Sturm: A closer look at Browns DB blitzes under Rob Ryan

[sbk92]

Bob Sturm / Contributor


Yesterday, I spent some time on the amount of DB blitzes by the Cowboys, Jets, Packers, and Steelers.

But, a commenter named, "BigDsWhiteDwarf" left the following comment:

It would be nice to see Cleveland's numbers in the 2nd table. Give us a glimpse into what we can expect from Ryan.

You know, I hate to admit this, but I simply forgot to include those very important numbers to the study. In order to know what Rob Ryan believes in, we better run his numbers, too, and add them to the stats.

The Browns blitzed a ton from the secondary. Not like the Jets or Packers, but more than the Steelers and 3 times more than the Cowboys. Here is the new chart:

Total DB Blitzes 2010
New York Jets 351
Green Bay 183
Cleveland 145
Pittsburgh 117
Dallas 50

And to all of those that are concerned that the Cowboys don't have the right personnel to blitz a ton, here are the blitzers from Cleveland:

Cleveland's DB Blitzes 2010
Abram Elam 40
TJ Ward 27
Eric Wright 22
Mike Adams 13
Ray Ventrone 14
Sheldon Brown 12
Joe Haden 11
Others 6
Total Blitzes 145

Not exactly household names. If you don't think the Cowboys have the defense that Green Bay or Pittsburgh has, I would agree. But, are you trying to tell me that they don't have Cleveland's personnel? By the way, in 2009, the Browns' DBs blitzed 146 times. 145 times in '10. The Cowboys blitzed 39 times in 2008, 25 times in 2009, and 50 times in 2010.

So, sorry, I forgot to include these on yesterday's post, but I thought you needed to see this relevant information.

 

[sbk92]

Total DB Blitzes 2010
New York Jets 351
Green Bay 183
Cleveland 145
Pittsburgh 117
Dallas 50

The Cowboys blitzed 39 times in 2008, 25 times in 2009, and 50 times in 2010.

So if you combine the last three years here, we still blitzed less than what the Jets, Packers, Steelers and Browns blitzed in just the 2010 season.

 

[dbair1967]

So if you combine the last three years here, we still blitzed less than what the Jets, Packers, Steelers and Browns blitzed in just the 2010 season.

Pretty much.

And when we did blitz, its pretty much the same Brooking or James up the middle thing thats given away several seconds before the play actually starts.

I know Ryan will blitz more, but its the creative blitzes I'm most interested in seeing. The kinds of blitzes that mess up protection and allow free runs at the QB. I suspect we'll also see more bad throws as a result, because the coverages will be disguised better.

Zimmer and Wade both employed pretty simple/vanilla coverage schemes, and QB's rarely seemed to have probems figuring out who the open guys were because our guys went to the same spots almost every play.