Giants' 5 Sacks vs. Commanders All Came With 5 or More Rushers; Pressure Rate Still Near NFL's Bottom
The Giants sent extra rushers on 24 of Jayden Daniels' 37 dropbacks, the highest rate of any defense in Week 5. On the 13 plays they rushed four, he was not sacked and scrambled four times.
The Giants sent five or more pass rushers on 24 of Jayden Daniels' 37 dropbacks in Sunday's 27-27 overtime tie at Washington, and all five of their sacks came on those plays. On the 13 dropbacks when they rushed four, Daniels was not sacked, scrambled four times and averaged 11.3 yards per dropback.
The 65% rate was the highest of any defense in Week 5, by our count from FTN's charting, which nflverse publishes. Defenses across the league sent five or more on 31.8% of dropbacks that week.
The five sacks did not lift the Giants far in the season pressure rankings. Pro Football Reference's team table, updated Thursday, has them pressuring the quarterback on 16.6% of dropbacks, ahead of only Indianapolis (16.2%). By our count, which uses PFR's weekly player charting (31 pressures, one more than the team table shows) over nflverse dropbacks, they are last at 17.2%. Our Oct. 1 analysis found them last through three games.
Week 5 against Weeks 1-4
| Measure | Weeks 1-4 | Week 5 at WAS | Weeks 1-5 | League, Weeks 1-5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opponent dropbacks | 143 | 37 | 180 | 5,873 |
| Pressures | 20 | 11 | 31 | 1,467 |
| Pressure rate | 14.0% (32nd) | 29.7% (8th of 30) | 17.2% (32nd) | 25.0% |
| Sacks | 3 | 5 | 8 | 357 |
| Sack rate | 2.1% (32nd) | 13.5% (4th of 30) | 4.4% (26th) | 6.1% |
| Dropbacks with 5+ rushers | 48 (33.6%, 11th) | 24 (64.9%, 1st of 30) | 72 (40.0%, 4th) | 31.4% |
The increase in extra rushers began against Arizona, when the Giants sent five or more on 21 of 39 dropbacks, up from 27 of 104 in the first three games. They had three sacks in their first four games.
The five sacks
Dru Phillips, a cornerback, had both of his sacks on third down, one with five rushers and one with seven. Arvell Reese's came with six. Abdul Carter had the only sack by an outside linebacker, on a five-man rush after Daniels had left the pocket, FTN charted. Tremaine Edmunds' came with six rushers on the last snap of overtime, with Daniels under center. FTN charted that one as a sack the quarterback was responsible for.
| Time | Down and distance | Spot | Sack by | Rushers | Loss |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st qtr., 6:49 | 2nd-and-8 | WAS 42 | Abdul Carter | 5 | 6 |
| 1st qtr., 3:29 | 3rd-and-10 | WAS 15 | Dru Phillips | 5 | 8 |
| 4th qtr., 5:50 | 3rd-and-8 | WAS 39 | Dru Phillips | 7 | 6 |
| 4th qtr., 0:44 | 2nd-and-10 | WAS 49 | Arvell Reese | 6 | 3 |
| OT, 0:12 | 2nd-and-8 | NYG 24 | Tremaine Edmunds | 6 | 0 |
The Week 5 samples by rush size are small. Across the league through Week 5, quarterbacks were sacked on 5.2% of dropbacks against four or fewer rushers and 8.0% against five or more. Four of Daniels' seven scrambles came against four-man rushes, including the 26-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter and the 16-yard run in overtime. His 38-yard touchdown scramble came against five.
| Measure | 4 rushers | 5 rushers | 6 or 7 rushers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dropbacks | 13 | 17 | 7 |
| Sacks | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| Scrambles | 4 | 3 | 0 |
| Yards per dropback | 11.3 | 7.4 | 1.0 |
Who got there
In the first four games, outside linebackers and defensive linemen had 16 of the Giants' 20 pressures, five of them by Brian Burns, who is now on injured reserve. Reese and Edmunds had the other four, and no defensive back had one. On Sunday, inside linebackers and defensive backs had seven of the 11. Phillips had four: two sacks and two quarterback knockdowns. He had blitzed once in the first four games, by PFR's charting, and five times Sunday. Reese blitzed 13 times, Jevon Holland six and Ar'Darius Washington four. Kayvon Thibodeaux and Carter had one pressure each.
| Player | Pressures, Weeks 1-4 | Blitzes, Weeks 1-4 | Pressures, Week 5 | Sacks, Week 5 | Blitzes, Week 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OLB Abdul Carter | 6 | 14 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| OLB Brian Burns | 5 | 6 | Injured reserve | — | — |
| OLB Kayvon Thibodeaux | 2 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| LB Arvell Reese | 2 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 13 |
| LB Tremaine Edmunds | 2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| CB Dru Phillips | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 5 |
| S Jevon Holland | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
| S Ar'Darius Washington | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Others (6 players) | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Team | 20 | 43 | 11 | 5 | 38 |
Asked what has made the blitzing work, defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson said at his Thursday news conference, "It's been effective. I mean, we've been able to hit the quarterback."
Washington's part
Washington came into Sunday having faced extra rushers less often than any offense in the league. Opponents sent five or more on 31 of its 155 charted dropbacks in Weeks 1-4 (20.0%), and Washington allowed five sacks on 156 dropbacks (3.2%). Daniels had played in two of those four games.
Washington's protection did allow pressure before Sunday. Opponents pressured its quarterbacks on 27.6% of dropbacks in Weeks 1-4, above the league's 25.2%, by the same PFR-over-nflverse count. The Giants' 29.7% on Sunday was close to that figure; their 13.5% sack rate was more than four times the 3.2% Washington had allowed.
What it means against New Orleans
Tyler Shough has started all five games for the Saints. Opponents have sent five or more rushers on 75 of his 223 dropbacks (33.6%), 12th most in the league. Against those rushes he has been sacked seven times (9.3%) and averaged 4.5 yards per dropback. Against four or fewer, he has been sacked six times in 148 dropbacks (4.1%) and averaged 6.2. League-wide the figures are 8.0% and 5.9 yards against five or more.
Minnesota, which sends five or more rushers more often than any defense this season, did it on 15 of Shough's 26 dropbacks in Week 5 and did not sack him on those plays.
Pro Football Reference has Shough pressured on 21.9% of dropbacks, against a league figure of 22.8% in PFR's passer table, with an average of 2.2 seconds in the pocket (league 2.3). He has six scrambles in five games. Our Saints scouting report has the rest of the matchup.
Carter has seven of the Giants' 31 pressures this season, the most on the team. He did not practice Wednesday or Thursday because of a calf injury. Burns, second with five, is on injured reserve.
The Giants' Friday injury report will carry game designations for Sunday's game against the Saints at MetLife Stadium.
How we counted: Dropbacks are nflverse play-by-play dropbacks, including sacks and scrambles and excluding two-point tries. Pressure rate is PFR's charted pressures divided by those dropbacks. Rusher counts come from FTN's charting, published through nflverse, which covered every Week 5 game when we pulled it Thursday.