A Close Look: Sacks Allowed

I found something this weekend I've never seen before (and never thought I would see) -- "official" sacks allowed statistics for each individual player.  I didn't even know the league kept those statistics.  I figured that was a team-by-team thing, especially because it's not like it's always clear whose fault a sack is anyway.

Regardless, their public shaming is our analytical gain. 

I went back and looked at the last three years, since that's the period of time during which the Eagles' line has looked pretty much the same.  No Andrews this year, of course, but that's nothing compared to pre-2006, when you had Fraley, random guards, guys out of position, etc.  That all makes the comparison -- and the actual data acquisition -- more difficult. 

Bottom line numbers:

 

Poor Winston Justice.

Anyway, what I find most striking about this table is just how many sacks the Eagles' two starting guards allowed in 2007.  You can see how a guy like Runyan gives up 5.5 sacks.  He's not as quick as he used to be, he goes up against superior pass rushers pretty regularly, and there are plenty of times he's all alone out there. 

But how does a left guard -- who often is just double teaming a DT with the center -- give up 5.5 sacks?  Same thing with Andrews.  Five sacks is a bunch of takedowns for a Pro Bowl caliber player.

With that said, of course we all know how QB-dependent the sack statistics are (here's the link if you don't believe me).  Which is why I was arguing all year that McNabb himself is the biggest reason the sack numbers are down this year.  And he may be one reason his guards look to have had a crummy 2007.

Whatever the case, the guards were outstanding this year, allowing only 1.25 sacks between them (yes, they hand out quarter-sacks).

Chart #2:

 

It really is interesting that this is the year the Eagles decided the line needed a shake-up.  These metrics certainly suggest that the 2007 line had issues, but things worked out better in 2008.  Yes, yes, there was the Giants game we'll never be able to forget, but still, the rest of the team was pretty consistent.

It makes one wonder if the decision to move on from Runyan and Thomas was at least partially made last offseason, even before the no-run-push debacle this year.

Another chart, for fun:

Wonder which version we're getting.  And yeah, he played tackle in 2007, too.  Three games at guard, 11 at tackle.

Although, for comparison purposes, some career numbers:

 

So if he can just sort of average out the last two years, we'll be fine.

The golf thing was intentional, by the way.  Masters week is just around the corner...