Last week, there was a comment on my Sackwatch article asking why I only break down the sacks the Chicago Bears allow, and not the sacks Chicago’s defense gets. I didn’t see the question until this week, so while I did answer it there, I also wanted to address it here in case anyone else was wondering.
Former WCG writer, Kev H, who you’ll still see here every now and again, had the idea for me to break down the sacks the Bears allowed because, believe it or not, there was a time when fans blamed every single
sack allowed on the offensive line. It wouldn’t matter if the opposing defense sent three rushers against the Bears’ left side, while the center was occupied, and the running back went to the right, fans would see Jay Cutler get crushed and immediately blame left tackle J’Marcus Webb.
As a former offensive lineman, that never sat right with me.
Now Webb often deserved blame, and I gave him plenty through the years, but some fans didn’t understand that a linebacker blitzing through the B-gap could be the responsibility of the quarterback.
Over the years, the ‘sacks are a quarterback stat’ narrative did a complete 180, and fans went from understanding that the offensive line wasn’t to blame for all the sacks to blaming the quarterback for every sack. That’s obviously not true either, which is why I show my work on every breakdown and keep a weekly and yearly tab.
So, about that Sackwatch flip side, I just don’t have the time!
Only one sack allowed this week, so let’s get to it.
Sack 12 – 1st Quarter 7:32 – Mike Green
This was a third and five, and Baltimore Ravens rookie outside linebacker Mike Green flew around left tackle Theo Benedet for the first sack of his career. As soon as Caleb Williams dropped and set to throw, Green was around Benedet. Green used speed to the edge, and then a chop to Benedet’s outside arm, which knocked him off balance.
The Ravens only rushed three and dropped one to spy Williams, so they had everything covered except running back Kyle Monangai. If Benedet was able to cut Green off for a split second longer, Caleb would have been able to hit running back Kyle Monangai, who slipped through the line, for a walk-in touchdown.
Here’s the Sackwatch tally after seven games.
Sacks Happen – 3
Caleb Williams – 2
Braxton Jones – 2
Drew Dalman – 2
Theo Benedet – 1.5
Darnell Wright – 1
Jonah Jackson – .5
Historical Sackwatch after eight weeks of action.
2010 – 32 Martz
2011 – 21 Martz
2012 – 28 Tice
2013 – 12 Trestman
2014 – 20 Trestman
2015 – 14 Gase
2016 – 14 Loggains
2017 – 19 Loggains
2018 – 17 Nagy
2019 – 22 Nagy
2020 – 20 Nagy
2021 – 30 Nagy
2022 – 31 Getsy
2023 – 28 Getsy
2024 – 23 Waldron
2025 – 12 Johnson
Thanks to all of you guys who check out Sackwatch each week!
