NORTHBROOK, Ill. (STATS) – Strong pass protection certainly doesn’t guarantee a win, but it sure can help a lot. Just ask the New York Jets and Green Bay Packers.
Those teams, coming off impressive road victories against what were the highest remaining clubs in the New York Life Protection Index, hope their offensive lines are equally successful against stiff defensive tests in another rematch weekend, this one with Super Bowl stakes.
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.
Mark Sanchez and Aaron Rodgers were able to flip the script on Tom Brady and Matt Ryan a week ago as the front five of top seeds New England and Atlanta – which ranked No. 4 and 5, respectively, in the regular season NYLPI – were outplayed and saw their championship dreams come to an abrupt end.
The road to Dallas will get no easier this week as the Jets travel to Pittsburgh and the Packers to Chicago, where the stinginess of the defenses will be matched only by the temperatures.
While Sanchez ranked 27th in the NFL in passer rating, the Jets finished 11th in the NYLPI (67.8), the highest mark of the four remaining playoff teams. New York posted its third-highest single-game index (93.7) in last Sunday’s stunning 28-21 win at New England as Sanchez threw three touchdowns and was not sacked – all without injured right tackle Damien Woody.
As usual, a strong running game fostered that success as the Jets recorded their fifth straight 100-yard performance on the ground. That stretch began with a 106-yard effort in a 22-17 win at Pittsburgh on Dec. 19.
Though Sanchez didn’t throw a touchdown in that contest, he was sacked only once and his line was flagged for just one holding call while enjoying one of its better pass-blocking games (81.1) of the season. The front five hopes to repeat that effort against a formidable Pittsburgh unit that led the NFL with 48 sacks in the regular season, and tacked on five more in last Saturday’s 31-24 win over Baltimore.
While superb at getting to the opposing quarterback, the Steelers are not quite as adept at protecting their own. Their overall success highlights the strength of a stout defense and strong running game, as they ranked just 26th in the final NYLPI and were again subpar (31.9) in the divisional victory over the Ravens.
If Pittsburgh is to be beat, getting to – and bringing down – Ben Roethlisberger will likely be a key. Roethlisberger was sacked a season-high six times last week, and three times against the Jets last month. Besides those three sacks, however, the Steelers line did a decent job of keeping him upright and were extremely disciplined, committing just a single false-start penalty and finishing with an index of 83.9.
To counter shaky protection, coach Mike Tomlin could turn to the running game, like he has so often this season. The Jets allowed 206 rushing yards in playoff victories at Indianapolis and New England, and Pittsburgh’s Rashard Mendenhall ran for 99 yards and a touchdown against New York last month.
Another rematch is on tap in the Windy City, where the stellar play of Rodgers will be on display again. Rodgers helped Green Bay overcame middling protection – 14th in the NYLPI – and a 24th-ranked running game in the regular season and now has his team within a game of the Super Bowl for the first time in 13 years.
Rodgers has been nearly perfect in the postseason, throwing six touchdowns without an interception in playoff victories at Philadelphia and Atlanta. Buoyed by improved pass protection – last week’s 84.6 was the team’s fourth-highest of the season – his quick release helped him complete a remarkable 31 of 36 passes for 366 yards and three touchdowns in last Saturday’s 48-21 win at the Georgia Dome.
If the Packers are to have similar success at Soldier Field, however, his offensive line will need to put forth a more complete effort than it did in two previous meetings this season.
In a 20-17 loss at Chicago in September, Rodgers was not sacked and knocked down only three times, but his line was whistled for four false-start and three holding penalties to tarnish an otherwise solid night of protection. Coincidentally, referee Terry McAulay and his crew, who worked that game, will be at Soldier Field again this weekend. That group threw 19 flags on the Packers – 18 of which were accepted for 152 yards.
A little over three months later in the regular season finale, the line was less than stellar (57.3) in a must-win game Green Bay eventually took 10-3 to earn the NFC’s final wild-card berth. Rodgers was sacked twice, and the front five was flagged four times.
While the Packers certainly struggled up front – during the regular season at large, and against the Bears specifically – Chicago has been even more dreadful. It ranked dead last (33.1) in the final NYLPI, and scored even worse in games against Green Bay.
The Bears line (32.0) couldn’t stop Jay Cutler from being sacked three times in the September victory, then further struggled (29.7) earlier this month when the Packers recorded six sacks. It provided decent protection (57.6) in last Sunday’s 35-24 divisional win over Seattle, helped no doubt by a targeted effort to finally balance a Mike Martz offense.
Over the last nine games of the regular season, Chicago had 258 rushing attempts and 276 pass plays. Matt Forte ran for 717 yards over that span, and had 91 of the team’s 110 rushing yards on 15 carries at Green Bay three weeks ago.
Forte, Cutler and Chester Taylor ran for 167 of Chicago’s 176 yards on the ground against the Seahawks.
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