NORTHBROOK, Ill. (STATS) – The New Orleans Saints and the Indianapolis Colts did an excellent job protecting their respective Pro Bowl quarterbacks this season.
Ultimately, though, giving Drew Brees and Peyton Manning time to throw wasn’t enough.
New Orleans and Indianapolis graded out well once again in the New York Life Protection Index on wild-card weekend, but both teams saw their hopes of a return to the Super Bowl slip away.
The New York Life Protection Index is a proprietary formula created by STATS LLC which measures pass protection by using metrics such as length of passes, penalties by offensive lineman, sacks allowed and quarterback hurries and knockdowns.
The Colts topped the NYLPI in the regular season at 90.7 while the Saints finished second at 81.0. Strong pass protection certainly paid off for these teams in 2009, when Indianapolis also was No. 1 in the NYLPI and New Orleans third en route to the teams’ meeting in Super Bowl XLIV.
There won’t be a rematch despite the ability of the teams’ offensive lines to keep Manning and Brees clean during wild-card weekend. Brees threw for 404 yards – 200 of which came through the air before the catch – as New Orleans topped the NYLPI at 100.5, but Seattle wasn’t far behind at 95.6.
Matt Hasselbeck threw for 272 yards and four touchdowns on 35 attempts, getting hurried only once in the Seahawks’ 41-36 upset of the defending Super Bowl champions.
“I think we got on a roll there,” Hasselbeck said. “We got a rhythm going with pass protection, and I was using my cadence pretty good, and (using) quick counts. Using those things in our tool box. We had a rhythm going, we had them on their toes just a little bit.”
Seattle finished the regular season 16th in the NYLPI, but the strong performance against the Saints shouldn’t be that surprising. The Seahawks’ best performance prior to their NFC wild-card win came in Week 11 at New Orleans, a 99.3 in which Hasselbeck threw for 366 yards in a 34-19 loss.
The Colts, meanwhile, finished third in the NYLPI last weekend at 91.7 and didn’t allow a hurry of Manning for just the second time this season.
But the Jets’ protection of Mark Sanchez was nearly as good in their 17-16 win at Lucas Oil Stadium. New York’s 80.9 NYLPI ranked fourth for the weekend and continued a trend of excellent work on the road. Coach Rex Ryan’s team posted NYLPIs of 77.8, 81.1 and 99.3 in its final three regular-season road games, against playoff teams New England, Pittsburgh and Chicago, respectively.
“I love playing at this time of year,” said Sanchez, who threw one interception and finished with a 62.4 passer rating despite the protection. “It’s very exciting, it’s fun to look back on. We’ve just got to keep this rolling.”
While the Saints and Colts lost despite strong protection, it was the inability to help their quarterbacks that cost Philadelphia and Kansas City.
The Eagles finished the regular season 28th in the NYLPI at 45.5 and the Chiefs weren’t much better, with a 52.2 that ranked 25th. Despite hosting Green Bay in the wild-card round, Philadelphia seemed flustered at home while posting a 43.3 in the NYLPI. It committed two false starts and was called for two holding penalties, while Michael Vick was victimized by three sacks, five hurries and six knockdowns in the Eagles’ 21-16 loss.
The Packers finished at 61.7 in the NYLPI – just 3.6 below their average and exactly the league’s average during the regular season.
Philadelphia’s struggles weren’t a surprise considering it led the league in both hurries (79) and knockdowns (113) in the regular season.
The Chiefs’ protection of Matt Cassel was even worse Sunday against Baltimore. Kansas City posted a minus-15.5 in the NYLPI in a 31-10 Week 17 loss to Oakland – one of 13 negative performances during the regular season – and followed with a minus-16.2 in its 30-7 loss to the Ravens.
Baltimore finished with a 54.4 – 3.9 below its regular-season average. But it wasn’t flagged for a false start or a hold. Cassel was sacked three times, hurried four and knocked down on six occasions while throwing three interceptions.
“You can’t turn the football over and expect to win,” Chiefs coach Todd Haley said. “You can’t take sacks, and you can’t give up scoring opportunities in playoff games.”
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