Washington pass rushers getting crash course on `cost of doing business'
Young, Sweat finding path to opposing QBS littered with chip blocks and double teams
Former NFL defensive end Elvis Dumervil once described chip blocks and double teams as “the cost of doing business.” Good pass rushers will often draw that extra attention, be it from a second lineman or in the form of a hefty push from a tight end or running back.
For elite pass rushers, that attention comes regularly.
Because “when you're an elite edge rusher, teams game plan you,” former draft analyst and current Las Vegas Raiders GM Mike Mayock once said. “It's very rare that a team will say, `We think our tackle can handle Von Miller by himself.' ”
After a year together on the Washington Football Team's vaunted defensive line, Chase Young and Montez Sweat have become focal points for offensive co-ordinators, and with good reason. They're two of the most talented young edge rushers in the league, and together they're capable of wreaking havoc.
But so far this season, Washington's star edge rushers have numbers that, while misleading on their own, still sit below expectations. Sweat has seven of Washington's 32 total pressures, including two of the team's six sacks, according to Pro Football Focus. Young has four pressures, but is still awaiting his first sack of the season.
“The numbers are going to come. I'm not really tripping over that,” Young said. “Right now, my biggest focus — our biggest focus as a defence — is everybody just do their individual job, and at the end of their day, it should all come together.”
Part of that is due to mistakes on defence — mistakes coach Ron Rivera and Young, among others, have described as fixable: missed assignments, miscommunication, poor reads and missed tackles. Part of it is also due to the game plans of the Los Angeles Chargers and New York Giants, who used more play action and max protection up front.
Young and Sweat have both experienced plenty of “chippers,” as Young calls them. According to PFF, Young and Sweat have both faced two or more blockers on 20 and 16.9 per cent of their snaps, respectively.
Against the Giants, Young was chipped or double teamed at least seven times. One chip block, courtesy of six-footsix, 265-pound tight end Kyle Rudolph, caught Young on his blindside and knocked him on his back. On most others, he's pushed through, but he's yet to reach the quarterback at a rate most expect.
Miller, now a 10th-year pass rusher for the Denver Broncos, was, like Young, a second-overall draft pick and the NFL'S defensive rookie of the year. He faced extra attention his first season in 2011, but it wasn't until his second year in the league that offences began to zero in on him with their game plans.
“Year 1, I was still flying under their radar,” Miller said during an interview. “I had a good rookie season. Then I think Year 2, it was right off the bat. I started the season with two sacks against Ben Roethlisberger on Sunday Night Football and it's just been hell since then.”
Scheme adjustments, like alignment changes or stunts that force an offensive line to change its protection, can sometimes help to counter the double team blocks.
“Well, part of it is depending on what type of protection they have. There are going to be some people who are going to be singled up. Those guys have to win,” Rivera said. “They really, truly do. Secondly, the guys who are getting doubled have to put it upon themselves to understand how to rush the doubles, how to attack them. That's one of the things that we have been talking about, we've been working with in terms of getting both Chase and Montez to understand what's going to happen.
“Part of it is understanding that, `If I'm going to get this action from this guy, will I attack it that way?' ” Rivera continued. “`If I'm getting this, then I go ahead and do that?' They have to understand exactly what's going to benefit them as far as attacking double teams.”
As offences devote more resources to Young and Sweat, more opportunities are created for others, especially those on the interior of the line. Defensive tackle Jonathan Allen has notched a team high three sacks through the first two games, and Daron Payne has the sixth best pass rush win rate (20 per cent) for his position, according to ESPN.
And Young and Sweat have still ranked well above the norm when taking on two or more blockers; over the last two seasons, the average win rate for an edge rusher against two or more blockers has been about 13.5 per cent. Young and Sweat have combined for a win rate of 16 per cent this year, per PFF.
“We feel like you only need four of us to really affect the game,” Young said. “How we look at it, where we go, that's where the defence goes. That's just how we take it on. So we know every game, we got to be at our best for everything to go.”
Washington defensive co-ordinator Jack Del Rio, who coached Miller for three seasons in Denver, including his 2012 season when he recorded a career-high 18.5 sacks, has described the extra blocks as normal.
“It was part of it for Khalil Mack, Julius Peppers, Von Miller, any of the guys that I've had,” Del Rio said. “That's part of playing defensive end in this league.”
For Miller, his cost of doing business has become a badge of honour.
“When you don't get chipped, it's kind of like, `Ah, man, maybe I'm not doing something right. Maybe they don't look at me as the No. 1 pass rusher,' ” he said. “Getting chipped and all that stuff is just a sign of respect. You just got to continue to push through the chips.”