes the gap. Davis throws it away before contact.
- (Left) Wake Forest is in a 4-2 nickel. Curry blitzes up the gut, but it's a draw and Haden runs past Curry before Curry can redirect. That's probably the quintessential agility play for a linebacker, and Curry is just too quick, too massive and too stiff to redirect so suddenly. Haden only gets five and the drive ends, but group Curry in with the rest of Seattle's front seven as another guy that's great on a line but can be run around.