By Eric Goska
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| Carolers sing "Oh Come, All Ye Faithful" as football fanatics arrive at Lambeau Field. (photos by Eric Goska) |
“When you throw a pass, three things can happen, and two of
them are bad.”
That’s a quote attributed to Woody Hayes who coached at Ohio
State for 28 years. Presumably he was talking about completions, incompletions
and interceptions.
What Hayes neglected to mention is the bad that can occur
prior to a pass being thrown: namely, a quarterback sack.
Credit the Packers with limiting that third bad. In fact, Green
Bay has kept its passers clean at a rate seldom seen in the NFL’s least
populous city.
The Packers did not give up a sack in blanking the Saints
34-0 Monday night. The playoff-clinching win marked the sixth time this season
that Green Bay passers have avoided being deposited on their backsides when
attempting to pass.
NFL passers have been sacked 1,178 times in 2024 for losses
totaling 7,689 yards. On average, that’s 36.8 bad plays resulting in 240.3 lost
yards for each of the 32 teams.
Packers passers have been sacked 16 times for 93 yards. They, and the Bills (14-63), are the only two clubs to have yielded fewer than 20.
Yes, Green Bay has become more run oriented. Only the Eagles
(388) have attempted fewer passes than the Packers (424).
But even on a percentage basis, Green Bay ranks second
having allowed a sack on 3.64 percent of its dropbacks. Buffalo is first at
2.95.
The league average is 6.99.
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| Chris Roth and Dave Schroeder ready for a remote broadcast. |
Let’s put Mr. Jordan Love under the microscope. He’s
launched 383 passes and has been sacked just 11 times for a percentage of 2.79.
Who has been better? Not Josh Allen (2.98) of the Bills. Not
Jared Goff (5.41) of the Lions. Not Patrick Mahomes (6.22) of the Chiefs. Not
Sam Darnold (8.89) of the Vikings.
Only Derek Carr (2.79) of the Saints is ahead of Love, and
he leads by the slimmest of margins. Carr, who likely will not play again this
season, was sacked just eight times despite dropping back 287 times.
Love tossed 28 passes at Lambeau Field Monday night without incident. Eight
days earlier, he threw 27 in Seattle while staying clean.
Love has not been sacked since Za’Darius Smith got to him on
Green Bay’s first offensive play in the Lions’ 34-31 win on Dec. 5. He has not
been sacked in his last 75 dropbacks.
That’s far from the franchise record (175 by Brett Favre in
2004), but the accomplishment is worth noting.
Favre, by the way, is the only Green Bay passer who can
compete with Love when it comes to avoiding sacks. His rate of 2.17 in 2004 is
the team record, and his rate of 2.73 in 2007 is second.
Yards lost attempting to pass were first recorded in 1947.
Since then, there have been 117 instances of a Packers quarterback throwing 50
or more passes in a season. Only Favre, Love and Bart Starr (2.90) in 1959
posted rates below three percent.
How has Love been so elusive? First, he has operated behind
a line that has had the same starters in 14 of 15 games this season. Second, he
possesses an uncanny knack to stay out of trouble, one that must have
frustrated the Saints.
Case in point: New Orleans sent seven on third-and-goal from
the two on Green Bay’s opening possession, but Love didn’t flinch. He flipped a
scoring pass to Dontayvion Wicks with linebacker Demario Davis in his face and the
Packers went up 7-0.
Near the end of the first quarter, Chase Young had hands on Love,
but No. 10 dropped off a pass to Josh Jacob before the defensive end could wrap
him up. The play gained eight, and Green Bay scored eight plays later for a
14-0 lead.
“You know, this is what doesn’t really show up on the stat
sheet,” game analyst Troy Aikman said of the play. “Watch Jordan Love. You see
this time after time. He’s just a quarterback who refuses to take sacks. He’s
got really an unblocked guy who’s right in his face and he always knows where to
go with the football.”
Further, Love knows when to give up on a play. Afforded
plenty of time, he threw into the dirt when no one was open on the play prior
to his toss to Jacobs. Then, in the second quarter, he did the same when safety
Ugo Amadi blanketed his intended target tight end Tucker Kraft.
While throws like that lower a player’s completion percentage,
they also prevent sacks. And Love, with games remaining against the Vikings and
Bears, could become the first Packers player to lead the league in terms of
lowest sack percentage (minimum 50 pass attempts) since Favre in 2004.
Standing Tall
Since 1947, Packers passers who were sacked at a rate less than 3.5 percent (minimum 50 pass attempts)
Rate Player Season Pass Attempts Sacks Dropbacks
2.17 Brett Favre 2004 540 12 552
2.73 Brett Favre 2007 535 15 550
2.79 Jordan Love 2024 383 11 394
2.90 Bart Starr 1959 134 4 138
3.23 Scott Tolzien 2013 90 3 93
3.31 Jerry Tagge 1974 146 5 151
3.31 Brett Favre 2006 613 21 634
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