Josh Allen's sack rate this season - 2.7 percent

[dave mcbride]

That's the lowest in Bills history (granted it's early). Flutie had a sack rate of 3.3 percent in 1998 (laughably, RJ's sack rate in six games that season was 21.3 percent) and Fergie had a couple of low rates (2.9 percent) in 1980 and 1981 although I don't trust those numbers because sacks weren't an official stat then. I'm a big believer in the idea that QBs are the ones most responsible for their own sack rates, albeit line play does of course matter. Low sack rates are huge for offensive production because sacks are drive killers. It's a great sign for both Allen and the Bills offense. He hasn't been taking the bad sacks this year like in the past.

[hondo in seattle]

What's interesting about this is that I don't think we have a dominant offensive line. 

 

I think Josh has tremendous pocket presence and athleticism, and tends to make good decisions (step up/sideways, throw the ball away, run).

[NewEra]

His first read seems to be the pass rush on the majority of the plays.  See who’s going to get to him first and move out of the way- 

 

our OL has been solid since week 1- but it’s 17s pocket presence that has kept him off the turf the last few weeks

[BuffaloBill]

15 minutes ago, hondo in seattle said:

What's interesting about this is that I don't think we have a dominant offensive line. 

 

I think Josh has tremendous pocket presence and athleticism, and tends to make good decisions (step up/sideways, throw the ball away, run).

 

I agree with you mostly, the only nuance is that Josh is not a 2 second release QB. Some QB’s stay out of sack trouble because the ball is out of their hand very quickly on nearly every passing play.

[Rochesterfan]

58 minutes ago, dave mcbride said:

That's the lowest in Bills history (granted it's early). Flutie had a sack rate of 3.3 percent in 1998 (laughably, RJ's sack rate in six games that season was 21.3 percent) and Fergie had a couple of low rates (2.9 percent) in 1980 and 1981 although I don't trust those numbers because sacks weren't an official stat then. I'm a big believer in the idea that QBs are the ones most responsible for their own sack rates, albeit line play does of course matter. Low sack rates are huge for offensive production because sacks are drive killers. It's a great sign for both Allen and the Bills offense. He hasn't been taking the bad sacks this year like in the past.

 

It has been stated in other defensive threads and discussions - QB pressures and pressure rate are a DL/OL monitor - meaning that is dependent more upon how the 2 lines play and is usually consistent.

 

Sacks and Sack rate are a QB monitor much as you say in your post and are much less dependent on the OL or DL.

 

Josh has been seeing a lot of pressure in some games, but his athleticism and pocket awareness allows him to help keep sacks low.  The OL has also done some nice work at times (as pointed out by Baldy) with a nice wide and deep pocket - giving Josh options.

 

I would expect his sack rate to stay low because he is a hard man to bring down and even when teams have him - he is good at getting rid of the ball a lot.  It is a nice weapon to have.

 

 

[CorkScrewHill]

1 hour ago, dave mcbride said:

That's the lowest in Bills history (granted it's early). Flutie had a sack rate of 3.3 percent in 1998 (laughably, RJ's sack rate in six games that season was 21.3 percent) and Fergie had a couple of low rates (2.9 percent) in 1980 and 1981 although I don't trust those numbers because sacks weren't an official stat then. I'm a big believer in the idea that QBs are the ones most responsible for their own sack rates, albeit line play does of course matter. Low sack rates are huge for offensive production because sacks are drive killers. It's a great sign for both Allen and the Bills offense. He hasn't been taking the bad sacks this year like in the past.

This must be fake news as Chris Collinsworth on the broadcast indicated taking bad sacks was a bad issue that Josh has to get past.  I am soooo confused :).

 

The TD to Dawson Knox is a great example where he keeps things alive and makes a great play.

 

 

[billsfan89]

Kind of shocked at that. The O-line has been great the past two weeks but wasn't that great the first three weeks. Guess Josh is just able to navigate pressure so well. 

[billybrew1]

46 minutes ago, hondo in seattle said:

What's interesting about this is that I don't think we have a dominant offensive line. 

 

I think Josh has tremendous pocket presence and athleticism, and tends to make good decisions (step up/sideways, throw the ball away, run).

I think we have a pretty decent one now and it only going to get better; much better....

[Nextmanup]

I agree with the OP that sack rate is effectively a QB statistic.

 

A huge factor is how much a QB can process pre-snap and then how quickly he gets rid of the ball.

Some guys are almost sack-proof.

 

 

[HappyDays]

I think part of it is that DCs are not really trying to sack him. Like Mahomes or Jackson you just have to keep him contained. If you rush straight at him upfield you end up like Washington in week 3 with a great pass rush win percentage but terrible defensive production.

[JohnNord]

1 hour ago, dave mcbride said:

That's the lowest in Bills history (granted it's early). Flutie had a sack rate of 3.3 percent in 1998 (laughably, RJ's sack rate in six games that season was 21.3 percent) and Fergie had a couple of low rates (2.9 percent) in 1980 and 1981 although I don't trust those numbers because sacks weren't an official stat then. I'm a big believer in the idea that QBs are the ones most responsible for their own sack rates, albeit line play does of course matter. Low sack rates are huge for offensive production because sacks are drive killers. It's a great sign for both Allen and the Bills offense. He hasn't been taking the bad sacks this year like in the past.

Fascinating… it’s interesting how some great QB’s are able to mask a average to below average offensive line.  Despite the low percentage, I don’t think any of the lineman have a high individual rating for pass blocking so far.  
 

Johnson was brutal with holding onto the ball.  It’s was gave him several concussion and likely shortened his career.  I remember that Bledsoe was a statue in the pocket and was responsible for many sacks

[TPS]

There's an article in The Athletic on stats for week 5, and there is a list of OL who had 0 pressures--Morse and Williams made it for the Bills.  Starting to wonder if the Brown move will pay extra dividends with Williams at RG? 

[Marvlevydraftdaygenius]

If only they can constantly run block for Moss or Singletary the Bills would be unstoppable. 

[uninja]

33 minutes ago, billsfan89 said:

Kind of shocked at that. The O-line has been great the past two weeks but wasn't that great the first three weeks. Guess Josh is just able to navigate pressure so well. 

Last 2 weeks Spencer Brown has been in the lineup and I don’t think it’s a coincidence. We’ve also played some kinda meh defensive lines as well. 

[Rico]

1 hour ago, dave mcbride said:

That's the lowest in Bills history (granted it's early). Flutie had a sack rate of 3.3 percent in 1998 (laughably, RJ's sack rate in six games that season was 21.3 percent) and Fergie had a couple of low rates (2.9 percent) in 1980 and 1981 although I don't trust those numbers because sacks weren't an official stat then. I'm a big believer in the idea that QBs are the ones most responsible for their own sack rates, albeit line play does of course matter. Low sack rates are huge for offensive production because sacks are drive killers. It's a great sign for both Allen and the Bills offense. He hasn't been taking the bad sacks this year like in the past.

Where was Bledsoe in 2003, around 30%?

 

[dave mcbride]

29 minutes ago, Rico said:

Where was Bledsoe in 2003, around 30%?

 

9.4, which is bad, but it still was much better than RJ in 2001 (12.6) and 2000 (13.8). Johnson not only has the highest sack rate in league history (14.8 percent), no one else is even close. Historically bad player despite real talent and some decent passer ratings on occasion. Even in the two games he played for SB winner Tampa in 2002, he was still getting sacked at a 16.7 percent rate. That’s one out of every six dropbacks.

Edited October 12, 2021 by dave mcbride

[billsbackto81]

2 hours ago, dave mcbride said:

That's the lowest in Bills history (granted it's early). Flutie had a sack rate of 3.3 percent in 1998 (laughably, RJ's sack rate in six games that season was 21.3 percent) and Fergie had a couple of low rates (2.9 percent) in 1980 and 1981 although I don't trust those numbers because sacks weren't an official stat then. I'm a big believer in the idea that QBs are the ones most responsible for their own sack rates, albeit line play does of course matter. Low sack rates are huge for offensive production because sacks are drive killers. It's a great sign for both Allen and the Bills offense. He hasn't been taking the bad sacks this year like in the past.

It's because Josh has what they call "Spidey Sense". 

[The Wiz]

I don't even want to know what Bledsoe's was. 

[dave mcbride]

20 minutes ago, The Wiz said:

I don't even want to know what Bledsoe's was. 

Bledsoe is nothing compared to RJ. DB was basically Houdini in comparison.

[eball]

1 minute ago, dave mcbride said:

Bledsoe is nothing compared to RJ. DB was basically Houdini in comparison.

 

RJ had such poor pocket presence he never even knew whether or not he was carrying his wallet.

[Rico]

3 hours ago, dave mcbride said:

That's the lowest in Bills history (granted it's early). Flutie had a sack rate of 3.3 percent in 1998 (laughably, RJ's sack rate in six games that season was 21.3 percent) and Fergie had a couple of low rates (2.9 percent) in 1980 and 1981 although I don't trust those numbers because sacks weren't an official stat then. I'm a big believer in the idea that QBs are the ones most responsible for their own sack rates, albeit line play does of course matter. Low sack rates are huge for offensive production because sacks are drive killers. It's a great sign for both Allen and the Bills offense. He hasn't been taking the bad sacks this year like in the past.

Yeah, I don't buy that Sad Sack Fergy's was ever that low... at least it didn't pass the eye test.

[CSBill]

2 hours ago, billsfan89 said:

Kind of shocked at that. The O-line has been great the past two weeks but wasn't that great the first three weeks. Guess Josh is just able to navigate pressure so well. 

The line has been much better the past two weeks. The insertion of Brown, moving Williams, removing Ford, and having Feliciano back for KC, is all making a difference. I have to think it will only get better as they get more time together. 

 

[Doc]

4 hours ago, TPS said:

There's an article in The Athletic on stats for week 5, and there is a list of OL who had 0 pressures--Morse and Williams made it for the Bills.  Starting to wonder if the Brown move will pay extra dividends with Williams at RG? 

 

Looks like it already has.  As Brown gets more experience, it will pay even more dividends.  And the further Dawkins is removed from his severe COVID infection...

Edited October 13, 2021 by Doc

[Comebackkid]

1. teams arent blitzing josh as much....  2. josh allen is much better this year navigating the pocket and not running into pressure.   

there was an article last year showing that a lot of pressure he faced, he created himself by the way he was moving into it.

3. 0-line the last few weeks has been playing much better with newest line up.

[BADOLBILZ]

 

I was reminded of this very thing watching Carson Wentz being oblivious to the pass rush from his blindside against Baltimore.   And they have a pretty good OL.    After years of having so many QB's like that..........it's nice having a QB who doesn't regularly take surprise hits.

[78thealltimegreat]

18 hours ago, dave mcbride said:

That's the lowest in Bills history (granted it's early). Flutie had a sack rate of 3.3 percent in 1998 (laughably, RJ's sack rate in six games that season was 21.3 percent) and Fergie had a couple of low rates (2.9 percent) in 1980 and 1981 although I don't trust those numbers because sacks weren't an official stat then. I'm a big believer in the idea that QBs are the ones most responsible for their own sack rates, albeit line play does of course matter. Low sack rates are huge for offensive production because sacks are drive killers. It's a great sign for both Allen and the Bills offense. He hasn't been taking the bad sacks this year like in the past.

I think not having Cody Ford and inserting Spencer Brown might help too 

[unbillievable]

16 hours ago, billsbackto81 said:

It's because Josh has what they call "Spidey Sense". 

 

He developed it in Wyoming, where he was running for his life from the second they snapped the ball.

16 hours ago, billsbackto81 said:

It's because Josh has what they call "Spidey Sense". 

 

He developed it in Wyoming, where he was running for his life from the second they snapped the ball.

[JESSEFEFFER]

One could make a flow chart of possible outcomes for plays where a QB faces pressure.  From disastrously bad to fantastically good.  My sense is that Josh has developed his game to the point where he has skewed the outcomes toward the good end in a big way.  I would like to see the analytics applied to that.

 

injury

bad throw pick 6

strip sack fumble lost

int that hurts

sack with big loss

int that is punt-like on 3rd or 4th down

sack minor loss

escape throw away

escape-complete pass or scramble positive run

escape-extend-big play

escape-extend- TD!

 

 

 

 

[Ed_Formerly_of_Roch]

Seems like in prior years I recall more times where a defender had a hand/arm/shoulder on him, but he twisted around and broke free.  This year, don't recall any one even getting that close very often.  Maybe that means he's getting smarter and moves out of the way before they can get even that close?