Great write up about our O line and pass protection issues

[HawKnPeppa]

When I read Hawk Blogger's material, I do so with a very critical eye. Not saying the guy doesn't know his stuff, but all too often it seems that he's generalizing or slanting what he observes to fit something that he has preconceived. Too many 'observations' in his articles fit all too neatly into some central theme that doesn't really follow the ebb and flow of a football game.

 

[hawk45]

I wish this "time to release" stat would disappear.

What do Peyton Manning, Matt Stafford, Andy Dalton & Philip Rivers all have in common that means they release the ball quickly compared to players like Michael Vick, Terrelle Pryor and Russell Wilson?

The fact is, if Wilson was less mobile, he'd be sacked more but actually have a lower "time holding onto the ball".

Take his TD to Rice against Arizona, flushed out of the pocket in 2 seconds, but held onto the ball for 5 seconds before releasing the ball. Wilson extends plays, sometimes holds on to the ball for 7-8 seconds while he scans the field for a target. The time the player holds on to the ball is maybe relevant for immobile QBs, but Wilson is rarely sacked for holding on to the ball for too long in the pocket. I'd wager that the majority of the time Wilson is sacked inside the pocket, the pressure has come quickly. Yet, his "time to sack" will be inflated because of the number of times he's escaped pressure THEN taken a sack.

I think more relevant would be an "average time to sack" against an "average time to pressure" against an "average time holding on to the ball" so that you could see all 3 together. What we'd probably see is that Wilson is pressured more quickly than most QBs, yet his average time to sack and average time to throw would be way further down.

We have a winner.

How many highlight reel plays do we see with Wilson where he gets pressured immediately, escapes the pocket, leads the defense in a conga line around the backfield for 30 seconds, then makes a play for positive yardage? Those plays drag his time-to-release or whatever pretty high, but it's not like he's standing there indecisively patting the ball for 10 seconds. He's running for his life most of that time.

This is not to say that Wilson hasn't held the ball a bit too long at times this season. But the way that article is written, ignoring the time Wilson spends scampering around avoiding death, paints a picture of a guy who's near worst in the league with his decision-making. It's just not true.