Deacon Jones and Willie Davis were Both Left DEs—Anything Else in Common?

LOOKING BACK
By John Turney

Well, yes. They had quite a few things in common. Both were, as we mention left defensive ends most of their careers. Both were All-Pros, Both Hall of Famers, Both elected to the NFL's 1960s All-Decade Team, but began their careers as left tackles—Wait, what?

Yes, it's true. Before both Jones and Davis settled into their Hall of Fame positions, both had stints on the offensive line.

Here is a shot of Jones (No. 75) in his first NFL game versus the Colts. He spent the first half trying to block Ordell Braase. By the second half he on not playing on the offensive line so it is fair to say the experiment didn't work.

Willie Davis actually played defensive end his rookie year but in his second year he moved to left tackle and he performed well, though not at an All-Pro level, but well enough that he spent the whole season there, with few exceptions. Here is a shot of him at tackled (No. 77)

Still a Key to Winning: The Defensive Passer Rating

By T.J. Troup

Credit: Merv Corning

Though it is always a challenge to choose which aspect of football is the most important to winning, the defensive passer rating is still a key component in team success. What is the defensive passer rating? It's simply the passer rating almost all football fans are familiar with applied to the defense which I began applying to my own research in the late 1980s, long before the Internet as we know it today. My logic was simple—if a high number is good for the offense then a low number reflects well on a defense.

So, now that the final team stats are official, and the playoffs beckon; let's take a look at the defensive passer rating for 2017 as we celebrate Don Shula's birthday. For the first time in their team history, the Jacksonville Jaguars led the league (68.5), and have returned to the playoffs as a division champion.

Last season Mike Zimmer's Vikings finished 4th in this category (73.0) and improved this year to 3rd with their best record since 1998. There is a very real possibility that Minnesota will play longtime playoff rival Los Angeles in this year's playoffs. The Rams improved from a dismal 95.3 rating last year to finish 5th this year with a mark of 78.3.

For the past few seasons the porous Saints defense kept New Orleans out of the playoffs, but with a dramatic improvement from 98.11 a year ago to rank 7th this year at 79.0 they are division champions. For this year the record of the top 10 teams in this category is 101 wins and 59 losses, while the bottom 10 teams the record is 57 wins and l03 losses. Every year the defensive passer rating chart shows that success in this category usually leads to the playoffs or at least a winning record.

Has there ever been a season where this stat defines the playoffs and winning you ask? In 2007 the top 11 teams all made the playoffs and combined for a record of 125-51, while the bottom eleven finished 67-109.

In 2001 12 of the top 13 earned a playoff berth. Which year stands out historically? Eight teams would fight tooth and nail to qualify for the playoffs starting in 1970, yet the season of 1975 is still the benchmark as 7 teams made the playoffs. The combined record for those seven was 78-20, while the bottom seven was 25-73.

Credit: Merv Corning

John Madden's Oakland Raiders played cohesive team pass defense in that 1975 season with the best mark in the last 43 years at 37.2. No doubt Jack Del Rio would still be employed if the Raider secondary this year came anywhere near that mark.

The Dolphins, in 1975, did not make the playoffs yet allowed only 9 touchdown passes to be thrown against them. Touchdown passes allowed is one of the four components in figuring this stat. Don Shula's teams allowed just 65 touchdown passes from 1970 through 1975.

Credit: Merv Corning

Though impressive, Shula's Dolphins do not rank #1 for an 84 game stretch. The Minnesota Vikings from 1969 through 1974 allowed just 53, and their longtime rivals the Green Bay Packers under Lombardi allowed 61 from 1962 through 1967.

Shula's experience as a right corner for Cleveland, Baltimore, and Washington gave him a background as a player, while his experience as the defensive coordinator for the Lions from 1960 through 1962 helped further his knowledge of defending the passing game.

Shula defends Bear Split End Harlon Hill

Now that this history lesson is complete, let's shift gears and ask a simple question—is there a team during this year's playoffs that will win on the road?

The reason I ask is that since the wild card began in 1970 there has been at least ONE ROAD VICTORY EVERY YEAR. Who will it be this year?

Stats You Need to Know—QB Hits

By Nick Webster

The NFL, through NFLGSIS, tracks QB hits and has since 1999. However, for some reason, they have always included some (but not all) sacks in that total. If a sack results in a quarterback fumbling then it is not a QB hit. Also, the way it is presented it gives a sack a "double count".

I've been posting a QB hit stat for a few years that is Hits on the QB sans any sack at all. Many NFL coaches (John Levra being one) had several levels of "pressure".

First was a sack, then a QB knockdown, then a QB hit, then a hurry—essemtially four levels of pressure. The NFL Gamebooks don't distinguish between hits and knockdowns but from observation, the "hits" are more often than not a knockdown.

So, in that spirit, we have the QB hits leaders (and knockdowns are included, but not sacks or hurries).

Leonard Williams led the league with 21 and is a classic case of someone not getting a lot of sacks (two) but putting good pressure on the quarterback consistently. DeForest Buckner is similar—though he had just three sacks he was one of the better 3-techniques in the NFL this season.

Aaron Donald did have 11 sacks and led all interior linemen and Chandler Jones led the NFL but they also each had 18 additional hits on the QB. Chris Long wasn't a starter, he played in nickel and as part of a rotation but led all non-starters in hits on the quarterback.

Long is the perfect example to explain the oddity with the NFL stats. Long hit 15 quarterbacks without sacking him, but also had 5 sacks so that totals 20. But the NFL credits him with 18 QB hits. That is because he forced fumbles on some of his sacks. Four to be precise. But for some reason two of them counted as a QB hit and two did not. I think the way we track QB hits is cleaner.

Among Quadragenarians Favre's 2009 Season is Still the Best

LOOKING BACK
By John Turney

Among quarterbacks that were 40 and above two stand out, and it was very close, but Favre's year, at least statistically, was slightly better.

However, the difference is so small that nothing can be really made of it. So, hat's off to both.

John Fassel and the 2017 Rams Special Teams Units, Best in Club History?

LOOKING BACK
By John Turney

"Bones" as the like the call him is in his sixth season as the Rams special teams coach. Jeff Fisher brought him to the club in 2012 while they were in St. Louis. In that time his units have been the club's best, year in and year-out and 2017 was not an exception. In fact, it may be the best of the six.

In 2012 the Rams drafted Greg Zuerlein and though a lot of input from Fassell signed John Hekker who has proven to be the NFL's best punter of the last six years and is already being mention among the best in history and additionally Fassell kept Jake McQuaide as the long snapper and he's been terrific.

2017, stars at nearly every position:

Hekker's career net average of 43.5is tops in NFL History as is two yards and change better than who is second on the list (Thomas Morstead). The NFL only tracked net yards in 1976, so we don't have official data but we've looked back at available records and from the pre-1976 era the best net average we could find is around 38.5.

Four of the top ten seasons belong to Hekker, including three of the top four.

Greg Zuerlein has been sometimes excellent, sometimes average in overall accuracy. He has been excellent on kickoffs and in distance kicking, being reliable from 50 yards and beyond, but in 2017 he could be called an All-Pro. He missed just two field goals and one of those was a 63-yard attempt. He also showed a lot of toughness but gutting it out in Seattle a few weeks ago with an extremely painful lower back that he'd played with most of the year and had surgery on recently.

That takes care of the kickers. Now, the return game.

Tavon Austin was drafted in the first round as a future slot receiver, star kick and punt returner and occasional scat back for the Rams. He really only excelled in punt returns in his first few seasons and in the last couple he didn't shine in punt returns, eventually getting benched earlier this year for the lack of the ability to field the punts cleanly.

His job was given to Pharoh Cooper who proceeded to average 12.5 yards a return, better than the 11.2 career best of Austin. Though Austin did return a few to the house, Cooper may yet, but his 2017 pun return season was a fine one. Cooper also played personal protector after Cody Davis went down with injury.

Cooper also returned kicks for 932 yards and a 27.4 average and a 103-yard TD.

Now, the coverage units. The punt coverage, as usual, was excellent allowing 152 yards (6.1 average) but the kickoff coverage was below average. Though Zuerline kicked mostly touchbacks the kickoff coverage allowed a 22.6-yard average return on the 23 kicks that were returned.

Now, in terms of blocked kicks, the Rams were the NFL's best with three blocked punts and two blocked placekicks. (And one near-miss block by Cory Littleton). So, blocking kicks and not allowing blocks? Has to be a high grade.

So, let's give the kicker an A, the punter an A, the PR and A, the KR and A, the Punt coverage a B+ and the kickoff coverage a C and another A for net blocks. So, five As a B+ and a C. Fair enough?

Searching through my memory banks 1985 and 1972 came to mind in terms of complete special teams in Rams history. There were years where some units stood out but others suffered like 1978, 1981 and maybe a few others. 1983-85 the Rams units were strong under Coach Gil Haskell. They did it all so it is even hard to pull 1985 out of those but two factors make the difference. They are Ron Brown and Dale Hatcher.

So, let's review 1985:

Mike Lansford was the Rams kicker as in his Rams tenure his calling card was being clutch. His 1985 season was likely his best. He wasn't an All-Pro kicker by any means but he was solid and was 2 for 4 in kicks over 50 yards that year. In a league with Morten Andersen and Nick Lowery he wasn't going to be All-Pro often, he was a hard worker, a technician that didn't have the cannon leg. So, looking at the things a kicker is supposed to do Lansford gets a good, solid B+.

The Rams punter who was a major upgrade over John Misko was Dale Hatcher who was a consensus All-Pro and led the NFL in net punting. So, he gets and A.

Ron Brown, the Olympic gold medal sprinter was the Rams kick returner in 1985 and all he did was return three for touchdowns. His blinding speed made teams kick away from him and in the 1985 NFC Championship Game the Bears assigned Willie Gault, himself a sprint champion, to the kickoff coverage teams to prevent Brown from busting off a big gainer. Brown's three touchdown returns led the NFL as did his 32.8-yard return average. He gets a A+.

Not to be outdone, Henry Ellard gained 501 yards on 37 punt returns for a 13.5-yard average and one was an 80-yard TD. In 1984 Ellard's stats were similar only he took two tothe house. Still, his 1985 season has to be an A.

In 1985 the Rams coverage units had to miss Ivory Sully, one of the best Rams special teams players ever. He was great in coverage, and at blocking place kicks and punts. In 1985 head Coach John Robinson traded Sully to Tampa Bay because Sully wanted to start somewhere and with the Rams so loaded at safety, Robinson did him a favor and traded him to a place he could crack a starting lineup.

But in terms of production the Rams coverage units, now led by Norwood Vann, Ed Brady (the long snapper), personal protector Mike Guman, and Vince Newsome, and didn't skip a beat. The punt coverage was among the best (which allowed for Hatcher's tidy 38.0-yard net punting mark) with a 6.9 yards per return (ranked 3rd in NFL) and the kick coverage (19.0 per kick) was ranked 4th in the NFL. So, those, to have to be A-/B+ or so.

In 1985 the Rams blocked three kicks which is good, but there are years the Rams did far better, so let's call that a B because Hatcher did have one blocked.

So, by my count, that's an A+, two As, two A-/B+, a B+ and a B.

Finally, there is 1972:

The Special Teams coach was Rich Brooks who arrived with Tommy Prothro in 1971 and the 1971 units were excellent, too. In fact, the Rams line of ST coaches from 1970-74 was Dick Vermeil, Marv Levy, Rich Brooks, Vermeil again and then Elijah Pitts. Pretty good coaching, don't you think?

The Rams kicker was David Ray. "Checkers" as he was known was another good, but not great, kicker. He didn't have great range but for his era was a solid, competent kicker. The following year he led the NFL in scoring but was again, not particularly accurate. It's hard to give him anything more than a C+/B-.

Dave Chapple, however, was simply great in 1972. In 1974 Chuck Knox "ruined" him by trying to cut down his steps and it led to Chapple eventually getting cut. But in 1972 his punting combined with the Rams punt coverage was among the best in the NFL. Chapple (unofficially) led the NFL in net punting with a 42.1 average and had only three touchbacks and over 20 punts inside the 20. His punts were returned for only 54 yards all season. So score that an A+ for the punting and an A for punt coverage.

The kickoff coverage was tops in the NFL allowing only 18.5 yards per kick return, which is another A in my book. The leader of the special teams' coverage units was Rich Saul, who was also the long snapper. He led in tackles and was on all the teams, kickoff, kick return, punt, punt return and the placekicking teams. Jim Bertelson was the usual personal protector for the punter and Ken Geddes, Jack Reynolds and Jack Youngblood (usually R-1, R-2 or L-1, L2 according to Coach Rich Brooks and all contributed.

Next are returners. In this area, the Rams were solid, but not spectacular. The main punt returner was rookie Jim Bertelson (also the personal protector for the punter) who was third in the NFL in punt return yardage and second in the NFL in punt return average. He was able to break some returns open but at 205 pounds wasn't likely to take anything too the house. He deserves a B+ in my view.

Kickoffs were a C, however. Their 23.0 average was almost the NFL average of 23.1 and they had no touchdown returns and the longest was just 53 yards by Dick Gordon.

That leaves kick blocks and in one of the few years in Rams history there were none and Chapple didn't have any blocked. So, it's another wash, another C.

So, for 1972 they had an A+, two As, a B+, C+/B- and two Cs.

No, I am not going to do a GPA, but my eyeball test is 1985 ranks first, then 2017, then 1972. But I am confident these are the top three in Rams history, others may come up with a better ranking system, but my guess is that would yield the same three seasons.

The Packers’ Big Yard Fail of 2017

By Eric Goska

Brett Favre was in his second season as a starter the last time

the Packers failed to gain 5,000 yards in a season.

The streak is over.

That it has ended is yet another indication of how far the Green Bay Packers have fallen.

As has been the case too often this season, Green Bay came up short offensively, this time in an uninspiring 35-11 season-ending loss to the Detroit Lions. The team’s lack of firepower is one reason it was swept by the Lions for the first time since 1991.

Offense and the Packers have gone hand in hand throughout much of the team’s existence. From Curly Lambeau’s use of the forward pass to the record-setting performances of Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay has moved the football.

One constant had been the team’s ability to amass 5,000 yards. It did so for 23 consecutive seasons beginning in 1994.

Five thousand yards is a modest accomplishment. A team must average 312.5 yards per game to get there.

Many teams have reached the milestone. Not one did so with the consistency of the Packers.

Even in those rare instances when Green Bay endured a losing season, it could count on that production. It amassed 5,458 yards in 2005 (4-12) and 5,618 in 2008 (6-10).

This year was different. Too often these Packers faltered, and now their league-leading streak is history.

The team got off to a good start against the Lions on New Year’s Eve. Jamaal Williams, Brett Hundley, Randall Cobb and Devante Mays combined for 47 yards rushing on 12 carries. Hundley passed for another 67 as the team piled up a season-high 114 yards in the first quarter.

Such quantity so early usually bodes well. From 1994 through 2016, the team went 84-24 (.778) in regular-season games when grabbing 100 or more yards in the first quarter.

The problem in Detroit was sustainability. What had been an outpouring turned into a drip-drip.

Green Bay earned 17 yards in the second quarter and 35 in the third. Not until the fourth quarter (90 yards) did the faucet come back on.

In total, the Green Bay produced 256 yards at Ford Field. It was the third lowest output of the season for the team, and it marked the seventh time the Packers failed to hit 300.

In winding up 7-9, Green Bay finished with 4,891 yards. That’s its lowest total since 1993 (4,750) when Favre was in his second season as a starter.

In the 23 years from 1994 through 2016, Green Bay topped 6,000 four times: 2004 (6,357), 2009 (6,065), 2013 (6,404) and 2014 (6,178). Its lowest ebb occurred in 2005 (5,118)

During that time, the Green and Gold produced 131,757 yards of offense. Only the Broncos (133,644) generated more.

Under Mike McCarthy, the Packers amassed 64,870 yards from 2006 through 2016. That was fourth best behind New Orleans (71,334), New England (67,838) and Philadelphia (65,699).

This season, the Packers wound up 26th in yards. Their offense was the 7th poorest.

It’s the worst showing by the club since it perched fifth from the bottom (24 out of 28 teams) in 1991.

For all this talk about yards, what ultimately matters, of course, is points. A stockpile of yards guarantees nothing.

In that regard, Green Bay didn’t measure up either. The 320 points it scored was its fewest since 2006 (301).

Yes, yards gained may not matter as much as other statistics. But a team that can consistently move the ball will generate offensive excitement from time to time, something the Packers did with far too little regularity in 2017.

Extra Point

Green Bay failed to produce a 400-yard game this season. The Bengals are the only other team without one. The last time the Packers went without a 400-yarder was 1991 when the team sputtered to a 4-12 record with Mike Tomczak, Don Majkowski and Blair Kiel at quarterback.

A Case for Yards

Teams that earned 5,000 or more yards in 19 or more seasons from 1994 through 2016.

No.      Team               Record (Pct.)

23        Packers            236-131-1 (.643)

22        Broncos           216-136-0 (.614)

22        Patriots             244-108-0 (.693)

21        Vikings             180-155-1 (.537)

19        Cowboys         180-124-0 (.592)

19        Eagles              171-131-2 (.566)

19        Falcons            166-137-1 (.548)

19        Saints               160-144-0 (.546)

19        Steelers            201-102-1 (.663)

Run, Pass Stuffs and Total Stuffs plus Solo Tackles, Assisted Tackle and Tackle Assists

2017 Stats You Need to Know

By Nick Webster

Stats, Inc., no called Stats, LLC, began tracking "stuffs" as a statistic in 1992. They defined it as a running play that is stopped by a defender for at least a one-yard loss. If there were two tacklers they credited each with half a stuff (0.5). The only issue was that they ignored tackles for loss on passing plays, which were becoming more and more common with wide receiver screens and other passes behind the line of scrimmage

In 1999 NFLGSIS, the NFL's own stat group began tracking tackles for loss—both for the run and the pass, but they had the unique way of scoring which is hard to discern for the average fan. The NFL has 'Solo Tackle', 'Assisted Tackle', and then the 'Tackle Assist'. And they seem to group solo tackles and assisted tackles together and tackle assists are left out in terms of tackles for loss.

Additionally, if a player forces a fumble on a play he does not get credit for a tackle for a loss. He gets credit if it's someone attempting to pass (a sack) but if it's a run play then it is left out. Not only that when an offensive player recovers a fumble and a defensive player falls on him,—that is a tackle for a loss. So, when a defensive lineman forces a fumble on a passing play he gets credit for a sack and a forced fumble. If the QB falls on the loose ball and that same sacker falls on the quarterback he gets credit for a tackle for a loss, too. If that same lineman tackles the QB and there is no fumble he gets credit for both a sack and a tackle for a loss, so there is double counting.

So, I felt it was important to have a stat that covers run stuffs, pass stuffs, using a common-sense scoring of what is in the NFL Gamebooks and I call it the Run/Pass stuff. It is simply any run play or pass play that is stopped behind the line of scrimmage and the only exception is that it is not a sack.

So, here are the NFL Leaders in this categories using the protocols I've described.

Pass stuffs

 Run Stuffs:

Totals Stuffs:

(ties broken by yardage—not shown)